Work my way up to Miss Nirn

That is exactly what I have done haha. I have made my first character when Skyrim came out a destruction mage (I deleted this character and will make a new mage soon), I have made my archer which turned into a thief/assassin, and finally my pure warrior.

The funny thing was that I used to do the opposite. In Oblivion I was obsessed with having perfect stats. I used to grind my skills until they were all 100, then I would make sure all my attributes were 100. I made two perfect characters in Oblivion. My Argonian Shadowscale (I ended up making 100% chameleon gear which ruined this character) and my High Elf which had 100 in every skill and attribute with the most amount of Magicka possible.

In Fallout 3 I had to make the perfect character. I managed to get 100 in all skills and all my S.P.E.C.I.A.L. was 10 (almost perfect + bobbleheads). In New Vegas I did a little different but tried to be perfect. I made a Gun Specialist (focusing on every type of firearm, whether pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, sniper, ect.) This character was never completely finished as I didn't have any expansions so I never had the extra skill books. So I stopped playing, but I tried to get every perk that benefit my style and then I tried to get as many skills as possible to 100 by collecting all skill books and planning my character perfectly. Since I had no expansions I capped a skill at 84 (I think + Comprehension and the usually 8 skill books 2 per skill = 16 or something like that. Haven't played for over a year).

Anyway after all that time I was trying to master a single character to do everything. When I got Skyrim I couldn't be a master at everything. Yeah I could get 100 in the skill but I couldn't have every perk to maximize the effectiveness of a style. If I wanted to be a mage I couldn't mix archery skills and thievery skills as I didn't have enough perks to be great at both. I ended up making strict rules about what my character can do and what I can use. That way I ended up with the basic Warrior, Thief, and Mage.

I also thought about making mixed characters, like a Paladin or a Battlemage but I never bothered because after playing Skyrim as pure characters only it felt wrong to mix and match characters. I may still make a Paladin or Battlmage one day but that all depends. I can convince myself to play as a Battlemage or a Paladin because I am role-playing as them. But if I were to make another archer (like my previous one) I would still not dabble in magic as I feel like I am being cheap or breaking my archer even though some may feel different. Same with my warrior, adding magic to benefit me isn't how I would do it. I would add magic to add a sense of role-play.

Ever since Skyrim I have realised it is not about being perfect and being a master of everything on one character and It's also not about efficiency. It's about having fun. Some may prefer to make efficient characters that are as great at everything as possible because that is there fun, but for me I finally realized making perfect characters isn't fun to me but it's a chore and because I can be a perfectionist (and may have OCD too) I would force myself to be make the greatest character. Thanks to Skyrim I can't do this and I think I have broken my perfectionism/OCD thing.

I always write too much...

It usually takes a month of preperation before I can fathom a whole new character without thoughts of restarting. I try to get it as close to my ideas as possible.

You spoke the exact words right from my mouth! I can't possibly relate to this anymore than I do already. I suppose since I like the mage so much I am just going to do that. Like I said, I did build a character that had all the right stats, but who has the patience to play someone that difficult? It's hard work.

I have a good idea but my thoughts usually discourage me. X_X

When I was younger I loved big heavy warriors with two-handed swords or dual wielding warriors with swords. I have completely changed though. I love mages and magic now. So once I do the main quest and companions with my warrior I am going to make another mage and enjoy the game like my first character.

Thats why I do alchemy and/or some restoration. Also started a build clothes only to "blend" in with the people.

To be honest I think I'm going to just focus on a complete RP as if I was stepping into Skyrim. I can't use magic, nor do I know how to brew potions, or even pick locks. That will probably make things interesting enough to keep my attention busy. Not saying I can't learn things, but I think I'll stick with the bare bones on this one.

As a reflective note before I sign off for the night, I believe if you're too picky like me it's best to ask yourself "What would I do in this situation?" Maybe if the game goes too fantasy-like for you then stick to the real you as best as possible. If you want to know what I resemble most in this game? I'd say a nord warrior who will focus on both swords, shields, and bows. I'll probably start with light armor and move up to heavy armor later. Magic? Probably will avoid it. It makes the game a bit more authentic if you're making a character trying to resemble you. Anyways, I appreciate each and every one of your comments today. Goodnight everyone.

I have never had my OCD spike up this severely in years. For some reason in Oblivion, I was able to create a character, and not scrutinize it too much.
Skyrim, however: Character creation really has me hung up.
I have probably created a dozen or more characters since launch, and have never been satisfied with a single one.
I am to the point of having a piece of paper and pen, writing out how many slider counts should be notched in which direction.
I have rerolled many times just because my character's nose was one slider too high or low, hair styles, etc.

As for gameplay, I couldn't be more satisfied with the immersion. I have been content with just trying to find/collect all the clothing sets/shoes/boots, let alone quests.

For build, I prefer an all purpose, balanced build. I have never believed in specializing in one direction.

The first character I create in any RPG is always the same: an aging ex-soldier who uses a sword and shield who always goes by the same name if the game allows. I consider him my alter ego

After that I either I look to movies/comics for inspiration and try to recreate the certain characters while adding my own twists, or I will try to create certain archetypes such as the wise wizard, the evil assassin, or the common thug, etc. and then decide which race, weapons, skills would best suit that character.

