So ive been thinking...how often do you guys explore dungeons / ruins without having a quest on you? Ive been running around the countryside exploring random ruins for fun without any quests whatsoever leading me there. Then I just explored these HUGE Dwemer Ruins and I thought to myself...I dont think I wanna run through this whole place again, it was that big. Later on ill most likely come accross a quest that will lead me back to these same ruins ive already explored and ill have to walk through all over again.

How many of you wait for a sidequest to explore a place or do you just explore whatever you come accross in your travels?

Ill probably just continue to explore whatever looks cool and interests me at the time, just figured id see what most of you do.

I do it all the time, and most dungeons have a secret/ back entrance where most quests lie.
I for one was on a DB quest to kill a guy in a dungeon, Killed the guy and turned out it was a dwarven dungeon and i kept going.

Got to the end and found it i needed a quest to finish the last part, rofl, oh well, at least i remember where its at, now if i could only find the quest to open the last chest lol

All the time. I get tired of listening to npc's yakyakyak or having an ever expanding quest list just because I talk to npc's, so I go off to explore randomly/don't talk to anyone. If I come across a ruin/cave/whatever, I go in. I don't mind going back if I have to, altho I might then often skip the side quests if they're not important to me.

Some of the quests that require items, I think, you may find the quest item without having the quest and then have the "Oh I found that already" type of dialogue when you meet the quest giver later. But if you need the quest to get further/do the whole ruin, then that would be a bummer, yeah. heh

I try not to explore every single thing i come accros, thats not what I would do in real life or my character atleast, and it adds more re-play hours

My favorite part of the game is exploration and my least favorite part of these games is fetch and carry quests. I am in the ruins/dungeons/caves/cities, etc way before I get sent there for quests most of the time.

i actually like to go back to cleared dungeons. They respawn with tougher enemies and better loot.

I generally explore Barrows and Forts whenever I encounter them, as more often than not if they have a relevant quest its triggered by going into them, so I don't feel like I'll have to go back there, even though, as another has said, quest areas are often locked off until the quest is active, so there's virtually no running through piles of draugr that you've already killed to grab one item and run back.

I must hand it to the guys behind the dungeons, as they're remarkably well done, and the fact that I'm rarely, if ever, forced to just run back to an old temple or what have you says a lot about the time spent designing everything.

Since I am playing "dead is dead" since yesterday, not so often anymore . I still do, but health potions are pretty expensive, so I try to be more careful

Yeah, i explore them all the time. Occasionaly, i might do a quest and come back after that, but usually i just walk right in.

Since I don't fast travel; I do it almost every time I pass a dungeon/ruin. I only ignore it when I'm in a rush.

Not too much, I'm always afraid I'll mess something up down the line. i'd rather be told to go somewhere..I've deleted a number of saves already because I've felt I've gone too far for my level

I go in every time. My guy is an explorer/tresure hunter so its nice to see whats there (sometimes this gets me in to trouble ) also I have found if the place has a quest it often is locked off until the quest is activated. A lot of Dungeons have their own quests that you only get by finding a journal or somthing inside so it is worth taking a look, if I need to go back later so be it. It happens a lot in RL "can you go here and do this?" - "What I've just come from there!!!"