The characters the story all seem to cater to the masses imo. It's not necessarily a bad thing because I think bethesda did it in a way where they kept the game an rpg and retained depth, but werewolves, arnold swartzenager and Marcus Fenix voices. Quests and menus are more streamlined. The game also feels more scripted and linear and the story is much more prevalent. I don't want to say it's dumbed down but it sort of is. It's definately aimed at a more mass audience taking from games like Wow, Assassins creed, Gears of War, uncharted etc.. It has a more action feel to it as well, vs going with a traditional fantasy role playing which seem to be a dying breed.

I do worry about replay value because it seems pretty linear and like it is forcing a script.

Did you just say it's linear?

Not really it retains depth. Difficult to explain. It just seems like its forcing a script in ways that you can tailor to your liking. Which is good and bad imo. The story is much more in depth and characters have more character and personality. But it's two sides of the fence. Sometimes I feel like i'm playing a lord of the rings epic. Other times I feel like i'm playing gears of war.

I couldn't agree less... I think it's an ultimate sandbox experience and the addition of a bit of humour is always a plus in my books.

Wait, Skyrim is alot more advlt and gitty than Oblivion and in your opinion this one is aimed for the masses? : O

I strongly disagree with the premise that this game is for the masses. If anything, this game will scare the masses away. They've done the best job they could in trying to "streamline" the game to make it not as complicated, but let's face it, the game has so much depth, to a random person who doesn't know anything about TES, this game will completely overwhelm them. I just don't see it being a game for the masses. It's a hardcoe RPG made for hardcoe RPG players. It just so happens it's good enough to appeal to a larger audience.

Marcus Fenix voices? I was thinking more Arnold Schwarzenegger ^^

Well like i said it still retains depth. I'mnot saying bethesda sold out here. If anything I think they took rpgs and struck a good balance to draw people in that might not normally be interested.

I think there is some good and bad that comes with that. Did bethesda find the perfect balance? Maybe. I could agree with that.

If this were for the masses it would be T, not M.

What are you talking about? The only time I do the main quest is when I want new shouts. Doesn't seem that prevalent to me. Also feels MUCH less scripted to me. Instead of every encounter being set up now there are lots of random creatures exploring the world

As for the general gist of your post, I agree with the statement but disagree with your implication that it is in any way bad. While parts have been streamlined to make it more available the major part of the game (exploration, loot, and quests) has been made much deeper than Oblivion.

Better = Streamlined ?

Ya I think I can agree with that to some degree. Skyrim kind of gives me that feeling of upgrading from my old Nokia to an Iphone.. its kind of like, [censored], phones can be like this? Its sort of a clean, lets just skip the forplay and get to the [censored]. Noteably when you said WOW, Assassins Cred, Gears of War and Uncharted you basically named of massivly successful franchises and I definitly think Elder Scrolls has gone from a game for RPG gamers to a game for everyone who loves to be entertained. Its a living novel, but for it to reach a wider audiance its scope had to be a bit cleaner and more direct so as not to complicate it too much with nerdy stuff a less hardened gamer might be interested in. I know a lot of my friends from Steam who would ordinarly not play a game like this, but they all immediatly compared it to the movie 300 where while a great story, it was more about the whole package from visuals, music to action and kind of that sense of instant and constant satisfaction.

I think its great that they pulled in a wider audiance. I mean I think the nerds will mod the crap out of this game anyway and make it what they want, but for the rest of us we have this great and very digestable game to play.

You are only complaining about werewolves because . If they were not, I am 100% sure you would not have cared less about them. They decreased some options and got rid of some RPG eye candy so people won't have to actively anolyze lots of statistics to make "powerful" characters.

As a formerly avid Table top DnD player, I love my 3.5 edition stats and optimization ideas, but this type of fun, but archaic system has been simplified to appeal to the main stream media. Look at 4th edition, there is a reason why it became much more popular than 3.5 ever was when you factor in the people that play online mmorpgs that have also become increasingly simplified.

But you just said it's aimed for the masses.

What???

First of all, I hate the phrase "dumbed down" or "for the masses". There was nothing "dumb" about Oblivion, and I absolutely hate hearing it described as "dumbed down". It may have been simpler than Morrowind, but it still has so much more depth, freedom, and variety to it than pretty much anything else out there.

Second of all, Skyrim is the total opposite of "dumbed down". This game is just LOADED with depth. Much more so than Oblivion. And I'm getting to a point where I wanna say more than Morrowind. Skyrim is totally "smartened up" from Oblivion.

+9999.

Using the chainsaw machine gun enchantment is really OP...

Right but you are taking what I said to a whole other level than I meant it. Yes I do think it's aimed to draw in more people which means aiming the game at a larger audience which would include the masses.. I also said I don't want to say it's dumbed down, but it sort of is. There's a difference there.

I don't quite understand. Are you saying that Skyrim's main quest is more linear than older entries in the series? Because that is the biggest lie I have ever heard. Both Morrowind and Oblivion had entirely linear stories with no choices in them. In Oblivion, you could not diverge from the set path at all. In Morrowind, admittedly, if you took the "liberty" of killing plot characters, you could do an alternative quest line to finish the main quest, but the alternative line only diverged from the last few quests. Otherwise, the main quest of Morrowind was just as linear as Oblivion's. The Elder Scrolls series has never had a nonlinear main quest. Morrowind also had werewolves, and I fail to see how your personal opinion on the quality of voice actors being is in any way related to to the game being "dumbed downed."

Ya I wouldn't call it dumb down, but its definitly more digestable than previous Elder Scroll Games which where really only for hardned RPG gamers, far less approachable for more casual gamers. I think Skyrim has managed to kind of hold on to its core as a open game world, but you can very well just play through the main story plot, skip all the crafting stuff and just let it entertain you rather than seek out its depth. I think Morrowing and Oblivion both lacked this aspect, it was a game designed to be complex to satisfy players who expected complex games. Skyrim is simple to learn, you can find depth and complexity as its available but its not shoved in your face and manditory to delve so far into the game. I mean for me, I love the main story, I love the dragons but Im also a reader and I probobly spend as much time playing the game as I do sitting in my house reading all the books I found as I find the Elder Scrolls world fascinating and there actually is a lot of great writing done for this game.

So ya I would say its for the massess in the sense that it captures a larger variety of audiances with different expectations from a game, both for the complex hardened gamer but maintaing a simple enough design and manditory gameplay to attract more casual gamers.

I think saying its made for the masses is not really a derogitory term, I think its really the best compliment a great game can get.

this

you do have a point
but I don't see it as a bad thing
perhaps if you're a die hard RPG gamer who doesn't mind static combat and a lot of meta gaming
but I'm not one of those, always been the parts I liked less in previous TES games
felt I was fighting the leveling system in oblivion more than anything XD
could really break immersion

IMO this more "streamlined" approach allows for true role playing where you can do what you want without having to worry about leveling wrong so much

you said it is linear. . . your opinion is void. . .

how about more cartooney in areas? Like I said it has a more lord of the rings epic feel to it but it can be a bit cartooney as well. I think where you are misunderstanding me is that I'm not saying they sold out here. I'm not saying they dumbed it down either. I'm just saying it has more mass appeal.

I disagree, I think there is more depth in Skyrim than Oblivion. At least, there is so far

I didn't say it's linear though. I said it seems pretty linear. It just seems like it's forcing a scipt in ways. It has this epic storyline to play within that you can do what you want with. You can still do what you want.