Maps/markers. No directions? Activate quest, look at map for marker. (Yes I know, but it's that or leaving every quest until you accidentally come across the objective-no directions). De-activate quest, head off in general direction. Actually complete quest if something much more interesting doesn't happen along the way.

True that. It is kind of sad that for anyone that doesn't want to artificially spam use a skill to level it that smithing in Skyrim forces a choice between an all but non-existant level of creeping advancement to not do this or to give in and do some of it to be effective. Other skills level just fine with regular use.

Gee, it sure is a shame that one cannot make some kind of regular realistic use of a blacksmith's abilities in the course of normal play to get better at the skill. Some sort of activity, say, that one had to perform regularly to keep their weapons and armor in tip top shape. Then to stay in keeping with the imperative to try and appeal to more than just those players who would appreciate the added realism or who didn't have a character that focused on smithing, they could, I don't know, like have those merchants that are smiths offer the same service real cheap. People could even put together a favorite suit of armor and not have to role play setting up a smithy to explain repeatedly making iron daggers just to stay effective. But what could it be that wouldn't be to "spreadsheety" god forbid?

But nah, that's crazy talk. A person would have to be some kind of "played from the older games on elitist" to dare ask for more elements of realism. Not that people who want a more realistic experience that's less of a cakewalk are "elitist", they just need to tone down their expectations you know. If devs payed attention to that kind of thing, then how would they have time for more cool graphics and voice acting?

already did this (although I still use fast travel once in a while)

also I removed compass AND crosshair

Another thread telling people how they can get the most out of a game?

If they play it by somebody else's rules?

Really?

Your wrong actually, if you made 400 daggers IRL, you would be good at making daggers and that's it. It's like saying if I bake 400 cakes, I will be a masterchef. NO, I will just be good at baking cakes.

Well said.

But if I take an axe to the head I′ll be much better at taking future blows to the head...or??

I completely agree with this. I would be in favor of a "deminishing returns" style system, where as your level goes up, the level progress exp you get per iron dagger decreases. This lets you grind on iron daggers still, but not forever. Eventually it would be more effective to make something new.

You don't necessarily have to "Grind" crafting skills to increase them. If you smith/enchant items you find, in order to make money (iron daggers, notwithstanding, haha), you level up those skils slowly. Alchemy, on the othe hand, you almost have to grind, sometimes. After a long play session, by making as many potions as you can (the higher the value, the higher the skill increase). Doing this, I only got to 70 in alchemy.

If smithing/enchanting worked like this, grinding those skills would be a lot less appealing, and doing so would mean you spent hours doing so, so kudos to you, hah!

My next character will not using any crafting skills. Relying on what he can find or buy to survive.

Yeh...I'm with you on this one.

I split the middle...I only use auto-saves. Not quite as deadly as the "no reloads" thing...but still makes it somewhat of a chore when you die near the end of a dungeon.

Try harder.

How much wieght, do you guys think a seasoned legionaree could carry?

Wow...who knew that having fun actually involved so much planning and hard work...

Sometimes it feels like people approach Skyrim like one of those hyper-stressed, OCD people on holiday, who are so obsessed with making it into a memorable experience that they forget about just relaxing and having fun...

When I want realism and stress about rules and routines, I go to work...when I want to escape from all of that, I play computer games.

i have to plan and make my own rules because when i don't and have to rely on what the game offers only, i grow bored very quickly. the content isn't good enough to provide lasting entertainment. (yes, more than other games, but, that's not the point.)

there no stress in it, except, knowing that the mechanics should already be in the game and i shouldn't have to do it.

i'm talking simple functioning options that effect gameplay. not, mundane realism.

interesting point. it is like d&d, but here your expected to play the PC's and the dungeon master at once to make it challenging. because bethesda decided rules were too controlling and people wanna have fun...

define no hud.. i play without a compass i could not stand to be in combat not knowing i have 3.5 hit points...

More or less my approach as the OP suggests it, my difference being no mods and expert. Also, avoid heading straight for all the artifacts. Just roam and explore and stumble upon them.

I did grind smithing but only to get the best steel weaponry. I see "improving" as maintaining and not crafting. I work on the assumption that my character knows how to care for his weapon. If you think about it, the whole "improvement" thing really isn't right. Master smiths do not make "improved" weapons out of mediocre ones. They make great weapons from the start.

I only carry what I could realistically carry. No more than two major weapons (anything other than a dagger, includes staffs), one bow, 50 arrows, and one suit of armor that I am wearing. Anything more than that stays where it drops. I stay under 10 potions, five is better. Oh, and lots of junk that somebody else wants that for some reason I am unable to drop . My primary is a light armor swordsman so I stay under 100. My legionnaire is heavy armor so I stay at under 200.

Use cutthroat merchants mod to vastly increase buying and decrease sales prices. My own mod to drastically reduce gold in the game. Anything that makes wealth harder to come by.

I do like to stop at inns, pay for food, drink,and a song, and then a night's rest.

No compass markers. No radar ("interesting thing 20 paces left") helps so much.

I do not play dead is dead. Would love a mod that made me lose my equipment though, as though I was robbed but not killed. Wake up in the nearest inn as though rescued.

P.S. None of this is "you should". Do what you want to do. I read these threads as sources for ideas.

1. Open the map ("M")
2. With the map open, open the journal "J"
3. Right click (I think) on the quest and select "show on map".

You will be shown where on the map to go for the next step of the quest. That is my compromise between no information (journal only) and radar like guidance (all markers enabled).

that is it, exactly!

I just play the character the way I would act in real life when faced with the situation. I eat the food. The map is a map, not a teleporter, etc.

But anyone here needs to be told how to play a game or enjoy a game, then maybe they're doing the whole game thing wrong....

I have yet to see a lighting mod for Skyrim for dark dungeons that doesn't make it near impossible to see a redgaurds face at 1 in the afternoon.

Since you guys convinced me to turn HUD off, I just turned it all the way off. I tried the lower transparancy thing, but found I was subconsciously trying to see the health bar during a bad fight, and it was so dim that it was more of a distraction than a help. So I went back to complete off. But I know whay you mean about subtitles. I am constantly "shhing" my fiance when she is asking me for something from the other room and I am trying to hear an important piece of dialog.

Grabbing stuff hasn't been a problem for me, although sometimes I accidently pick up junk, but I when I have accumulated enough, I just drop it all off in the nearest sack. There was one quest though where I had to give a follower a certain command and I had to turn the HUD back on for that because I couldn't tell where to point him without it.

Their HUD system really is broken in many ways but the transparancy slider is an improvement over prior games where you could not do anything to turn off the HUD.

I do this with imps ”more complex needs” and Frostfall “Hypothermia, Camping, Survival”
it makes traversing the snow covered mountains and the frozen seas much more nerve wreaking.

I am sure he means no HUD of any sort. If you are on an Xbox or PS3 your choices are crosshair/no crosshair and dim/eliminate the entire HUD. Many folks are just turning off the entire HUD. Frustrating sometimes not to know what your health is, but with some practice you can usually have a general idea by remembering how many times you have been hit by what and by the blood spots and heartbeat sound. I am a recent convert to this style of play. It adds a new dimension of challenge to the game.