I see it from two different perspectives. You can have sprawling and you can have tight focused story as well. You can have both, but you have to carefully plan the sprawling bit and the tighter story from the start.

My changes:
1) Make the civil war THE MAIN STORY with your choice of what faction to support the flavor of your story: Imperial, Stormcloak or your own side. Make the main quest matter by making most of the tiny side quest you do for people add to that quest in either material resources or story elements. If you go Imperial maybe one quest is helping a farmer delivering food to an Imperial camp get through...you helping the farmer but it ties back to your quest. If you a Stormcloak break all the wheels on the wagon...kill the famer..Kill his son...steal the cargo...etc. If you are on your own side pay the farmer off, give his son a gift, and then bring the supplies to a city to sell off.

2) Make being Dragon Born NOT a foregone conclusion for anyone's game...you become the embodiment of that destiny only if you pursue it...if not someone else who trains and finds the dragon words is the fulfillment of the destiny (Yes, it pokes a hole in the concept of DESTINY...that should be the point...destinies are MADE BY WORK not merely dropped in your lap.)

3) Make all other quests FAR less important. Some of the quest in Skyrim rate about as highly as being dragon born...or do I not understand what allowing Dedra to walk the Tamrial plane of existence means...no I think I do releasing a demon's power into the world is pretty big. (Yes, the will kill the concept of the dreadric quest in a TES game...good!)

The civil war storyline could have been very interesting and the whole game would have made more sense if 50% of the side quest given by common NPCs tide into it...they could be finished in many ways...but thematically they should have ADDED to the main story. The quest of binging dragon born is actually less important to the day to day concerns of most people in Skyrim mostly because as people have pointed out even finishing that quest line doesn't remove dragons from the world...so how did defeating the main "big bad" help?

This is really where Bethesda needs work. Their game is so sprawling and top heavy with recycling content in a never ending fashion that they never makes ANYTHING matter. I can kill hundreds of dragons and nobody cares...anybody life gets better. I can kill one hundred werewolves, one hundred master vampires, 400 bandits, 500 trolls, 600 cave bears, 700 wolves and thousands of enemies and the world of Skyrim is not one-bit safer, better, or even changed for anyone. I could kill every single NPC, except one, in the game and that last NPC would say, "I'm so and so I work at Belathors dried goods."

WHAT!!!!!?

The game not only has consequences factions it has no point of view or even allows the player to express a point of view. I kill a man’s wife, he pulls a sword, and I kill him. However, if I then run away nobody cares. I complete every “helper” quest in a town and when I’m done nobody cares more or less for me then when I walked into town, they just say , “You a good person to have around.” In a dull matter-of-fact tone. I can marry someone, but in the end they can only give me proceeds from a store or make me a pie. They do not have extra things to say to me…they do not great me happily if I have been gone for two days or sullenly if I come bake two months later unannounced. When I’m gone they don’t move my things (What wife doesn’t move her husband’s things?? That what being a wife is abou - they move your stuff, they turn your hobby room into a sewing room, and they take your stuff to sell so they can buy lace curtains!!!! THAT IS MARRIAGE!!!) The game has a cooking system where it appears they took three years to render every kind of meat in a raw and cooked form…but the food is useless. You can spend the whole game pitching food into a river and be no poorer, no less healthy, and no worse off. They seeminly spent MILLIONS of dollars of real money and man-years of work on a system in the game that is MEANINGLESS!

Skyrim isn’t game of the year because it is SO POORLY conceived. A sprawling meaningless mass of unconnected ideas and meaningless unconnected parts. It is fun to watch a Rube Goldberg Machine spin for a few minutes, but the meaning behind a Goldberg machine is how meaningless its function. Skyrim is so pointless, poorly conceived that it should be a case study of how 'not' to make a game.

ALSO, IT IS BROKEN!!!! Even working the game would be meaningless and a sprawling mess, but add on top of that it is BROKEN!!!!!

Sorry but they are good but not even close to masterpieces.

Forbes? LOL

its fuuny how OP mentions that no one would know how to counter criticism and just dance around the issue with insults, and people counter that assertion by doing exactly that.

take the points made and say why you dont agree with them. give more reason than "well it didnt bother me for no explained reason so he must be wrong". its not as hard as you think.

anyway, while the article focuses a bit too much on the role of engaging narrative (your supposed to use the game as a framework for your own story), he is right. for all its content and huge world, skyrim never gives you a reason to care one iota about any of it. it doesnt have to done in a linear story, it can be a few likeable and interesting NPCs, some actual consequence to your actions, an actual threat from the enemies of the game, or most importantly making character building fun and involving. but the only NPC i can even clearly remember is delphine, and thats because she is crazy and pulls a ridiculous request right out of her backside. there is no consequence to anything, with half the world being essential and no one even caring that i killed a GOD. even on master your main enemy force is weaker than a damn troll, and it is never clearly defined WHY the dragons are even a threat; they never do anything but fly around and die easily, maybe killing one idiot farmer who attacked it bare-fisted. and most egregious of all, there is little progression and little fun in building your character. everything is instantly available to you from step one, and as long you focus on one of the major combat skills that isnt destruction, everything else you do is so much fluff. only by purposely trying to create some weird restoration lockpicker is anything interesting, in large part because the game is so easy it barely matters what you pick.

