I made my character in Skyrim, made it beyond the tutorial, did a few cave spelunkings on the way to the first town, got bored in said town, then headed straight to the nearest city. I don’t really have an excuse, either, as that is precisely why I loved Oblivion so much. The first is that, to be honest, I just don’t have it in me. There are two giant barriers standing between me and Skyrim.

I really hate to admit it, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to play Skyrim. It’s been months since the game’s release now, and I only have a few hours logged into my save file. I got the game the day of release, eschewed my daily gym routine, and booked it home straight after work in order to spend the next hour making my character and ignoring the game’s main quest line in order to get lost in the world. So, I was obviously stoked for the next installment in the series, Skyrim. My character still has that amulet in his inventory. Over 200 hours logged in Oblivion, with my character’s skills trained high enough to where he could literally standing jump over a single story building, I never even completed the very first quest. I have never been as immersed in a virtual world as I have been in Oblivion’s, and I played a MUD for fourteen years. Years later, I gave Oblivion a shot older, with my gaming palate more refined. About ten minutes in, I realized I could click just about everything and put it into my inventory. When Morrowind first released, I’ll admit, I was too young and my gaming palate to unrefined to enjoy it. The Elder Scrolls series is, and has always been, one of the most immersive series in video games.

Oblivion alternate start main quest