I'm very curious what most people do when they 'play' Skyrim.

I roleplay.

and stare at my characters... sometimes they even have clothes on.

I tend to figure out which factions my character will join. Then either do them each in a row, or intertwining them depending on the character. After that, i do the MQ and then Dragonborn. I do Side and Misc. Quests interwoven with them when they pop up and make sense.

All of it, depending on the character's story and my mood.

Exactly this but I always have male characters

I'm with Michael... RP all the way!

and trust me mate you're not the only one staring at your characters...

I also roleplay, but I do like to complete quests.

I have FIFTEEN quests in my bloody journal at the moment... where do I even begin. Dx

If I had to give an estimate, I'd say I probably spend 75% of the time just traveling and exploring the wilds and random dungeon-crawling. That's really due to the fact I get distracted and sidetracked while trying to do quests. I have the tendency to start quests but not finish them until way later. I have so many active quests right now, it's ridiculous. Some still there from the start of the game. and I'm level 46 right now.

I picked "run around and explore things..." because it best describes the way I roleplay. My characters act based on their own whims and motivations. Sometimes that means questing, sometimes it means just moving through Skyrim and using my imagination to partake in their story.

Atm, I'm playing a powerhungry necromancer, who wears a heavy armor and kills stuff with his 2-handed axe/mace. So far I've mostly followed the Companion questline, doing some of the main quests alongside, when they've felt interesting/locations are close enough. I usually stop and explore dungeons which I happen to find, especially ruins and tombs. Daedra related quests are prority 1, but I let my char find them and don't wander anywhere without a reason.

On my first character I just rushed the main quests, only exploring few dungeons while at it. The dragon threat just felt too great to ignore.

Depends in what mood I am. Sometimes I focus on quest, sometimes I try to train to proceed futher(every champion needs a trainingsession ), sometimes I just wander around in hope to find treasure, or find a cool quest.

Also, whenever I need to have a change of landscape, (I live in the netherlands D: ), I just go back to TES: Oblivion to enjoy the landscapes. No TES game has ever done better in landscapes and plot than Oblivion.

I said other, and I'm pretty close to this. Only difference is I put the main quest in the same mix as the others. Might do it first, might do it while doing some others, and some characters won't do it at all.

I RP so there are always quests my characters won't do.

Example- If my character is a boethiah follower, he/she won't ever do the Molag bal quest.

But yea, I RP.

Find - return - kill - loot - sell

I put other because I do a combination of all those things due to roleplay and what fits the moment. Although, I do usually avoid the mq and complete it quite slowly.

I beat the crap out of Rolff stone-fist on my Khajiit . . .

Said Khajiit is usually in nothing but his undies for fist fights or walking around cities.

All of the above.

I do quests if it fits the character and roleplay. I may explore a bit too.

I voted other...as I do all the above. I RP and sometimes my characters do a questline, sometimes not. I will often start the MQ just to get dragons and never take it any further than "A" certain point. If I want a werewolf character I have to start Companions to a certain point also, the rest might not fit the characters personality. ( heck the 1st part might not fit their personality, but there isn't much of a choice).

I do as most people here do. Each character has their own story and each character has their own set of RP rules and gameplay.

I roleplay as well. Typically that means I am heavily involved in the main quest, as I've yet to make a character where the revelation of being dragonborn was not pivotal to his/her development. Typically, I roleplay my characters as being talented, but inexperienced (for obvious reasons) so I usually end up joining a guild and "training" to become ready for the challenges of being the hero of the world. After the main quest is wrapped up, I turn my attention to other threats (vampires and MIraak) before I end up fiddling around, accruing power and wealth and exploring to further "train" myself. I love every minute of it.

I almost fall in love with my creations.

I hardly do any of the factions at all. I just kind of run around and see where my characters adventures take them.

Other, which is roleplay.

I do the main quests of these games once. I've never done any of them a second time. Apart from that, I do whatever fits my character best. Every character I roleplay is different from every other charcter I roleplay. And that means the things they do in their games are different too. Many of my characters never do a single Bethesda quest.

Play Skyrim? I don't play Skyrim, I live Skyrim (anybody? No...? Ok...)

I used to go hard and try to do everything. Now I role-play. I only do enough quests in an area to get a house there, then I spend my days doing odd jobs or things that need to be done. When night falls, I head to the tavern to boast of my glory before I retire home for the night.