lack of progression is a real killer; all you really have is perks, half of which you dont care about, some that do amusing but impractical things, and a scant few that actually make you feel stronger and like their is an actual point to leveling up. usually with a sandbox you need some kind of overarching direction to give you that initial excuse to get out and explore, but skyrim gives us virtually no reason to step off the beaten path despite the MAJORITY of the content being there. the only reason you ever have for entering a cave is because it is there. while this is true of past TES titles, exploration was required then and as such finding other dungeons was a natural consequence of tracking down a quest location... there is also the fact that seeing the same problem but worse after 10 years of improvement is kind of ridiculous. the "go anywhere at any time" mantra of the series initially meant that the game gave you the kind of freedom to f**k up and waltz into red mountain at level one, not that everywhere should accommodate everyone at all times. making this huge world instantly approachable from all angles defeats the purpose, and really hurts the epic scale of it all.

lets face facts: TES is not a game series, it is a series of modding platforms, or if you are a poor soul on a console, a less fulfilling RP platform. but even as that skyrim falls flat by cutting out many of the basic elements modders/RPers have to work with. its a huge epic space with just enough of a game to be called a game, past titles just had a bit more game and a bit less epic space.

Come on man! Game length is length is not the be all end all element of a good game. If that were the case final fantasy 13 is better than portal 2, uncharteds, god of war, gears, shadow of the colussus, ico, metal gears, halo....

See that logic doesn't follow no matter how many times u use it to defend skyrim

skyrim is really really good at one main thing and that's character crafting, you can start multiple games and everytime play as someone completely different. That's it's main sticking point. Everything else is derivative of other games. There is nothing special about any of the gameplay mechanics and most of them a below modern standards whn compared to other games. But that's ok cuz skyrim does it's thing well. If u don't understad or don't want to accept what games like deus ex did better than skyrim then don't even bother saying skyrim is ur goty. Skyrim just becomes your only game of the year u are willing to proclaim best. There's a difference.

It is all just a matter of opinion. I find Skyrim's stories compelling, as I feel I am part of the world. I enjoy the experience. I don't understand where the stories are lacking. But again, it is all a matter of opinion. Of course, given the amount of awards that the game has garneder, most opinions veer towards the favorable.

I think you'll love it. 2nd best game this year, imo.

Playing Skyrim for hundreds of hours and saying it isn't your game of the year is a bit silly.

I loved Portal 2 and thought Deus Ex was pretty good, but Skyrim is a game that infiltrates your life even when you aren't playing. Though I agree that the writing and combat/enemy variety could use further improvement, I can't say I was super-enthused to keep completing puzzle rooms in Portal. The writing in that game was so humorous and compelling that I actually started to wish I could skip through the puzzles in favor of passively listening to Cave Johnson and Wheatley, movie-style.

It's foolish to suggest that Bethesda would be better off going for smaller, more linear experiences. The game could easily be both enormous and enthralling, if only the writing was improved and Bethesda was more willing to make certain quests (or even whole questlines) mutually exclusive to prevent the sort of continuity oddities we keep seeing.

opinions, opinions

Meh, time is money. I judge my games based on how much time I get for my money. If it can keep my attention for 200 hours, it's clearly the best choice for me. I'm currently just under 100 hours in Skyrim and about 50 in Deus Ex. These are my two most played games of this year. Both are fantastic, but Skyrim is more bang for the buck. Clearly the winner in my book.

you know, in previous tes games id agree with you (the char crafting) but it feels much more cut and dry now then it used to.

U may hate portal 2 for it's brevity but anyone would be hard pressed to find a consecutive slice of skyrim the same length of portal 2 that is as well crafted, witty, puzzling, lovely, and enthralling. U can't cuz whatever consecutive 4-8 hours u choose will always have some
seriously boring part to it to go along with the exciting parts. So the length comparison is moot

plus gametime spent doesn't equal best game. There are really long bad games. AnD if u followed that logic world of Warcraft should be game of the year cuz no one puts more time into their game then wow players.

But here's a question how does skyrim innovate? To me it seems they just copy other games mechanics and then put it all together.

u know that seems to b te consenus for die hard tes fans. Personally the only tes I ever played before skyrim was oblivion which I didn't really like much but am now figuring out I was playing wrong. Tes is all about making ur own character. That's the best thing about it. If u start a character and u don't like the way it's going, start over and have a totally differen aim. Plus I didn't focus on magic in oblivion something I may go back and do cuz it's my fav way to play in skyrim.

