So I've just beat the main quest for the first time and I have 90 hours of game time according to Steam. I did some side quests at the beginning but after I was half way in the main quest I focused entirely on finishing it. I still haven't finished any other quest lines and didn't choose a side in the civil war. My character is only level 25 and he died only once (because I was distracted).

So there's still so much to be done, so many quests to complete, dungeons to explore, NPCs to meet. I'm amazed how some people can say this game is short.

Now I'm about to start a thief/assassin character that will join the thieves guild. I just haven't decided if I'll do it today or wait till the next patch comes out.

I was level 35, but I restarted and am now level 26, and I am still hunting down Word Walls. I am not even half way through the main quest, I think, and I have not done any side quests. Total hours between both characters must be somewhere between 60-90 hours. I restarted, because I wanted different perks.

Short are the MQ and the Guilds quests. And that is disappointing.

But Skyrim has hundreds hours of content.

The best way to lenghen your game is to never use Fast Travel, it makes getting to places quicker thus taking out the adventure in the game.

Got more than 100 hours of gameplay here, but I still haven't beat even half of the main quest.

The easiest way to extend your game play is just to start over constantly.

Never heard anybody say it was short. If they did, I don't know what game they were comparing it to because Bethesda games are some of the longest in gaming.

it really depends on what you think is short....

it can get quiet short with special characters that won't do all quests, but if you do all quests with diff. characters this game does take quiet a while.


don't know how long it takes to just do everything with one character, but i would never ever do that.

hi, after your completed the main quest, is there still dragons around to kill? or do i need to get all my kills now for the shouts. Also does completeing the main compain have any effect on any other quests.

I don't know the answer to those questions because I haven't done anything after I beat the MQ. But I think I read somewhere dragons will still be around.

Dragons will still be there after the main quest ends. And no, it has no effect on other quest lines.

@ OP: Agreed. People who think the game is short have clearly fast-travelled their way through all the quest lines as quickly as possible. There is literally no other explanation for how someone could think a game this colossal is short.

Don't get me wrong, I get tempted by fast travel every now and then. I'm on my second character at the moment (not that I've finished the first yet!) and I've rediscovered how much better the game is when you walk from location to location, taking in a few dungeons and sights on the way. I've actually changed my mind about the inclusion of fast travel - yeah, you don't have to use it if you don't want to, sure. That's fair enough. But I actually think even knowing the option is there takes away from the sheer enjoyment and danger of exploring. I'd advocate for its removal from TES VI.

When people are saying something about Skyrim and short, they most likely means the guilds when compared to previous games. The guilds is, overall, a major disappointment when compared to Oblivion, as they are not only far shorter time-wise but also shorter quest-wise. In Morrowind and Oblivion you climbed the ranks of a guild slowly but steadily, until you finally was at the top. Skyrim places you as the best of the best within a few quests of a storyline. Heck, you're even defined as the legendary Dragonborn within the first two or three quests of the main quest. Within the Thieves' Guild you're called a protege even directly after the very first introduction quest, and you're immediately treated differently as one would except from your "special" status. Dark Brotherhood: 2-3 quests and you're already the Listener. College of Winterhold: you go from a Novice to the Arch-Mage within a few quests, and spend practically no time at all learning the nature of magic, as one would expect from a school of magic. GG trying to level through the ranks, going from a lowly newbie to the most epic of Awesome in the Guilds. You can't. They are far too short and goes directly after trying to capture you by making you special REALLY EARLY on.

Not to mention that the main quest doesn't take more than 30 hours of playing if you set out to do it first. And even that is inflated by a number of side-quests and other random activities.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter. The game is as long as you make it. However it's a fact that the Guilds of Old is far gone. Gone is the leveling through the ranks of a Guild and gone is the long-standing question of whether or not you're someone special in the world. Skyrim introduces a new chapter of Bethesda design were players are introduced as special extremely early on regardless of storyline, all probably to capture what seems to be the short attention span mainstream gamers have today.

Honestly, many of the quests for everything but the thieves guild and the DB were incredibly boring in Oblivion. The MQ was pretty bad, the Warriors Guild was pretty bad, the Mages Guild was terrible. Thieves guild varied from pretty cool to ridiculously awesome, and DB ones are probably some of the most fun i've ever had in oblivion. So yeah, I miss those quests, but I don't miss the skeever--ahem, rat hunting, not one bit.

I'll be waiting for some cool mods that add the intermindiary quests in. I can't wait to drop another minotaur head on someone.

The game is short, but broad.

The MQ itself is doable in a few hours relatively easily, even without fast travel (although that'd probably add another hour or two to the completion time).. No way does it take 90 hours unless your character actually walks (and I mean literally WALKS) everywhere, or your character is poor in combat.

However, there is much you can do outside of the MQ; while this doesn't affect the 'length' of the game per se, it adds 'breadth' in the sense of there being many other things to do.