The first time I play a game I go through it quick the second time I go really slow and take my time.

Yeah I am the same, especially with TES series of games. In this one I have yet to complete the main quest, I don't know why but when I complete the main quest in these games I find it difficult to keep playing. The completionist in me wants to see everything but the slacker in me is like 'Hey I saw the most important parts!'. I acknowledge the problem and yet can't fix it so I avoid the MQ.

The only other questline I have completed or even started is the Companions. I have yet to visit Markarath or the town in the swamp (Forgot the name) Actually almost the entire west side of the map is unexplored still. I have really only been doing side quests I find in towns or misc quests when I really think about it. It's not that I haven't been trying I just have limited time to play and in Skyrim time not only moves different but I seem to suffer from spontanius ADD in this world. So I will be like 'Ok I'm going to start this quest and see it through to completion, I have two hours to do it so...focus.'

And I'll head off to the quest but on the way I will be like: 'Ohh what's this. Ohh that's shiny. Another quest, why thank you! A book, wonder what it says. Hey I should upgrade my armour. A dragon! Butterflies! Whoa a waterfall. Kill the goat!' and then the two hours have gone and I have done nothing of value.

That's a plus for Skyrim though, I think it's the only world in any videogame I have played that I have been able to get utterly lost in.

I play very slowly. I got Skyrim for christmas and I play it mainly on weekends and have put around 80+ hours in and have a level 40 character that specializes in pickpocket and smithing.

Games that have main quests and side quest I like to focus on the side quests early on first and I explore a LOT. Once I get my bearings and the lay of the land then I start in on the main quest, but I still take it slow and complete more side quests. Every time I sit down to play I try to finish at least one miscellaneous quest and do more smithing and organizing stolen goods than anything else. I think I may have seen about 30% to 50% of the map so far (probably on the lower end of that spectrum).

Games like this deserve the time I show them. Skyrim rewards me with fantastic landscapes and situations and I fill in the rest with my love of forging really cool stuff.

I do not play it slow to last longer, I play it slow because I like to look at everything and bowhunt. Im doing side quests right now and new ones keep popping up. I had my first freeze the other night, Im not playing at all right now hoping that the patch will fix it.

I enjoy taking my time with the game. I invested $40.00 in the game using a $20.00 discount from Amazon, have 422 hours ( I have no life),level 48 and 17mb save. I have to fast travel constantly now because you never know when the ps3 freezing and lag issues will hit. I have completed most quest in the game except glitched ones, Thieves Guild (sneak thief),Dark Brotherhood (cold blooded murderer) and Companions (Don't care to be a werewolf thank you). I don't like the lag and freeze issues but compared to how short many other games are I have gotten my moneys worth none the less.

even when ive beaten EVERYTHING and got all skills to 100.. which will take ages. radiant quests are enough to keep me going for a very long time. its all the same to me "go here, kill this person, return, get reward" some people find it tedious, which i dont. i enjoi it.

when mods come out it will add even more replay value to the game

i can see this game lasting me a VERY long time

these games will last you for many years, depending on how you play them. even after skyrim. we still have oblivion and morrowind which will also last me for at least a year. and when im done with it, ill take a break for a month or so then return and do it all over again

point of this post: i cant stand threads like "THIS GAM SUX!1 I POWERED THROUGH AND IM BORED NOW, I WANT MY MONEY BACK"

much evidence in this thread alone.. its the way you play these games. elder scrolls games are not about getting it all done within a day, then complaining because you got bored and have nothing left to do. they can last you a LIFETIME.. it depends on the way you play

just advice

im also glad to see there are many other players like me in this thread who know how a TES game is meant to be played

<3

I have evenings of just exploring.. may need to kill a dragon or two (pesky beasts stalk me!) I love to find new places , like to talk to odd characters I meet along the way. And another time I will do quests empty a cave or dungeon and take home a ton of loot, after playing several hours a day, for around 5 weeks my main, is still only 43. have made and played a couple of low lvls and become intrigued by the DiD so am on my second character there. I want a real vampire.. a real bad rogue .. so much I would like to do.. but the scenery and exploring is as addictive as the game its self

Yeah, one of these days I may need to get a PC to mod TES games. I have been playing for a little over two years. First Oblivion, then Morrowind now Skyrim (also play a liitle Fallout) and I told myself that once I had done everything in these games, then I would get a PC and start playing them modded. Well, I was a long ways from that point when Skyrim came out, so it will be some time before I feel compelled to switch to a PC, but it does give me something to look forward to, almost as much as TES VI.

