First of all--

To all the people that are having a hard time with this game need to re-think how they play video games. Every RPG is NOT WoW!
Let me repeat, THIS GAME IS NOT WoW!
there are multiple ways to destroy your opponents and strategies to annihilate the competition.
I have played solid for 10+ hours a day since the game's release and I only had to start over once. Here are a few tips:

1)If designing a pure mage, pick a melee type anyway(one-handed, archery, sneak, etc) and use it as backup. No one is going to get mad at you.
2)spend perk points in skills you will ACTUALLY use. spending points in lock picking, speech is a waste. Spending skill points too early on out of class skills is stupidity. Spending skill perks in magic schools when you hold a sword and shield is a waste. However, at higher levels, you may want to specialize in a magic school to up your arsenal. The enemies get really tough, trust me.
3)Use crafting. I cannot emphasize this enough. Alchemy, Smithing, and Enchanting. Pretty soon that cool Imperial Armor is going to be worthless unless you improve the quality of the armor. This is done by visiting the various forges around the map. Enchant your gear to build up resistances to the three types: frost, fire, shock. Use poisons and paralyze potions when in trouble.
4)When building an armor class stick to one class of armor, pretty soon the perk will be spent to reduce the item weight so your character can carry more than one armor set depending on the situation. This can even be accomplished with the fast-travel system and a home base.
5)The options are really endless depending on how a person plays. Nearly every location I have visited thus far has multiple entrances depending on your play style.
6)Note on classes: If you decide to use stealth(highly recommended) don't attack the bandit camp in broad daylight, for crying out loud. Use the night or shadows whenever possible. When using a sword and shield raise one-handed as high as you possibly can(improve your armor!!!!) secondly, enchant the items with boons and resistances.
7)For the mages: This is a touchy subject because mage classes get their butts kicked at higher levels. I recommend choosing two schools and no more. Conjuration/Restoration, Destruction/Illusion, Destruction/Restoration. Master only two or you will get killed. Secondly. Who says mages have to wear cloth. Sure, the robes look great and don't weigh anything, but armor doesn't affect your spell casting. Another WoW idiotic requirement. Put a few perks in light armor, it still doesn't hinder your movement, but if you suddenly get assaulted by a Dremora with fire resistance and magic resistance, you will have a backup.
8)Favorites menu) Don't put every single one of your items in this list and the navigation will go much smoother. Pick no more than two shouts. Some of the shouts are complex are require finesse but good ones are fire breath, unrelenting shout, and Fear. Put a couple necessary spells in the list(wards, strongest destruction spell, muffle, invisibility, and so on) I have seen too many people put their whole inventory in the favorites and it's a horrible sight. Put healing potions, True Shot, Magicka Restore for quick use. The game is meant to simplify things, not confuse every dynamic of your life.
9)Items. Items. Items This game has a ton of items. I have barrels in all nine holds plus my two house full of books, jewelry, magic items, crafting materials, ingredients, and quick-picks. I don't know who told you that barrels disappear but that is erroneous. Store everything until you can sell it. You never know when you will need quick money for training or crafting materials.
10)For those of you that love to craft, this game makes WoW look like an atari game. The options are endless! Think about it. The recipes are all ready known if you have the perks in smithing. Wait until you see the awesome dragonscale armor that weighs 2 pounds and carries a score of over 220 for chest piece. Plus it let's you run almost as fast as a horse.

and finally. If you approach an insanely difficult mob or dungeon for Asura's sake, leave the crazy thing until you are high enough or change your tactic! Archery is a beast and I can one shot almost any enemy. Even mammoths! =)

Thank you for reading my extended coverage. If you need specialized assistance, email me, my inbox is open to you. Enjoy the game! Have fun, thats what Bethesda wants you to do. Or go back to the cartoony world of warcraft, I'm sure the lame pandas can't wait to /dance with you.

2 & 3 are quite false if you ask me. Lockpicking and Speech perks are not useless and you can get by just fine without crafting. After all this is an RPG and you play however you wish to play heck one could even play the entire game as a simple dirty merchant stealing and pickpocketing at night selling his stolen goods in the mornings while never doing any honest work in his life (crafting).

Lockpicking & Speech (and Pickpocketing + Sneak) without crafting. And it would allow you to reach high level and buy powerful items which you could use later to do quests with.

Edit: Thinking of it, it would actually be pretty fun to go into the game at high level with no combat skill but just a ton of scrolls, wands, potions and such that you've gathered over the days as a merchant.