I haven't run out of ideas yet

As ES5 takes place in Skyrim, I knew ahead of time that I was going to go Nord with my main. With the character creation, I just made a character that I thought that looked ok to me (a Nord with short brown hair and a beard, no tattoos or scars). I don't rp him too much; I just do whatever that seems right, as if I was actually a Nord adventurer in Skyrim. I wanted my Nord to look ~30 years old, with minimal wrinkles, though after a while in the cc, I just went with my Nord's current look, who looks more ~40 years old. If I could do one thing over, I might give him slightly more tan skin.

^This.

Unfortunately, it has lead me to many character resets, usually when they reach lvl 40-45 and realize it's not as perfect as I wanted

Oh, well...at least my next try will finally feature some Apachii's hair

I have a basic foundation of what I want to play in RPG's (typically a Necromancer of some sort), and then I determine from there what else I'm interested in playing as well as what game mechanics appeal to me.

In Morrowind, I played a stealthy Bosmer necro-assassin that eventually just morphed into a standard thief / assassin. Marksman, Light Armor, and Short Blades were the focus of my combat, with Conjuration and Illusion as magical support. He was an anti-hero based heavily on characters like Gambit (from X-Men) who did bad deeds, but ultimately had a good heart. He didn't believe, nor care about the Nerevarine prophecies, but after doing work for The Blades and becoming more engulfed, he finally decided to seek out Dagoth Ur for revenge from the Sixth House coming after him trying to eliminate him. His quest for Dagoth Ur became one of personal retribution.

In Oblivion, I tried a lot of different types of builds before I figured out what I wanted to play in that game, which ended up being a Redguard tank necromancer, or shadow knight. A warrior with two handed swords, heavy armor, and lots of magic in Conjuration (obviously the necromancy aspect of summoning undead spirits), Alteration (Shield spells), Destruction and Mysticism (manipulation of souls; soul trapping, "sensing" souls [Detect Life]). The roleplay was essentially a shadow knight that summoned evil spirits to aid him in combat, as well as steal the souls of his victims to harvest their energies to boost his power. He became corrupted by those powers, and went down a path of darkness.

Skyrim was basically a mirror image of my Oblivion character; a Breton shadow knight with ultimately the same build - One Handed (Dual Wield), Heavy Armor, Conjuration, and Enchanting were the focus skills, with support from Alteration (shield spells), Restoration, Smithing, and Illusion. Illusion wasn't part of the original build (which unfortunately was lost during an accidental X-Box 360 hard drive wipe), but was something that I wanted to include, so it's been in later versions of the build. Unlike my Oblivion character, where the roleplay was a man who succumbed to temptation and darkness, my roleplay in Skyrim is of one who resists all that, harnesses these great powers that are considered "evil" but he uses them for good. The powers (Conjuration, Illusion) represent his command over souls and mental domination, even Alteration a bit (with Detect Life spells), and Restoration is representative of his "good" side (as opposed to Destruction for my Oblivion character), as well as further domination over undead. I just like the idea of Shield spells to add to my already beefy armor rating (even though I don't think by end game that Shield spells will give me too much more armor than my heavy armor).

So it's really just figuring out what type of Necromancer I want to make. When I played Morrowind originally, I was real into stealthy, assassin type characters, so I combined that with my necromancy, to build a necro-assassin. More lately, I've been more into tanks and heavy armored brutes that can get up into the thick of things, so that has led to my shadow knight builds. My racial choices are a mix of roleplaying and best fit, and the "detail" skills are based on a mix between what I want to accomplish in game as well as what game mechanics I want to take advantage of.

first guy i used to do everything in the game and maxed to 81. she was (sort of) a warrior. so my next dude was a mage. i couldnt find all of the dragon priest masks with my first character so i plan on doing so with the mage. my next character was a thief. i sided with the stormcloaks on my first character so i decided to do the imperial quest line with this guy. so basically i just used my remaining characters to explore all of the content that i couldn't access with one character.

I figure which 'class' I'm gonna play, then which race suits the class (never Khajiit/Argonian) and backstory I just made up in my head. After that I just make my new guy look good suiting the role he will play.

Upon deciding a new character I usually take 15-20 mins for creation.

I have major restartitis.

Like, it's a problem.

I don't know why, but for some reason my restartitis is only active when I play Skyrim. When I play Oblivion, I'm usually able to make a character and stick with it. I just gave Skyrim a break for the past month or so and have been playing Morrowind during that time. WIth the same character. He made it to level 32 or so, owns the Thieves' Guild, and just beat (I think) the MQ. I'm not even sure I'm done with him yet.

But in Skyrim, it sometimes takes me 3 or 4 characters before I stick with one for more than the first 5 levels.

I haven't made it out of the low 20s in level yet, with any character in Skyrim.

Again, I don't know why this is. Maybe it has something to do with the lack of character classes. It's so easy to just play whatever you want to do that there's no 'need' to plan out a character build. But I try anyway. I have a notebook with about 20 pages full of character ideas, most of which I haven't tried yet.

