I’m playing on XBOX 360 so I can’t use the console or mods. These ideas are in no particular order of importance.

1) Try to avoid getting leveled items until my level matches their max level.

2) Avoid going into dungeons, caves, etc. at low levels to prevent having too many of these areas locked into low level enemies and loot. I’m thinking of waiting until level 49, since that’s when enchanted Daedric armor can start appearing. I should enter at least 1 dungeon at level 1, in case I need easy enemies later for some reason.

3) Be more careful with my perk choices. Do some research, use an online perk calculator.

4) Research followers, pick out the best ones, and try not to enter their cells until I feel my level is high enough - maybe level 50?

5) I want to roleplay the peace treaty part of the main quest and try to remain as neutral as possible. I also want to play the civil war questline to its conclusion. It seems the safest or only way to do this is to not join either side until the main quest is over, so that is when I will choose sides.

6) I want the house in Whiterun (can purchase after Bleak Falls Barrow quest). I also hate having non-essential (but still important) npcs killed by random dragons, mainly because I lose a side quest, merchant, etc. Random dragons start appearing after the Dragon Rising quest, which (I believe) is immediately and automatically triggered right after Bleak Falls Barrow. However, I think I remember reading that random dragons are paused during A blade in the dark, so I should play the mq to this point so I can have my house and save my npcs.

7) Avoid getting quests until I know what bugs are associated with them. If I’m ok with the bugs, go ahead and get the quest, finish it right away if that helps me avoid future bugs.

8) Finish all the side quests before I cause random dragons to appear again.

So, my order of play will look something like this: Do main quest until I can buy my house, continue mq to pause random dragons, do all side quests while npcs are relatively safe, finish mq, choose sides and complete civil war questline. As I type this it occurs to me it’s a rather rigid way to play such a fun game, so I will start a 2nd new character that does what he wants when he wants and switch to him when I get bored of the rigid style.

Any ideas? Flaws in my reasoning? Ways I could do this better?

Only thing I would do differently is to not use black on black when posting here: your post is invisible unless you are curious enough to go looking.

(added by edit) Also, your idea seems to be that you want to get high levels before doing anything - but doing things is HOW you gain the high levels. Yes, it's possible to spam Alchemy, Smithing, Enchanting etc., but if you don't work on your armor & melee/archery skills as you gain, you'll get royally roasted by most everything when you do decide to go out adventuring.

Don't followers level with you?

Bump.

Not much point in bumping, old boy. Your choice of font colour makes your original post unreadable. Try staying with the old fashioned white letters and you may well get responses.

Sorry, don't know what you posted, and won't know unless you edit it into a normal posting color - you know, like white?

Your next game does not sound like fun to me, at all. But I hope you enjoy it. We all play a little differently and that is what you need to do to enjoy your Skyrim, I say go for it.

Me, I just play. I play to roleplay and I play to have fun. When I stop having fun I stop playing.

As near as I can tell from the wiki article, followers are kind of initially set according to your level when you first encounter them - Lydia usually being the first (and lowest) since you are guided into meeting her by the game.

On the PC you can use the console to cause followers to reset and match your current level (if I understand this correctly), but otherwise I believe they do not level with you.

I have a headache now.

followers level with you that was fixed in the 1.2 or 1.3 patch but they cap at level 50 along with every other npc. you just need to give them better gear and weapon for them to stand a chance in a fight. I have lydia decked out in full dragon plate with a daedric sword/bow/arrow she does just fine in combat when I decide to take her out and that not often.

Staying on topic, I cant see how anyone could level much past level 15-20 with out going into cave/dungeons there just inst enough stuff in the open world to fight that respawns fast enough to level up at any real pace. Also caves and Dungeons do respawn after a period of time complete with loot.

Bump.

IMO, you need to relax and not stress out as much about bugs and perks and all that. Youre never going to get it 100% 'right', and in the meantime youll get a stomach ulcer or something. Chill!!

You'll never get to level 50 without going into dungeons, and even if you somehow do get to level 50 with smithing,alchemy, or enchanting you'll get destroyed in dungeons. Doesn't sound like much fun to me but whatever floats your boat

Don't be so anol about things. If the game in its current "free-form" mode isn't fun for you, then maybe some other game universe would fit your style better.

Hey, Sere. I agree. Must be a stressful way to play. At least wait for the next patch before starting a new character.

Sounds like you've put alot of effort and thought into your plans for your next game!
Do you enjoy playing like that, living via a set of pretty strict rules that you'll game by? Or are you going to make it more RP fun by making your rules into your charecters credo? Ie certain things they will or wont do for certain private or religious or moral reasons?

Yep. And that's true for me as well. Instead of doing another toon in Skyrim right now, I'm waiting for the patch to see what changes. In the interim, I'm playing Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion. And finishing up my latest Skyrim girl.

I think you are placing far too many restrictions on yourself, to the point where the game will cease to be any fun for you at all. There is no right way to play, just play and decide what your character should be (Warrior, Assassin, Mage etc.) and what that character will or won't do. Just go play, Bethesda will fix the quests in upcoming patches.

However if you insist on trying to level your character before exploring dungeons and caves, then I suggest the Oghma Ifinitum glitch is the way to go. Otherwise you are going to be stuck spamming skills and/or spending gold to train with a teacher which gets ridiculously expensive.