Arcedwan

The thing about the elves looking more like sci-fi-aliens is really true. But I guess that falls under the category matter of taste. But there's another thing which is an objective problem: Skyrim being a console port. Now it may be too much to ask for if someone wanted TES to be pure PC-Games (alas), but at least Bethesda should for example provide bigger sound files for the PC-version. The audiocompression in this one is really painfull, especially if one uses headphones. Just listen to the slowed down crashing sound for certain finishing moves. I hope there'll be a mod to remove those cheesy slowmotion effects. (Is there allready perhaps?)

Yes, that may be due to the High Elves being ruled evil in Skyrim - even the Weapons seem to have sort of a fascist look. The Thalmor had to look more arrogant than majestic I think.

That's a different thing. This is not Crysis. In such a Game there may be five people with real character and the rest is all lookalike pawns. Whereas in TES-games you have ten different races (12 with elders and children in Skyrim, not to forget Dremora) which are more or less differently characterized. In the end, the variety is larger like that, but with hundreds of NPCs you will get the dejavu nevertheless. Anyway the character creation menu is something I really enjoy, because it makes TES really unique. In other games you cannot even name your character.

Well I think the characters aren't ugly at all, they just don't look like Fantasy-Kitsch. Now the most popular Oblivion mods seem to reveal that a lot of people like especially that kind of look, but one thing I value about TES is, that it has grown beyond such taste. Remember: in other games you do not have this option at all or you can choose between three guys who all look like the average soap opera beau. And why do people, who want a babyface-manga-look, on the other hand want to kill children? If someone insults me, then it's fine to have a brawl-option, but with a child that would be ridiculous. So that particular point rather seems strange to me, but I'm not the dark brotherhood type anyway, so perhaps there's just a lack of deeper understanding of other peoples dark sides on my part. But the point about the whiny american accents I can fully support. I was hoping they would fully correct that in Skyrim, because it was very annoying and inappropriate about Oblivion when someone in full medieval armor gave me that george bush talk. And I really have no nerve to play the shitty german version, which I tried first as I'm from Deutschland.