Skyrim and TW2 likely be different enough where gamers won't be saying, I already have Witcher 2 so I'll forget about Skyrim. They will just get both. And both games will have their unique flavor for RPG which is fine. It will be tough to say which is better since Skyrim will probably a First Person RPG game based on DnD while The Witcher 2 is a 3rd Person based on polish literature.
LordRikerQ: Im just being a realist, Oblivion was the best selling RPG ever supposedly, and if Witcher 2 cant top that, they wont top Skyrim unless it really does drop the ball hard like DA 2 did but knowing Bethesda they probably wont let that happen especially with their claim of going back to Morrowind for design ideas. Besides, Bethesda doesnt have a EA over them rushing them to put out crap.
Bethesda don't need EA, they are their own giant publisher who answer to Zenemax and their investors.
Bethesda is a true cross platform developer and publisher and their games are released very buggy. Fallout 3 never had the support it deserved and ultimately that game was fixed and running by the community, not Bethesda.
I don't think it's far fetched to believe that The Witcher 2 will be the only truly PC Centric RPG game for a while. Skyrim I personally believe will be another Dragon Age Origins, a solid RPG that was designed from the ground up to be cross platform and will make the necessary compromises to do so.
Bethesda isn't an independent developer like CD Projekt is. It's naive to think they are somehow different from EA.
Also the Elder Scrolls games have always had the reputation of being mediocre games, not much to speak of. It's the community with the mods that have made the Elder Scrolls games as great and as popular as they are. Is that a bad thing? No. But I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the same from Skyrim, but also expect a great mod community and support for the game providing another game of excellent replay value.
Even Oblivion which sold well, I've been told by hardcore fans that say, playing it without the mods etc is boring and the game content is lacking and the main story line you can finish within one sitting easily. It's the mods that make the game worthwhile to continue playing.
The Witcher 2 does not need mods to make the game as enthralling as it is with excellent replay value from it's diverging story lines based on your decisions.