What exactly do you base this rating on? Because for me, Labrynthia seems MUCH better, and seems far from being "early game" content. I'm level 45, have completed 3 questlines (College, Companions, Civil War) and still haven't gone after the masks, but I loved that dungeon during the College Quest, and damn near couldn't pass through the place on the road at low levels.

You can get to Labrynthia at level 1 if you choose to go directly to the College. Its still pretty well a beginning segment. As in it only takes maybe a couple hours to reach once you've started the questline.

Which is really the whole problem with the game - it takes no time at all to complete anything.

The idea that every square meter should contain something interesting or jaw-dropping is ridiculous. Skyrim tries to create a believable setting/world. It's just a fact that not every village is as aesthetically pleasing as the other, not every castle is as beautiful as the other, not every dungeon, cave or forest is as lush as the others.

It's indeed called variety, and variety I can believe in because it caters to what we know and expect of real life nature.

The fact that you think we are being 'punished' (your words) only exposes you as another incoherent hater without an argument. Honestly, I disagree: I don't feel like Riverwoord and Bleak Falls are a cut above the rest.

...I don't understand how my topic is still getting replies like this, even with my huge lettered note I added to the OP.

The huge lettered note changes nothing. It's like saying you mean no disrespect, after which you disrespect something.

But you are arguing for the inclusion of variety, and I am arguing for non-mainquest-centricness and particular showcasing of things intended to seen early on and be pulled towards through the game, rather then have the good content be actually varied in distribution so as not to punish players not doing the main quest in this open world game, which is completely different. Ugh, I have had this conversation so many times now. It honestly baffles me that so many people miss or do not get this simple concept.

Now you are complaining and because no one cares for your childish little rebellion against Bethesda.

Before you were only saying that there are places you like and some you do not like, all packed into mean accusations.

Was it really such a big issue for you that you could find a proper shop in Riverwood? Should there not have been a shop so close to the starting point of the game? Was it too nice of the devs to put one there??

I would love to see your explanations for all the problems you have with those places.

Yeah, this is the case of people wanting MOAR of everything, quality and quantity at the same time.

It's impossible, such thing will never come to pass and no, not even a year longer development would make the game "more interesting", it already took too long, it is already varied as it is, more time would just cause more problems, making the game look even more outdated, certain facets would need to go. Basically this is why people invented DLCs.

This exact same thing can be found in every TES game (and other sandbox games as well), be it in Oblivion or Morrowind (main quest dungeons are a lot bigger then the side quest ones, not to mention the unique enemies with their own model and even voice acting sometimes), especially in Daggerfall and Arena (you know it's a main quest dungeon when it's not a randomly generated one, but a well designed, unique looking with some unique features that cannot be found anywhere else)

Nope, instead we all care about your childish rebellion against the forums in general.

God help us all for wanting a little more quality in the products we buy.

Everyone is blowing the point of the OP way out of proportion, I'm just glad this thread will be closed soon.

See? It was not that hard, was it? You were just wrong.

I agree with you on most points here. The biggest probelms I've had with the game have been pacing issues. This is essentially more of the same. As far as the quests go -- it's much more satifying to have a long slow building quest than a short quest. When everything "awesome" is frontloaded, it's not as satifying as the slow build up with the thought of "they're going somewhere with this" rather than "that's it?". When all of the good content is in one place, it's kind of the same thing -- like enjoying the awesome of the first 15 minutes of the movie and then finding out that the last ten minutes are nothing special.

I think most of this nonsense is caused by the fact that game reviewers don't play the whole game. If you can keep the pros impressed for 10 hours, you get the sales. You don't get additional sales by making 20 great hours if you only have to impress the reviewers for 10 hours. The reason that movies don't frontload the plot is because movie reviewers watch the whole movie -- so if the middle of the plot drags, the movie gets called on it, while the games in general do not.

http://static.fjcdn.com/comments/Don+t+feed+dem+trolls+_6e538688b06eb0c561a097ec601fde8a.jpg

See... it even looks like him.

Link does not seem to work. It only leads to a page full of little pictures.

Fixed the link, try now. ^.^

No, sorry, still the same page.

I have got a link for you: http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/23/a-guide-to-skyrims-prettiest-locations/

I get a page full of little pictures too.

Eh, Idunno why it's not working. It's not updating the link. =/

That's a compelling video, but no one is saying Skyrim is ugly. At least I'm not.
At any rate glad you could join in the discussion without having to put anyone down.

a little? No.

That wouldn't be enough either, I bet there still would be endless complaints how everything looks the same, even if they would make unique look for every dungeon out there, because they might resemble it in parts, and especially, people would still complain how it's not enough that in the end of the day, you'll run out of stuff to do.

I believe you quoted the wrong post. You have a point, people will complain either way. But it's their right to complain, no one can take that away from them, so why try?

DB quest line? Broken Oar Grotto? Any Dwemer ruin on the entire map?

It's not that people don't understand your rant, OP. It's that we find it baseless and kind of dumb.

I have some of the same problem with Skyrim, except I don't see showcasing as the cause. I don't see any clear evidence that any place is designed to be a showcase. Bleak Falls Barrow is there for you to explore whether you do the main quest or not. I started playing Skyrim the day it came out, and I have spent the bulk of my time avoiding the main quest. I find no absence of large, interesting, exploration-worthy places outside of the main quest.

With or without showcasing, there will be variable place quality. Showcasing does not cause that variance. It is very probable that quest writers desiring high-quality quests will choose better-quality locations for their quests, have they the option to choose such. They do have that option. Showcasing does not give them the option; variance does. The main quest just so happens to be -- surprise, surprise -- a major quest. it is meant to feel like the biggest event in the game. Is a quest writer's location of choice for a lost artifact for solving the main quest to be a simple, out-of-the-way wolf den, or is it to be Bleak Falls Barrow? It isn't a tough choice to make, and it has nothing to do with creating an early-game showcase.

If there is a lack of interesting places outside of major quests, it is because there is too much quest, too much story, and too much plot for the game world to sufficiently provide for activities beyond the quests, stories, and plots. The main quest gets the Falmer Embassy, because the main quest is deemed important. Some rinky-dink (though still appreciated ) Radiant quest for a statuette of Dibella gets Timmy's house, for Timmy's house is all that's left after the more highly-regarded quests have staked their claims. If you set out to adventure on your own, then you are stuck with the places nobody else wanted.

Close enough to post limit.