I haven't played many RPG's in my life (in fact I only started playing games a lot during 2009) so I would not know if this is a common trend or not.

But goodness me, why so many underground/cave-like areas? Is this common amongst other RPG's? I'm not complaining, but it gets annoying that every quest I do either involves me going into the ground or talking to someone. Talking to people is fine, but going into deep, dark, enemy-filled close-quarter areas is just not fun to me.

I guess that's why I preferred the Civil War Quests the most.

I like fighting above-ground, on a field or in the forests.

Someone needs to find their inner spelunker.

No.

Then wander the wilderness.

Seriously, though, I understand that caves and such are not everyones "cup of tea". Personally, I like them. Not all of them are close quarters; Wolfskull Cave (or something similar) comes to mind.

Dungeons of one sort of another are pretty typical in RPGs. If its a matter of aesthetics there are some games that have above-ground "dungeons" like the Dungeon Siege and Diablo series. However if you're looking for lots of adventuring across wide open plains there are fewer options. You may want to check out Mount & Blade - I haven't played these games myself, but they get a lot of praise on the forums and I believe they're strictly above ground affairs.

As for Skyrim, while quests often involve dungeons you can also just indulge in your wanderlust and travel the land. There's plenty to do and see.

As a stealth archer I do like the wide open plans occasionally. But I'm a dungeon crawler at heart. Thanks Diablo II =)

Yes, actually you do need to find your inner spelunker. Why? Because this if VERY common in these type of games. If you've been playing for 3 years I would have imagined you would know that by now, but I suppose you were probably playing other types of games for the majority of the time.

It's only natural to put creepy creatures in areas away from light and people, hence UNDERGROUND. If you don't like it then you won't have much fun in these kinds of game. In Skyrim there is plenty to do both above and below ground, so it's up to you what you do, but if you don't like going below ground you are going to miss out on a lot.

So, in my opinion, you DO need to find you inner spelunker.

Well, caves are byproducts of lava flows. Some in Skyrim are hollows, valleys which are created by steam geysers with iced over "roofs". then, in Skyrim, you have to take any critters or people in account. One pen and paper RPG that I've played before had a critter called a land kra (think Dune big ass worms) that made tunnels (eating) and other people or critters would inhabit them. Some are old mining caves.

Since there are vampires, necromancers, bandits, etc (all outlaws who needs a place to live...)

Google cave map USA or Europe or etc and you will find them all over. Of course, they are a lot more dangerous than Skyrim representation of them...

I kick ass as a stealth archer underground (always in the dark). Not so much aboveground where attacking forts get my ass handed to my stealth archer.

They don't call the original RPG "Dungeons & Dragons" for nothing.

Pretty much. Now, the TES games have more of them, just because they have such a larger world. A more linear RPG might have less but larger dungeons. And what form the "dungeons" will take depends on the genre - Fallout 3, for instance, had some underground caves... but it also had a whole bunch of ruined buildings, bunkers, and subways. Which, in the end, are still basically "dungeons".

(heck, some early RPGs, like the first Diablo, the original Wizardry games, etc.... were almost all dungeon - besides the town where you stocked up on supplies and trained, the game was a hole in the ground. )

Where do you think the nickname "dungeon crawler" came from?

Welcome to the club

I managed to stay above ground pretty easily in Morrowind(wilderness and cities) and Oblivion(cities) and to my surprise even Fallout 3. I am with you OP, too many dungeons in Skyrim and cities being awful isn't helping. Or you can call it too crammed too.

Yes dungeons are pretty common in rpg games since way back in the days of Dungeon Master and Eye Of The Beholder in the 1990s to pen and paper in the 80s and 1970s etc. For me this was the main attraction of rpgs going into a dark haunted house type setting full of different types of monsters and wondering what i would come across while admiring the great artwork and sound effects. Its like having my own humongous amusemant park to enjoy whenever i want for a one time payment. Pretty much my two favorite dungeon filled rpgs are Tes 2 Daggerfall and Skyrim with there huge to humongous scale where one might get lost and never come to see the light of day again unless one was smart enough to leave a trial of some sort to backtrack.

It seems like I did a lot less dungeon delving in Morrowind and Oblivion. Maybe it was a conscious design decision? I played MW for 150+ hours and only a handful of quests ever sent me into a dungeon. Not complaining though, Skyrim's dungeons are pretty all right.

http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Drelas%27_Cottage

mini boss "house" dungeon

And dungeons and dragons are Skyrim's main attraction

"What do you mean Skyrim's not an RPG? It's got DUNGEONS and DRAGONS!!!"

To the OP: Have you ever heard of the term "dungeon master"?

I am so sigging that.

I only hate dungeons if I'm playing an MMORPG. Skyrim's dungeons are fun.

Heh, I kinda agree with this. I hate going underground. I just feel like I'll get lost somehow, like if I stumble off a little ledge I won't be able to get back up or something. This was really bad in Oblivion for me, in ruins, where I once fell and couldn't find my way back up, so for like an hour I was trying to find a way out. I guess caves and whatnot make me video game claustrophobic. But hell, I usually go in them anyway.

Thank you my good sir

I actually dislike Skyrim's dungeons, but that's only because

1. there are too many
2. there are not enough unique tilesets to make the variety greater

I would have gladly given up half of all the dungeons in Skyrim, if more of them were like Blackreach in scale and uniqueness. I am not a fan of quantity over quality.

comparing skyrim and oblivion dungeons, i like skyrim better. Oblivion i hated dungeons and basically avoided all dungeon quests.
Skyrim is much better, but it does get repetitive after a while(get X from cave A, or kill Y in Cave .
Some dungeons are good, like that big city under Skyrim

Skyrim's got less dungeons and it has a long ridiculous respawn rate. Other then that the dungeons are ok with a few execptions that are excellent.