This is definitely a case of 'different strokes for different folks', as I have well over 200 hours logged between two characters, with no end in sight. Once the CK comes out and I can change some things a bit I'll be making many more characters, which will extend my hours even further.

All of my characters will have a fair bit in common, but that won't bother me since how they go about doing it will be different. I also play Dead-is-Dead, which keeps things interesting because I can't just waltz into a dungeon and start hacking away since I can't reload if something goes wrong.

Some of the characters I'll be making:

'Pure' Thief (i.e. strict RP)
Berzerker (2H, Heavy Armor, side of Destruction and Restoration)
Brawler (H2H, Heavy Armor, Shouts, Restoration, will be a Khajiit)
Full Mage (no physical weapons)

Just to add to the list of games that provide over 170 hours of quality entertainment...

Chrono Trigger > Everything

I guess its just how you look at it. I got around 190 hours of playtime out of Skyrim before I got tired of it and had to take a break. I don't consider that a failure of the game at all because I realize that realistically games are going to have a limited amount of content and that you will eventually run it all though. It was the same way with Morrowind and Oblivion. They were great games, but after playing them for a good while, I'd tire of them and have to take a few months break before returning to enjoy them.

170+ hours in less than two months seems like a great value for any game or hobby. Just like everyone else I would suggest doing something else for a few weeks and then come back.

If you bought the game thinking you could play 24/7 for life and never get bored then sorry - that game hasn't been invented and probably never will.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Sandbox-esque, awesome story, incredible graphics, incredible soundtrack and very fun stealth mechanics. GOTY 2011 for me.

• Minecraft
  
• EVE Online
  
• X3 Series
  
• Terraria
  
• GTA IV
  
• Mount and Blade
  
• Civilization V
  
• Galactic Civilizations II
  
• Morrowind
  
• Oblivion
  
• Borderlands
  
• Fallout Series
  
• Probably Deus Ex: Human Revolution
  
• TW: Shogun 2

Nine of those games are also sandboxes that the developers "spent time hand-crafting epic and beautiful worlds".

If I spend $70 on anything and get 170 hours of enjoyment, I have nothing to complain about. What other form of entertainment costs 40 cents an hour?

Let's not go there because it's getting ridiculous, like Skyrim is the only game that offers a lot of gameplay. There are plenty of games that offer shorter hours but more quality.

that explain a lot. let me guess, you are a pk, sounds like your mentality
also explain the quests-obcession, you can t set goals by yourself


exactly what I was saying
no wonder you only explored draugh dungeons, and saw noting the game has to offer

I bet you see markath, witherun as just other *levels*
and clear them out going on rampage
no wonder your game got boring so quickly

It s funny in my first 100 hours I didn t do a single quest
I splitted and ...
*I ve been fishing and hunting in this area for years*
ended up in blackreach eventually...
One day I realized madessi had asked me for something and I had everything he wanted in my stash

but you, it seems like a boring quest after another one

and most of what you say barely make sense at all

you played mage-warrior-stealth
what the %%% are you ... 5 years old .... do you need a npc to hold your hand
I didn t play any of that, I did exactly what I wanted
the only reason I would play other characters is perhaps khajit and argonians because they are so funny
same goes with an orc that stick to the stronghold
(just too bad we are forced to do the main quest to unleash dragons, big design flaw IMO)

anyway I had a good laught reading your review
It sounded like an abstinent conservative christian reviewing a movie,
but he went in the wrong room and watched a porm movie
I let you guess what the review would be like ...

basically you didn t play the game at all, not at all

I spent hours running after butterflies, knowing full well the accidents that would happen
like getting jumped by spiders and stomped by giants while chasing the little buggers
but I laught through it all because it was funny

if you stick to quests there is about 75% of the game you ll never see
because it s full of hidden spot that are totaly off the beaten track
some caves requires you to climb waterfalls and mountains in a really awkward way
and are no accessible if you stick to the normal path

if there was no hook in the main quests,
blackreach would likewise be unaccessible
I got to blackreach through coincidences after a fishing and hunting expedition to the north pole
that was an awfull lot of fun even if there was no dragons

of course I m not saying killer whales or giant emperor crab would not have made it more exciting
(giant emperor crab is the size of the giant schell covering the ald ruhn main castle, the size of a city)

but anyway, your loss

not saying you dont have some points
there should not be a level concept in skyrim
and perks should be obtained through exploring and specific actions
maybe also required both a trainer (rescued through exploring) and a secret book (found through exploring)

You are a moderator of the official Bethesda boards, your opinion does not count...,

Wow... Uh... No. I like role playing games for the role playing part. Never been a PK. Never enjoyed playing online with others. I like the Elder Scrolls games because they tended to remove the feeling of "levels" and the like, and when Skyrim kind of added that with, as an example, the dungeons.

