Because, consoles.
Bethesda couldn't make the game too pretty because of the outdated console hardware, and the UI had to be dumbed down enough for the smallest of kids getting Skyrim for their xbox this christmas.

Of course. I heard the current economic climate is due to console users too.

If Bethesda had delayed the PC release by a month or two, by making a proper PC version with sharp textures and mouse oriented UI and all that, I would have been more than happy to wait.

Stupid pc kids, wanting skyrim to be "pretty" even though the graphics are one of the most improved features of the game certainly good enough to modern standard with nice textures and smooth well modeled faces although it could have done with 50% less dirt, but it's the last thing the game needed more time spent on replacing textures all over the world, making more complex and detailed models and wasting thier time on things that will get replaced in a year max. Smallest of kids? Other then you TES isn't a game your typical 4 year old will play, congrats on getting that awesome pc rig from Santa but for stop crying that the game isn't pushing all of its boundries, that is a completely unrealistic demand and only results is Duke Nukem syndrome or worse. Maybe the better light source physics isn't as ridiculous a demand but then again how much would that push save files and processing of these millions of light sources. I'm sure someone will or even maybe already has done a better light source mod but likely only 5% of the player base will be capable and want to use it anyway without any issues.


Said it so much better and funner then I did.

As for the fact mods made already are proof of consoles ruining your version by making it a poorly ported game, I wouldn't be so sure the same modders with access to the same resources couldn't polish up the xbox version and as you even stated UI is a personal perference so the fact a mod of it exists regardless of length of time after the games release is proof of nothing. The xbox version isn't all people seem to think it is, aside from potential better textures, faster loading times and other things a pc can do which consoles can't, you have access to the in game console to fix the game glitches that console users get like ones resulting from a broken questing system (not being able to recognise you have an item in your inventory beyond the dragonstone etc.).

It's amazing how many topics become either a console slagging match or "skill" endowment contest to show only certain people should have the right to play a game, how dare anyone not born 20 years ago get into the series, I bet I pee off those people by playing when I have a nerve problem in my hands so not the best of reflexes.

If you really want dungeons to be so dark turn off your TV, that boost the risk factor greatly ha.

Completely unrealistic but I'd love an option to play the skyrim main theme from the systems menu as I walk around, It's just so epic it's a shame you hear it so rarely.

I sense some hurt feelings here. And yes, smallest of kids, I'm thinking 10-12 year olds. TES is mainstream now so everyone wants it.
But it's useless to explain why PC gaming is superior to a console-boy.
I'm 21 thank you, and I've built my fair share of computers, including the one I use now.
It's just sad when you see how much better the graphics/UI/Size of the game could've been was it not for the limits of the outdated consoles.

While there will be mods released that will make me think that they should have been implemented by default, I'll still be glad they weren't. Why? Because no one mod caters to all tastes. I can guarantee that most people would not want the mods I will be making for personal use to be part of the default package, just as I would not want some mods others are making to be so included, as the changes in both cases will not suit those they are not aimed at.

Most PC gamers are advlts. Most console gamers you`ll find are below advlt age or just over it. There are some very good (and obvious) reasons why. The reason we have a somewhat dumbed down game (especially the UI) and the PC suffers from `consolitis` is because of the younger console and the `can`t be arsed` older crowd. Bethesda ran to the console crowd because that`s where the money is- We `Pcers` can `make do` as far as they`re concerned.

As long as the console version was ready for Xmas that`s all that mattered.

It`s a huge mistake to assume most PC owners are kids.

Is this from the insider information you have?

The 11/11/11 release date was set in stone a year previous. It's nothing to do with Christmas deadlines. And you can't possibly say PC games are advlts and console gamers are kids. That's just a stupid assumption.

Precisely, some of these noobs just don't know......

Even go back to New Vegas. If you enjoyed peering through the sights of your gun, it wasn't always this way until Fallout 3 modder created ironsights mod and it got carried over to New Vegas. So many other mods people take for granted. As an example if you like harvesting herbs and like the way the plants change shape when they picked, it was not this way in Oblivion unti the harvest mod came aboard and that got carried over to Skyrim, etc etc

This is only because Bethesda designed dungeons without considering darkness at all. Obviously, you can't just tack it on and expect there not to be issues. Same reason "just not using fast travel" is a bad idea, since so many quests send you back and forth what would unreasonably long distances for a game w/out fast travel.

