Yes! I finally did it! Tonight I completed the Main Quest without even fast travelling once. I did not even use the carriages. It is a highly recommended playstyle. This game actually denies you any boring moments. You would think that all those long hours of running up and down those same roads to and from Ivarstead and Whiterun would be filled with boredom. But NO. Skyrim's impressive, glorious detail and the events along the roads make it delightfully interesting. I tell you - there's not one single boring moment. And all the things you get to see!

I never thought I'd have the discipline - but I did it.

For my next character, I'm going to impose even stricter rules. As well as the forbidden fast-travel, I'm going to make him have to eat at least twice a day and rest for a few hours each night. There might be other restrictions I can think of too. But for now, my current character still has the Civil War to do before she can retire to a comfortable upper-class life in Solitude.

I barely use fast travel.. For one I've found that these games (fallout 3, Fnv, Oblivion, Morrowind, Skyrim) seem to crash a lot more when you do. Not sure why. I do tend to use it when I'm getting tired or something and just want to finish some stuff up before I shut down the game. But all in all I like running about. Like you said, there's usually something to be found. Although there are some annoying spots on the map that seem to have something going on every single time you run past. For instance every time I take the road that goes from whiterun into eastmarch there's always something in exactly the same place.. a lot of the time it's the same two ice and fire mages battling it out. The bodies seem to take forever to de-spawn there also so there's always a few dead bodies still just laying in the road.

Yeah. I had instances like that too. I especially remember a nobleman on a horse escorted by a soldier in the mountain pass between Riften Hold and Falkreath Hold. They were always there, although it seemed they were actually travelling somewhere.

I saw some really funny glitching too though while travelling like this. Like Jarl Balgruf the Greater trying to get into Helgen. Eventually he got in, and got attacked by the bandits in there and I had to save him. That was quite a memory.

Great Sig, Op.

On to topic:

Self imposing limits is one of my "hardcoe rules"

I put this on myself, because the game is boring and easy and too simple, without them.

Remove quest markers. Start a new game with higher difficulty settings (and don't change it)

Start a mage character who uses no smithing or enchanting and no sneaking archery or lockpicks, etc

And yes, what you stated is very popular with many who find the game too "easy"


I like the battles to be difficult, and I like to be surprised around every turn. Walking everywhere, correctly resting
at the right intervals for 7 or 8 hours, eating, stopping at a pub.......bugging a guard for map info.....

It's all there.......for those of us who like to explore.

I play by my own rules aswell, I try not to fast travel, and I have certain rules of what my character can, and cannot wear/do, it may sound silly, but to me, it makes the game more...personalized.

I feel that immersion is the guts of this game. There are so many posts in this forum that bash the game for being to easy and short on content. IMO, these are the same people that rush through the quests and don't even try to get immersed. Of course, that is only an opinion, but a plausable one. It's refreshing to read a post about how someone has chosen to make the game enjoyable.

I just started a character along the lines of "What if it was really me in Skyrim...". No experience with hand held weapons or bows, no concept of magic. So far I have tried to behave as though it were really me in a world that I am basically defenseless until I learn the necessary skills. I am using the OP's "strict" rules as well. The biggest of which is "Ironman", a.k.a Dead is Dead style. No fast travel, eating at least two meals a day, sleeping at night, etc. I am four game days into it and have yet to go farther from Riverwood than I can walk and still be back in the village by dark. I have set goals for my character to achieve. For example, he won't leave Riverwood for Whiterun until he can successfully one shot a deer or elk. He won't try to clear a mine or cave alone yet for fear of death. It is a challenging and very satisfying play style.

While these do some more interesting methods of playing don't you all find it annoying running the distances? don't you at least buy a horse?

No horses......Can't combat on a horse.

I use other rules as well.....currently reading other posts on same subject....interesting.

I don't like fast travel. I don't like to get somewhere and miss the stuff in between, which is a lot......

didn't realize this, until after my first few playthroughs, and other people stating the same.

so, I have imposed more rules for myself, and my game has been so much more enjoyable.

Each to their own.

The only times I ever fast travel are to someplace nearby so that I can recover my horse after it wanders off and gets lost.

A lot of people are discovering the joys of no fast travel. I'm playing a Dunmer spellsword who rarely fast travels, usually just to get back into a city that is already in sight. Saves a minute or two. She took a cart from Whiterun to Windhelm, but that was because I had limited real time and wanted to get her there. I don't say "I" very much when I talk about what she does, because she's more of a real character to me than my previous fast-travelling ones (who were really just tools to try things out in the game). She has surprised me a few times with her choices. Authors often say that about their characters; it's your own brain, of course, getting into the role. I find that walking everywhere helps keep me in character. I find myself thinking about what she's thinking, and what she'll choose to do next, and hardly ever think about maxing her skills or anything like that. I occasionally "guide" her to a specific dungeon, but I'm trying to avoid areas that I've already traveled through with other characters. And--this is important--not using the Prima guide to find stuff.