What you refer to as "running aimlessly", my characters refer to as exploring the world on their own. My spellsword enjoys exploring with companions such as (Lydia, Jordis, Iona, Ria) and has discovered at least 50% of the locations in the game on his own. It was the same in Oblivion. My Breton atronach sorceress had an alchemy of 99. She was constantly just strolling collecting flax and steel blue entolmas. Folks always wondered how she could just "pick flowers." Some of her best battles and discoveries occurred off the beaten path, just by exploring on her own. It is a great diversion from the burnout others express by simply rolling sequentially through all of the quests in the game.

I had only played a little Morrowwind on my PC until I couldn't stand how crappy it ran (terrible PC) and it was quite some time ago before I think I could have even enjoyed it. I got Skyrim for Xmas because I really needed a sandbox kind of game to play in and I heard Skyrim was perfect for it.

I got into Skyrim flying fast and I would rush to each quest and accept each one and my log would keep filling up. Follow the arrow I would and it just got stale and I had just freekin got the game. I joined the forum and saw many people take the game a little more seriously and create stories, and rules for their characters. I started doing this on new characters I created and then I started taking it slow and reading the books, talking to people and listening to them.

I think with this game - you have to sit in it and soak up everything you can. Saturate yourself in what Skyrim is about. I know most think its only real good quality is the map, visuals and exploration but there is more if you find it and like it. Nobody can say to you "this is how it's played" and expect you to understand and play like that. I think this game is for the kids at heart, the people who held on to a little imagination, and certainly the creative. So yeah..... I really take my time...

BUMP FOR THE NEEDY

I agree with you OP.
Rushing the game ruins the experience.
I was at one place on my current character and it took me 91 hours. And on my first character when i got to that place i was there at 50 hours

I go slow. These games aren`t about speed at all. i always shake my head when someone says, "Look at me! I finished teh game in 2 hours!"

Heh yeah i agree... I dont think that person is good at anything if he/she say that,I just think he/she is stupid to play the game in that way.
But well..Let them play that way ^^ still it ruins the experience for them.

final bump

too many threads with people complaining they powered through the game and have nothing left to do

TAKE YOUR TIME... thats what these games are about

I don't rush. I can't think of a game I've played that I've played less than 30 hours. I have a 116 in Skyrim right now, and 20 hours of that was spent testing.

i have over 400 hours and im taking a break. when i go back to it and finally beat every quest and get all skills to 100, the radiant quests will keep me going forever. its all the same to me.. go there, kill him, return for reward. im in it for the action and the treasure. not to mention i havent even tried any mods since CK

Just finished Blood on the Ice. Never got it until after the last patch.

I have this game since december, around 29th, and I still haven't passed the level 30. I always keep making new characters for any possible and silly motive.

Same. I'm on my second playthrough now and I'm going a lot slower.

I like to take my time with games. With this game, there is no hurry, there is plenty of time to explore and just enjoy (also to smell the flowers and chase the butterflies)

LOL I have not even completed Oblivion (I am planning on going back to Oblivion as well as playing Morrowind)

How do you find certain dungeons for quests cause they don't all give directions?

I never rush the MQ of a TES game. In Oblivion I finished the MG of the main game at about level 40. In Skyrim I am already above level 50 and I am still at the beginning.

More than 500 hours done, and not much of the questlines done yet, including the main quest. But now I've put the game to rest, apparently it'll probably take some time for the hardcoe mods I'm waiting for to arrive.

I'm typically not rushing any games to get through them at all. But I'm frequently surprised how quickly it was all over.

I didn't even know we could disable all that. Might try it eventually, although I'll have the benefit of having seen a lot of places beforehand, helping me in the process.