Had they designed dungeons with well placed and fitting light sources, had NPC AI be as reliant on light to see as the player(excluding stuff like Falmer) and use torches and such, and not just thrown levers and traps around with no real organization or perceivable reason for them to be there(like how NPCs will run into traps they seemingly set themselves, in the middle of a hallway that they'd likely use often if they weren't on scripted pacing paths), darker dungeons could've added a lot to the atmosphere and gameplay.

Personally, I find dungeon crawling gameplay in Skyrim is so terrible already I can toss what little of it there is for a boost to atmosphere which is really the only thing dungeons have going for them since combat and trap aspect of them is repetitive, predictable, and not particularly challenging. So I use a mod that makes dungeons darker in spite of the above issues.

2 out of four aint bad?
thu'umic souds like a simply stupid idea.
darker dungeons, well, i have my darkness turned all the way down and have never needed a torch or light (and iv finished the TG, well the nightngale part, and returned the key), so they would be really nice.
there is no sorting in the game abut some is definitely needed.
the gaphics look just fine.

I've already said It was beyond me, that level of selfishness that you'd see months of painstaking animation and detailing on textures per item to make the game look great for 5% of the fans (including those in the 10-14 range why should they be any less entitled to enjoy the game is again beyond me btw my reflexes are bad due to my nerves and muscle wasting in my hands I bet that irritates the hell out of you too damn accessability, we're not even talking ease and handholding here but perfectly good graphics in most of the game, certain a huge mark up over Oblivion which wasn't made for PC but now has better textures due to millions of mods made since its release), which will not only cost in development of smaller features that could have made a marked improvement to the game, including ones they have done before but in less sales of the game for the company meaning no next sequel will be able to be funded. All because you have to have a game that pushes your new PC to the max and blindly blame consoles for all the evils in the world, not realising boundries will often help development and are needed to stop aimless meandering on one aspect never getting done because the limits go higher before they can be finished. Maybe your annoyed that Oblivion with textures an models released 3 months ago looks better on your PC then this but if thats the case it only proves my point about how much of a total waste and detriment to the base gameplay features (not pretty water goes swoosh, which it does anyway at the cost of seeing into it at all though) it would be.

Console boy? Hardly I own an xbox and yes play it on Xbox but only now I've said that anyway, but If I could afford a pc to play the new sequel of the series I've been waiting for, for so long that does use newer more powerful technology so much so skyrim probally would refuse to install let alone run at minimum specs, I would have console commands to deal with the many expected glitches is reason enough alone but due to multiple health problems my income is far from great, skyrim being the only main title on release I've bought this year and one of very few in general, it's not really an option, although I guess I could have saved by not buying new on release and bought preowned and goty to get alot more for less money that doesn't go to support the developer.

Once again, a commonly mistaken claim that goes against facts.

The vast majority of people in the global gaming market play on PC. Keep in mind that consoles are seldom used in countries like Korea and China. Also, most any PC today can play most games. Heck, after Skyrim came out in North America and Europe, one person posted that they installed and played it on a notepad computer! Certainly an off the shelf gaming capable PC is not much more than a console when you add the cost of a TV, HDMI cables, etc. A gaming laptop costs about $1000 now. Desktops can be bought for much less.

Sorry for the double post, but this is contradictory. In addition, it isn't even necessarily true at all. For contradictory, we have to consider the fact that stealth gameplay needs darkness to be practical (unless you want to simply make believe that things are dark when they in fact are bright as day). This is a key gameplay element, so claiming that gameplay trumps realism is contradictory. In addition, there are plenty of in game elements to use to assist with lighting, and not every area will be pitch black. The problem, as usual, is that Beth chooses to make everything well lit which defeats the purpose of many gameplay elements they include.

As for the claim not necessarily being true at all, we only have to consider the fact that gameplay doesn't matter at all as far as overall enjoyment is concerned. Many players suffer through a game with gameplay that isn't enjoyable because they love the characters and story (i.e., narrative). In fact, it is narrative trumps gameplay, always. People remember significant narrative events in any media they experience while they forget the process (i.e., gameplay or other mechanics) that led them through those narrative events. The reason is because there is an emotional connection through narrative events, but you don't have that kind of empathy with gameplay processes and other mechanics.