The Elder Scrolls series is known for being one of the biggest and most immersive RPGs of all time. When Bethesda announced the arrival of the fifth entry gamers couldn't wait to get their hands on another 100+ hour adventure that would keep them on the edge of their seats — and they certainly weren't disappointed when Skyrim finally hit the shelves. Boasting one of the biggest open worlds ever seen in video gaming, the fifth entry in the series was a massive behemoth of a title that is still regarded to this day as one of the best games of all time.

However, gamers might've been a bit hasty when they slapped this hefty title onto Skyrim. After all, calling one particular game the greatest of all time is not a small thing to do, and in the case of Skyrim, there are a ton of faults that simply cannot be ignored. In fact, some elements of the game are so unbelievably stupid that it's frankly amazing how Bethesda could even think that gamers would be stupid enough to simply gloss over such major mistakes (although to their credit... most gamers did choose to ignore these flaws in favor of appreciating the big picture). Here are 20 times when Skyrim decided to insult the intelligence of gamers who wished to delve into a fantasy world in the hopes of avoiding anything that might hamper their immersion.

20 Knowingly Releasing A Broken PS3 Version

Until mods started hitting the (now) current-gen platforms, it was pretty well established that the PC version of Skyrim was the best way to play the game. This is a pretty well-known fact, since after all, it's the mods that can truly enhance one's gameplay to the next level. However, this doesn't mean that vanilla Skyrim is bad — in fact, console gamers should be able to enjoy the game as well... that is, if they're able to even play the thing to begin with.

In the case of the PS3 release of Skyrim, the bugs and glitches present were truly game-breaking in every sense of the word. There were just so many things wrong with it that it boggles the mind as to how one could even play the game properly. From save files getting corrupted to unbelievable amounts of lag — the fact that Bethesda thought that such a game was ready for release is beyond insulting.

19 Become A Mage At The College Of Winterhold Even Though You Barely Use Any Magic

The College of Winterhold is a fun little side activity that you can perform in the game which involves the Dragonborn's enrollment into a college that features its own little mystery. This particular plotline is surprisingly memorable and features interesting characters (who admittedly have somewhat clichéd personalities).

However, one of the biggest immersion breakers in this particular plotline can emerge from the very beginning, if you happen to play a character that doesn't perform any magic whatsoever. Only the most basic spells are required so that you can get enrolled in the college, which speaks volumes when it comes to the college's criteria for choosing people.

18 Entering Walled Cities As A Khajiit When They Are Banned

The lands of Skyrim aren't exactly hospitable to outsiders, and this can be clearly witnessed in the way Khajiits are treated in the game. Most of the Nords are rather proud and haughty, and they look down on all of the beast races in particular due to their unorthodox looks and behavior. In fact, most of the walled cities in Skyrim don't even have a single Khajiit roaming around since they're technically not even allowed to enter.

Of course, since you're the Dragonborn it technically doesn't matter whether you play as a Khajiit or not since you can enter any city you want, but choosing this particular race is pretty immersion breaking. Most people only acknowledge that the Dragonborn is a Khajiit with a single uninspired line of dialogue.

17 Constantly Re-Releasing The Same Game Instead Of Focusing On Something New

The gaming industry always needs something fresh and innovative to be driven towards the next era, and the role of the various AAA developers is to innovate when it comes to their games and experiment with new IPs in order to strive and bring gaming to the next level. This is simply not possible if one decides to simply cash in on their success and constantly release the same thing over and over again for proven results.

Skyrim is a huge perpetrator of this practice, and Bethesda needs to realize that gamers want something fresh and innovative, instead of the same game repackaged with prettier graphics. With the recent disaster of an E3 conference by Bethesda, one can only hope that they've learned from their mistakes and are focusing on a new game, instead of trying to re-release Skyrim again.

16 The Concept Of 'Infinite Quests' Is A Poorly-Disguised Lie

Todd Howard is the master of marketing his games, but in his quest to convince people to buy the Bethesda products he ends up exaggerating certain aspects of these games to a ridiculous degree — sometimes even outright lying in the process. A great example of this would be the way in which he sold the fact that Skyrim is a game with 'limitless quests.' a statement which cleverly manages to hide the big picture.

These so-called 'Radiant Quests' are supposed to track the behavior of the player and provide him/her with quests that are structured based on how they've interacted with the world of Skyrim. However, the capabilities of this system were greatly exaggerated upon release — it was nowhere near as deep as promised, and ended up being nothing more than just a bunch of recycled fetch quests.

