I'm excited but I'll wait to see it in action before I can really care.

Release date: November 11, 2011.  11/11/11.  Awesome.

As has been rumoured, the game will feature a brand new game engine.  The last two installments, Morrowind and Oblivion, have both used the Gamebryo engine, as did the last two Fallout titles.  Hopefully, a new engine means better animation, and a more lively world.  In any case, this is one game I'm going to pre-order.

Unless Skyrim takes place in the future of the Elder Scrolls universe, where you play as Space Marine John 'Action' McCliche, fighting back alien invaders through scripted sequences.  With a focus on multiplayer, featuring perks, leveling and monthly overpriced DLC.
*shudders*

edit:
Watch the trailer here.  You have to fight Dragons?  Yeah, I'm calling it here:  Game of the Year.

It's not going to be a new engine, it's a modified Gamebryo. Todd Howard said that himself in an interview recently.  And it'll most likely be Steamworks too.

OH GOD PLEASE HAVE A BETTER MAGIC SYSTEM THATIS ALL I ASK, AND KEEP THE MODDING CAPABILITIES!

Oblivion wasn't that good and was one of the most overrated games of its time. So I've got exactly zero excitement about this. Hopefully they fix the levelling system, at a minimum.

I will withhold judgment until we get to see something. It could be all the problems of Oblivion and (to a lesser extent) Fallout 3, intensified. Or it could go back to its roots, with writing and environment design like Morrowind and Shivering Isle. Character creation and whatnot could return to daggerfall levels of complexity with new options in addition to old things that have been excised, or it could become even simpler. Probably the actual product will be somewhere between the extremes.

For the love of Pete no required Steamworks!!!

So you are not familiar with Black and White perhaps ?

Some of the oblivion magic mods that were created for it were phenomenal -- vanilla magic system was somewhat flawed.

Oblivion was fine. I played more morrowind because it had more options and play styles (though we all which one was totally broken... Heavy Armor+Axe Weapons) and a very fun physics engine that made cheating a new game in itself. Oblivion's highlight was going through town at the end and slaughtering everything moving just to see waht kind of items they had. My only true critique is a lack of option to let the bad guys win and deal with hell on earth. I don't know how they missed that one.

If the new one adds variety and fixes the holes in their leveling system, it won't be bad.

Hey come on, its not like we are going to be too busy to play, just check the timecode for this post.

No crossbows?  How am I to kill vampires? Oh good they added garlic!

That was my first mpression of Oblivion.

Oblivion was lame compared to Mirrorwind.  However, the mods for oblivion continue to be wonderful, and make the game worth buying - so I can play the mods.  Wonderful stories, and some of the total remakes are awesome, as well.

Ever since Morrowind, the true value of the TES series was the modability of the games. Right now there are so many awesome mods for Oblivion, I would be hard pressed to come up with a better sandbox RP game when some of the best are installed.

So if they keep the game modable... dragons+mods = instawin.