I've got a 6 y.o. PC that's getting scrapped at tax time and I'm building a new PC and getting Skyrim. However, having played the last 3 games of TES (Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion), I've compiled a list of things that just irked the crap out of me. I was hoping someone could fill me in whether Bethesda did some actual QA and addressed some of this stuff. Mind you most of these are from Oblivion which I still maintain was had a QA test of about an hour or so then pushed down the isle with a rubber stamp.

1. Is the weather still based "randomly" on location or is it time based? Oblivion had serious issues with this. If you were running a background program or had a slower pc (aka MINE) you could have a T-storm that could literally last for days on end because the program didn't register that you moved from one area to another. Also, you could go to two different sections of the Imperial City right next to each other and have total weather opposites even though they are yards from each other.

2. Do bandits, marauders and the like still have the self-destructive, fanatical fight-to-the-death AI? I mean seriously... a bandit is going to come at you when you are sporting the best equipment in the game. Sure it's tempting... but did I mention I have allies? And I can summon? Uh oh... he's still charging at me.

3. (follow-up to question #2) Do the above mentioned get uber armor and weapons as you get up in level? Seeing bandits in glass armor and marauders in Daedric armor makes a whole lot of sense.... THEY ARE BANDITS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Wait.... how about I put it this way.... THEY ARE FREAKIN' BANDITS!!!

4. So did the NPC AI improve at all or do your companions still have the sudden urge to leap right in between you and your target while you are mid-swing with a power attack? I guess what I'm asking is whether I should treat NPC companions as the usual dead weight in Oblivion..

5. Did they finally get the six right for NPC's that are referred in the game? Nahssi (the Khajit hand-to-hand trainer) in the Bravil Fighter's Guild is referred to as a "he" on ALL occasions. Nahssi is sporting some pert briasts and has that gravelly female voice. It's possible that Nahssi is a drag, but he....(she?) is WAY ahead of his or her time. There are many instances of this happening in Oblivion but that one glaringly comes to mind.

6. Are cities still blocked off into separate load screens or are they part of the open terrain now?

7. When you kill things and come back down that road or path sometime later, do they look like they were freshly killed or do they appear to have been "gnawed upon"? (The 13th Warrior... good flick)

8. Is there finally some predation in a TES game or do we still have wolves, pumas, bears and the like who are so hungry they are ready to attack a mortal wearing noisy, steel plate and carrying huge, sharp pointed weapons.... yet they are right next to a deer, grazing, unaware that the rabid monster is only a few yards away?

9. Are there still the most mundane items you can think of in chests, crates, and sacks? My favorite was all of the barrels, chests, and sacks in Kvatch lying about the chapel that was obviously placed there by the survivors. I can see it now... "HONEY!!! Kvatch is being OVERRUN by Daedra!! Quick... get a sack and grab my favorite pair of calipers, a roll of yarn..... and that paintbrush your Aunt bought me for my birthday and let's get to the CHAPEL!!!!"

10. Last but not least... is this finally a MATURE rated game or is it like the others with a "M" stamp but there is nothing to even come close to deserving that rating? Morrowind and Oblivion were PG-13 games through and through. If that's an "M" game, then San Andreas and Liberty City were deserving of the "A" rating no question! I miss the Daggerfall Dark Brotherhood days.... those dancers... and the surprise you would get in some rooms in the inns! "Hello, gorgeous! Mind if we share a bed? There aren't any vacancies..."