Is it possible to run out of things to do in Skyrim?
I don't want any spoilers here at all.

I'm really not afraid I will run out of things to do yet, because I never use anything to travel with but horse. So I do alot of things on the road from location to location, I think it's the journey that counts and not the destination. I always discover something new and if I need to go back to the same town I have been at, I try a different path, perhaps not even a road.
And there are flowers, butterflies and other herbs to collect to on my path.

But back to my question, is there any mechanism in play in this game that will perhaps fill up a empty cave with new bandits taking over the place?
If not, perhaps in the outside world?
I ask this question because I've heard rumors that you can never run out of quests for the Dark Brotherhood, even when you have completed all their quests.
So? What say you?

If left alone, locations should usually reset after 30 game days.

Like the post above says dungeons and stuff respawn after a set time.

Also if you are given a quest for a place you have already cleared it will be filled up again right away. Like the tasks for the jarls, and minor jobs for the guilds are endlessly repeating with random locations and often ones you have visited before.

This game is limited only by the imagination of it's user.

There's plenty of things to do in this game besides what Bethesda has implemented. Get creative, and perhaps you might squeeze another 50+ hours out of your character.

you wont run out of things to do, the only chance of that is if you get bored of the game itself or your character.

are you on PC? - mods will keep you busy for years once the CK comes out the'll be new dungeons, quests, landmasses, guilds, ruins, everything.

Hannador hits the nail on the head though;

Strange question... Everything finishes eventually.

Places do refill so you could technically just wander about and kill bandits forever. Also random events do still happen so if you travel a lot by foot new stuff will occur.

Only problem is, after a while you`ll see a pattern which will probably bore you. But let`s be honest here, what game never runs out?

There`s no such thing as the everlasting gob stopper... yet.

Here's some info from the wiki that will answer your question. It deals with Radiant Storytelling and how it works.

"Radiant Storytelling appears to be a feature that Bethesda is using in their engine for Skyrim that acts as a narrator for your character in the world. It records your actions and changes things in the world according to what you have done - for example, if you murder someone, their family will find out, as well as the community. It also adjusts game difficulty depending on your skills and changes different things in quests such as different reactions or outcomes depending on how you play, like deciding to not enchant armor you're supposed to as a favor for someone out of your own money; he would then pay you back. If you sell the armor instead, Radiant Story would adjust the quest to your preference.

Radiant Story: Many quests are still completely governed by Bethesda, but the Radiant Story system helps randomize and relate the side quests to players to make the experience as dynamic and reactive as possible. Rather than inundate you with a string of unrelated and mundane tasks, it tailors missions based on who your character is, where you're at, what you've done in the past, and what you're currently doing. Radiant Story is also smart enough to know which caves and dungeons you've already visited and thus conditionalize where, for instance, a kidnapped person is being held to direct you toward a specific place you haven't been to before, populated with a specific level of enemy. Skyrim also tracks your friendships and grudges to generate missions. Do a small favor for a farmer and it may eventually lead to a larger quest. Some NPCs will even agree to be your companion to help you out in specific situations."

Obviously, there will come a time when you feel like you're done, and I don't think that can be helped. But you can go to level 81 - that will give you most perks - and then start a new character lol.

Good luck.

No because you can always do more for like the Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Companions and possibly for the College of Winterhold as well...

It's not a strange question at all! Because I have never experienced a location to be populated again.
So I had no idea if that would happen, before now...

Thanks for all the replies guys, very helpful community!

That sounds impressive.

How much of that actually happens, I wonder?

I can't speak for all of it but I had to restart, my 1st char got some kind of glitch in the perk tree, I couldn't "use" it anymore, even going back did not help. My second char was similar except I don't use any magic except the heal other. But the same quests played abit differently at the different lvl's that I played them on.

Plus for example I went to the same spot twice to kill dragons for two different quests. Both times I had to fight the same kind of enemy, but the numbers and where they were was different, even the type of dragon was different. ( I had to go through a place to get to the dragon)

And when I was "just exploring" I went into a dungeon and "cleared" it, had to go back to same dungeon for a quest. Not only were the numbers of enemies greater for the quest, but a new area also opened up for the quest, that wasn't avalible the first time. Yeah the traps were still in the same spot, but that was ok.

So I think the system they have actually works, the way it's suposed to. Not saying their might not be problems, their maybe.