Forums » Elder Scrolls

New Characters: A Discussion

    • 134 posts
    August 27, 2014 8:34 AM EDT

    Do you find making new characters boring, or a refresh of the Skyrim experience?

    What are your most common reasons for starting a new character?

    Are there any characters/races/classes that you'd never play?

    ~ Just a general discussion about making new characters; it's fitting for me because I can't seem to stick to         one. Tell me if someone already did this. With my luck, someone probably has. 

    • 134 posts
    August 27, 2014 8:38 AM EDT

    I'll get the ball rolling...

    I find new characters fun if they provide a new way to play, or I have planned the story well. Unfortunately, I always end up making new ones since I either don't follow the story well enough, or run out of things to do story-wise (i.e. I have nothing else planned, so other quests are just fillers of my characters free time). I never play characters with heavy magic skills, since I prefer combat skill over magic and generally find them annoying to level up.

    • 1217 posts
    August 27, 2014 9:45 AM EDT
    I love making new characters. So far, I've only done it in the interest of testing new builds. The tough part then is making myself focus on the current character enough to complete the build before jumping on another exciting idea.

    The only thing that gets in the way a bit is the quest lines. My first character was sort of a catch-all. He didn't do all of them, but he did most of the major ones. That was mistake, I think, as it takes away from them when I do them with a character whose role play actually suits them.

    I didn't think I'd ever want to play as a Khajiit, Orc or Dunmer, but of course some of the amazing builds here changed my mind.
    • 108 posts
    August 27, 2014 10:01 AM EDT

    @races: The only letdown is that you are not treated differently which breaks immersion completely. My Khajiit could enter any town without so much as a hint of abuse. :-(

    • 134 posts
    August 27, 2014 10:08 AM EDT

    True that, I always make my Khajiit characters gain respect in a "nicer" town like Solitude or an open town like Falkreath before being allowed to enter other towns, which is immersive but a bit of a chore.

    • 1217 posts
    August 27, 2014 10:25 AM EDT

    If I had been hassled every time I wanted to enter town as a Khajiit or other race, it would have turned me off to playing the race, despite the immersion quality. It's something that has to be consistently to be done right. I'd honestly rather just RP my own reasons why my character can come and go freely.

    • 134 posts
    August 27, 2014 11:20 AM EDT

    Fair enough. An incorporated discrimination system in Skyrim would have been interesting, but pretty unfair to those races. Maybe some relevant guard dialogue, where you had to persuade, bribe, etc. your way into the major cities the first time you try to enter one (not too hard to deal with) or just a guard saying something as you pass (i.e. "You're not supposed to be here, cat, but I'll turn a blind eye.")

    • 21 posts
    August 27, 2014 12:36 PM EDT

    It depends, really. Some characters that I made wasn't given much thought into and I pretty much got tired after 20-ish hours. On the other hand, new characters that I put a lot of thought behind turned out to be great experiences overall.

    I mainly create new characters because I want to play a certain questline I haven't played before or trying out a new class/build. Or both.

    I think I'm pretty much open to anything really as far as playing a certain race or class, as long as I can make the character seem interesting enough for me to play as.

    • 133 posts
    August 28, 2014 5:55 PM EDT
    I have escaped helgen so many times that if I have to see that damn alduin again I'll pull out his teeth and pin him to the floor with them! -ahem- but in terms of what your saying, the game is so big and there's so many ways to play it that you've probably never considered some of them. I'm sure many people on here have some wicked suggestions.
    • 194 posts
    August 28, 2014 7:59 PM EDT

    Let the confessions begin. I have 3 saves from which I can start. One is just a level 1 that skips the intro, the second is a level 81 that sits ready to be perked, and the third is a character with 1000 in every resource and all perks in-game. If a character is more RP/story based I will use the level 1. If a character is a power build with crafting I will use the level 81. If the character is for fun and I basically want console-equivalent god mode I use the 1000 character.

    That said, Skyrim is mostly boring for me now. All the quests, all the builds, all the exploits. This is simply how I play (Bethesda) games.

    The only thing I can think of never playing is a level 1 character on legendary. Which is why I WISH Bethesda used two scales for difficulty instead of one. That is to say, one scale controls enemy damage and the other controls your damage. Legendary would be fun if everything was very deadly including me. Instead Legendary is a tedious joke where I do have fun trying to survive but have zero fun trying to kill.

  • August 29, 2014 12:54 AM EDT

    I never play as a thief. The sneaking in skyrim makes gameplay very long and boring.

    • 134 posts
    August 29, 2014 1:31 AM EDT

    I think I have a problem... I've made so many characters that I know the exact location of almost every item in Helgen. For example, if you follow Hadvar into the keep then immediately turn right to find Mixed Unit Tactics and some gold, and later on there is a Potion of Health and an Iron Dagger hidden behind a brazier in the cavern with the bear. I never leave the skull in the torture room, or the rock warbler eggs in the store room.

    And if I have to crawl through Bleak Falls Barrow once more time, I'll end up taking the place of the adoring fan in launching off a cliff. xD

    Anyhow, I agree. It's pretty much impossible to play every way in Skyrim, I'm sure most people haven't played as civilians or farmers yet, for example.

    • 6 posts
    August 29, 2014 4:01 PM EDT

    I find it really tough to stick to a character, I'm currently playing an Argonian assassin but also want to play a beggar assassin, an Orc butcher and a sneaky unarmed Khajiit.

    • 108 posts
    September 3, 2014 3:30 AM EDT

    If the game had introduced other methods to do things like only entering towns through sewers or secret entrances that would have been nice. In a Game called Vampires Masquerade Bloodlines you had to constantly hide if you where a certain kind of vampire. A real hassle which I really liked. Once you defeated a dragon and "saved" Whiterun you could always show your dragon bone badge. ^_^

    • 56 posts
    September 3, 2014 4:22 AM EDT
    What I did was (mostly) to start at Master, and when even the supposedly tough enemy seems so easy, I go for Legendary. I tried it when playing the Arcane Archer. I dont hit too hard anymore, but enemies hit me like Im back to Lv1. This is where I appreciate the perks I got over the course of my game.