Alright, so there are sooo many people talking about how skyrim is not an rpg. first off i think it is, but i aint posting this to argue that point. Here are some things I think would improve the RPG elements of the game:

-Multiple Marriages and Divorces
-hardcoe mode: sleep, eat, drink, survive, realism
-Adoptable Children, ability to have children
-Ability to own companies: meadries, fisheries, inns, and merchant caravans
-More diologue options/ a better system for generating more dialogue for all npcs, that always gives something to talk about
-own-able permanent pet dogs
-npcs interact a bit more w/ eachother instead of just the player (mom talks to kid, follower talks to wife, wife goes to town talks to merchants, etc.)
-smarter follower AI, one that also chooses conversation better as well as wisely choosing good times to engage in combat...
-Zzar.:hu's post on enhanced character development check his post >> http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1341740-my-idea-for-a-completely-overhauled-character-development-system/

All of the above aim at fixing some element common in many RPG games. All affect your ability to pretend a role as the character in life. They focus on house life, social life, adventure life, and business life. By improving these areas of the game, role-playing would be a lot better, not that it's bad now by any means. Skyrim is an amazing RPG. One of the best, hands down.

What do you think about those things and what am i missing?

ps- try not to just argue about whether skyrim is an rpg, im not trying to argue about it cuz it gets boring having to exchange the same useless banter with hundreds of people whom i do not know anyway

You need some enhanced character development, ala this:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1341740-my-idea-for-a-completely-overhauled-character-development-system/

Woah dude very nice system you have planned there, I will bump it! well thought out and i see the effort you put into the post. Thanks for the idea! Ill add a summary to my list if thats okay w/ you.

Fine with me lol. The ideas I've been getting lately make me wish I started modding years ago.

Either that or that I had a team of modding minions to whip into a release

haha!! and it seams you actually have the ability to work your ass off too.. with that longggg post. Most people who want to have modding minions do it cuz their lazy but you actually have some good ideas dude, it would be interesting.

Oh yes, it might not look like it just looking at me in person but I have a hell of a work ethic. So long as I'm actually interested in what I'm doing and see a real point to it, that is.

Also doesn't help that I type drawn out posts like that all the time anyway Habit I picked up on political forums, where explaining everything was imperative. That post could be much longer I can assure you.

Holy crap. I need to start thinking my arguments out in that much detail. You sure get a hell of a lot more responses when you do. For me, school has taken all my mental energy, so hardly enough cognitive power remains to expend on extended anolysis posts on this forum... lol!

I do agree that Skyrim is an RPG, but it's more of an action/adventure RPG. A lot of people get worked up over the differences of Skyrim compared to previous TES titles.

Skyrim is a great game. The game world is very large and full of detailed dungeons and caves. I find the detail of the world astonishing. But when it comes to the NPC's I don't think they're very characteristic. Some NPC's are very interesting and have lots of dialogue, but most don't.

everything you listed should of been in the maingame anyway..

A lot of the ideas you propose seem to be aiming at moving the game in the direction of a social life simulation like the sims. Though you could say that the sims is very much a roleplaying-game, it's not exactly what I am after when I play a fantasy-rpg.

I don't see what the majority of those suggestions have to do with the term RPG.

It would make Role Playing Certain things alot easier.

you are absolutely correct with that. the npc interaction is sub-par in comparison to previous titles

role playing is easier when theres more stuff to play a role in. I focused on enhancing the role of house-life (marriage, children, pets) as well as social (interaction with local npcs around home) and survival (having to do things like eat and sleep) all of those allow you to play a role better in some way or another.

-No computer game will ever match your LARP or table-top adventures.

-Robert Jordan is not a good writer.

That second bit of wisdom was a freebie.

if Bethesda spent some time working on character interaction it would go a long way

Wow... self-contradicting much? >_>

I agree entirely it might be the number 1 thing on my list .. yeah it definately is!

These ideas are great! esp. the hardcoe mode from NV. And how about some Minsc and Boo type conversation instead of the tired meuling of Lydia.

All those things you listed are really only cosmetic. If for example more interaction with NPCs and richer conversations lead to branching paths in a plot or story, yes. If adding a dog makes you unwelcome or welcome in areas or with certain NPCs, yes. IF being married or not has an effect on how casual conversations are engaged yes. But just adding them for the sake of, just seems to be as superfluous as all of the things one can do in the game already. Adding elements such as you list and having them have effects on the game world and plots is what an RPG is to me; my opinion of course. What you posit, is no more than I could do in Fable II (UGH!).

you have good taste, my friend. I agree. I still think that kids should be adoptable, though. lol.

I want a wolf, like in the song of ice and fire books. A great big bloody wolf!