I have been playing Skyrim since about November 15 and I have yet to get past Level 25. By now I have conquered Whiterun, Winterhold, Solitude, Markrath, Morthal, and Iverstead; the Bard’s College and the Mage’s College; and, I have been through many, many caves and Barrows. Ironically, however, I find myself a little bored now. I have a sudden urge to restart another game –as I have done several times in the past few weeks: and, always with the same character, a female blonde, blue-eyed Nord. (I love blondes and redheaded Nords.)

I find that with some of the broken quest as in both Windhelm and Dawnstar the very thought of having to use the console, on the PC, just to get through them keeps me away from going to those places. Ripten being the center of the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood is so-so, as with little desire to do those quests as well. It is strange too because, I have played Dragon Age Origin all the way through more times than I can count; and, the same goes with Fallout New Vegas.

I know at times I get a little frustrated by how long it takes to level up. I went though about ten Barrows, Watches and and caves-- some were quest related while others were not -- before leveling up just one time. Obviously it is just me?!? Thanks for listening.

I would say that it is okay to stop playing this game and wait for expansion/DLC whatever, if you have logged over 150 hours, you are probably good...

In my opinion, Dragon Age was very blah compared to Skyrim. I love Skyrim's world. Dragon Age had a good narrative, but that was it. I hate linear rpg's much more than a more open game.

Not you obviously, because I'm sure there are a number of gamers who agree with your sentiments.

Dragon Age is fueled by the interplay of the strong characters you assemble. It's an interactive story broken up by periodic battles. You can make a choice here or there, but after the prologue, it's the same story every time.

Skyrim has almost no real character interaction. You get backstory, exposition, a quest or two, but you never really connect in a continued fashion with any NPCs in the game. However, the reason for that is because you're free to do just about anything you want. Instead of one main story, there are many stories to find and experience, whether they take 10 hours to finish or 10 seconds. Instead of a story full of characters it's a world full of stories. If that makes any sense at all...

I know I was pretty disappointed in the interaction in Skyrim. I wanted my companions to stick around and weigh in on our exploits. But when you think about the volume of work that would entail for a game where you can do just about anything, then it makes sense that they just have their few sayings and that is it. Even the small level that exists can be awkward.

My favorite example is Whiterun. There was a dead dragon laying in the market, and a guard came up and asked if I'd heard about the dragon that attacked Helgen which was several in-game months earlier. Every variable makes it that much harder to craft any continuous interaction.

You could pay trainers to help increase your skills to level up. Crafting and using skills consistently helps to level up.
Perhaps you can also reimagine your character and provide her with a background, motivation and purpose. I find it adds depth and meaning to the gameplay.
I also wouldn't let the fear of glitches prevent you from exploring certain areas. You're missing out. Save often and you should be fine.