Been playing quite a while now, and I didn't even realize just how badly dragons and followers had been getting on my nerves, until I started a playthrough without either... at all, period.

No shouts? No problem, I hardly ever used them anyway, usually forgot all about them until a fight was over. The only time I ever used them much, was fighting dragons. Now the dragons are gone, so...

No tank/extra dps/packmule follower? No problem. I got a horse mod that makes horses much more useful, less stupid, easily accessible, and providing an extra 300 lbs of carrying capacity. Sweet. For weeks now, I've usually just left my bungling followers at the entrances of dungeons, anyway. And if I can't beat a combat situation without a follower, then I'll skip it. I'm a thieving khajiit assassin, not an idiot. Having chosen not to launch the Main Quest?, nothing is mandatory anyway. Which is very liberating, it turns out.

No dragons? Thank the stars! They'd just become unbearable annoyances by this point, honestly. Their only purposes are to forward the main questline and be oversized dragonsoul pez dispensers, the two things I've decided are the least important and most unnecessary factors in the game for me, at this point. Good riddance, oversized cockroaches! Having those big sons of lizards always dropping in uninvited at the worst possible times, killing key NPC's and just being obnoxious in general, i can heartily do without.

The result? After playing to lvl 20 without the annoyances, interruptions, and gadawful stupidity provided by followers or dragons, I am a much happier and more relaxed player, and I don't miss them whatsoever. Yay!

I only played my first character with the main quest, and find the absence on dragons to be nice too. The only thing that bothers me is the fact shouts are a common reward at the end of dungeons.

this is how i usually play the only time i ever do the main quest is on a character i intended beforehand to do it on and honestly i believe fruit flies are smarter then game followers so in every game i play even non elder scrolls games if i have the option to i do without cpu controlled followers.

I like dragons but after awhile they can be like cliffracers. I will admit I never do the MQ till last because of them.

So far I enjoy followers. If I am entering a tough dungeon or whatnot they serve there purpose.

Recently with the infestation of Ancient Dragons on my Nord file, can't wait to start a new char. again.

I did this with my Khajiit because well.. Fur+Fire=Kittykehbab.

Game feels like Oblivion in a way without them, and the game is much, MUCH more relaxing when you don't have to worry about looking at the sky 24/7...

At least Cliff Racers didn't wipe out entire towns

i find them also annoying, but sadly lots of dialogues are all about dragons and some act like you are dragonborn, even though you did not do the mainquest at all.

It makes sense people would be talking about dragons since they were thought to be extinct and one suddenly destroys Helgen. Your second point, yeah I agree.

I get to the point where I load up the game and Fast Travel a few times until the inevitable dragon shows up. Then I can go do what I wanted to do when I started the game up.

My two other characters that I have rolled, but not played much will be ignoring the Main Quest entirely. One will have need of a couple of shouts, but I will work around that somehow.

Yeah, I decided to be away with those little buggers called "dragon", and I can't be happier! it's like good ol' Oblivion with advanced graphics and combat system! Minus the Oblivion Gates!

Just want a confirmation, tho: after you kill your first dragon, do dragons suddenly start to appear or do you have to do another quest again? The very first dragon was an awesome fest of tactics, and I want to experience that again. Too strong a char may affect the outcome greatly

as soon as you kill the dragon at the whiterun tower, they start spawning.

Well dang... gonna have to do something about it... heard they have variables to determine whether dragons come out or not

There are a couple of variables that you can play with in the console to possibly stop the dragons

set MQ106TurnOffRandomDragons to 1

set DragonsEnabled to 0

(might need an = sign rather than the word to)

You will have to play with the syntax on these, and I don't know if you have to enter these each time you load the game

If you never go talk to the Jarl of Whiterun, will that first dragon even show up??

No it will not. The last chance you have to prevent it from appearing, though, is turning in the Dragonstone or whatever to Farengar Secret-Fire, since that conversation starts the quest to go kill the dragon.

I applaud your taking control, Smokeyman!

Personally, I like both dragons and followers.

Dragons are a really nice random factor. Without the danger of them appearing, Skyrim would feel way too safe and static. I'm not sure how hard they are for the average player, but every time a dragon appears, I am scared and I have to work hard to kill them, or run fast to get away from them. The fact that every other event in Skyrim waits for you to show up and hit the quest trigger means that dragons actually make the world feel a little bit dynamic.

Followers are great, too. Of course, I think of them as fully fledged characters and not just meatshield/pack mules. Every follower I recruit, I recruit for a good role-playing reason. So having them accompany me and assist with combat and other tasks enriches the story in my imagination. I don't really understand why they would be a drag, except for a stealth PC of course. And I actually enjoy having my stealth character tell her bodyguard to wait outside while she robs a house or sneaks into a fort to assassinate a bandit leader. Again, makes for a better story.

I agree with Zombra. Though only on my first playthrough, I like dragons and followers. Dragons give me a challenging fight at random (actually, the last one I killed was rather easy at only level 18). Followers help me in combat and are just friendly to have around. It's almost like I don't feel so scared in a dark dungeon with a follower. And having Lidya with me from level 5 to 15 or so, I had no problems avoiding traps, sneaking up on enemies, and overcoming terrain. If she got lost, I'd just enter a new game zone and there she'd be!

I recently made a character that will not follow any quest line. No dragon's. No companion. I do wish that dog's were a little quieter, then she would have a companion around the house anyway. ( x-box player no mods). I don't want to turn the sound's down as I like listening to the birds, though the music is turned down.

It is very relaxing to not have to worry about dragon's dropping out of the sky. I play Amber when I need a change from dungeon crawling or dragon fighting. Her life is very simple.

I may try a dog anyway, it was an Idea I had for her to travel to Markarth to purchase a dog, from when I first started her backstory. If it get's to anoying, it can alway's go back i supose.

Yes. Very nice to have the option!
I am playing two chars now, a nord hero who loves to hunt dragons and a Breton assassin/spellsword who couldn't be bothered with the MQ, or anybody in Skyrim for that matter.....

Well, there are these times when the followers insist on walking straight over that really obvious floor plate that you've spotted already like 100 meters before. If you're really lucky, this might even get your PC killed, as it happened to myself a couple of times (I don't believe in putting points into health).

And then there's of course the whole "follower ruins my stealth" thing that you mentioned already.

Haha, true. Followers and traps do make for a tiresome combination. I just pretend I didn't see it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTMwjYgJsFQ

Dragons > Oblivion gates
Oblivion Gates were just filler linear dungeons, and they were mandatory to get the best enchantments. Furthermore, the main quest ruined the already nerfed enchanting in oblivion when the gates closed.

At least dragons, you can run away from or just fight and sell the bones or whatever

I just did this and this is what happened:

I went to Farengar first and he takes the Dragonstone from me - didn't expect that. I listened to the whole conversation between him and Delphine and then they both took off to tell the Jarl what they learned. Looked for the Jarl's assistant to get my house (I just wanted Breezehome) and he would not show - anywhere! So I went upstairs where Farengar and Delphine were talking to the Jarl and he tells me to follow his fighter chick assistant who is organizing to go to battle. She tells me to meet her at the western watchtower and leaves.

The Jarl tells me to find his other assistant to get the house. I do that and as I leave the city my quest marker is pointing at a tower slightly in the distance to the west outside the city. I will be avoiding this area for the rest of the game.

Two levels have gone by and no dragons.

Did the MQ once. No dragons ever again since then. The only real point to TES games for me is that you really don't need to mess with the main questlines.... There's always so much else to do....