Had a theory; very curious.

It seems that the amount of hype that fans gat into pre game, ie how often you were on the forums, checked news, stocked the team, ate up every screen shot and fuzzy camra video has an effect on how much you like the game when you finally got it. People who seem to have gotten very worked up before the release seem to be the ones who were more dissapointed later.

Personally, I did get very hyped up but I still very much enjoy the game. I don't know if the flaws I spot have more to do with my game art degree or the fact that I did pay attention to every bit of news on the game.

I was just curious what was everyone else's experiance? Do you think your hype led to your like/dislike of the game?

I won't build expectations high for anything, you always seem to be disappointed.
Your mind wants things to be perfect, so it "forgets" to let you consider the negative side of things. Once you see those things, you get disappointed.

I think I got too hyped, and it didn't quite live up to my expectations, but it's still a great game, so I wouldn't say I'm disappointed in it.

I agree with you, while hyping up a game is great for sales, it ultimatly leads to the game being more disappointing and thus seems like it isn't as good as it really is.

This.
I went on the PC every day to check Skyrim news.

I learned my lesson with Oblivion. I got way too excited for that game and I felt way too let down when it was released. In the months leading up to Skyrim's release I rarely read this forum, did not watch any videos or read any interviews connected with Skyrim. I probably knew less about this game on 11/11/11 than anybody on this forum.

It was wonderful.

pessimism rocks, you can only be pleasently suprised too bad i was not the pessimist before hand (although i was not pleasently suprised i was not, over-all, dissapointed)

I don't think so. I didn't really care about the game for a while, but a few weeks before the release I got quite "hyped", and for a few weeks after I was "hyped" for a while and playing it constantly.

After about 2 months of playing through most parts of the game, I came to the conclusion that it's a terrible game and now I haven't played it in almost a month.

I try not to read too much pre-release stuff. I put things on a checklist to get and hope for the best. I didn't register here until it came out, but I was a fan of previous TES games (not diehard, but big enough to buy this without reading reviews or anything). I didn't even see the trailer until after it was released. I had no idea what to expect. Even the whole dragon story arc.

Not so sure about that. I was on the forums religiously after the game was announced, checking every bit of info I could. But my hype wasn't through the roof or anything. In fact, I'd say that the more I read between the lines, the less hyped I was. And when the game came out, it was pretty much exactly what I was thinking it would be. Both the good and the bad. That's not to say there weren't some surprises, on both sides, but overall I was neither surprised, nor let down.

I had high hype and I still think Skyrim is awesome. It exceeded already high expectations.

Oh, I was happy it was coming out, and I knew I'd get it, but I didn't spend much time reading about it or looking at videos beforehand. I got it simply because it was an ES game. A bit disappointed with it, actually.

I guess my point is, despite knowing that it was coming, I didn't want anything to influence my perception before I played it.

I checked almost everything Skyrim related in the months before 11/11/11. Yeah, that made me know a lot more than I should but I don't regret it one bit. Seeing how the game came into being (just watch the concept art and various pre-release skyrim videos Bethesda officially released) made me appreciate everything I see in game much more. A well-modded skyrim (and there aren't that much mods yet compared to oblivion) is a thing of beauty. Not only did Bethesda create the best world in all their games so far, they improved on almost every aspect from Oblivion... like the faces, voice acting, uniqueness of locations. Not to mention that Skyrim has the best post-release support for a beth game. We already got 4-5 patches and a high res texture pack. There's even a beta patch forum. All this within 5 months after release. I don't remember seeing this kind of thing in Morrowind, Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

Can't complain

It seems a sound theory but it doesn't apply to me as I was one of those who soaked up every morsel of information in anticipation and yet I was not dissapointed by the finished product. I'll admit that there are things that seem missing/ill thought out but I imagine that making a game such as Skyrim is not an easy task so I am unstanding of any bug/missing ideas. Game developers are only human after all and I'd wager that nobody on these forums could make a better game without it's share of bugs and imbalances.

I didn't even pay attention to the game. In fact, I only saw the teaser and that's about it.

After Oblivion I didn't have high expectations so I was pleasantly surprised by how good Skyrim is. Not perfect, not Morrowind, but still very good.

I didn't pay much attention to the hype. I bought Skyrim because it was Elder Scrolls 5, and I'm a fan of the franchise. I knew there were dragons in it, and the game took place in Skyrim, but I wasn't glued to the internet, trying to find any pictures or info on the game pre-release.

If Skyrim came out next year, I'd still be playing Dragon Age, or perhaps my copy of Mass Effect 2, which I've had for around 2 years now and haven't started a single playthrough.

I did'nt know anything about this game. My son popped round and said !! here Dad play this I think you'll love it as you once read LOTR to me I think this is up your street. Bless him..he was so right have not stopped playing it since its release NOV 2011

i forgot about this game until about november 1st and was like LOL SKYRIMS COMIN OUT AWESOME

so i was basically blown away, minus the consolization, which i knew was coming anyways. unlike some developers who promised otherwise (battlefield 3)