How you can tell a game is popular, Quarter to Three version:
Skyrim: mods and tweaks
Do you consider Skyrim the best RPG, maybe even the best game, of all times?
10 reasons why I hate Skyrim
Do you still play Skyrim?
Skyrim: The Post-Release *Spoiler-Free* Topic! NO SPOILERS HERE!
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim announced
Skyrim: The character thread
Skyrim: The Post-Release *Spoiler-FILLED* Topic! CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS!
Does Skyrim need its own subforum
Do you consider Skyrim the best RPG, maybe even the best game, of all times? (duplicate)
Skyrim: The Builds Thread!
Skyrim – Why is it such a succes? (Sorry!)
Skyrim: Why aren’t you playing yet?
If you could change Skyrim’s melee combat, what would you want?
Skyrim: Great game and all…but why’s the menu looking like windows 98’s?
Don’t miss these moments in Skyrim
Bethesda: Fix the Skyrim bugs!
Enchanted Weapon/Armor Names in ~Skyrim~
Combined, these threads add up to somewhere around 10,000 or more posts. That is a lot of words for one game. It currently rates 94 out of 100 for the PC version on Metacritic (96 and 92 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, respectively) and has spawned no less than two annoying memes, making it the Portal of 2011 (even moreso than Portal 2, which also came out this year):
I took an arrow to the knee
FUS RO DAH
Do searches on these phrases, if you dare. The Internet will obligingly turn up many examples for you to enjoy(?).
The game is still listed at $59.99 which is way beyond my current gaming budget, plus I know that I wouldn’t do more than piddle about with it if I got it now, anyway, as I have a gaming backlog that stretches nigh unto infinity as is. Still, as a pop culture event, there is no denying Skyrim has left an impression. And made moneyhats for Bethesda.