15 Citizens Fight Dragons Instead Of Running Away

Dragons are feared creatures in the land of Skyrim, and there's an aura of fear attached in the voices of most individuals when they talk about these imposing creatures. So it's certainly quite confusing that when a dragon does attack a particular village, its inhabitants take the dumbest course of action and charge at the dragon with nothing but their bare fists.

Stupidity is a dangerous thing indeed, and in the case of this particular occurrence, it seems like pretty much everyone in Skyrim is an aspiring daredevil. Thankfully, there's a mod that can correct the vexing behavior of these civilians, although when one looks at the big picture this is something that Bethesda should've fixed to begin with.

14 Treating Dragons Like Bosses Is Ridiculous

One of the main selling points of Skyrim was its inclusion of the imposing dragons that would supposedly strike the player down with ease if he/she didn't strategize accordingly. However, while this might be somewhat true for the first few encounters, the fact of the matter is that there really isn't that much of a difference between normal enemies and dragons after a while.

This is certainly disappointing, especially since what's meant to be an epic encounter for the ages ends up being nothing more than a drawn-out clickfest with barely any tension whatsoever. When one thinks about how much the dragon fights were hyped up before release, this feels like a cruel joke from Bethesda.

13 All The Titles You Get Are Basically Irrelevant

There are a large number of guilds in Skyrim which you can join and progress up the ranks by completing your assigned duties and performing various impressive feats. In fact, if you're diligent enough you can actually become the guild master at pretty much every guild you can join... but don't expect any special behavior for achieving this impressive task.

For some reason, no matter how many titles you might have under your belt you'll always be regarded as either a commoner, outsider, or both by a majority of the populace in Skyrim, which can be quite vexing at times. It can also be somewhat disappointing and frustrating when you realize that all your efforts have borne no fruit when it comes to your reputation.

12 Pickpocket Someone With Ease... Even If There Are A Ton Of People Around You

Pickpocketing in Skyrim can be quite useful at certain times in the game, like when you can avoid fighting the Forsworn by sneakily pickpocketing their heart instead of getting into a huge drawn-out brawl. However, the basic mechanics of pickpocketing can get rather weird at times... and downright unbelievable during certain moments in the game.

Somehow, people around you don't get suspicious at all when you start sneaking around rather obviously in front of them. Pickpocketing someone in a crowd is always unintentionally hilarious as well, and the fact that no one around you notices your blatant thievery is completely idiotic.

11 Eating Corpses Heals You — For Some Twisted Reason

The Taste Of Death is a rather interesting quest you can find in Skyrim, which starts out with a mystery of disappearing dead bodies and ends with the discovery a secret cult of cannibals who feast on the flesh of humans in order to satisfy Namira, The Mistress Of Decay. If you choose to join this cult, then you'll gain the ability to feast on the flesh of human corpses as well in order to gain health and stamina bonuses.

This is where the concept of cannibalism stops making any sense. While this taboo act should not be incentivized, to begin with, it's still somewhat perplexing to wonder exactly why feasting on the raw flesh of dead humans would somehow bestow you with such impressive regenerative powers.

10 Most Of The Choices You Make In The Game Don't Even Matter

The opening moments of Skyrim are certainly quite memorable. In your haste to escape Alguin (after he ostensibly saves you from being beheaded), you get to choose between two individuals — a rebel and an imperial soldier. If you think that this choice will lead to something monumental further down the line though... then stop, because all this does is provide you with a different objective marker.

In fact, this is the case for pretty much each and every choice you make in Skyrim. Most of these decisions might seem monumental at a glance, but in the large scheme of things, they are pretty non-consequential. This certainly dampens the idea that you form your own story in the game, which turns out to be untrue for the most part.

9 You Somehow Get So Drunk That You Travel Half Of Skyrim And Have No Recollection Of It

One of the more memorable sidequests from Skyrim pays homage to the events of The Hangover, where you get into a drinking contest with a stranger... only to wake up in a temple with no recollection of the events that led you there. It's one of the most memorable quests in Skyrim... but a closer look at this turn of events raises more questions than answers. According to Skyrim, you somehow managed to travel the countryside while so inebriated that your brain couldn't even recall what happened to begin with. Even for the Dragonborn, this feat seems way too unbelievable to be accomplished. It's a funny goof, but it really doens't make any sense when you consider how long it would take.

8 A Giant's Killing Blow Somehow Sends You Flying Towards The Stratosphere

The giants of Skyrim have become quite iconic, and this is largely due to the fact that in the starting moments of the game, they're probably one of the harder enemies you'll encounter (aside from dragons... obviously). Finding them is pretty easy as well, and a new player who might want to test their mettle against these tough beasts will certainly find it somewhat amusing when a single swing of their club sends their limp corpse flying.

