I understand that, and I love sandbox games such as Minecraft. But, with Skyrim, I wouldn't even call it "free-form storytelling", but rather there just isn't a story at all. And, it isn't so much even the story, but the fact that the most important character in any video game (my own character) always feels...boring. Dialogue options to express my character's personality feel limited and I have yet to find the combat/play-style which I enjoy. Sneaking isn't for me, as is neither a straight up mage nor archer or warrior.

This. Not normally one to suggest it, but it sounds like this game really isn't your thing.

That said, roleplay yourself. A lot harder not to be attached to. Do what you would do, use the weapons you would use. If you wouldn't be swinging a Daedric Greatsword in real life (assuming they existed, you were a capable swordsman, yada yada yada), don't in the game.Don't do anything you wouldn't actually do. Part of a freeform RPG like Skyrim is that if you aren't in it for [censored] and giggles, since the developers by necessity have not closed many paths to you, you have to close your own paths; Don't do everything. Make some taboos and follow them, so you force yourself down one story based on the virtual landscape, like damming a river so it runs down a certain series of crevasses.

When/if you feel like you have the hang of applying these limitations, THEN make a new character, or up to three (that being the maximum for engrossing play I'd recommend at a time), that are as nice-looking as you can make them and have their own distinct personalities and limitations.

One last thing. You don't think about your actions much in modern life where everything is about talking to people and most of life is handled online or via phone, so that often the people you're talking to you can't even see (for example, right now, I am communicating to you entirely by words and a tiny picture of a pretty virtual gal, which tells you pretty much what I am saying and that I can make pretty virtual gals, and not, say, what I am wearing, what I look like, what my facial expressions are, how old I am, how I sit or what I am doing). However, in the real world, that thing people always seem to forget about (including especially the people that, cynically or otherwise, like to point out they're in it, often by way of pointing out their desk job where they also never interact with anything but papers and a computer), your actions speak FAR louder than your words. Skyrim simulates a real world. Not the real world, mind you, where magic isn't a thing and we live on earth, but a real world, one where things happen and you fight for survival and you face people and your actions are a point of public display. Hence, dialogue isn't that important. Rather, doing what your character would do rather than saying it is the focus of a roleplay here.

Just a couple of thoughts.


EDIT: And if you don't like the combat, play a noncombat character. If you also don't like stealth (which I sort of understand, though I've not got high opinions of the games you said you DO like stealth in, the Thief series pretty much nailed stealth and most games do it poorly), use illusion. It is entirely possible to calm pretty much everything in the game (provided it doesn't resist magic), meaning you can seriously level up with the skills you DO use and never have to fight anything but animals early in the game if you don't want to (for pelts, so you can start working on smithing for money to buy spells, then illusion your way through the game from the start). Just stay away from undead and machines until you get the Master of the Mind perk.

Whilst I am happy to blissfully blast through a shooter such as Call of Duty, which has about as much of a story to tell as [insert a film, book or form of media with a really bad storyline as I couldn't be asked to think of one], I personally demand that any lengthy game (mainly RPG games fall into this category) offers at least a semi-decent storyline. Bioware's games, in my opinion, shine at this because (although the story isn't the best) the characters are really good. For example, when Bastilia turned to the dark side of the Force in Knights of the Old Republic, I was genuinely upset. But, Skyrim doesn't hold me here and I struggle to even find a character build which appeals to me and produce a character from it I can relate to or like. Can someone help me here perhaps? What is it I am missing?

You are not missing anything. The truth is Bethesda made all the races so vanilla, and gave every character the ability to join everything regardless of skills, that making a PC feel special is all but impossible. I've played about 30 characters so far and about half of those I've retired (finished all I was going to do with them). I don't feel like any of them was special, other than one that I wrote up a long RP about which didn't exactly line up with the actually stories in Skyrim.

http://burhenn63.deviantart.com/gallery/34955467

Bottom line Skyrim kicks your $#(*$ if you try to role-play in it.

I have played around 200 if not more hours of this game.

Of course, there is the other option..... at some point, games do "run out". Stop playing it, take a break, maybe come back and try again in 6-12 months. Or just say you're done, and sell it. Just because some people love it enough to put 500+ hours into it in the first few months, doesn't mean everyone will. That's fine.

Just read/looked through your RP. I'm actually pretty impressed by the idea. Mad props.

I understand that, and I love sandbox games such as Minecraft. But, with Skyrim, I wouldn't even call it "free-form storytelling", but rather there just isn't a story at all. And, it isn't so much even the story, but the fact that the most important character in any video game (my own character) always feels...boring. Dialogue options to express my character's personality feel limited and I have yet to find the combat/play-style which I enjoy. Sneaking isn't for me, as is neither a straight up mage nor archer or warrior.

Whilst I am happy to blissfully blast through a shooter such as Call of Duty, which has about as much of a story to tell as [insert a film, book or form of media with a really bad storyline as I couldn't be asked to think of one], I personally demand that any lengthy game (mainly RPG games fall into this category) offers at least a semi-decent storyline. Bioware's games, in my opinion, shine at this because (although the story isn't the best) the characters are really good. For example, when Bastilia turned to the dark side of the Force in Knights of the Old Republic, I was genuinely upset. But, Skyrim doesn't hold me here and I struggle to even find a character build which appeals to me and produce a character from it I can relate to or like. Can someone help me here perhaps? What is it I am missing?

Agreed. RPG's today seem either to have a great story, or great free roam capacity. It would be very hard to find one that combines both perfectly.

I guess I should clarify since it looks like another "kill nothing be a pacifist" comments, noncombat =/= no killing. It means play like you are afraid to get hit.

i like to play kind of a cause-me-no-trouble-get-no-trouble-approach. killing anything hostile doesn't mean i have to kill anything alive that crosses my path (that was one thing i loved about fallout nv, how the wildlife wouldn't necessarily attack as long as you kept your distance, was one of the greatest contentual acchievements in videogame history in my view, it's a real shame they didn't take this over for skyrim