OK, you want me to slay dragons, battle bandits, rid the land of daedra, put up with Daedric Princes, dodge bears and wolves, battle giants after resolving a civil war and saving the world and now you want me to put up with a wife that is a pain in the butt?

And why isn't my wife nagging the piss out of me for not cleaning the dishes? Sorry, but Skyrim is very unrealistic in this aspect.

You guys need a mod in which your virtual wife has a secret 2nd life beyond the known "as you wish, my fame"-phrase LOL

What are you implying...

Anyway, I agree it really doesn't need much effort, being such a minor and trivial feature.

There is sims for that.

TES: VI WILL SHE EVER SHUT UP?!

I dunno. Part of it seems RL-like. For instance, I had chosen Marcuio because he was young, handsome and had excellent mage skills. That was BEFORE I found out he's a hireling and lives in a BAR. So instead, I choose a less handsome fellow with strong muscles who owns a blacksmith shop AND a house. One must be practical, afterall.

i would buy that game

I don't want more realistic marriage. I'd rather have an estate or stronghold, and if part of having an estate is to get married and have a wife manage it, then that's fine.

But marriage should not be a full blown feature like what a disturbing number of people are trying to suggest. It should be something that supports a major feature like having estates.
Then there should be different stats for wives. Some wives are good at managing estates and will earn you a nice income. Some wives are actually better at combat and will join you as a companion.

Marriage also shouldn't be cheap where someone will marry you after a "favor". The worst example would be that woman in the Whiterun bar. After you beat her up in a brawl, she then wants to marry you? Skyrim sending a wrong message.

lol. marriage should be more like Skyrim. I rarely ask my spouse for food... sometimes I remember to ask about the store, but since I'm rollin' in the septims I don't worry over much about it. My spouse is there trusting that I'll come back and is content to share my life with me without some long list of expectations.

yeah. this should be the foundation of marriage... lol.

Marriages aren't realistic enough... GOOD!!

If it was more realistic there'd be a spate of mass suicides by single advlt males between the ages of 18 and 30 or being diagnosed with depression!

I love it. Free food, money and a house all because I did one quest for some girl is great. It's so easy too. "Are you interested in me"? "Well, yes are you interested in me"? "yes". "Alright then, it's settled, we will get married tomorrow". Uh, okay I guess.