It's all fun and games though until you realize that pretty much none of the other enemies exhibit this rather odd trait. Foes that are larger and more imposing than these giants still kill you in a rather boring manner, which becomes especially perplexing when a massive dragon absolutely destroys you but your body just slumps down where it stands.

7 Is Alduin A Big Deal, Or Not?

One of the coolest dragons in any video game, Alduin is the antagonist of Skyrim. It is built up throughout the game as one of the biggest challenges ever — so much so that you wouldn't be at fault if you were expecting a battle for the ages during the penultimate moments of the game... only to be let down horribly when you find out just how crappy the boss fight actually turns out to be.

All the build-up ultimately boils down to nothing, and this is largely due to the clunky fighting mechanics of Skyrim and the simple scaling system, which means that by the time you finally reach Alduin, you'll be so over-powered that the entire fight will be over without any problem whatsoever.

6 The Concept Of Marriage In Skyrim Is So Stupidly Simple That It's Simply Mind-Boggling

Marriage is a sacred ceremony that requires a ton of thought and preparation beforehand, so that the long-term commitment you're willing to make doesn't end up being a horrible mistake. This sentiment seems to have been completely glossed over when Bethesda decided to program a simple marriage system in Skyrim.

Instead of building up a relationship that pays off in a satisfactory manner, what ends up happening is that you basically complete a poorly-structured sidequest to help your prospective romantic partner, after which you provide him/her with an Amulet of Mara that will basically guarantee a yes from the person in question. That's pretty much it.

5 The Common People Don't Have The Faintest Inkling About Your Importance

You're introduced to the world of Skyrim as a prisoner, and quickly end up being labeled as the Dragonborn. This is no small title, and one would think that people would be coming out in droves in order to glace at such an imposing figure. However, what ends up happening instead is that you get treated like every other outlander with the same clichéd greeting constantly repeated throughout the countryside.

This is perhaps one of the biggest immersion breakers in Skyrim. No matter how many impressive feats you accomplish in the game, the fact of the matter is that your achievements are largely ignored by the majority of the populace. It can get frustrating over time.

4 All The Guards Have Apparently Taken An Arrow To The Knee

Recycled dialogue is annoying in pretty much every game — especially ones that go on for over 100 hours. There's only so many monotone replies you can endure before getting irritated every single time an unimportant NPC decides to provide you with his irrelevant opinion. Take the case of the guards in Skyrim — all of them have the urge to say something to you... and all of them apparently received the same crippling injury.

One of the most unintentionally hilarious bits of dialogue in Skyrim is a phrase that pretty much every guard has the urge to repeat when you walk past them. The phrase 'took an arrow to the knee' became a pretty well-known meme when Skyrim was released, and for good reason — it's just stupid to imply that every guard in the game had apparently received such a specific injury.

3 The Dark Brotherhood Will Apparently Take Any Request — Even From Snot-Nosed Brats

The Dark Brotherhood is supposed to be a mysterious organization that works in the shadows and influences how things unfold in the continent of Tamriel. While they might sound like major bigshots, their actions in Skyrim are something that warrants a closer look.

In order to attract the attention of this faction, you need to aid a child who's praying for the Dark Brotherhood to kill the matron of an orphanage where she's reportedly abusing the children. Somehow, you attract the attention of a massive criminal organization by completing this task, which makes the Dark Brotherhood seem way more small-scale in nature — something that is not true at all.

2 Attack A Chicken By Accident And The Entire Freaking Town Turns On The Dragonborn

The Dragonborn is supposed to act as the savior of the world, and with the increasing frequency of dragon attacks in Skyrim his/her presence is all the more important. So, if for some reason one of the Dragonborn's attacks happened to hit the village's poultry by mistake, surely it could just be laughed off by the populace... right?

Wrong.

Turns out that when it comes to their poultry, the villagers are extremely protective. This can get somewhat comedic and frustrating at the same time when it turns out that one accidental attack to the chickens in the town will lead to the entire populace gunning for your head. This game certainly gives The Legend Of Zelda series a run for its money.

1 The Civil War Plotline Turned Out To Be Largely Inconsequential

The Civil War is an event that has ravaged Skyrim, even before the Dragonborn's fateful arrival. Depending upon the player's choice, they can either side with the rebels or the Imperials, which can change the course of the war. Obviously, once this questline is completed you'd expect the world of Skyrim to change significantly, right? Well, prepare to be disappointed.

It doesn't really help to begin with when you notice that for an area rife with war, there aren't many battles happening around the countryside. To top it all off, there's barely any tangible change that can be witnessed once you help any one of the parties take a hold of Skyrim, which is a rather disappointing payoff for a well-made sidequest.