The sales figures of Skyrim already hit 7million, and the numbers don't include Steam (the fact is Steam controls over 70% of the digital market). Actually, when you play this game for a relatively long time, you even can not tell a difference between real world and virtual world. Why it can dominate our gaming time? My opinions:

1. Vastly splendid gaming world (maybe)

I began to play the game when it was released, now I already touched more than half of the Skyrim territory. I found more than 100 places, and kinds of dungeons are worth discovering (my opinion). The fun I can get from it is climb mountains, destroy fortresses and crossing oceans, etc. Every exquisite vast world scene created by Bethesda undoubtedly amazed me, and made me get lost. The virtual world is not simply displayed by a dumb map, people can find some quests attractive in every village, city or dungeon, and every quest is capable of leading gamers to a unique place. I think that's why it can easily succeed worldwide.

2. Unprecedented game freedom (yes)

I guess many gamers already killed dragons, invaded cities, murdered kings, and some even remarried. Farmer, fisherman, blacksmith, etc, I got a bunch of jobs to make a living in the game. Maybe some people hate this kind of stuff, they feel bored, but everything has two sides. If you don't want to become The One, you have no interest on saving the world, it's fine, you can just buy a house and store lots of books, why not? The game freedom of Skyrim offers you freedom to decide "who you want to be" and "what you want to do", after all, saving the world can be boring too.

3. Impressive graphics (even for lowest settings)

We can see countless landscapes and crafted dungeons in Skyrim. The graphic engine of Skyrim maybe a bit outdated, but it doesn't let me down. It can perform well on some low-setting rigs. In 10 minutes, people can see varioius forests, rivers, plains and high mountains. Although it is "only" 5g-sized, but I don't think another 70g one can outperform it all-round.

4. Diversified game quests (true for me)

Similar to previous Scorlls, there is a conventional plot throughout Skyrim, accompanied with some guild quests and side quests. But one diffenrence is, Skyrim has so many side quests that we have to spend more time on a main city. Actually, I spent 9 hours on side quests for the first village (a bit insane). Generally, you will get bored when you stuck by side quest, but Skyrim didn't fail me, every quest has its own features, abundant details and twisting plot just make me addictive. On top of that, endless mods are awaiting.:)

Agreed?

yes it is

No its not, after 30 hours I really don't want to play it anymore.

It's the most addicting game ever this year, I would say.

It's in a pitched battle with Saints Row: The Third for me.

I think it's a tie at this point.

@Rorie said:

It's the most addicting game ever this year, I would say.

Ever ever?

I'll let the fact that I've played it all night speak for itself. Proceeds to drink fourth cup coffee.

I would agree with you on the diversified game quests but would disagree on one major point. While the miscellaneous quests pointing you toward random dungeons are useful for grinding purposes they get stale quickly. Also the game's attempt to create endless quests with specific guilds such as the dark brotherhood and the thieves guild fall far short of the mark. The random quests for the dark brotherhood don't even have named characters and I literally got the exact same randomized quest twice (to kill a corrupt mage at the winterhold inn). Random quests for the thieves guild are similarly contrived and trivial asking you to "cook the books" so to speak by changing the business logs of a store which just means sneaking over to the book.

Not quite. At no point I felt like I can't end the game and do something else. However, I enjoyed my time with it (~70h).

I think the main quest is nice and so are half of the side quests. The Companions, Thieves and Winterhold questline just seems very short for me to become some sort of master of the guild which was kind of strange. I think the Dark Brotherhood quests were a little bit better in that regard.

In my opinion the series could profit from a smaller, more compact world, while having the same amount of quests from less people - so that you start caring about NPCs - I didn't really care for any NPC. And though the dungeons are way better than in Oblivion, their random loot still makes them feel... random. The design of the cities is a little too streched, I think. That's something which I noticed about many US games which try to pick up the medieval/phantasy theme. That's probably due to the lack of medieval cities in the US ;-)

edit: I really had a hard time getting away from Terraria, my friends and I had a server running

Addicting? No. Addictive? Yes.

But, seriously, I've spent 100 hours at least with it and can see myself spending 100 more.

What i have played of it i would say it is very addictive. no i just have to wait 8 days to play it for real.  
 
HURRY THE FUCK UP TIME!

Nope, I played a lot more of Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3 than Skyrim. It has honestly been making me not want to play it with how bad the framerate is, and how horrible the patch was (ps3). It is on par with Dragon Age 2 for the most disappointing game of the year for me (for very different reasons). I even played more Batman Arkham City than Skyrim, and that game isn't very long.

Edit: Oh yeah and I'll be playing a lot of Assassin's Creed Revelations this holiday.

I think so. Assassin's Creed and Zelda snatched me from Skyrim's gaping maw about 45 hours in though.

