It’s easy to see the initial popularity of “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” After all, the open-world role-playing video game isn’t an underground secret. Released early last November, the game, centered around killing dragons@@on man…killing dragons….uh huh@@ in a magical kingdom, capitalized on Black Friday and Christmas sales to sell the third-most copies of any game all year.
Nor is the Skyrim experience (and there’s no other word for it) unheralded. With more than 200 perfect review scores, there isn’t a compliment a critic hasn’t given it.
But in a consumer culture that demands instant gratification before leaping to the next big thing, why is a three-month-old, single-player game still being played so much? What makes Skyrim so special?@@i don’t know, matt@@
Part of the reason is that it’s so damn hard to stop playing.
When videogame-based social network Raptr@@http://raptr.com/@@ compiled a list of 2011’s most-played games, it discovered Skyrim players played 2.92 hours per session on average.@@how do they get this information@@ In other words, when a player picks up their controller, they don’t put it down until an eighth of their day is gone — on average. This isn’t unheard of for a game like “World of Warcraft” that builds its premise on working with other humans. But for a single-player game? That’s staggering.
“Part of the draw is the illusion of a second life,” said University junior Max Richter,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Max+Richter@@ who estimates he’s put about 125 real-life hours into the game. “The game gets the hook into you quick, and you’re playing God in a world that revolves around you.”
To call Skyrim immersive would be a dragon-sized understatement. From the enormity of the sweeping landscapes to the sheer multitude of things to do, players are entered into an environment they can interact with on literally every level.@@i want to eat the grass and skip pebbles on the lake@@ In fact, it’s hard to even describe its complexity without seeing the gameplay. Players customize everything from what race they choose to be (ten unique, playable ones exist) to how wide they want their chin to look. The result is an instant investment in a new you, even if this you is covered in scales and war paint.
When this new you meets other characters and forms friendships, rivalries and yes, even romantic relationships,@@oo la la@@ it’s impossible to keep the real you’s emotions out of it. Richter, for instance, remembers one of his in-game followers dying in a battle.
“I ended up dragging his body to the top of a mountain,” Richter said. For Skyrim players, going through The Five Stages of Grief, even on a virtual scale, can be routine.
Gamers have always looked for the reflection of life in what they play, but with Skyrim, the reflection is so clear and sharp that even the premise of the game imitates life. Because, as Richter explained, Skyrim is about the journey, not the destination.
“Yes, there’s the main quest, but there are so many things to do around this world, and you’re free to do whatever you want. There’s never any rush,” Richter said.
When I first played Skyrim earlier this week to do research for this story, I was overwhelmed at my initial options. Beyond the epic tasks like, you know, saving the world, players can invest time in more ordinary jobs — chopping wood, cooking, getting married and owning a shop.
Although some may question why catching fish would be fun in a game that allows you to slay giants, Richter argues that’s not the point.
“Skyrim’s about the little details,” he said. “Do I want to spend all day cutting wood? No. But the fact that I can is what gives the epic missions so much more weight.”@@you know, you can do that in real life, too.@@
Escapism will always be popular, especially with people wanting more out of their own life. But Skyrim is popular because it doesn’t supplement your own life — it gives you a new one where you can indulge every whim. The slogan on the game’s website is more of a promise: “Live another life, in another world.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to chopping wood. @@probably some obscure hazing reference@@