I think what the TES series is lacking in is depth. It has a fascinating mythology, and the ingame quests often make references to it or expand on it. But it's depth of the world itself - Each elder scrolls game feels less 'alive' than the predecessor in terms of the characters and content in-game.

To be frank, it sounds like the writer didn't really pay attention to the stories and/or rushed them.

This, to me, screams that he didn't pay attention to pretty much any of the dialogue. The main focus on of the main quest is that dragons have returned, you are not there to make dragons extinct, you are there to stop the end of the world. I don't know how he missed that.

Now I have a real problem with this for one specific reason. Why are you doing the College quest line if you are not a mage? I do see this as Beth letting you do whatever you want no matter how you play but even if you do the most basic of RPing a warrior really has no place enrolling in a school for magic if he has no intention of using said magic.

While Bethesda has never been the best when it comes to story telling, they are hands down the best when it comes to world building. It doesn't bother me that this isn't someones game of the year, the article does bother me because it was written to a guy that seemingly didn't pay attention to the game, he was caught up in the visuals and not the story.

This. The article was well written, his thoughts were organized, articulate and valid.

But throughout the entire article, I was waiting to hear HIS story. That's why the world Bethesda creates is lacking something- it's lacking you. The world is generic until you make it original. It lacks impact until you make that impact. It's a true ROLE PLAYING GAME. I don't think he, and some others, get that.

Good article and a good point made. Bethesda are capable of making a good story I think. Look at Morrowind. That had a spectacular storyline.

And everone that's getting there panties twisted it's not like they rated skyrim their worst game of the year. It's 3rd on the list. Jeez

see i loved the char customization of previous tes games, but didnt like the combat (which has gotten a bit better with every isntallment, its almost decent now)

the perks feel more limiting then specializing.

i want to be a khajit brawler....i need to either wear heavy armor or wear heavy armor gloves...which removes several perks from my options. why cant i be a light armor khajit brawler without a handicap?

the weapon specializations feel like punishment when you spec them early...other hten my first char i havent put points into weapon specialization since.

armor is incredibly important...and this is where many people come to a crossroads...armor for looks or armor for needs? i can understand the reality behind armor...but in a fantasy game...i cant be just as effective without. which is bothersome. its one reason i liked demon souls...its armors were very poor in terms of bonuses provided to the point where they were mainly cosmetic. this is a personal one since i know many others will disagree.

but overall the perks feel silly.

my skill in stealth should determine how well i stealth, i shouldnt have to also put perks into yet even better stealth, static % increases are not fun, rather i should get OPTIONS and cool things i can do that are stealth related.

same goes for weapons...my skill should determine damage..not more perk points!

For my own part all i can say is that Skyrim is the most enjoyable ES game i have played to date, it's got tons of stuff i'd like changed or fixed, and it hasn't wowed me visually in the way Oblivion did simply because the tech is old, but i'd still give it game of the year.

I'd go a bit further actually and say this, that i wonder whether or not Bethesda will continue to deliver the quality they have done so far in the future when there is absolutely no competition to keep them on their toes, their competitors are really that far behind in my opinon, offering tiny, open and closed, disposable, linear gaming worlds that are over in 20 hours, there's just no comparison.

While I see the points the OP and the article are making I respectfully disagree.

My experience has been that strategy -is- required to do well; just running into a fight willy-nilly gets you dead. Also there are amazing stories out there they just require some digging. Might I recommend a walk in Falkreath?

TES storylines are more broad - the failure to understand the magnitude of the Alduin threat is from a failure to read the in-game books, listen to the more subtle aspects of the conversations and correlate with past TES games. That's a lot for most gamers, granted. Skyrim is what you make it.

Well the article could just say: "Skyrim is great but The College story line is realy lame". It's unfair realy, ignoring the fact thief guild is almost unplayable for a character lacking sneak, lockpick and pick-pocket.

College quests are simple dungeon cleanings. Those quests should be where you required to utilize your magic skills so extensively that it would be pain to do so without high level spells and/or wide magicka pool. Dark Brotherhood, College and Companion quests fail at just where thief quests succeed.

"The new engine Betheseda has created"

Stopped reading there

well, deus ex is first person, with third person cover. oh and its a character driven rpg, not just a shooter, so not knowing those things makes me believe that you have never played it, and have no idea why deus ex is praiseworthy.
nobody said skyrim is not fun, but think, does it really live up to all expectations? push any boundaries? i dont think so. i see alot of the same things i have seen 5 years ago, in a slightly better looking package.
dont be offended by that, please.

my personal pick for goty in the rpg catagory is the witcher 2. because it succeeds in the same ways that deus ex does, only has much better animations and voice acting, and the controls are so much tighter. and there is virtually no repatition in the environments, everything is TRULY hand crafted
sadly this game got eclipsed by dark souls when the voting was happening [because the people who voted had NO IDEA what the witcher was]
dark souls does not even make my list, because its only appeal is difficulty and gameplay...its not a very intriguing game.

Yeah, that's what I said...hence words such as "i think" and "imo"-in my opinion

O.o