I'm mostly referring to Riverwood and a lot oft he main quest dungeons. I mean they are great, which I do consider a really good thing, but it's just that they don't seem to have put as much efforts into others. Riverwood is an awesome small town, but at 6 buildings, it's the biggest non-capital in the game and has lots of little details that make it so appealing and then the other towns just look sort of lumped there without any thought or aesthetic consideration. And the dungeons in general look pretty nice in Skyrim, but the main quest ones far moreso, and also have more things like little hidden areas and multiple routes and other extra details (I'm thinking Blackreach, Bleak falls, the one where you find the note to meet at Riverwood). It's nice, but the others sometimes feel underdone, and it feels a bit unbalanced. Anyway, give your opinions. HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE: MY PROBLEM IS NOT WITH THE EXISTENCE OF VARIED CONTENT, BUT WITH THE MAINQUEST AND EARLY GAME CENTRICITY PUNISHING THE PLAYER WHO DOES NOT DO THE MAIN QUEST DESPITE THE GAME BEING INTENDED AS AN OPEN WORLD EXPERIENCE WITH MANY OPTIONS

Yes, it does bother me.
I have talked about this before on this forum, calling it the 'Vilverin syndrome', because the exact same thing happened in Oblivon with the Vilverin dungeon.
First one in the game, best one hands down, the others often cant hold a candle to it.

It is as if they purposely make the parts of the game that reviewers will see the best they can, and do the rest sort of half-arsed.

It also ensures that when playing the game dissapointments just stack up after leaving the starter area.
You never get that magical feeling back of the first few hours.
In what other quest as the golden claw one does a questgiver walk along with you to show you the way, all the while chatting?

I agree that some areas aren't as good as others, 11-11-11 didn't help in that detail.

I like the look of every dungeon even the small cave with two bears and a dead body.

It is disappointing that you can tell the dungeons that are used in minor quests are much more generic. It just shows that Bethesda was more interested in making a game to sale rather than making a game to be proud of. This is why 80% of my satisfying gaming comes from Indie games, where the developers make games because they enjoy it, and they are not pumping out another product.

You know, in the real world not all buildings, caves, forts and dungeons are spectacular. Some are quite ordinary.

It is called variety.

There are two kinds of open world games: ones where you have few places but lots of content and the ones where you have a truckload of near-irrelevant places. Skyrim represents the latter, though I don't see it as a bad thing. True, the cities are lacking but it's a minor annoyance for me. It could've been a lot worse.

It could have been like DA2 where each dungeon/building was the same but with a different entrance point... that was truly annoying.. >.<

^THIS GUY IS RITE

No he's not. He is completely dodging the issue.
First off, this is not the real world. I dont see how any comparison applies when it comes to dungeons.
Secondly, the point the OP makes is about the Vilverin syndrome, not about variety.

Yeah, I'd have liked there to be more. At least most of the dungeons seem to have at least some story attached to them now.

nope, it's you who are pushing it too far.
not all places MUST be gorgeous and awesome, there should be "normal" places too, and there are
plus, as I already mentioned I liked all of them, even those that you are calling "half-arsed"

I respectfully disagree that it's called variety, in the real world buildings are created for function over form most of the time, and designed to be cost effective.
Consider caves and things that exist in the real world that are untouched by man, very few remaining, but these places are vary dissimilar.

If it wasn't variety none of the places would have been spectacular either. If all places I encountered had been awesome and breathtaking it would soon have become the standard for how it shouldbe rather then me thinking this place rocks!

Again, not the issue at hand.
What we are talking about here is a bait-and-switch, not variety.
The golden claw quest stands far above most other quests, exactly because it is the one reviewers will see.
That is the point here, not that to make the awesome dungeons truly awesome there need to be some less so as well.

not the issue at hand...because there's no issue.
it's like saying there's not enough butterflies species...

Are you purposely misunderstanding or am I not explaining myself very well?
The point is that the first hour of the game has obviously gotten far more attention than everything that comes after it.
This is even apparent in the main quest, which starts out very engaging and then just sort of peters out.

Some dungeons are better than others?!?!

BOYCOTT!!!

And anyway, I've found some great places that are not associated with any quests that I know of. Bleak Falls Barrow is far from the "best" dungeon in the game.

Slightly agree. Although in Bethesda's defence, (don't hate me! Hehe) they do seem to be trying harder after Oblivion's generic dungeons. Some of the caves in Skyrim look nice, even (dare i say) beautiful. The caves and dungeons in Oblivion were just awful, IMO. Not a single one stands out in my mind. And when not a single dungeon stands out, you know its a bad design

Although, it would be quite difficult, in my opinion, to create a unique dungeon/cave/fort every single time, so im not really disappointed as such. But i must admit, the dungeons could have had more variety in their layout. WHY must the boss always be at the end? The boss chest is always next to him. And there is always a back door out. Gets boring after a while. That may be just me, though.

maybe I'm not explaining myself.
the fact that you didn't liked some dungeons or the end of the main quest doesn't mean that it's the same for everyone, it's just YOUR OPINION, but still you are talking like your opinion is the only truth...(kinda reminds me of the stormcloaks single-minded lines)

I have no reason to hate you for your opinion, I feel the same way. However I wasn't comparing Skyrim to previous games or saying it was inferier in any way. I was just discussing the way I felt with the way the dungeons are made. It's true that it would nearly impossible to create a unique and interesting dungeon for every quest in an open world game such as Skyrim, I just wish it could be done and I was stating that.

Hah, yeah. Vilverin was one of the best Ayleid ruins in Oblivion, but i disagree with BFB being one of the best Nord ruins. In fact the biggest and most impressive are assosiated with no or radiant quests. Such as Volskygge, Lost Valley, Arcwind Point, Hag's End and ...whatever the name was of the one near Markarth related to the "pieces of the past" quest. Though the main quest related ruins are pretty nice too.

Though BFB can definetly be seen farthest away.

I have to admit that I like a lot of the dungeons and caves. I remember sitting there, with a friend watching, the first time I stepped into Blackreach and you could hear the sharp intake of air and then the words "coooool!" being whispered.

If I could change but one thing I would prefer if some of them were a lot darker. For me, I just feel the suspense of everything would be hightened if there was a lot more dark dark places to roam around in. The thought of seeing my enchanted swords glowing in the dark gives me a warm feeling

Lol its really not an opinion when I say that the golden claw quest is one of the most detailedly worked out quests in the game.
It features many things that you then just do not see ever again, such as the questgiver actually having oodles of dialogue, or showing you the way.
Its also really not an opinion that in the execution of the main quest, the first part is far, far more engaging and interesting than the endgame.
In that case, all the bits and pieces are there, its just not fleshed out very well.
From a perspective of telling a story, its not an opinion, as there simply are set rules and guidelines on what makes a decent story, as far back as Marlowe. (He was the one that for instance worded the very wise rule for story progression that you do not shoot someone in the third act, without showing a gun in the first or second, no deus-ex-machina devices.)

Ima give you a heads up, IT IS an opinion, YOUR opinion
for sure not mine.