how do i check my total hours?

I have six characters who have completed the Main Quest, I do not want to count how many experimental characters I have started and gotten bored with/found a glitch in my ideas.
I still play my first two serious characters, but they only have around 100 hours each.
I now have a character who eats, sleeps, does not fast travel, this character can get tedious to play if I am doing the same quest or area on another of my characters.
I still get Restartitis on a weekly basis

Sure I will. On my next playthrough
How would you know what it's like to play those character builds if you never follow them all the way to maturity?

I've only made three characters so far, each all in their late 30s. I guess I realize if I don't play the hell out of them I won't get to see what all the high level perks can do. Although I still feel the itch to try out some different characters. I haven't gotten around to making my sixy orc female character and I want to eventually mess around with the other beast races. Haven't tried archery yet either.

I have the exact opposite "problem" I have two characters, a Nord all-out warrior and a Breton conjurer/mage. Put about 200 hours in on the Nord and maybe 100 on the Breton. I've tried creating another character, but every time I do they end up looking the same as one of the other two (one is male, one is female) and I end up wanting to do the same build again, which makes it pointless to start over. I love the two builds I have, and I don't think I'll ever be starting a different type of character. My Nord hasn't touched a single spell in 200 hours of gameplay. My Breton only uses Conjuring and her bow. I don't really dig the magic in Skyrim, so I don't use it much. Doesn't suit a low-fantasy environment like that IMO. Also, I don't like the beast races at all, so I'm always one of the human races, which makes it pointless, again, to try something else.

But I like it that way. Waay immersive.

I currently have 4 characters, but have deleted many more than that. For awhile I would switch characters every weekend, but I found that I was doing the same quests, the same way, every time. Lately I have been playing one character for several weeks so I can really get to know them and their situation. This has helped me do different quests and even when I do some of the same ones, I can approach them differently. I also got tired of my wife saying, "Are you starting another character"?

I don't think I have too many...

1st character was a Nord who got trapped in a quest loop. I was literally unable to progress in the main story without losing 20 levels, so I gave up.

2nd Character was my Redguard, who i played through. She's my favorite.

3rd was a Nord, who is my current playthough.

4th was a Dunmer. I was going to do the assassin's guild quest with her, as well as being a professional sneak thief, but it was so alien to my nature I just couldn't face it. I abandoned her at level 8.

5th is a Breton who i modeled to look like a common bandit. I never really played very far with her.

6th is an Imperial, who I've been playing off and on inbetween my Redguard and my Nord. She's a level 7 now. I'm attempting to focus on ranged, but i seriously hate ranged weaponry and will likely switch her to dual wielding.

And... that's about it.

I have a few, 1 of which has story (ongoing) and another has story interwined in it.

Hunter, a female DunmerShadow Step.
Scott Ian Davis (Sid), male Nord
Alamerith, female Alter Mage
Raz'nair, female Khajjit
Torvidna Melanna, female imperial
Roze Macath, female orc

I was doing this alot when i first started playing Skyrim. Now these past two months i seem to finally have it under control with just three characters i play on rotation depending on my mood. Typical archtypes such as warrior or mage mixes. Not into stealth characters though its a ton of fun and alot more immersive with Skyrim so i might eventually play a stealthy assassin some day.

Wow, some of you are incredibly dedicated, I could never play just one character for hundreds of hours, I think partly because I play on xbox and have no way of increasing difficulty and there is a point where my chars just get way to OP.

I will make like ten characters and just start playing one after the other until finally one toon just sticks and I dont feel like changing. Than I delete the others so I'm not tempted....until tomorrow.

You can play a mixed character, I have a Nord who uses Dual Cast Destruction Spells, then runs out of Magicka and switches to a Two Hander, and then may run out of Stamina. I do not put any points into Health, adds a built in Weakness that Bosses really take advantage of. I also Dual Cast Alteration Spells for defense before battle.

I have a Khajiit that doesn't kill anything...ever.
A Nord dagger assassin.
A Khajiit H2H assassin.
A Breton being played as a Forsworn.
An Orc bounty hunter.

I played and deleted about a dozen different builds and about 100 hours before I finally settled on these.

My reaction to Oblivion and Skyrim was the mirror-image opposite of yours. In my case, I can't count the number of characters I started and abndoned in Oblivion. I'd get a character to level 10 or 15, lose interest, start another, get that one to level 18, lose interest, start another. I'd guess I've probably made over 300 characters in Oblivion. None of them reached level 20.

With Skyrim I started a quick "test character" just to get the feel of the game and got hooked immediately. I played my test character for 200 hours and got up to level 48, something I never was able to do in Oblivion. My second character went up to level 52 and my third character went to level 63. I've just begun my fourth character a few days ago.

