I really need to sleep on it :) ... 60 hours

Beware of "Torom" :D

I... just managed to create a character and get to Riverwood so far, didn't have too much time to devote to the game but I plan to play the shit out of it once the week-end arrives :P
My impressions about the game from what I've played:
amazingbbqsauce...!!

actually reminds me of budweiser beer smokey chipotley bbq sauce its a real mets la dans ta bouche

Alright I have a question for which I hope you guys have the answer, is there anyway to remove a bounty by for example paying the Thieves Guild?
It is mentioned ingame, but I have yet to actually find someone that does it.

From Gameplay aspect best race for Witch Hunter is probably breton. Which race for Witch Hunter is best from lore aspect?

I talked to everyone and I never got that option unfortunately.
I also never get the chance to bribe a guard, even though I do have the Bribery perk.
Perhaps my bounty is too high, or my skill not high enough.. I certainly hope so, otherwise that perk is a bit of a waste.

dragonborn

So... was the epic whining about it being "dumbed down" justified in any way?

you can scale difficulty with no effects on reward, pretty much consists of punishing yourself but thats my answer to anyone saying its dumbed down.

1. Make difficulty harder
2. turn off quest markers
3. profit

From Oblivion? Meh, not really.
There are fewer skills now, but there is the added Perks system which does allow you to customize your character pretty well.
Character creation is dumbed down a bit because of this system, but I actually like how you build your character whilst playing the game.
The interface.. well that has been changed around so it can be easier to use with a controller, which I don't mind but changing a few tiny things around for PC users would've been nice and wouldn't have made much of a difference in production time.
All in all it is a bit simpler than Oblivion (which was a bit simpler than Morrowind), but that has more to do with how game creation has changed than 'dumbing down'.

Note: This is my opinion, not gospel so don't hate me for it.

Edit: Wait I almost forgot spellcasting.. spellcasting has been dumbed down ;)
It's almost like the Fable 3 system actually.
What annoys me about it (and I can't remember if this was the case in Oblivion/Morrowind) is that I'm not quite sure when I can launch my spell. When you're in battle it's kind of annoying having to check if the animation is done..or am I missing something?

Sigh...

As a 35 years old games I welcome the changes introduced in Skyrim...
I already have one full time job and a personal life and frankly I do not need another.

If I want to play and enjoy hardcore, focused RPG I choose to play the Witcher.
If I want to play a sandbox game I want as much freedom as possible with no need to commit myself to a particular direction for 200+ hours of game play.

Jeff Vogel had an interesting blog post at one point, he said he'd realized that the player should only have to make easy to understand (and not as many) choices in the beginning of a RPG, then as they experience your game they should be able to invest in deeper and more complex character progression (e.g. figure out whether the Speech skill is worth taking), this feels "dumbed down" to some, but keeps people from having an unenjoyable experience by creating a un-winnable situation, unlikeable character (i.e. they don't like their avatar), etc.

At any rate, thanks for the insight.

Yeah, when i first started up my mage i thought i was doing it wrong because i'd press the button and he'd just open up his hand a bit and nothing would happen..i was like WTF? took me a few tries to realize you had to "charge" it up a tiny bit...kinda irritating in the heat of battle but whatever