First off I'm not directly comparing the two games. I am also not saying that CoD was the sole originator of these ideas. In my mind CoD popularized these ideas, and really showed how effective they could be.

A little background.
For some it's strange to think of a time in which CoD wasn't a house hold name. A time when it wasn't a huge juggernaut that smashed its own records each year, and drew hatred from gamers labeling it "everything that's evil in the gaming industry". A time when all the frat boys played Halo, or Madden. Indeed CoD was once a somewhat low key IP that really centralized around World War 2... back when it was a viable setting. It was a franchise really just jogging along in the waning shadow that was Halo. It wasn't until CoD4 that the series really hit home with many gamers. The idea of leveling in a shooter seems common today, as it's a common technique. However CoD4 was really the game that started that trend. The idea of leveling was very addicting, as it had that MMO type feel. Coupled with a somewhat balanced game, and some innovative features like perks, and killstreaks it would start it's climb into the spotlight. World at War was released with Treyarch feeling the need to continue this World War 2 setting and it was somewhat of a flop. Treyarch has always been terrible at balancing weapons as their SMGs tend to outshine most other classes, especially in an era when most rifles were semi auto, or bolt action. Most fans were saddened by this step back and were looking towards the horizon for MW2.

Modern Warfare 2... the only midnight release I've ever gone to, and really is the reason I'll never go to another. The game promised much and introduced easily the most subtle feature that would grab onto the collars of the players and never let go.

Audio and Visual Cues:
This may seem stupid, or irrelevant, but it is actually a powerful tactic to keep players interested. Watching the progression in the CoD series, and also looking at the difference between BF3 and Bad Company 2, I've noticed these visual and audio cues that play when you level, complete a challenge, or unlock a weapon/attachment/perk. It's like how casinos have that overload of sounds, and sights. When someone wins there is a flashing of lights and a sound that plays to announce that person won. Whether it's you, or the person next to you that attack on your senses can be a determining factor as to whether you play again or not. The same idea has been implemented into many popular games.

Skyrim is no exception. When you leveled in Morrowind or Oblivion you were greeted with a "You leveled", it wasn't very significant, nor was it flashy. However in Skyrim you're greeted with a powerful choir who fit the Nordic feel of the game, you see that level bar progress until it fills it completely. The bar then flashes and you're told that you leveled up. This little greeting is then look forward to as you're being rewarded for leveling, and even by progressing.

Perks:
While some games try to cover up their "perks" with a different name Skyrim doesn't sugar coat it. These are perks, they're more interactive, they have different components, different ideas. It's no longer random points increasing with little, to no visual representation. It's now a perk that you can select, a perk that explain what it does and allows for advancement within the skill tree. While perks are more of a blending between conventional skill trees, and perks, they allow for a customizing of the character similar to CoD. In CoD you could extensively be a run and gunner, stealth, or tactical player. Not unlike the different RPG archetypes that Skyrim has.

Movie Styled story:
The way that games are going they strive to have that "movie feel". While some games like CoD fill you with over the top, dude bro moments. Others try to take a more traditional approach like Uncharted. Either way many games want you to have that feeling of "epicness", and want you to always be engaged. Skyrim is the same way, the story is much more fast paced, allowing for small pockets of down time (like climbing up 7,000 steps) that let you soak in the world that Bethesda has created. When you do catch your breath you're funneled along again, fighting more dragons, stopping civil wars, and saving the princess.

While I'm not arguing that CoD is the direct cause of these changes. There is something to be said about the influence CoD has on the entire market, even on games outside its own genre.

Since CoD is a the top of the food change in terms of popularity I'm not surprise if game industries learn something from it. I've never played CoD or BF3 but any smart company can learn something from anything. Remember what they say about, "keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer." A smart artist learns something even from the worst art. In this case, a company can learn something from a game that's hated by many.

but one of the things that i think a lot of people do not realize, cod is not at the top of the food chain of gaming, it's at the top of the food chain of brogaming, or dorm room gaming, etc. most people who play cod are not hardcoe gamers, they are extremely casual college kids who like to kill people in video games in between sessions of beer pong and bong hits...a group of people who's opinion is not taken very seriously...

Interesting observations!

The most popular titles are always a reflection of the direction within media. Computer gaming as a media form have merged with other media forms to create crossovers, they freely incorporate the media of movie pictures, board games, graphic novels and other forms of expression.

A successful modern computer game is far from just a game, Farmville isn't just a game, Skyrim isn't just a game, Angry Birds is...well I guess it's just a game...

