Ive got almost 40 hours in and Ive only just met Delphine. I wouldnt say thats very linear.

I realise this but you can argue as far as quests go TES games are very linear. Compare this t The Witcher 2 where the entire second half of the game changes to a different area, NPC's story based on what you do. Most quests in TEs are very linear with no option for the players. Why even have a speech skill at all? New Vegas did this well, sad Skyrim does not. Yes the map is open...The actual quests are very linear.

Elder Scrolls + Liner = error does not compute

Let me give an example and explain why this is patently false.

I recently found a note in a dungeon that consisted of around 20-30 words. It gave a single name of a deceased-person, it was written from the perspective of someone who belonged to a mage coven, and it told of the reason why they murdered said dead person. There were no quest markers, no journal entries, and no map point telling me what I needed to do next.

This was the beginning of my quest:
1. I travelled on horseback to the nearest village, entered the tavern and began questioning the patrons, the owner and the employees. They gave me no clues as to the source of the note.
2. I then travelled around the village asking the citizens if they knew anything about it. They knew nothing as well.
3. I then travelled to one of the main cities and went to the book store and finally found information about the coven in which I was searching.
4. Travelling to a dungeon rumored to be the location of one of the coven members, and after an hour or so of searching, I discovered a note describing the deceased individual.
5. I then took the note and travelled to the town where this dead person had lived.
6. I questioned the townsfolk and they gave me the direction to where this person had last been seen.
7. Finally I was able to track down the murderer and serve him justice at the hand of my sword.

This is just one example of hundreds of quests in Skyrim. There were literally hundreds of thousands of permutations and combinations as how I could complete this "quest". Skyrim's quest's eat New Vegas's quests for breakfast.

Umm did you even understand his post? Not 1 thing you posted refutes that the actual quests are very restrictive and linear. TEs may as well get rid of speech as its wasted. New vegas was great at this. Skyrim is not. Outside thie map its very linear.

Yeah but I wouldn't call The Witcher 2 a non-linear game, It's primarily story driven, and the areas themselves are hardly open world, in fact, there's no reason to explore in that game, because the quests will take you everywhere anyways.
Edited a typo there.

The quests are linear, and the speech craft options limited. No one is arguing against this. The OP spent the first 1/2 of his post arguing about how the world simply gave an illusion of an open world, and that is what most people will contend.

Generally limited quests in an open world does not a linear game make.

It's responses like these that make me feel Video games have passed me by, I don't know I guess when I was 14 I thought the same way of things, **sigh**

Anyway, thanks everyone for the feedback, some people mentioned they can climb mountains but that is not what I am saying. If a mountain path going up a mountain is what you are limited too then even if you hop around the face of the mountain or use a horse still you are limited to whatever the game developers have placed on the mountain path, in order that they have placed it. In this regard the game becomes a very direct railroad path.

Skills in the game essentialy become just your tool for hack n slashing NPCs, thats it , someone suggested cutting logs for my entire game experience but that is not what I am addressing. I made the mistake in thinking Skyrim was like FO NV and non-linear in quests and story progression but I now see I was wrong. I will trade the game for store credit and not purchase any sequels.

Please I hope fans of the game do not take my comments personally, I am very grateful for all responses and was only anticipating a different type of game

my friend climed directly from direction of whiterun all the way up to high hrothgar without using the road around the mountain, glitch climb all the way.

There were millions of ways to complete my quest. I could have travelled north instead of south first, I could have killed a few guards along the way, I could have taken a break and worked as a blacksmith first, I could have gotten married along the way, joined the companions guild, had a turkey sandwhich, and killed 13 bears, and then have the final enemy chase me into a cave of ice trolls to then be crushed under a ceiling trap.

If that's linear, I don't know what is non-linear.

I dont think you understand what something being "linear" means.

A game that is deamed "linear" is so recognized because there is little to no choice in "what you do". There is Quest A, that leads to Quest B, that leads to Quest C, and all you can do is follow the chain. A linear game is one where you start at point A and have to go to point Z while going down the alphabet in order (B, C, D, etc). Your path is chosen for you, you have a limited amount of quests and you have to do them in a specific order. A typical exemple of this is any game where the mobs are scaled per zone, meaning that the order in which you do everything is pre-selected.

I have played 3 characters so far, and not a single one of them has shared a quest so far (other then the main quest, of which i never went passed meeting delphine).

- My Orc quests mainly around Whiterun, became a Companion and a Wherewolf, and has just started looking at stuff around Riftren.
- My Breton has completed the College of Winterhold lines, has joined the Stormcloaks and is currently trying to take over Skyrim.
- My Argonian is an Imperial Legionnaire questing mainly out of Solitude (he is my newest toon, just started him, lvl 14)

This game is not linear. Yes, it lacks variety in terms of questing options, as in its mostly "fetch this" or "kill that", but that has nothing to do with wether a game is linear or not.

dont mind the bethesda defense force, they are brain washed. Story, great Role playing is not a TES strong point, they basically are dungeon crawlers, and exploration games. If you looking for deep RPG elements with non-linear quests TEs wont give you this. Replay new Negas or get The Wirtcher 2

You for real?

youre trolling right? What you said makes no sense.. FO NV?.. good?

LMAo, your clueless. What does taking a break and killing bears, ding oither quests have anything to do with havong more then 1 eay to complete the quests? Those other activities have Nothing to do with your quests. That same quests play identical each time you play the game, the only thing that changes is how you get there. Sorry, tes games have a major lack of options for completing quests. All you said was there is a lot of things besides to do that are itrrelevant to said quest.

I think what he's talking about are the nice little Bioware-style dialogue trees which make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but really do nothing but give you the illusion of choice and "non-linearity".

The OP made me laugh out of sheer ridiculousness.

What a lobster sandwich.

umm New Vegas was a game rich with Role playing options, its only issue was bugs...... Yes it was very good.

Isn't how funny how dumb this post is? No, it isn't funny. It is very tragic, and you are to be pitied.

No he was actually correct and your post proved it. Bethesda defense force jumps over any criticism of the game, your proof of that.

What is a quest other than the journey to reach it? You have gotten so used to the word, "quest" meaning some trademarked, modern, MMO game mechanic, that you've forgotten what it actually means.

The "Quest" is the journey. It's the choices you make to reach it. You have been brainwashed to believe that a quest is something that occurs in some sort of hackneyed dialogue tree or journal entry.

The problem you're having is the different approaches to the game's quests: Skyrim decided to go with the "To do or not to do" option: If you get a quest you don't like the only way you can "complete", since most quests aren't dependent on each other you can choose to just stop, and unmark the quest in your book, considering it complete. Your reward is the time you'd otherwise waste trying to chase a wild turkey.

Even Daggerfall's individual quests were linear: There was one at the end that essentially boiled down to "Who do you want to turn the quest in to?", not actually a different way to solve the quest entirely.

The Elder Scrolls games generally go for a large number of quests you can choose whether to do or not.

This. OP doesn't understand the concept of Skyrim me thinks...

-100 for brain cells destroyed by OP.

I don't get this feeling at all. I feel it's as open or even more open than previous games. I'm level 36 and only just started the MQ, have been doing side-quest upon side-quest and still have a full quest log.

Now, as to the limited roleplaying options within most of those quests...
Well, that's another matter entirely.

Go hiking in Yellowstone Park and tell me how non linear it is when you get to a cliff, genius.

no...... Killng some bears or wandering off have no bearing on a quest......... New Vegas for insance you often had 3-4 ways to handle a situation, use your speech skills, side with one or another, kill everyone or fram someone. Skyrim gives no choice like this.