Like the elder scroll games before it (more specifically Morrowind) I can get easily and happily lost, exploring, questing and killing my way in an expansive and detailed world.

Yes.

No. I'm only at around 150 hours and I'm having trouble sucking more fun out of it. Needs more Creation Kit.

@Rorie said:

It's the most addicting game ever this year, I would say.

So ever, or just this year?

Yeah, I've hurt my back playing it for so long. I now have to make a conscious decision to not play it, because when I do, I lose an entire day.

@Dude_What said:

Addicting? No. Addictive? Yes.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that can't stand it when people say "addicting". It fucking drives me crazy.

I'm playing it. For real.

For me, definitely. Already 86 hours in and I haven't touched much of the main quest line, I blame plenty of dungeon raiding and running away from mammoths.

My life is in shambles.

Skyrim is indeed the most addicting game this year.

What happened to addictive? Is addicting really a word? :(

Yep, it totally is.

No question it is for me. With the exception of Forza 4, I've already played Skyrim exponentially more than anything else. Saints Row has essentially been shelved and put on hiatus after ~10 hours, while Skyrim is still going strong after 60 hours.

Actually, when you play this game for a relatively long time, you even can not tell a difference between real world and virtual world.

Saints Row: The Third has taken up more time for me with its over the top craziness, but Skyrim can be pretty addictive.

@Liber said:

No its not, after 30 hours I really don't want to play it anymore.

True, i played for about 40 hours when i realised that i am done. I tried to get back in but the gameplay is too boring to continue. Skyrim is great at the start,but it does not keep me going like Battlefield 3.

In the first few hours I played I would have said yes, but it started to get real old for me real quick. The problem for me was I kept starting new characters. So re seeing all of those sections over and over allowed me to see behind the proverbial curtain and stop seeing it as a world but simply as a game. Once that happens the immersion in the world drops to non existent for me, and I just can;t get myself into the game unless it has a awesome story. Which sadly this game does not. I hope the next one they focus on telling a smaller number of great stories instead of tons of bland and formulaic ones.

@mandude said:

What happened to addictive? Is addicting really a word? :(

Addicting is a word. It's just that nobody ever uses it correctly. The correct word in this situation is 'addictive'.

It is very addictive, god knows I can't stop playing, but it isn't the most addicting game ever.

@Liber said:

No its not, after 30 hours I really don't want to play it anymore.

I'm feeling the same about the game. Not quite sure why but I don't have much desire to play it anymore.

So addicting. Only game this year where I get that sensation of 'Lost Time". I was just about to log out last night when my wife says "Hey is that a nirn root"? An hour later I got the nirn root. (Giants, Mammoths, two bandit camps, a dragon, and the discovery of Lunar Weapons were involved).

While I was playing last Sunday I looked at the time, saw that it was six, and thought to myself, "Wait, didn't I start playing at six," and realized that, yes indeed, I did.

No game since Okami or Landstalker has had that effect on me.

@PrivateIronTFU: Thank you! I'm not crazy! :D

It's a great game but i would not be so quick to give a blank statement like that.

Only game in the last three years I've put more than 30 hours in.

I've lost many many hours to this game already and theres still so much I haven't done in the game yet.

Don't even think this is a competition.

I believe that the majority of people believe this game too be quite good and addictive. I played 80+ hours with a character, and then restarted all over because I wanted to have more experience at the beginning of the game.

Saints Row the Third, however, comes in a close second.

The fact that I am still playing it suggests yes- it is the most addicting game ever if not only just this year.

Love Skyrim, but I wouldn't say it's the most addictive game of the year. Not even close to done and I haven't played it in about two or three days.

I find that I am just as addicted to Skyrim as I am Dark Souls. Skyrim's combat is ruined for me after Dark Souls unfortunately. Still awesome game.

Dark Souls was far more addictive for me. SKyrim sucks away time though.

@Vodun said:

@Rorie said:

It's the most addicting game ever this year, I would say.

Ever ever?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92FCRmggNqQ&t=1m20s

It's one of them.

Sorry. Dark Souls is most addicting ever.

I'm not suggesting they are that comparable, and Skyrim is awesome with certain quest-lines that are super-addictive and might make you lose a night of sleep or two (thief's, dark bh, civil war). But in general I can still go to bed at night. With Dark Souls I couldn't put it down if I wanted to...I had to call for help to pry the controller from my fingers.

It's addictive alright, but I'm more prone to do ragefueled all-nighters playing Battlefield. But certainly one of the most addicitive experiences this year. Got me to pull an all-nighter once or twice already.

Nope. Sure is good though.

Not for me at least. I found after 10 hours or so that I wasn't really enjoying it at all any more. I think DotA 2 is a lot more hooking.

Dark Souls is pretty good too.