ffs why do people insist on taking such widescreen caps

not all of us have 1980x1440 screens

I think the dungeon variety this time is a lot better than in Oblivion and even Morrowind. But sadly it's true that Bethesda are just plain sub-par at game design/balance and they never seem to get better at it. Not just the awful level scaling, but also the fact that if you even give the slightest thought to minmaxing, the game quickly crumbles into a ridiculous exploit-fest.

Mods are pretty much essential for Beth games, I couldn't ever imagine actually enjoying them on a console. Having Obsidian make a Fallout game with their engine really showed just how much better other devs can be apart from the world design.

The biggest leap forward for Skyrim was the presentation. I never found Oblivion all that impressive thanks to the butt-ugly aesthetics and animation quality 1 generation behind the rest of the industry. Other things were slightly improved, or same as in Oblivion, or actually worse as is the case with the so obviously rushed and shallow quests. They really should just let Obsidian handle that stuff for them, but it seems unlikely as Elder Scrolls is their "baby" unlike Fallout.

Not all of us live in 1999 either. But I'm not sure how to link just the thumbnail.

the beautiful thing about skyrim (and why it is so popular, acclaimed, and financially successful) is, ironically, everything the screencap ragefag noted. Bethesda lays out a plethora of axes for the gamer to function upon, but does not force the gamer into any role at all. The gamer is completely, absolutely FREE to do whatever he wants, and to set the parameters of his own adventure. What this guy is mad about is not the game, but his own laziness and inability to step out of his usual role as merely an audience. A game like skyrim is simply NOT for him, whereas a game like, say... World of Warcraft, would be his cup of tea.

Skyrim is not about presenting the player with an adventure, but to empower the player to craft his own adventure.

absolutely, and like gecko has already pointed, mod can allow you to wrap the game around your way of playing.

I think Elder Scrolls should be more like Call of Duty

I disagree quite a bit with that post. I think combat is fun/varied, the world is gorgeous (and fun to travel through), there's tons of customization, etc. He's right that the dungeon design is a little lame since there are few archetypes, but given how good everything else is... I can't complain. Easily one of the best games I've played in awhile.

I believe it's fairly simple to reduce just about anything to make it sound unfun as well

i usually play thief character so sneaking and killing in the shadow is my way to go, but with skyrim i like the Shield / 1H weapon system so far.

Scroll of Duty 6: Black Marsh