I do a lot of things with clothes. She usually doesn't wear her armor and weapons around town, has a set of work clothes, puts on a hood if it's raining or gloves if it's cold, things like that. I'm going to do more eating. I don't really have her sleep, because I'm trying to slow her levelling, but I still buy rooms at inns and wait in them, or in shelters outdoors.

In answer to Dedricjoker, surprisingly not. And I actually walk, or alternate walking with light jogging. I play in 3rd person to keep from going too fast. I've done this up to level 14 with this Dunmer, and haven't gotten bored yet.

Did you know that you could just talk to an npc in high hrothgar and he'll give you a quest to find a word?
Now, you can only have one of those quests at a time, meaning, when you're done with one word, you have to go back for another quest.

Now could you imagine climbing those 3000 steps to high hrothgar 40 or so times up and down, to get all of those quests?

I may have only clocked in 70 hours of gameplay, but at least I know I've spent all of it playing the game.

How can you be bored with great gameplay like that? Great stuff.

Freedom.......speaks for itself.

Nice job man! I myself am guilty of using the over-convenient fast travel. But that is impressive. I may try that as well in the near future.

No, I did not know that -- and I most certainly could not imagine hiking High Hrothgar that many times. That's why I find word walls on my own -- much more surprising that way haha.

Yeah, High Hrothgar is one exception I would probably make. Maybe trek to Ivarstead and then FT up the mountain? IDK. I'm avoiding that by avoiding the Main Quest altogether. If I don't trigger it, the dragons won't start coming back -- Skyrim is saved!

lore wise, this is not actually true, the catalyst for the dragons returing has already happened, they're probably just attacking other places like morrowind, you aren't just saving Skyrim, the enemy is nicknamed the "World-eater" for a reason.

Ok, this is good stuff. For those doing the whole realistic sleep thing, unless you enjoy doing it, i have a way around. I have beast blood which keeps me from getting restful sleep and as such I fill that role with little (2 hours tops) or no sleep. My companion and my wife Mjoll the Lionhearted kinda ruins this for me because she stays up with me for multiple game days in a row and with her being a normal human, i call bs! so now i send her home everynight at 8. I only fast travel when i pick her up or need to dump gear off

recently did a treaty quest that had me climbing up and down high horathgar over and over and going to far off cities. couldnt imagine doing that with out fast travel, though i did just start a new char with no fast travel eat drink and sleep restrictions. probably gonna have to avoid that mission, which is thankfully very possible.

Best ruleset I've read is "Save only on Rest". That way anything that happens that results in death can be explained away as a premonition in a dream. I like the style that this would create, but I'd have to change the rate of time passing... it passes way too quickly for this style of play.

This is something I've enjoyed doing with other TES games, including Oblivion and Morrowind (though I had a harder time with the weird food it was doable). It adds a whole new layer to the game.

Also, I find I start experiencing 'gaming fatigue'when I start fast travelling. It feels like I'm cramming too much into one sitdown. Wandering throughout the world makes it feel bigger and makes you breath a little between quests. Not to mention finding things you never would have noticed if you hop-skipped everywhere. I explored a really neat ruin on my way to a certain point in the MQ simply because I was walking. A dragon attacked and I went running a little across country and saw a ghostly figure who apologized for attacking. I had to check it out.

A few other things I try to avoid is eating food to heal. I love that they made alchemy something you can only do in certain spots. This keeps me from being tempted to make an emergency healing potion.

I still haven't explored everything yet, but some of my best gameplay comes from doing cross country.

Hey, get back in the kitchen! You want a divorce?!

But seriously, I agree with the above. To my shame, I've been fast-travelling a ton with my character (only my second), but it's because I'm still doing quests for the first time through and I want to see what happens next, rather than walk back down the same road 5 times.

I also honestly blame some of the quest design, which has you crisscrossing the map a ridiculous amount.

Fast Travel does ruin the game. I would recommend people don't use it.

Basically the same thing for me. However, this thread has inspired me to make a "immersion" character. Maybe I'll play a Beast Race for once.

I dont really impose any "rules" on myself persay - I dont fast travel because I simply don't like it (carriages I use). I sleep at night because towns and shops are closed, and I think that simply "waiting" is lame. I also dont like traveling at night.

It wasnt really imposing a rule so much as just playing to my preferences.