I hit the 100 hour mark of my first Skyrim character and first playthrough of Skyrim. I started playing the day that patch 1.4 was released. Now that I have played the game myself, I am able to separate hyperbole found on this board from actual gameplay experience.

The mods I have installed are http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=8122, http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=10944, http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=14782, http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=10771 and the official hi-rez texture packs from Bethesda (both esms eneabled). I have Skyrim installed on a machine with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit with 4GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 580 video card with 1.5GB of RAM.

1. "... and then I took an arrow to the knee."
Reading these boards one might think that you hear this phrase every second you play the game as well as in your sleep, in the shower, and on the radio in your car. In 100 hours of gameplay, I have heard this 3 times. Yes, I kept count from the start.

2. Guild Quest Chains are waaaaayyyyy too Short
In the 100 hours I've played I completed the Companion, Mage, and Thieve's Guild quest chains. I do agree that the Mage and Thieve's guild quest chains are in fact shorter than their Oblivion counterparts, but some of the commentary on these boards relating to the length of guild quest chains is a disservice to those who might come here to learn more about the game.

I also can add that while their may be overall fewer sub-quests to finish a guild chain compared with Oblivion, what there is in Skyrim is a lot more interesting and satisfying. In Oblivion I began growing tired of both the Fighter's Guild and Mage Guild quest chains because they just weren't all that intersting. In Skyrim, I was sad that the guild quest chains came to their conclusions, because they were interesting and fun. But I don't think they're too short, especially given that there are so many other quests available in the game.

3. The Game is a Complete Bug-Fest - All Hail To 'Bugthesda!'
Yes, Skyrim has bugs. Yes, I CTD's a few times in my 100 hours. And for those of you struggling with persistent bugs - YES I believe you, I don't think you're crazy. But in my 100 hours of playing here are the bugs I've encounterd (yes, I kept notes and kept track of frequencies).

• 3 CTDs (all when Quicksaving)
  
• 1 Corrupted Quicksave file (thank god I'm OCD with manually saving - I was able to load a manual save losing only a couple of minutes)
  
• 1 Quest that didn't clear out my quest log when I finished it
  
• 3 Quest related items for quests I completed but are still in my inventory

That's it for me. In the months before I started playing Skyrim I had mentally prepared myself to be frustrated with bugs because of all the bugs being posted on these boards. But in my own gameplay, my actual experience is well within what I'd consider 'par for the course' for a PC game of this nature.

4. The Game is waaaaayyyyy too Easy
My background is CRPGs. I think it's a pretty safe assumption that I was graphing Wizardy 1 dungeon levels before a lot of you were alive. On the flip side, I do have a family and a job now, so I'm not as saavy a RPGer as I once was. I do not 'powergame' at all. In fact, I know little about the inner-workings of Skyrim and play the game organically - I learn through experience.

My character is a Mage, using Destruction and Conjuration. My first 25 hours I played on Master level difficulty and many encounters were brutallly difficult for me. I have spent upward of 30 minutes trying to beat a bear, troll, and other various wildlife. I have spent upwards of an hour trying to beat the first dragon enounters. I have spent similar amounts of time trying to beat bosses of one type or another. I have many times had to leave boss encounters to come back later.

After 25 hours of play, I reduced the difficuly to 'Expert' and even on Expert, I have to leave some boss encounters and come back later. Dragons are still a pain to beat. The game is not too easy for me - not even close. It may be easy for those with a lot of game-time on their hands (and I do not say that disparagingly - I had more time when I was younger too).

5. Dungeons are Copy-Paste
These assertions really make me go, 'hmmmmm.' The dungeons of Skyrim are MUCH better than those from prior iterations of the series. I find them interesting places to explore and unlike Oblivion, when I am sent to a dungeon for a quest I'm not bummed out about it.

It's easy to monday-morning quaterback and there's a list I could easily come up with to make them even more interesting. But considering the scope of the game and how much better dungeons are in Skyrim, I find myself quite content with what they offer in the game.

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So there you have it. My impression of Skyrim after 100 hours and what I consider the top 5 hyperboles about the game found on these very boards. I suppose I should run and hide now.

Well said. Thank you.

