i can't go any lower than expert because it's just too easy.

when my character starts one-hitting and defeating everything i get very bored and it's time for another character build.

Me too. I do find this game quite easy though and no I havn't smithed or enchanted anything with my current lvl 35 character. I use what I find. I'm a stealthy archer and stuff dies quick. May move it up to expert but why? There's no in game benefit to do it what so ever besides the guy take more hits before they die. Stupid IMO. Should get more treasure or level faster, something.

For those that play on Master, who hasn't smithed or enchanted to get uber gear? Don't lie now.

Started on expert about a month ago and never looked back, was already well levelled by then ! Not sure if I could opt for expert right from the get go though.

I play on adept. Seems like just the right balance of killing realism with me and my enemies being easy to kill unless wearing armor and beefing it up with smithing etc. Same with weapons. Dragons are also quite monstrous at this difficulty especially the ones that hardly come in for a landing.

This is quite true. Read my quote below.

No. I prefer to play on adept, which is the "intended" difficulty.

If I got bored from a lack of challenge, I might bump up the difficulty. If I struggled with adept, I'd work to get better, rather than lower the difficulty just to have glass enemies stand there and let me kill them.

With the exploits possible with crafting, you could create an unstoppable juggernaut. That lessens the need for lower difficulties, unless someone was new to the franchise and completely lost as to how to properly build a durable character.

I play on Apprentice. Perfect difficulty for me. I dont want to use exploits and i dont want 'difficulty' that can be overcome anyway by just using exploits or potions. On Apprentice i still can have near death encounters if i dont pay attention, and frost trolls can take me down in 2-3 hits still. I definitely dont play games like this for 'challenge' though. Its all about the journey, exploration and mild resistance... Not having to reload 10 times because a bandit killed my level 25 dragon born warrior with two hits.

Nah, I keep it on adept most of the time.

Yep, for my first character I did, as Skyrim was my first ES game. After getting the hang of it, I realized I butchered the skill tree and had no idea that there was light and heavy armor. I made a new character and upped the difficulty. Personally i find a little challenge fun, but I don't play on master.

I started my first char on adept, then changed to master and stayed that way for the rest of his adventure.
the 2 new ones I made started all and are still playing on master.

I usually play on adept, but I had to switch to expert once my weaponmaster Khajiit started killing all of his opponents in one hit.
I'm playing a Bosmer archer right now. Adept has been fine so far, but I've been forced to turn it down to novice on a few dragon encounters. I'm slowly getting the hang of archery, but fighting off a dragon by myself is still pretty tough.

I play on adept or expert.

I play on novice and I am not the slightest bit ashamed of it. It's a game, not an ego contest. I don't like combat, I like story and playing on novice suits me fine - until I can mod most of the combat out.

I try to play on the most "normal" difficulty but games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow really require me to put them on the easiest setting to get through. In Dragon Age 1 & 2, I need to set the difficulty lower only in some fights. Skyrim is a rare game where I have never felt the need to change the difficulty. Adept is perfect for me. It's not too hard but still hard enough so that choosing the right perks, enchantments, etc. is meaningful in combat.

I wonder why people look down on those who play on novice. Even if I play on expert for the most part I'm niot better than anyone for it. Too each their own I say.

I havent. You just have to hit them more, that is all.

Adept is my fav setting. The devs made it the baseline for a reason.

I just don't see the appeal of a game like skyrim on a difficulty where you have to break immersion to stay alive.

Adept.I would never switch difficulties in a tight situation,I'd rather turn tail and come back when I'm stronger

Tried every difficulty, seems like adept or expert is right for me. But sometimes novice is the way to go. Fighting morokei on expert when you're level 11, and no adept spells whatsoever can be pretty damn frustrating after dying from one chain ligthning :/

Novice i prefer relatively peaceful exploration to a challenge.

I never was a console gamer - hate those damn controllers, but playing on a pc is not an option at this point - I love kickin' back on the couch playing in HD. (Yeah can be done with a pc, but as I said, not an option)

So.... Not being a tried and true gamer, I picked up Skyrim on a whim. Started it and OMG, I couldn't get out of Helgen.... didn't here the comment about the roof, and said to myself I an't jumpin' out of a perfectly safe tower..... So that's how bad I was. So yeah - I was playing on novice.

After probably thirty or so levels I bumped it up, then up again, and now I'n playing at Expert.

I am at lvl 61, I think expert might be a bit easy. With all the perks, etc. I can one-shot almost anything, if not one, two.... So I think Master might be a choice soon.

There is nothing wrong with playing an easy game. If I want stress, I can stay at work! This is play and I intend to keep it that way!

I play on Adept as Master means you level too fast at lower levels, I tend to swap to master once I hit 40.

When I want to do a quick run-through to get an idea of a specific archetype or play style, I do the run on Novice.

Otherwise I stick with Adept to Expert.

my high lvl warrior has to play on master, because he spits on everything in lower difficulties(sword'n'board is almost like godmode).

but on newer character igo usually adept. expert if it's sword'n'board.

Master except for dragon fights. The art and effects around dragons were well done, but I've found the fight mechanics to be more annoying than a "fun challenge", so I look at them as an inconvenience that I have to get through in order to have fun with shouts and just drop it down to the lowest difficulty.

And frankly, as a sneak character, I'm really not sure how to approach the fights. I haven't found a way to execute a sneak attack before the dragon takes off again. I can't go charging in because my 1h damage w/o sneak attack is no good. Hitting a flying dragon with an arrow is next to impossible and anyhow, does minimal dmg without the sneak attack bonus. On top of all that, the dragonbreath follows you like it's laser guided, so if the terrain doesn't happen to supply a means to LOS the dragon, you basically are stuck svcking it up.

To provided some background -- I've leveled (or am leveling) all three profs, but only put a couple of perks in each (2pts in Smithing for Arcane Smithing, 6ish pts in Alch for Poisoner, 4ish pts in Ench for the initial boost to overall enchants). Even on Master, as long as I get the initial sneak attack, I can one-shot almost any dungeon mob.