I'm at the 500 hour mark, but i see people all the time here claiming of have played for 2000 plus hours. My question is what is it that keeps you hooked on the game. Just for me to get to the 500 hour mark i had to come up with my own incentives, like save the MQ for the perfect character, which i just did two days ago. Now, what i'm doing to keep me baited in the game is starting to read and collect books. I've played almost every character type and when i become overpowered i'll swicth to using the characters weaker skills to level up at mid level to keep things challenging.

Now with all this stuff i've done i want to wrap my mind around how other people can get 1500 more hours than me and still have the drive and addiction to play the game. For the recorded, i rarely FT, when i do its cause i forgot something or dont feel like spending 3 hours trying to buy an ingredient.

Thus, what is it you do cause i want to breath new life in my game

Roleplaying.

I definitely don't have 2000 hours.. that's over 2 whole months. I wouldn't be able to reach 1000 without the new DLC I think.

I roleplay. My characters do very little combat, and 'balance' sounds horrible to me. Skyrim is about the development of the character, and how I can tell their story.

Take Agata, my Nord battlemage for example. She was born and raised in Bruma, and arrested as she tried to cross into her ancestral home of Skyrim. But she managed to turn her life around - she became the Thane of Whiterun after slaying a dragon, and takes her duties very seriously. She patrols Whiterun hold, inspects the Western Watchtower, makes regular trips to Rorikstead and Riverwood and attends the Jarl's court at least once a week. She has no interest in ancient prophecies or old monks on a mountain - her loyalties lie with Whiterun.

She's made the transition from borderline-criminal mercenary to skilled, honourable warrior and noblewoman. And it's been a pleasure seeing that growth.

Well, what do you mean by role playing i do that as well but maybe i can use some more ideas. So far i've been an Orc who only lives on the orc strongholds and was pro imperial. I've been a thief, assassins, a Nord that is a good family man who was a stormcloak. I've been a high elf mage and a khajit. I usually eat and drink to start and end my day, i sleep at inns, i try to make it back every night to get home to the family at which time i read, do alchemy or enchanting. Sleep at night, wake up for breakfast and start out a whole new day. lol.

So i do roll play, what kind of roleplaying who you suggest i add to spice up my game life lol

I've posted this on another thread (http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1404600-tips-on-how-to-roleplay/):

Don't be fooled into thinking roleplay is about making sure your character eats and sleeps regularly, or doesn't join certain guilds. While those aspects can certainly be a part of roleplaying, they're but one aspect out of many that make up a good roleplay.

As others have said, the most important thing about roleplaying is to listen to your character. In my books a good roleplay is built on a strong connection between player and character. Things such as backstories, fine-tuning a characters appearance and the fine details of a character are all tools which can be used to build such a connection - they're not a necessity, but they can be very helpful. And once you've built up that connection, you'll be able to hear your character and truly roleplay in its purest, most amazing form.

Another important thing to consider is what you are in relation to your character. Are you there travelling with your character? Are you the character? Are you the voice in your characters head? The angel or devil that sits on their shoulder? These can have a big impact on the character.

As Pseron said, there's no right or wrong way to roleplay - it has to be suited to you specifically. What works for one person may not work for another, and vice versa. Just play around with it, experiment, enjoy!

Well doesn't really answer my question, as i have said, i've done thing similar. I don't see how you can be entertained by playing this person that way for more than 20 hours. Thus, are you suggestion you have 200 characters with a life span of 20 hours? that all have their own story?

Agata's gameplay has lasted about 200 or so hours, with quests making up perhaps 80 of those. I know many people who've played characters who never completed a quest.

Try to find excitement within the most mundane things. I love walking through towns, hunting, practicing archery/destruction/melee combat, exploring the wilderness and even simple things such as farming and cutting wood. Not to mention reading books.

Ok after a couple replies concerning role playing i'm getting the idea that people who play 1000s of hours are doing so by using their imagination and it has nothing to do with something in the game that keeps them addicted. Even though teh game provides the sandbox to do so.

Imagination wins every single time

Don't quite have 2,000 hrs. yet, but I'm working on it . Idk how I'm able to keep playing for so long.
I didn't even start doing this in Skyrim till I already had around 500 hrs. I take my sweet time doing everything, I rarely fast travel and I have a rather ridiculous amount of characters, some of which get deleted and restarted for tiny insignificant reasons. I never feel like I have run out of things to do.