I'm also happy that I'm not the only person that graphed Wizardry dungeons. I really appreciate an in-game map these days.

- While the companions and mages guild was disappointing, i found that both the TG and the DB was better then thier oblivion counterparts. Especially the TG.

- Next to no big problems for me on account for bugs.

- Ive always had a decent challenge. The trick is to raise the difficulty gradually as you level.

- Dungeons are awsome! It is mind boggling that people think that they are one and the same.

While I wouldn't say the dungeons are copy paste per se, they come in a limited variety of flavors.

1. Cave (toppings include water, mushrooms, and ice)
2. Dwemer
3. Keep/Fort
4. Nord Ruins

And that's about it really.

The main disappointment with them is that they offer very little variety in how you go about them. They're pretty straight forward, even if they curve. It's the same problem I had with FFXIII, it was all one long corridor.

Well, yes, most of it is hyperbole, but to some of these statements there is some truth.

-1. Youre lucky, thats all I can say on that. I have heard it a lot more. Though I think its wrong to focus on just that one line and better to take the whole Skyrim speech system. Which is annoyingly repetitive.
I gave up smithing in Whiterun purely and only because of that woman there who insist on telling me every few seconds that she doesnt claim to be the best blacksmith..
She follows me through doors to do it.

-2. The shortness of the guild lines comes from pacing and poor storytelling more than anything else.
There is usually a great build up, but the stories lack a middle part.
You arrive, everyone instantly knows youre a great hero, by quest 4 the leader dies and by quest 6 youre the new leader.
In my opinion it would have been better if there had actually been ranks in the guilds that you could work your way up to and if there had been better pacing.
Possibly do some radiant quests until youre high enough rank for the next quest, or so that enough 'time' has passed for events to unfold.

-3.
Bugs that you encountered but did not report are:
- Atomic Nirnroot glow stacking.
- Fallen arrows, weapons (including bound arrows) not despawning.
(These cause instability issues on games with longer hours put in and are something all players experience.)

Not so much a bug as an annoying oversight:
-Quest specific enemies respawn.
Such as the named poisoned spider under Markath or draugr or Forsworn you clear out of mines.
In the latter two cases this means that the NPC's, who go back working in the mine when you tell them you cleared it, will die the next time you are in the area.

There are also still some bugs in the game that can lock you out of content. Questlines and purchasing houses.

-4. I dont think the game is too easy, so I understand where youre coming from there. Its as easy or hard as you want to make it.
I do feel that levelling up is way, way too fast.
I would have liked to have been a beginner for longer.

-5. That one I dont get either.
Tubes, yes, copy-paste, no.
They are varied, detailed and visually interesting and sometimes beautiful in my opinion.

They often contain separate little stories and unique stuff. You never truly know if you are going to stumble upon something awesome in a seemingly average cave.

This is an amazing meme, for it is heard nowhere in Skyrim.

Yes, and while the dungeons don't bother me really (I wish there was a bit more variety, but whatever), I don't like the fact that I can usually tell what kind of enemies are going to be there based on the exterior:

Skulls and pelvises on a stick: Falmer
Goat heads or spriggans on sticks: Hagravens
Lots of blood and bones: Animals such as bears or trolls

It's a nice touch, but after a while you pick up on what the signals are and you stop exploring because you already know what's going to be inside enemy wise.

arrow to the knee- ok. constant repetative dialogue is unacceptable.

short guilds- fact. interesting you say? generic and uncreative, i say. as well, prereqs, meaningfulness, simplicity, recognition, reward, and, on, are quite lacking.

bugfest- quest bugs are unacceptable. game freezing happens often enough to be annoying.

too easy- on master, the fact that the game becomes easy for the remainder of the game at such low character levels is unacceptable. the game should be somewhat challenging throughout. period.

copy-paste dungeons- compared to their own hype of this aspect leading up to the game they are quite limited and underwhelming. and, yes, the types are generic and linear.

edit: i like skyrim a lot, as well. however, i don't ignore it's obvious shortcomings and areas that need improvement.

Neptiofpovar, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your post. I love playing Skyrim and it hit my expectations with a huge amount of room to spare because it's massive. I can't wait to start my new build. Thanks for a great post.

