Hey guys. I seem to have a chronic problem with Skyrim. I can't make it past level 10! I find one little thing that I think feels cheap and I feel compelled to start over. I used to play on Xbox but I didn't feel immersed due to a lack of realism in some major areas so I bought it for PC. My PC can handle the game ok with a slight framerate drop outside which can be a little annoying at times. I'm running some good mods to keep it really realistic - A.C.E., Imp's More Complex Needs, Frostfall, Skyrim Econ Options - which is something that I really want in my game. However, I kill ONE guy or make ONE sale that seem to easy and I feel like I cheated and need to start over. Like it wasn't challenging enough. For example, I made about 1000 gold for clearing Bleak Falls Barrow after selling a few jewels and the gold I picked up (I keep carry weight around 100 to keep it realistic and I didn't pick up any potions or scrolls to use or sell). Now I feel like I just cheated the game and was able to get on my feet so to speak way to easily. I know its a waste of time but I've probably started a new character 20 times. Is anybody else like this? Is there anything I can do to help or am I just crazy?

Go see a therapist and ask them if you have OCD. Seriously.

Have you tried cranking the difficulty slider up to the maximum under options?

If you keep going this route I don't think you're ever going to experience much that the Skyrim world has to offer.

Personally, I think the lower levels are the most fun. Really enjoy it when everything in the world is dangerous and you have to scrounge and save up to buy a crappy iron sword. And the first dragon fight is always epic.

So far, I've only played up to about level 20-30 with four different characters, doing only one or two major faction questlines and then start a new character whenever the old one starts to feel overpowered. Usually takes about 150-200 hours to get to that point.

However, recently I installed quite a few mods that make the game more challenging at higher levels, so perhaps I will continue playing my current character to see what the high level gameplay is like.

Agreed, once I hit level 25-30, and obtain glass weapons, I get bored. I quite my first thief after beating the thieves guild quest line. My warrior once I got ebony weapons. And my mage once I beat the mage guild. My current thief has also run its course now that I have an OP glass bow and I kill everything.

Now, I have an itch to try the restoration, enchanting and alteration trees and use maces. Something akin to a divines cleric.

I had the same issue of restarting on Oblivion. What I decided to do was to play a Dead is Dead playthrough, that way there is more thrill to the game.

I think that perhaps you are expecting a slightly unrealistic amount of fairness from this game, but there isn't anything wrong with you!

Think about it this way: you are the freaking Dragonborn! Don't you deserve to have things roll in your favor?

In fact, I suggest making it part of your roleplaying experience. Maybe the Divines are watching over you, making sure that you receive sufficient resources to spread their light throughout the world of Skyrim. Or if that doesn't fit your character, perhaps forces a bit more sinister are watching over you?

Ha! As I was reading the post, I was literally thinking to myself "hmmm, what kind of OCD joke should I make?"

To the OP: You, sir, have a rather unorthodox problem. I wish I could offer you some advice, but your issue appears to be purely psychological. I would encourage you to *try* and reduce your intensely strict standards for realism, but I realize that this is not a flip-the-light-switch kind of problem...As any micro economist will tell you, we don't choose our preferences!

Best of luck!

Uhmmm, not to state the blatantly obvious, but you do realize there is a "SAVE" feature for this game, right?

I have several hundred saves. The most i will ever lose going back after i screwed up is maybe 10 minutes of real live. If that.

Hell, jack up the difficulty. If that doesn't suffice, get some mods to make things more difficult - although I tend to think everybody ought to play the Vanilla game past level 10 before they start modding the game.