EDIT: You remind me of a hikki I met on the net some time ago who literally spent all his time playing Fallout. He had a save with +2000 hours of gameplay.

I have never liked tea parties. Who here can make me like them? Any advice welcome on how to change my tastes so that I start to enjoy things I don't enjoy. Thanks in advance

Here are three ways.

1.Move to Great Britain
2. Time travel to Boston
3. Talk to Mrs. Nesbit (Buzz Lightyear)

A DLC will not correct Skyrim- only add to the length of play before you grow bored. Skyrim does not have the character build depth of earlier elder scrolls games. Character build is almost everything.

You cannot make me move back to Boston. Not if you had an AK-47 pointed at my head, a rabid attack dog with leprosy growling at me, and I was being eaten alive by lazy red ants could you make me live in Boston Massachusetts again. Wild horses strapped to a Saturn V rocket could not drag me back.

It's 100% appropriate to go there. 170 hours of game play is great. Are there really other games that offer more quality? Tell me about them please, seriously. I'm enjoying this game and will continue to enjoy it for far more than 170 hours. Skyrim has exceeded my expectations. I loved Morrowind, hated Oblivion, and now I am loving Skyrim.

lol Well I didn't know you had already been there. I was talking about at the time of the Boston Tea Party >.>
But you could always be Mrs Nesbit.

Super Mario Bros 3
Shinobi 3
Demon's Crest
Act Raiser 2
Act Raiser
Dragon's Revenge
The Immortal
Out of this World
The Realm Online
Splatterhouse 2
Splatterhouse 3
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (N64)
Hexen
Hexen 2
Heretic
Heretic 2
Diablo
Diablo 2
The D&D franchise
I'd go on but the list wouldn't end.

I think the problem is everyone expects elder scrolls to be like a previous one; infinitely replayable. Even those got stale and needed mods or left alone for 6 months to become fresh and fun again. Walk away or wait for mods, or try role playing a new character that is different than what you typically play.

Give it a break until DLC comes?

For me, Skyrim is a very enjoyable game. However, as the OP said, it does lack the longevity seen in other games from the series. For example, take Oblivion. You could play it for hundreds of hours by making a myriad of archetype characters (i.e. warrior, assassin, mage, thief), each of which had an abundance of content to delve into mainly because of the extensive guild questlines. The Mages Guild questline was exceptionally long, when you consider all of the recommendation quests in addition to those at the college. This allowed me to level up my mage and have fun getting to higher level spells while still having a purpose to do so, as opposed to Skyrim where you can complete the questline before level five. I have to constantly worry about pacing myself, rather than indulging in the main content, simply because there is (comparatively) so little of it. I only complete main questlines once because I like to have different characters which lead different guilds and accomplish different things. For this reason, Skyrim has far less replayability as separate, archetypal characters, which is somewhat disappointing. I would have rather had to wait longer for the game and have it contain more content than repeatedly have to face the empty feeling of having nowhere to progress with characters. However, it is still a high caliber game and I am still enjoying it. I just wish there was a bit more content to make it more enjoyable, and I assume with DLCs and mods there will be, so at least there is that to hope for.

You killed it. Period

Hmm... well over 100 hours in, and I'm not bored yet.

I'm not playing as much, mainly because I've been discouraged since accidentally deleting my 95 hours deep, level 37 character, and I've been having restartitis in terms of creating a new character, but I'm still very much enjoying the game.

Absolutely hilarious. Most games give you 12 hrs of gametime. 170 is quite a bit for one game. What in the holy hell are you expecting?

All I can say is you shouldn't have marathoned the hell out of it. I stopped playing Skyrim completely over Christmas, Steam was having awesome deals and I took advantage of that to buy a TON of new games. So I've mostly just been playing those.

I think the game is great, and it has a lot of game time relative to other series, but compared to previous games in this specific series it is a bit sparse on content.