Underestimating the demographics of casual gamers and not taking them seriously is the worst mistake you can make in game design. Applying poor and lazy design of game mechanics with the attitude that the average gamer is too stupid and disengaged to notice will fail, because they will see the sloppiness and throw your game out for something better.

Morrowind had a rather movie like story line, same with Oblivion, Fallout 1 and 2 had perks.

read my post again, i never said that you should make design choices based ON the casual gamer. that's why bethesda needs to stop making their games toddler proof with mechanics that are so easy to comprehend that it's just not fun after a few hours. that was what was great about daggerfall and morrowind, although morrowind had a little less of it, but daggerfall, that game was so hard you couldn't just pick it up. but i know bethesda isn't going ot do that, because that's bad marketing, because these cod brogamers can't grasp it. if it's not a red target with auto aim then duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur wut do i do.

I assure you it is far from a name in my house. Well, it's a name but I can't post it here.

You think that CoD was the first game that had bells and whistles when you leveled up? EVERY video game made after pong does that.

Perks and skill trees are the same thing. This was also done long before CoD.

I read this part three times. You are saying that because Skyrim has a storyline and an almost movie-like aptitude, that it has taken that idea from CoD? Are you kidding me?

I will argue that CoD has ANY influence on Skyrim what so ever. I find it hard to even have them mentioned in the same forum. Good or bad.

At the time of its' release Daggerfall was generally perceived as a hybrid-rpg for the doom generation, dumbed down for those who couldn't deal with the complexity and patience required for turn-based strategy that other rpg-games employed. The difficulty in Daggerfall was not in the complex and intricate nature of its' character design and mechanics, but in the clumsiness of the game, with poor feedback and non-responsive controls, inaccessible dungeon areas due to the random construction feature and the oh so famous falling into limbo feature. If you were lucky enough to get a random quest to a dungeon where the game didn't crash as you tried to travel there, and the random object of the quest was in the first door to the left, then it wasn't very difficult at all.

CoD is the first and only game what has had movie like story, perks, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eCDMtQ0Er4&feature=related?

That's not what I read into his submission. What I read is that CoD employs and uses these features effectively, not that it was invented with CoD.

It sounds like all you're talking about is 1) "Dinging". Common in any RPG, no matter how it's presented. Been done decades now. Not just COD. And 2) Cinematic narratives? Been done for awhile too. A long while. At least with adventure games, back in the 90s. I'd say the marriage of action and adventure especially, like in the Wing Commander series.

It's the title. Suggesting the any aspect of Skyrim is taken from a page in the CoD book, is silly. Just because they have similarities does not mean they were from CoD, when those features were clearly existent before C...that game.

EDIT : Bringing them together in one game. CoD doesn't come to mind.

The only thing I see between TES and CoD. Is the fact that TES has become more combat then RPG and in some ways it is CoD with Swords. IMHO that is what the series has become with Skyrim. Great graphics and combat and barely any immersion or RP factors. Look at the players themselves since Oblivion, Fallout 3, and not this game. Alot of the newer players do not even understand the concept of role playing or think it is weird and creepy. There are a few that like the older games, but the majority I have meet in multiplayer and MMOs don't care about anything else but how cool they are because they're kill ratio is higher then someone elses in gaming.

They learned the parts they shouldn't have, while failing to learn the reasons why the game had staying power.

I find it creepy and weird that some people find RPGs creepy and weird.

But I do agree that Skyrim is more of a action/adventure with RPG elements. It's still a great game.

I don't beleive that CoD was the first to do, use effectivly or capitalize on any of those concepts, I don't even think they were the ones that popularized them, they were, if anything, the first to effectivly use them in tandom and in that particular genera (and even that is unlikely). also to credit them with using the term "perk" is ludicrous, just because other people choose to refer to them with different words (most of which are just as fitting and accurate) doesn't mean you need to woo the one who used your favorite.

While you make valid points to the effect that those sorts of thing have on a game, I can see no reason to bring CoD into it at all, and I honestly don't think CoD has had any direct (or really very much indirect) influence on this game, I would even say that the whole "audio visual cues" part (which is probably the only relevant part of your post) is more a result of player feedback than outside influence (people have long been saying "it just didn't FEEL big enough"). And the rest of your points have nothing much to do with anything, one is merely in the choice of a word, one is essentialy "games have stories therefore likeness to CoD".

While I'm not arguing that CoD hasn't had ANY effect on the market. it has had very little effect (particularly for the things you mentioned) and only really within it's own genera (and even then usually for the worst).

P.S. I'm not saying I don't agree with about the features themselves, I just see absolutely no reason to bring CoD up in particular, because when you really look at it it's a rather stock sort of game and these features have been displayed much more effectively/predominantly elsewhere.