I kind of agree. I feel like the dungeons are done properly and Bleak Falls wasn't anything different. It's pretty much straight forward and not the best cave in the game, but it is impressive. Some of the towns on the other hand is a bummer. Riverwood is a great village and you should be able to get a house there. I think that it just isn't enough involvement in the smaller villages/towns. Fix that and I think it would be very good.

No.
There are ways in which to execute a story properly and ways to do not.
These are not opinions, these are facts based on centuries of observations about how humans react to a story and what actually makes a story engaging.
Marlowe and Shakespeare are still entertaining because they followed these rules.

To some people, not nearly all.

I loved skyrim main story, including the end, sovengarde and all the stuff.
if you say it's no good, that's YOUR opinion, not everyones, live with it

Right, lets agree to disagree then, because this certainly isnt going anywhere
I mean, next would be for me to distinguish between the layperson and people that made a profession out of understanding literature and on how there is an agreed set of do's and dont's among these, but it really wouldnt solve anything for me to do so.

So, fine, we dont agree.
That can happen

He is not misunderstanding you and you are explaining yourself clearly, he just disagrees with you, as do I.

Go into Bleak Falls Barrow 200 hrs into the game........ it's not even close to the most asthetically pleasing nor the most varied, the most challenging and the gameplay value is not as good as some of the forts even. I have stumbled on some insignificant places in regards to plot/quests which have been significant in gameplay.

These constant nitpick threads remind me of that Healthy Choice commercial where the hot brunette has food on her face and her friend makes some comment, to which she replies "I don't see why you must be soooooooo hyper-critical of me!"

If this isn't an example of QFT I don't know what is!

I am leaning in this direction. I can not recall any dungeon that was bad, I do recall quite few that was... well bland. And then a handful that was just awesome. I believe it is required, you need peak and valleys. Both for the story pacing, and for the environment.

It's a very fundamental ingredient for retaining interest. If the dial is constantly turned to 10 you will get numbed down. The contrast between a gray cave and entering into a ornate temple is what makes it. Going from one grand temple to the next just do not have the same effect.

It is the set pieces you remember, but don't think for a second that the downtime in between them have nothing to do with how awesome the complete package is.

What disappoint me is when you expect something grand and get something terrible. Like the Burning of King Olaf, supposedly a "festival". I would have given up a dungeon set piece to have that event have some flower decoration, jesters, singing bards, mead tents, or ANYTHING to suggest it was a festive event.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Waking_Nightmare

This is an example of a quest i loved, well written and with a well designed dungeon.

Edit linking another interesting places/quests:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Wolfskull_Cave

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Ansilvund_Burial_Chambers#Ansilvund_Burial_Chambers

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Forbidden_Legend --> all this chain, places and bosses

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Affairs_of_Hagravens --> best npc ever XD

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Blessings_of_Nature --> very beautifull sanctuary

Funny how people tend to strong and differing opinions on what an opinion is. Not targeting anyone with this statement, just something I noticed. ^.^;

Just because you have a profession doesn't make you right in this case. A certain set of rules does not automatically make the product good and does not apply to everybody. A set of rules is no guarantee. Just because Shakespeare followed certain rules doesn't mean I enjoy his work.

Second this.

^These
The differences in the locations make the game more realistic. It isn't all cookie cutter nor is it all "a work of art".

Well, you dont have to enjoy his work to understand that it is technically flawless, or as near as humanely can be.
For example, I dont care for the 'The Office' sit-com. It just does not appeal to me.
I have however watched several episodes and I must admit that from a technical point of view, they are doing everthing right.

Or perhaps the difference between recognising a car is a decent piece of engineering that will do its job efficiently and safely, and just not liking the model and colour.

That's not "variety". If the line I draw represents a game, "!" represents a spectacular part and "." represents a boring part, and the line goes from "parts seen early on and in the main story" to "parts you discover on your own or are part of comparitively smaller questlines", variety is like this. !!!...!!.!...!...!!...!!!....!.!! and Skyrim's system is like this. "!!!!!!!!...!..!!....!..............!........."

This is such a silly statement I could not help but reply to it.

Art is like life in general, definetely NOT set in stone. And what is considered great art now, can and will probably be perceived completely different come another generation.

The great thing about art and art movements is exactly this, their rejectal of rules formed by previous generations and a re-invention of them when needed.

Art is Creativity and creativity by nature is fluid, if there are rules they are there to be broken, tested, experimented with.

I sure hope you do not have a profession teaching art, with your statement I think you would be terribly stifling in any situation. I would not want to work with you as a fellow artist, let alone have my art education from someone with your mindset.

Cheers and this has little to do with the rest of the topic, just my two cents.

Rest of the discussion is somewhat useless anyway in my opinion, of course major story-line set pieces will receive more attention than a random shack in the wilds, would be a bit weird if it was the other way around.

Well, cars evolve. Breaking out of those set of rules and trying something new is a good thing. A lot of things have come from not following the rules. Some people like it and some people don't. It's an opinion.

The Set Quest related Dungeons in Skyrim do have more details than the generic dungeons in this game. When I found Caves and Dungeons that make me go WOW, I can look in the Prima Guide or the UESP and the dungeon will be tied to a specific quest. I agree with Merari on the "Vilverin Syndrome" because it exists, but it is not as bad as Oblivion.

So if you walked into a museum it would ruin your appreciation for art if there wasn't any bad paintings? That makes me kind of sad.

Just for an example of something going the oyther way around was Hackdirt in Oblivion. It's part of a random sidequest, and a place I discovered independently, but it's the best designed village in Oblivion, and it has an intriguing story and fun quest to do with it. Loved finding that.

"Does it bother anyone that it seems like some places are designed as "showcases" and their quality is above others?"

I cannot be bothered by something that does not exist.

Major quest locations are always going to be more impressive than miscellaneous locations because those are the ones most players will visit.

Personally I'm quite impressed with the variety and uniqueness of the dungeon designs. I enjoy how many of them have their own quest-stories built in as well. I went into one a hagraven gave me a quest!

Exactly, mind you i work in Mental Health and i can see that some of the people on here have misplaced anger.

p.s Shakespeare was a plagiarist.

Not everything is spectacular. Otherwise, nothing would be spectacular.

Well it does make sense to show the best parts of the game.