I imagined that being sung in Dave Mustaine's voice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=umeZtszNShk#t=14s

Claustrophobia is nothing to be ashamed of. But if you can't learn to put up with it in RPG-game dungeons, then the genre pretty much isn't for you, sadly. You'll be missing out on the majority of what most of them have to offer.

some vampire dugeon are so hard i flee alway....

Claustrophobic dungeons are the meat of most RPGs. Skyrim really could use more quests involving non-dungeon activities, but the dungeons are fun for me and I appreciate there being a lot of them. I haven't done them all yet.

Dungeons are convenient for designers because they provide discrete chunks of action players can complete in a single session. They are also easier to build, whether you're making a computer game or a tabletop game. When our D&D group is in a dungeon we don't have as many ways to throw unpredictable craziness at our DM. Given our habit of doing so, I'm surprised he puts so many encounters outdoors.

Underground dungeons are a product of habit or setting. Some games have lots of above-ground installations (Fallout 3) and others have many that are open to the world.

I kind of agree. I do like a dungeon crawl every now and so often, but I'd prefer more varied, above ground, quests.

Case in point: I love the dark brotherhood and thief quest lines.

Edit: Not saying that they necessarily should cut down on the dungeons though, the amount adds to the replayability and to the scale of the world..

To add. I saw a let's play yesterday which involved a quest for the bard's college I think; and a dungeon... I think there's room to flesh out the world play. Add a fishing pole while you're at it

At least some "dungeons" are above ground now. Theres been nothing like Valtheim Towers in previous TES games. In MW the bandits never even left their caves.

Yes.

In my opinion the Dungeons are one of the strenghts of the game,well designed and realized.

My only complaints in that regard are the "puzzles" -too simple -and a certain "linearity" and repetitiveness -especially in some of the nord tombs.

But some of the Dwemer ruins are really masterpieces,and so other dungeons with the natural lights filtering,falls and other nice touches.

This is a bit like winning the lottery and complaining about the taxes. Dungeons have been, and always will be a part of RPG's. Its about restricting the movement of the players, forcing the player to use tactics, giving the monsters the advantage of being hidden, solving puzzles, creating an environment that is unpleasant and presenting a challenge for the player. It forces you to learn how to deal with a strange environment.

despite a lot of the talks about the dungeons being redesigned, a good majority all follow the same pattern of having a tunnel at the end that conveniently leads back to the start, with a complementary chest of loot. It drags on and gets repetitive after a while. I really feel like I am not really accomplishing anything in the game, no matter how many quests I do to make Skyrim safer.

Unfortunately its the only way to make the dungeons "appealing" to the wider audience

More simplicity = more audience

I think its understandable after all,even if questionable.With Skyrim Bethesda have widely improved their sales.

And its better even for "us" perhaps
more money = more resources for the next Es game (and hopefully even more depth with talented writers with all due respect to the writers of Skyrim of course,but i think there's a large room for improvement in that regard)

You know... It's funny how I was listening to Peace Sells at the very moment I read this. Ended up opening two peace sells tabs for myself when I clicked the link.

Annyhoo, on-topic: I think Skyrims dungeons are much better than the oblivion dungeons. No complaining

At a guess:


1) Tradition. It's an RPG so you expect a lot of them.

2) Rendering: you can greatly increase the amount of available land area without killing the graphics engine. Especially useful for people on consoles.

3) Makes it easier for more than one person to work on the details at the same time without getting in each other's way.

4) A way to produce radically different enviroments easily.

Yes, and it's ironic that Skyrim has more dungeons & dragons than D&D could ever have dreamed of!

Another irony is the one thing I hated playing the most in Oblivion was the Planes of Oblivion itself. That place, even the gates, put the willies up me good and proper, especially on the later levels when I was forced to run for the Sigil Stones with tons of sqealing Daedra right on my tail. Just imagine what that place and its creatures would look like if it was upgraded to Skyrim standards!

So many dungeons that I'm surprised that sinkholes aren't appearing on a regular basis. Would prefer much, much bigger cities with many, if not most quests occuring in them. That said, it's pretty much true for all TES games. Nirn must be mostly hollow.

And then the DM said, "You, nord barbarian, have been robbed of your clothes by a witch. You must wait in the nvde for someone to help you, but most people will just make you a joke."

The Nord says, "I got double triple crits when attacking her! How was that not killing her?"

The DM says, "You are now a naked nord, accept it."

Time passes, and the nord barbarian has been waiting for help for 5 years.

I just had to make a naked nord joke involving D&D.