It does. Sort of. But the thing to remember is that you shouldn't aim for a time limit for characters. You're almost setting yourself up for failure if you say 'ok, this character is going to last 1000 hours!'. Don't be afraid to start new characters over and over until you find one that 'clicks'. And don't be afraid to abandon a character with hundreds of hours in favour of a new one.

Just find a character you connect with, tell their story, and enjoy yourself

Ya i do all those, things. I'm still pretty hooked on the game i'm not in crisis mode or anything lol. I just wanted to make sure i'm not missing out on nothing. I just find it hard to roleplay when i'm out of quest to roleplay in. My current character will be in danger of retirement after he does dawn guard. Hes already done the MQ and civil war and has all the hearthfire house and working of others. With the personality i have made for him he really has no interest in anything beyond dawn guard. I'll have to let him go or figure out how to make his life more interesting. Thanks for your suggestions.

If you looking for inspiration you could always make a new roleplay character who actually does no quests... see where your travels take you.

Roleplaying to me isn't something people can tell you how to do. Everyone does it different, and it either works for you or it does not. I remembered the last time I tried explaining to one of my friends on xbox what it was and how I do it.
He called me a [censored]. I most certainly use things in game to help. The key to rp is immersion. for me anyway, and hearthfire helps a lot. No fast travel as well.

that is what iv taken from this thread.... i too have wondered how people have gotten so much time out of this game. i am at like 300 hrs and will need another dlc to get much more than that

ture, i think i've tried just about everything the game has to offer for roleplaying. I just need to find a way to roleplay beyond the storylines that exist. I've tried that once before by being a pure hunter living on the land. It sounds good on paper but in practice i'm like yeehaaa, i have ten wolf pelts, enough food to last a week, now what. I wish there where more factions in the game i can join up with that had radiant quest. I mean, i wish i could be like a city guard who investigates crimes and makes arrest, or a necormancers, or in a deadric cult, some thing, even the forsworn. It would give me more breathing room to be creative.

Do everything.
Repeat as necessary.

A great example of what I meant by roleplaying is one of our members in the Oblivion General forum, Decrepit. He plays a character who patrols the roads and collects taxes around Cyrodiil (Solitudian can probably tell you more about this than I can). Decrepit has played this character for something like 2000 hours and I wouldn't be surpised if he played the character for another 2000 hours by the time he's done.

This is the kind of imaginative roleplaying the Elder Scrolls games lend themselves to. The games are perfectly suited to people who like to make up their own stories.

This is how I feel. The earlier levels where you are developing your character are just addictingly fun. From the creation part just before the chopping block to the development of his/her skils in whatever you want them to be.

Hunt. I never get tired of the thrill of a clean kill of an Elk or the frustration of missing and seeing one get away.

Decrepit is something of a hero I'll point out that he uses a mod which provides his avatar with road patrol assignments, but his dedication to it is astounding.

He rides his horse at walking pace, never galloping, from the Imperial City to wherever his patrol may take him. This could be to Anvil, a great distance from the Imperial City, or to somewhere nearby such as Chorrol. He's a legionnaire, performing patrols in Imperial Dragon Armor and protecting the citizenry from dangers on the roads. He also collects taxes from various inns across Cyrodiil.

If you're looking for more roleplay examples, head over to the Oblivion forum. Many characters there - Buffy, Lothran and Baa, for example - have gameplay spanning more than 1000 hours, and some roleplaying at its finest.

Have you done EVERY SINGLE QUEST, including DG? Even with fast travel, that's 350 hours MINIMUM. If you NEVER fast travel, then there's simply no way that you've visited every single location and done every single quest there is to do. Unpossible.

Work on your skills - especially smithing and enchanting. That will require you to gather ore, smelt it and work it. You will also have to fill soul gems. You will also be able to improve Alteration magic thru transmuting iron into silver and gold, and then smith gold rings and necklaces that you can enchant.

Have you run more than one character? If not, try a new character. Start switching up races - try Orc (great fighters, if a bit homely.) Try different 'classes' - for instance, be a bosmer thief and/or assassin and get really good with sneak, lockpick, archery and pickpocketing. Or be a breton or (if you dare) a high elf, and specialize in Magic. Drive those skills up and add perks. Since you'll be getting into combat, you'll want to drive restoration, destruction and conjuration up, fast.

I have yet to reach level 1000. I've done every single quest (including all the DG and HF stuff.) I'm about 956 hours, level 74.

If you're strong enough, hunt giants and dragons. Clear out every single bandit lair and every single falmer lair. DG changes the falmer lairs somewhat and has helped keep them fresh.