I get a lot of character ideas from other rpgs. I'll take a character class from Pathfinder or D&D like the Arcane Archer, or Shadowdancer, or Paladin, and see if I can replicate it in Skyrim. Or I'll look through the uesp's list of premade character classes for Oblivion and Morrowind - like the Crusader or Nightblade or Witchhunter - and try to do that in Skyrim. Or I'll come up with something that just seems fun, like archer tank, or travelling researcher.

Once I have a basic class concept down I jot down the 'build' - the race, name if I can come up with one, and a few keywords that indicate the type of character. Then I list main skills, along with any notes about how they should be used. Then I list minor skills, if any.

Finally, I'll write down a rough idea of any RP ideas or restrictions I have - like no magic & scrolls, or no sneak archery, or kill stuff with staves. And I'll note which guilds/quests I should do with the character.

It's something to do when I have some free time, anyway!

Think of a story I want to create
Think of what personality, race and background would fit the story best
Create the character and play the story
However some of my most interesting characters (to me anyway) have come about when things haven't gone quite as planned and the story changed mid-game

So it sounds like you pretty much take one character through the game, instead of creating a bunch of different characters who focus on specific skill sets?

I have half a dozen different characters that I am actively playing in Skyrim right now. I typically get an idea for how to perk a particular character in advance, choosing about 50 perks that I think will get good synergy together. Then I decide a race and just a little backstory.

I build the story along the way as I play, depending on the random events that I encounter during the the game. For example, my latest character is an Altmer robed mage, forcusing primarily on Destruction, Restoration and Enchant. He wears robes out of choice, since he likes to move quickly and doesn't really believe a mage should be wieghted down with a suit of armor. At first, the only weapon he carried was a dragon priest dagger, and the only time he used it was when he ran out of magicka, which was rare.

Well, when he was about level 20, he encountered his first (and so far only) draugr deathlord. It was an epic battle, and the draugr was wielding an ebony greatsword (thank goodness it was not an ebony bow). Such a find at relatively low level was a unique and interesting event. My mage ditched the dragon priest dagger in favor of the ebony greatsword. There was a story behind that sword and how my character got it, so it had sentimental value. I'm level 40 now and I still have that same ebony greatsword.

Since I am a mage, I am not that good with 2H weapons, and I don't put any perks in that tree, and I rarely use the 2H sword (although I did pay for some training and I smithed the sword, unperked, but boosted by enchant). But I always carry that sword, even though it is heavy. When fighting other mages who eventually draw daggers on me, I always pull out the 2H sword and show them what's what. The ebony greatsword has become a thing with that character, and it helps define who he is.

My preferred class is mage, but my first character is always somewhat of a heavy armoured battlemage. That's simply because I want to experience the game with my first build. Another tradition is that he's always a Breton, and I always name him Roderic. Surname depends on the game (Goldford for Arena, Greenhouse for Morrowind, Ashcroft for Oblivion and Kingfield for Skyrim).

I have a second character in Skyrim, a Bosmer Nightblade by the name of Elberoth. He's a rather sinister fellow who enjoys killing. He's currently exploring a cave in the mountains south of Helgen. He haven't been to Riverwood and don't plan to for some time. After exploring the cave he'll head north to Helgen, then east through the mountains and north past Ivarstead and towards Windhelm where he'll likely join the Stormcloaks. He'll also start the quest to join the Dark Brotherhood. I also plan to do all the daedric quests with him.

I also have plans for a third character, an axe-wielding Orc Warlock, with an emphasis on One-handed, Smithing, Heavy Armour, Destruction, Conjuration and Illusion. He'll likely join the Companions, and he might also join the Imperial Legion. He's more of a greyish character, though. He won't run around giving aid wherever it's needed, like my first character. If it's beneficial to him, sure. He could just as well murder someone for the same reason, if there is a good enough reason. But he has a moral limit. I might decide to do the Destroy the Dark Brotherhood quest.

Mostly, yes. I will create some secondary characters that I toy around with a little bit, but I'm pretty much a "one character" kind of person. I just build a character that is both the type of character I want to play (I.E.: necromancer), as well as would cover the content in game that I want to experience (I.E.: Mage's Guild...)

Glad I'm not the only one with this problem.

I tend to start with finding a good sounding TES name, I look though mythology and history to find an appropriate name and personality. for example if I wanted to play an Imperial assassin, I would find a Roman character and name them after him/her Marcus Brutus is my assassin/speech character and he stabs emperors in the back. If I want to play a breton I look though french/frankish history. the other races I am not sure where their names come from?

Ever since Morrowind I've had a 'tradition' of my primary TES characters being Bosmer Thief types. Bosmer aren't even my favourite race in terms of lore, but I can't help it - this is who 'I am' so to speak. Now creating a brand new Bosmer character in my brand new TES game feels a bit like returning home so I don't think I'll give up this habit.

It does however generate an interesting version of Tamrielic history where Nerevarine, Champion of Cyrodiil and Dragonborn all happened to be sneaky Bosmer women