Emergent game-play.

A quick tale: I was leaving Whiterun to complete some *ahem* jobs for the thieves guild. As I approached the farmstead I heard (but did not see) a Dragon. It swooped majestically from the mountains (please Bethesda get your animators a pint of ale from me) over the forest ridge-line and proceeded to undertake a five minute battle royale that will remain in my top ten list of best gaming moments ever (up their with docking in a space station in Elite or my first go on the Gatling gun in Syndicate) , throughout the process it was clear the following dynamic elements had come together to form the whole artistic piece.

The dragon made use of perching locations like the tops of inns.
Giants in the area stumbled and steadied themselves as they fought off the dragon.
Guards in the area scampered and called for aid in a desperate bid to shoot the beast down.

As a single event any of them would have been a "Oh My God" moment, but as an orchestral collective it was absolutely stunning and totally unscripted.

If this is the starting point for the engine and game design then I have great hopes for what is too follow on the part of modders and official DLC's.

Really Bethesda, you made me smile with Daggerfall and you have done it again with Skyrim, I honestly think you have cracked the formula and I hope you continue to polish and refine this style as it clearly is the best of breed in its genre.

10/10 indeed.

I love the game I just hope bethesda patches it across all platforms so everyone can have a fun experience......

Here here, can we make a seperated forum for the haters? We (I) just wanna hear good things : )

My only disappointment is when I met the Arch Mage. All the millions of customization options and the guy looked exactly liked me. Actually his knotted beard is dark charcoal grey and mine is black... I wonder if he sees the writing on the wall....

I was on my way to the northern watch tower when a dragon suddenly attacked a village. It took me about 20 minutes to kill it with my bow and it too was one of the most enjoyable game experiences I have had.

Cool story bro!

I always wanted to say that, but since I'm not a troll I never get a chance to use it XD

Seriously though, nice story. My favourite moment was when I went on the castle terrace thingy in whiterun... the view was jawdropping.

I love it too!

The unscripted dragon attacks are amazing, especially when they land in a town or a giants camp. Although I do find myself wishing that the attacks were a bit less frequent, and a bit longer. I'm only level 20 and I've killed at least a dozen dragons so far.

I love it too! Down to the last little detail!

Short story based on a skyrim encounter:

I was making my way up the mountain to see the mystical grey beards, it was a lush day and the sun was reflecting of the rapids on the fast flowing river to my left. My horse was trotting along and we passed some imperial legion guards men. Suddenly the sky turned black and the thick blanket wall of snow heavy patted down on me and my horse. We galloped towards the top of the river and spotted a place we could take shelter in to pass the storm, approaching the shelter a black figure came hurtling out of the darkness. My horse backed up on it two legs in shock and what now I could see was a troll swiped at the horse, my faithful companion was instantly killed the troll had broken his neck. I stumbled to my feet and grabbed my bow off the floor, turning I ran with the troll breathing down my neck to the guards men I had recently passed they saw me coming and dew swords for battle. I hurtled passed them hoping they'd cause the attention of the troll so I could prepare my arrows with poison, the troll had already killed one of them leaving the other two fighting for their lives. I raised my bow and drew back the string, I payed for my arrow to fly true and hit with the might of gods. As I let the string slip out of my fingers the whole world slowed down I saw the trolls eyes fill with savage hatred I saw the scared guards men cowering behind their shield, the arrow flew fast in this motion. What's was seconds felt like a life time, the arrow struck the troll in the heart. Deeply piercing into and through his chest, he stumbled backwards and made a might yell. Crazily trying to put the arrow out of his chest he felt to the ground as the poison flooded through his system he lay there paralysed. I slowly walked up to the troll and drew my dagger, I was one for sympathy so I slit his throat. The guards men blessed me for saving them, I told them that they had saved me and gave them coin. They turned to their dead comrade and praised his soul be guided to the heavens. I needed some form of moral and thought about my poor horse which had died saving my life, I took two claws from the troll and made two necklaces. Slowly walk to my horse I thought of what could of happened if the troll had trapped me in that cave. Approaching the horses corpse I layed one of the necklaces on him and tied the other around my neck so I'd always remember the day. Now I just had to reach the grey beards on foot.