You are right. Skyrim is somewhat lacking in the number of enemy types, dont you think? I miss wraiths, liches and proper zombies? Not to mention proper ghosts ( you know, that dosent bleed and drops solid items?)

I was shocked when I started counting the number of enemies and realized how small the amount was. This is my first TES game, but I was raised on Final Fantasy, and they always had a huge number of different enemies, even if you don't count the pallet swaps.

I haven't had much problems during my 400 hours with Skyrim, all unpatched I might add. I've had at least 16 freezes and a couple of minor issues with mis quests and one issue with the Thieves Guild which I found out later how to prevent (It was the prevent being guildmaster bug because you didn't do all the sidequests bug). I've had a good experience so far but the game does have issues both bug wise and gameplay/RPG wise.

1. Arrow to the Knee isn't the only annoying dialoge issue, Nazeem will always say "Do you go to the Cloud District, oh what am I saying, of course you don't", other people will always say the same thing in dialoge. The dialoge in this game is annoyingly broken, I'd rather have Oblivion's bland hello dialoge back, at least that wasn't annoying.

2. Dark Brotherhood is the longest, Companions is easily the shortest and worst guild in the history of TES. The guildlengths are shorter and story wise aren't as good as the predecessors. Oblivion's Fighter's Guild makes the Companions look like a joke.

3. Skyrim is stable but it is bug filled and good luck going above 200 hours when it becomes Lagyrim due to Atomic Nirnroots, the game not properly getting rid of weapons and armor, not to mention other issues like Multiplying Louis, Forsworn Conspiracy, Parts of the Thieves Guild is still bugged, etc. I'm still debating whether I should just trade Skyrim in until the eventual GOTY edition comes out because I see no point in continuing to play the game if my character is just going to become unplayable after 200-250 hours. When your truly roleplaying, that number is very easy to reach especially with the amount of content that Skyrim offers.

4. Unless you Gimp then Skyrim's a Breeze, on any difficulty. Fully perk the 5 20% Light Armor/Heavy Armor and the other 25% for the other 2 and Legendary Smith the Armor pieces and you will hit the armor cap and that's not including Enchanting at 100 with the 2 Enchantment perk or Alchemy or the 5 20% One/Two Handed Perks. Balance wise the game is incredibly broken and laughably hard to defend. Beth's been notorious for Balance issues cough Fallout 3 but I thought they might do it better with Skyrim, boy was I wrong.

5. Some dungeons are still copy paste but it is a lot better then the previous games and there are some awesome dungeons in Skyrim like Blackreach.

Verdict, Skyrim's great but it's like Flirtation, it's not going to lead to anything long term, only short term gain. Number 3 can still be rectified but I have my doubts.

-the arrow to the knee thing i have no complaints about, interesting dialog that i don't hear too often is welcomed...

-the guilds do need longer questlines,, then that would've been nice, and the thieves guild radiant quests make up for what the main storyline in the thieves guild didn't (imo, felt like i was doing more assassinating in the thieves guild then thieving) the college was fun DB was my favorite and i think they did great with it

-none of the bugs i experience really effected my game-play too much, maybe its because i constantly save becuz im always paranoid 0.0

-well said. i think as long as we have hard mode, we can't really complain about it being too easy...

-i think they reused models, but never the layout, and the storylines are always independent and therefore a constantly changing experience, although i feel like things should be more regional... like eastern skyrim should have mroe dragur ruins, or whiterun should have more bandits around it then other places in skyrim, for instance, forsworn want the reach, so they're at the reach, so if bandits want money, wouldn't they go to the major trading hub in skyrim? wouldn't draugr burial ruins be near major dargon places like skuldafn, although i feel they could shake things up a bit, more bandit v falmer or necromancer v mage v draugr v bandit v etc so that i would question what to expect inside...

1. NPCs are repetitive. I still prefer it to the random statements that passed for conversation in Oblivion but hopefully TES VI can improve on this.
2. Took 300+ hours for Vriddi to do the Companions questline. Griselda has about 300 hours and is halfway through the DB and TG questlines. How people do everything in less than 100 hours I do not know.
3. Compared to previous Bethesda games I've had very few bugs. As for CTDs about 3 or 4 in 800+ hours of play compared to 1 every 3-4 hours in Oblivion and MW.
4. It can be very easy if you take full advantage of crafting. Not that 100% Chameleon or alchemy abuse existed in previous games. They were perfect
5. They aren't. They continue to impress visually and with the effort put into individual detail in them.

