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I have a love hate relationship with the game. In some ways it was outstanding. The sheer magnitude of it was great. The story was fascinating. It was well told and unfolded itsself in a really neat manner. The characters were really well done. They had personality. It was also great being able to make magic items and to create spells. The armour and weapons were great. The ability to generate custom characters really made my PC my own. The interface was great. I loved having the view mode. There was nothing more exciting that being able to strafe out of the way of an enemy's spell and watching it go by. The horsee was a nice touch too. The rise in levels based on use of skills rather than just killing monsters is a great concept.

So this isn't damning the game with faint praise, either, I really was hooked on it.

But, there is a downside. First, the bugs in the game. I must have reloaded 100 times or more due to crashes. I got stuck in so many walls I felt like I was plaster. I got stuck going down steep inclines whenever there was a monster at the bottom. I got stuck in every pit that had a monster at the bottom. I got kicked out of the game many times with the error 113. This game is flat buggy, even with the latest patch. I had gold disappear at the bank. I had monsters stuck in walls that had the object quest and was unable to get it. I had quests that I fulfilled and then wasn't able to get credit for. And what about slipping into a black void, thru the walls. I am really pissed at Bethsda for releasing this game without Beta testing and debugging. How dare they sell such a buggy game?? What do they think of gamers, to put on the market such a defective product? How dare they.

There were some other things that I found incredible. Who could imagine a game where the best way to advance in levels is to sit in a room at an Inn for 30 or 60 days and throw spells at the wall continuiously??? What is this?? What a design flaw, in my opinion. How utterly boring!!!!

And how about trying to click on a lever or elevator switch. There must be about 1pixel which triggers it. Takes about 10 attempts, usually to trigger them. Or trying to click on a place on the Tamriel map. Them dots sure is small.

The design of the game has many flaws: The proofing of text was non-existant. There are so many typos as to make me wince. Can't they afford a spellchecker? Or getting a quest to a town that doesn't exist in the country that the quest giver tells you it is in (and yes, I had the right country and spelling of the town)?

Loitering in a store until the owner leaves and then cleaning it out and selling it back to him the next day?? Real adventuresome way of making money.

The sheer monotony of the dungeons had me about bored to tears. There were a few designs, but it was mostly go thru another dungeon that was like the last one. Pull a bunch of levers in some with no hint as to why, just try all of the combinations and sooner or later the door will open. Why not have a dozen or so really cleverly designed dungeons, kinda like an Ultima design that were different from each other instead of the same type time after time? On the other hand the last series of dungeons were wonderful---cleverly designed, different and fun. What a great design the weapon one was. Jump on a crossbow and get catapulted to the sword, wow!!! Why not more original ones like that????

Also, instead of killing 1000 monsters that are mostly the same and too easy at higher levels, particularily with spell absorbtion and reflection, how about more difficult monsters, ones that take some thought, particular weapons and particular spells. The vampires and ancients early in the game were a real challenge, but later, no challenge at all.

Well, I could go on and on about the game but this is enough, The bottom line is that the game had a wonderful concept, but the bugs made it a dismal affair to play.

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