Like you, I had no problem keeping characters going in Morrowind. Many of my Morrowind characters ended their careers in their 50's. That game inspired me to roleplay extensively. Skyrim does the same for me. But Oblivion, on the other hand, never inspired me. And I swear, as a fan of the series, I never wanted to be inspired to roleplay a game so badly in my life. And still, despite all my efforts, I have never been able to stay interested in the game long enough to get one of my characters to level 20.

Gi'Anna is a female Khajiit Warrior, about 100 hours played. High 20s in Level. She's lawful good, and is your basic Sword 'n' Boarder.

Arkved is a male Altmer Mage. About 50 hours played, mid 20s in Level. He's into Destruction and Illusion, and mostly keeps to himself. Let everyone else find their damn lost swords!

Maylissa is a female Imperial Cleric. Level 5 since she's new. She's inspired by a AD&D Cleric that my wife plays. (We just started a new module which is my second AD&D adventure. I can't wait to play again! ) She adventures to vanquish Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, and the Undead. Lunar Mace, Hide Shield, Restoration and Conjuration.

Conan! Male Nord, Level 16, about 30 hours in. He is by far my favorite character thus far. I made him look like Ahnold, but I play him like Robert E. Howard's Conan. He's a Warrior and a Thief. 1H, 2H, Block, Heavy Armor, Archery, Sneak, Lockpicking. He seeks riches and high adventure. I have the Conan theme on a USB for added epicness during fights. He never uses magic, and I exclaim, "Crom!" when things get hectic.

I'm also going to start a Dead Is Dead character named Luthero, male Bosmer Archer.

I only have one character (for Morrowind and Oblivion too).

just keeping one build in each game allows me to focus on that person more carefully. when, and if, I decide to create a new character, it'll undoubtedly be just for fooling around or redoing the main quest and playing out the other side of the civil war.

I have had quite a few characters but only one has made the cut. She has 300 plus hours on her and I became so attached to her I made her again and started over

I understand you, I'm particularly having trouble finishing the main quest, once I hit level 40~50 a sudden inspiration takes me back to character creation for a new build. And I'm not talking about getting bored, well not at all, what I can't stand is not being able to change the character approach at any time, migrate the heavy armor perks to light armor, or block perks to sneak, maybe archery to destruction. Also I love to roleplay and at any time I think about how it would be funny having another race taking care of this quest/mission and/or taking another path on a multi choice question. Well, I lost count of how many characters I had since the release(and I bought the game at 10/11/11 close to midnight)... I totally love this game and for me theres no better but I'm not sure whats the problem with the high level game, I don't find it compelling enough to keep playing a nearly capped character.

"Variety is the spice of life."

Multiple characters, playing different quest lines, keep the game fresh and interesting.

Although I'm not quite at your level. I have 5 characters between level 30 and level 44, and only my last character is doing all the quests.

But, I do that in all games. I'll start one, and at a certain level in the game decide I need another one lol.

It's great to do that in some games. For example, WoW gave you rested experience (double experience if I remember) after not playing a character for a certain length of time. I had 10 characters I played, rotating every day to a different one, and never ran out of rested experience. Nice way to level faster.

You`re definately not alone on this issue,there`s a lot of us experiencing this problem.I`ve deleted many characters myself,but I`ve also managed to get it under control lately.I never take my builds beyond level 50,and I do different things everytime,that helps to make game different each time I play.If you`re stuck for fresh build ideas try WOW WIKI site - its a great source of information

I have 6 that I cycle through, am trying to resist adding another in. Each character has different aims. Perhaps when the expansion comes I will create another, if the expansion adds stuff that doesn't fit any of my current characters.

My first, and main, character has close to 300 hours, and another 7 characters with well over 400 hours between them. I did retire a couple of them after they'd done what I created them for. My current focus is on my lvl 31 Wood Elf thief/assassin and lvl 15 greatsword-wielding Nord. I love all the different builds and haven't used the same race twice.

Thanks I will check that out.... I need a new build!!!!

Yes because I am typing this out right now breathing and eating as I do so in response to your stupidity. I'm living, therefore I have a life.

On topic:

Relas, Dunmer thief, general ner-do well and miscreant, my favorite

Velyn, Dunmer wizard, one of the last surving desendants of the house Telvanni

Jorundr the Wild, Nord barbarian, voracious appetite for mead and women

Janus, Imperial knight, goes about on his horse slaying dragons and doing good deeds

Dram, Dunmer assassin, scary looking semi-evil guy, has a heart turns out

Khal gro-Drogo, Orc warrior, yes GoT reference is obvious...

Only got two characters myself, My Level 47 Male Nord, Serian, with a total of 191 Hours. And also my Female Redguard, Tusanisian, who's racked 14 hours so far, and is level 8...

No point in creating character after character, won't get me anywhere personally, and I'd like to explore everything in Skyrim with just my main character.