Not to say the games perfect. Lack of choices in quests and character generation would be my biggest complaints.

I agree with the Original Post. In particular


I really think this perception is based on either (1) using unrealistic character developmnet, (2) someone whose character is at a very high level, when the game is supposed to be easy because your character should be very powerful, or (3) bragging.

The other points in the original post are good too. For example, guild questlines. Yes some can be short if you power play through the main arc. But if you take your time, don't fast travel alot, do a lot of side quests (including side quests for the guild) then they can take a long time. For example, I've been playing almost every day since the release, and I have not yet finished any guild questline.

Agreed.

Moderate and Well-Though Opinions Rulez.

I heard the "...arrow to the knee" line today, in fact. Come to think of it, I really haven't heard it that often. I have heard the "What's wrong? Someone stole your sweetroll" or however they say it more than the arrow line

Thanks for making this post Neptiofpovar. Good to see some actual numbers per time spans. People are emotional creatures who often attach greater importance to what displeases them (a good tactic for survival, to be sure). If more people started a game with an open mind and kept actual records there might be fewer threads on the boards made in righteous indignation.

All very true, OP.

It didn't take you 300 hours of your life to complete the 7 or 8 Companions quests that you need to in order finish the guild. It may have taken you 300+ hours to get around to spending the required 2-3 hours to finish off the Companions.

In general I agree with the other posters who say that the Guilds in Skyrim are way too short. Even beyond being too short, the quests just aren't that good. The Thieves Guild had 1-2 actual 'steal something' missions, the rest were crawling through long dungeons with one or more NPC companions. The story itself was interesting, I liked the Nightingales, but the actual gameplay involved wasn't appropriate for the Thieves Guild at all. You could make the same argument for the Companions, a Skyrim-version of the Fighters Guild who did little actual mercenary work. In Skyrim, the Companions are secretly the 'Anti-Silver Hand League and Werewolf Rotary Club', just like how in Oblivion the Fighter's Guild was actually 'The Anti-Blackwood Company- Company'.

So in short, poorly done, and there are too darn few guilds. Give me back the 12 or so from Morrowind, make them much longer, tamp down the 'radiant' quests, and make the missions more interesting or relevant to the actual stated purpose of the Guild. Then I think that TES VI will have 70% of what I'd want for me to say it's the best TES ever.

The guild questlines are long ENOUGH.


Everytime I'm given a quest by a guild leader, it involves a wall of text, running through tunnels, and inevitably TWO loading screens, just to get back into skyrim, do something that takes half the time, and repeat the whole process over again.

I'm infuriated by the amount of loading screens one has to sit through just to get a guild quest done. If you have a fast PC/Console, good for you. Most of us aren't rich in this poor economy.

I don't think Skyrim's easy. To make it easy, you have to invest fairly lots of points to smithin/enchanting or just have enough levels to boost armor/attack perks. At that point you are expected to be a thread for all enemies.

I even hate the difficulty of Skyrim. Its either a breeze or being one/two shot dead. You hardly have time to adapt to an unexpected strong foe, once he hit you (the damage meter not showing instantly your new health status doesn't help either). Yes, the combat is too fast. All enemies looking the same doesn't help as well, as it makes it hard to tell if you need to try other tactics.

I can't tell if you're doing a witty impersonation of people who don't care at all about content and prefer face-paced, instant gratification quests and visuals...or if you're actually serious. If the latter, then I think you should re-evaluate spending 60 dollars on an RPG in this poor economy of ours. And it's hard to argue that you get a 'wall of text' in Skyrim. What you really get in two minutes worth of four or five voiced sentences for a quest. Now if you want to see what a 'wall of text' really is, I recommend you to Morrowind.

wait what

IMO guild quest lines is were skyrim lacks the most. Even if MW and OB had "radiant" quest (go kill rat at the same place every time) they felt a bit more meaningfull. Furthermore the skill requirements for advancement in MW forced you to go out exploring in order to proceed thus prolonging the questlines.