Skyrim: Where to begin...

[Killem]

I've never played any of the games from the series but Skyrim is looking pretty good. Could I play Skyrim without playing any of the previous games and still enjoy it or should I start earlier?

(If there is already a topic on this, direct me there. I had no luck finding it)

 

[vrbtny]

I'm going to. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[ToastiestZombie]

The good thing about the Elder Scrolls games is that you dont need to have played any of the other ones. Which lets new players like you start off and not feel like they've come in to late. So start at Skyrim. The only things that you wont know are tiny bits of lore, but nothing that affects gameplay in any way.

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

Short answer:
Yes, you can! Don't worry!

Long answer:
Consider the side of the developer / publisher?
Would they want to sell the game only to the hardcore fan-base? No, they want to target a larger usergroup so they will make accesable for anyone without needing further background knowledge. They want your money, so they want you to like it even though you didn't know the other games.


Addendum:
If you seek to close the gap of knowledge and enjoy reading a wiki try to read things and information you find here http://www.uesp.net/
It's a pretty good (maybe the best) source for all games of "The Elder Scrolls" universe.

 

[Killem]

That was the next thing I was going to ask: Where can I find information from the previous games. Thanks! Plus, I can always go back and play the other games later.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Each elder scrolls installment has its own story.
You don't NEED to play any of the previous titles to understand what Skyrim will be about.
However, there is a vast lore and universe to access through playing the other games (best for this is TESIII: Morrowind.
Though reading into that lore is completely optional and you can still greatly enjoy the games without knowing it all, it is a helpful tool to immerse yourself in the vast world Bethesda created.

 

[Judgedread]

The games are pretty stand alone to be honest. You won't miss anything by having not played the previous games. The games share the same world but the stories for the most part have no relation to one another and next to no characters which cross over, with the exception of the gods, if they can be called characters as they very rarely have a physical form.

I started with oblivion and found it to be great, sunk over 100 hours into it. Tried Morrowind due to recommendations and just couldn't get into it at all, the combat stunk.

Long story short. Just jump right in with Skyrim you won't be missing anything even without any prior knowledge of the series. If you feel like playing one of the others try oblivion, for all of its many, many, many faults, it is one of my favourite games.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

the only thing that connects the game is the world. for example, in Oblivion, you get Morrowind references (NPCs talking about big events)
no doubt in Skyrim you'll get a load of

Spoiler: ..."I can't believe

Spoiler: it's not butter"...

or... "someone stole an Elder Scroll."

etc.

 

[Dumbfish1]

That was the next thing I was going to ask: Where can I find information from the previous games. Thanks! Plus, I can always go back and play the other games later.

If you do go back and play them, you'll probably notice a drop in quality obviously, since they're older games. I'd recomend getting oblivion or morrowind first, and just playing through it a bit, they're good games in their own right. And that way you can appreciate the changes they've made, instead of wishing they'd done it for the previous games. And you'll notice little carry-overs in skyrim from the old games, like nirnroot.

Plus, they're really cheap, and skyrim isn't out yet.

 

[Jakub324]

I'd never played one before Oblivion so I think you probably could.

 

[thespyisdead]

things you need to know: in Morrowind, Uriel is alive, in oblivion he dies, in skyrim he is mostlikely dead, unless the games happen at the same time, which would suck

and for those who will scream that this is a spoiler, i would not say so, because septim dies in the beginning of oblivion, not in the end

 

[luckshot]

the first elder scrolls game i played was oblivion.

i did go back and play morrowind for a while

 

[Woodsey]

No, they're all stand-alone.