First, let me clarify, when I mean scaled down level size, I mean to say that lore wise, the average province is supposed to be roughly the size of Great Britain (sidenote, I heard that once, and can't confirm it, so if someone corrects me, I'll edit this). Skyrim the game, however, is only 16 square miles. To me, this really breaks immersion, if 16 square miles was 1/9 of Tamriel, then Tamriel is essentially just a larger than average Island, not a supercontinent.

I can travel from Solitude to Riften in an in game day. Worst of all, an in game day is like an hour and twelve minutes in real life. I mean, it took me two hours to walk from my middle school to my house if I missed the bus. An entire province shouldn't feel smaller than my hometown. Because of this, sometimes I prefer fast traveling. I mean, when I just started the game, I really wanted to see everything, and it felt like a long, harrowing journey to go from one city to another (especially if you are not using your compass). Now, I've seen everything, and it doesn't feel like an epic journey to go from one side of the map to another, it just feels like a minor inconvenience. Again, I'm not blaming Bethesda per se, I'm sure making 16 square miles of terrain that detailed wasn't a walk in the park, but it really doesn't feel like an entire province. In fact, I kind of wish the game was set in a single hold but still be 16 square miles, Let's say, Whiterun hold. (keep in mind, TESIII:Morrowind was only half the province of Morrowind, so it's not like it hasn't been done before). Yes, I'd still be able to travel the entire hold in a real life hour, but it wouldn't feel as bad, it wouldn't feel like Tamriel was just this small little Island.

Also, keep in mind, lore wise, Skyrim has many more towns and villages that were not in the game because there is only so much you can do with 16 square miles. Making the entire game in one hold would allow the developers space to develop these cities more thoroughly. Maybe Whiterun city could be as big as the Imperial city in Oblivion, instead of just this small little fortress. Maybe Riverwood and Helghan could be as big as Whiterun is now. and maybe the smaller cities that were cut from the game could be as big as riverwood and helgan. Again, this would make the world of Tamriel feel much bigger because it's kind of ridiculous to have an entire province with only 5 major cities

If the game was set in a single hold then all the cities would be the same size they are now, just in one hold.

I don't mind it at all.

As long as I'm having fun, I don't mind.

I seem to recall hearing that Skyrim has a significantly faster walking/running speed than Oblivion (which itself was much faster than Morrowind). This helps to explain the feeling of the province being too small.


Well obviously. OPs point is that the feeling of a small gameworld detracts from the fun he's having.

I like the idea of a down scaled landsize.. However that comes with the cost of making the world given superb.. As in quests being actually good, unlike Skyrim where I felt they were all bad.. Or well, coming from a game like Fallout New Vegas, one does have high expectations.. Also, it comes with more diversity and better world design.. The design of things such as dungeons were poor in regards to playstyles.. A "no kill" playstyle should be possible.. The magic system is also quite poor, the addition of mark and recall would have been a good idea.. But I can live without many of the things said if I can just get good quests..

It's understandable, so I don't look too hard at Bethesda. After all, I have yet to see a game that does a better job.

Maybe if everything else is extremely improved, then I would find a smaller landsize acceptable.

I personally like Skyrim's landscapes because they were more varied and vertical than Oblivion's. It's a shame levitation and such were not included; I think Skyrim was a missed opportunity to have some great vertical gameplay...

This

.....Is.. Is this a joke? I actually chuckled at that.

This.

Sadly, that's the one thing that will kill TES. No competition.

Because they've been doing such a poor job thus far

No, not at all. Bethesda puts the a lot of love into their games and it shows. But in due time, when the current generation of Betheda moves on, you don't think they will just slap together a game in 1 or 2 years to make a quick buck off the name? As much as I love Skyrim, it's beginning to show.

Competition is good for the game and the economy.

Lack of competition hasn't helped them.

Bethesda isnt one to just slap a game togeather in a year or two, thats what Obsidian is good... well... not so good, but anyways.... for.

These other developers don't go full throttle and instead push out low-budget crap games, I almost got svckered into that lotr war in the North, until I saw that there was no real free roam or character creation.
Such a shame too.

Probably not. Don't fix what isn't broke. Beth puts a handful of years into their games and it's given them a lot of $$$.

In the future, who is to say they won't become that? It's one of those cases where I'd rather the TES series Die a hero rather than living to become the villain... but let's take out dying and replace it with competing to be a hero.

I don't know how Skyrim compares to Cyrodiil in size (I'm guessing they're about the same), but it is definitely larger than Vvardenfell. So it's not like the games are getting smaller.

Honestly dude? Considering the fact that I'm still playing the game, I think that they did their job pretty well.

That said........ it would be nice to have some more land to explore *looks at cyrodiil, high rock and hammerfell*

Really, Skyrim's walking speed feels really slow (especially the horses. I mean, it feels like I'm walking at a light jog compared to Oblivion with ~50 speed. And of course, in Oblivion, walking at 100 speed, you were just wizzing by everything.

Yes, but think of it this way, would you rather have a game, compressed into 16 square miles, that takes place over all of the USA, with 5 major cities, or would you rather have a game, compressed into 16 square miles, with 5 major cities, that takes place in one state? I guess that's the difference that I'm trying to make. The 16 mile state seems more realistic to me.

The are both 16 square miles, Morrowind was 9. Daggerfall was 60,000, Arena was maybe a third of that.