I'm downloading Skyrim at the moment and am not sure if I'm excited. :S

I'm in love with anything Bethesda, I'm a huge fan of the Fallout series but not of the Elder Scrolls.

So, while I wait for Skyrim to complete downloading, what is there to look forward to? Do I need to play the previous games to understand Skyrim? (Because I haven't played any Elder Scrolls before ) How is the gameplay? Is it worth getting? Anything I should know before playing?

Those are just a few questions, I want your thoughts on it too! Anything is welcome.

Imagine yourself stabbing a dragon with a dagger while dressed like Conan on his day off. Nah, you can look forward to a pretty much Fallout like combat system with a little more RPG aspects. Did I already mention dragons?

Nope, 200 years have past since the last installment. You won't get some references, but the whole story can be understood without knowledge of the lore.

You click on things until they're dead. Just remember that you don't get EXP like in Fallout, you train your skills by using them and you gain a level after you have improved some skills for a time.

You already bought it, so I better hope it is for you.

Do NOT [censored] with the giants. Seriously, avoid them for the first 20 levels. If you know Fallout 3 or Fallour: New Vegas, it works similar, just the EXP thing is different.

I jumped on The Elder Scrolls wagon with Oblivion. To be honest, you DON'T need to have played the previous games to know what's going on. Where each game is brilliant is that the World carries on from the previous game, with books popping up on what has happened in the older games and also what has happened in between.

BUT all TES games are separate. It's a completely different storyline, so unless you want to go back to the beginning and spend hundreds of hours playing through the series (which I have been advised to do by a few people, but honestly don't have the time) then just jump into Skyrim!

However, if you're on the PC....I've just reinstalled and its going to take 45 minutes to download the latest patch, so you may have some time to think about what your characters going to be

Just forget about what others say, press play and enjoy. A TES is an experience that must be lived for the first time, not read, you won't be prepared anyways. I am nostalgic when I think about stepping out of the prison ship in Morrowind for the first time. Still gives me goosebumps today, after 10+ playthroughs. I suppose Skyrim can be as overwhelming and spectacular for a newcomer, I wish I could get into a TES again without all the veteran's prejudices, hopes and strings attached. I hope you enjoy.

What would you recommend as a character? I know in Fallout, characters can be stealthy etc., what's the best way you'd say to play Skyrim? Are there are many options for character choice as there is in Fallout? Got any funny stories about Skyrim? Can my character be a sixy seductress or a ruthless barbarian? Lol, idk I'm running through my options, here.

It sounds like fun.

Whatever you want. The world won't react much to your choices but it didn't in FO3 either.
Personally I'd reccomend not trying to complete it in 1 playthrough. Be a sixy seductress or a ruthless barbarian or whatever, do what seems appropriate for that character, then do something opposite with a completely different character.

You have 18 skills to choose from, within three archetypes.
Mage, Thief and Warrior.
Your alternatives are as follows:

Warrior: One handed weapons, two handed weapons, heavy armour, smithing, archery and block.
Mage: Destructive magic, illusion magic, restorative magic, magic altering the world, summoning magic (also necromancy) and enchanting.
Thief: Sneak, pickpocket, lockpicking, alchemy, light armour and speech.

Ss from these skills you can choose to specialise, or maybe do a bit of everything.
I will also warn that the case with Skyrim is that the stories is often a bit short and the game have been streamlined. In many ways it will be simpler and a worse RPG game than the Fallout games are.
But it is still a great game, and as always Bethesda impress with their worlds and lore.

Don't grind your Crafting Skills (Smithing, Enchanting or Alchemy) as you will level up and hence level up the enemies but not have the skills to use your pretty new weapons. To that end, you don't need the best weapons and armor to be successful, you need the most optimal weapons and armor for your character and level, which is something entirely different.

Even though skill usage is the key to leveling, if you just play the story, the game will move you along in levels as you do stuff along the way.

Also, if you want a dragon free game, for a while anyway, stay away from a certain person the game tells you to go see in the first town after the tutorial. Once you talk to her, you start the chain of events that brings dragons into the world (it happens a couple quests later but the game is so fun that you might forget how far along you are, then bam, your smelling dragon farts)

Would you say it's possible to create a Hunger Games themed character?

I'm obsessed and couldn't help but notice that the landscape looks a lot like a Hunger Games arena, so I'm thinking, I just need a bow and arrow and pretend the dragons are mutts and this could be the Hunger Games! Haha.

Keep your crafting skills close to your principle skills... not to exceed them until your character is established. Don't just plow through the quests... visit the major cities, explore a few caves.

Don't level non-combat skills quickly. Reason is that your character will level up, but your combat capabilities will not.

However, while you level up, your enemies will, too, and their combat capabilities will level up, putting you further and further behind.

Also, don't power-level smithing, alchemy, and/or enchanting. You can search for this and see lot of threads that will provide details.

Most importantly, sooner or later you will get into a fight where you will die, several times. This means you're in over your head. Recognize this early and leave, to return another day. No shame in running, it's a smart play. Don't get frustrated.

Enjoy, and good luck.

Read the in game books. You'll miss 80% of the game if you don't.

Spend a little time and learn yourself the culture of whatever race you choose to be. Do you want to be a dark elf because he has cool red eyes? Fine, but at least understand that your homeland has recently blown to hell, the lizard guys do not like you, and your character probably has an unbridled hatred of necromancy.

Skyrim was my first Elder Scrolls game and it was great for me. Although, I should say that it only whet my appetite for more backstory and I went to the UESP and WIKI and read pantloads of the lore, which was very worthwhile and also very interesting.

I started playing and have been playing the same character and am now at level 51 and I am still thoroughly enjoying this game and my character. But I have heard many people say that you should start a character and run around for a little bit and then throw that character away and start again once you get a feel for the game. I think this is good advice. For me I had a pretty good idea what the game would be like before I ever played it so I kinda had that going through my head while I was in character creation.

As has already been stated in previous comments, you should try not to "grind" skills and powers. Try to limit yourself to less powerful weapons. You'll have more fun. If you find yourself dying all the time just upgrade you armor. Or if you want kickass weapons downgrade your armor. That kind of thing can level the playing field at later stages in the game.

Also, give your followers one good arrow.

Welcome to Skyrim. Above all else, just have fun with it and enjoy.

I think I would have lost interest in Skyrim much sooner if I created a new character every time I got more of a feel for the game, so I can't recommend that.

Since I started playing Skyrim, I've created exactly one character and I've played him up to level 52 so far. I might create a few more in the months to come but I'm still quite happy with my first one, so I'm not sure when that will be.

Really, beyond aesthetics there's very little character customization at the beginning of the game. Aside from a few minor racial bonuses and exceptional powers (such as Nighteye or Waterbreathing) you'll find that every race in the game plays almost exactly the same as any other, so I really wouldn't worry about that.

Thanks for the info, guys! I'm currently working on a Hunger Games character, haha.