Pretty far into the game now. Overall, I like it, for the $ it gives me a lot of hours of entertainment. Fair trade. There are a few things that bother me, and one of them is the annoyingly super-fast progression from newbie recruit to becoming a leader of any given faction. You can go from someone who just enrolled in the college of magii (or whatever it's called) to arch-mage in what it felt to me was like half an hour. Do a few quests and that's it. Worst part of it is, you don't even need to know a whole lot about magic to become the arch-mage. There are a few points where you need to use a specific spell or use an enchanted items but overall you can be a total beginner in magic and be the arch-mage. That just feels wrong to me. Morrowind used to have skill requirements before you could advance in rank in any given faction. You had to do specific quests to advance, yes, but you couldn't become a high ranking officer in the Legion without having a clue on which side of the sword is the pointy end and which you hold in your hand. You couldn't become a high ranking mage without being a pretty high level in certain schools of magic. It took time and effort and was all the more rewarding when you did get there. Now the ranks are out completely. You start as a newb, and 30 minutes later you're the leader of that guild/faction. An achievement that feels totally hollow, fake, and undeserved.
I guess I want the long engrossing guild progression process that Morrowind had, together with ranks and skill requirements before you can be promoted. But I'm guessing your average gamer today doesn't have the patience so we'll pander him by making him the master of the universe with very little time and effort invested. Meh.
Like I said, overall it's a great game and if you like open sandbox type games with huge worlds to explore and plenty to do in them, then Skyrim is your best bet when it comes to any game that's relatively new. The game is good. But it could have been epic. Too bad.
