Forums » Elder Scrolls

"Restartitis"

    • 7 posts
    February 23, 2016 6:36 PM EST

    A term I have learned.  How many of you during you very first play through have started over several times because the build / character you thought would be your fit, wasn't.  My first few times I blew it by spreading the perks way too thin and once I even killed Lydia by accident and thought that was a major mistake.  This time I went with an Orc and got him to 32 with both 1 & 2 hand perked, shield perked, 1 perk Archery, level 75 Smithing, level 55 Alch and level 55 Enchant.  He's in full Orcish and Lydia follows me around.  Seems I have to have her otherwise I can never carry a damn thing.  Also, haven't visited the Greybeards yet.  Maybe by looking at all the expert builders here I'm expecting too much for my first time through, not sure.  Any advice or opinions?

    • 215 posts
    February 23, 2016 7:27 PM EST
    Take a look through some other but les with someone Mylar play styles that you are considering in your own build. See how they approached play through and perk placement. Avoid spreading too thin early on, you can always expand later. Be t it's much harder to go backwards.
    • 700 posts
    February 23, 2016 8:53 PM EST

    The thing that worked for me when I had Restartitis pretty bad was role play. Creating a character that you're personally attached to is a huge boon for longevity. Rather than just using skills you like or doing quests you enjoy, role playing gives you incentive to do those things, a reason to see them through to the end and the motivation to keep playing.

    So, I recommend choosing your favorite race and skills, then creating a character around them. Here's a really comprehensive list of questions to get you started on developing your character, and I'd also highly recommend looking at Role Play Guides, which give really good run downs on how to play certain archetypes. If you need some inspiration, lore usually does a pretty fantastic job at that. Maybe there's something in the Lore Archives that will strike your fancy?

    • 694 posts
    February 23, 2016 9:13 PM EST

    I absolutely second this. When conceiving of a character the first thing I look at isn't necessarily skills and how to use them; its their story, the things that drive them, why they are the way they are. Think of it like a book. You buy into the character on some level and become invested in seeing the rest of the story through. My most meaningful playthroughs have all felt that way. The skills and how you use them seem to sort of fall into place and develop from there.

    I hope that helps! 

    • 203 posts
    February 23, 2016 9:28 PM EST

    Just as Legion said, Roleplaying helps out a lot when having troubles with Restartritis . Not having mods also helps out a great deal, I don't know if you use any, but I personnaly can't ever pin down my setup, there will always be that one mod which will make me restart mid-playthrough.

    As for creating your character, and by that I mean your own personal character that you like and will stay with, I will run you through what I used for my Miredancer build (one of my three longest playthroughs I believe), while this is more a short guide to some basic brainstorming when making a build, this could easily apply to any character you create.

    First have a look at the lore, either over here in the lore group or the UESP:Lore, both offer some great inspiration and definitively deserve a read, if you like Orcs I would like to send you over to Karver, he's a friend of mine and many others around here and has some great knowledge on the orc race. If you want more on let's say, Argonians, I could be your man (I'm not that great a source and I still have to explore ESO's lore but I have some knowledge on them).

    Find a concept you like and think of a few skills that would fit the type of person your character is going to be. I personnally limit myself to four to start with, if I want to branch out later on I can, If not, it will probably be for the better.

    Now that you have a basic skillset to start with, try to find a personnality for your character. Why does he/she do what he/she does? Why does he (I will omit she for convenience sake) have that scar on his face? Why does he only eat cheese? (more important than you might imagine) Those are just a set of random questions you might want to answer. It doesn't have to be original, it just has to be fun and engaging for you. My miredancer's devotion to an entity he sees as holy (even though the Argonians don't revere the hist, but that's a whole different story) is all but original but for me it was something new and that was enough, sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to find something more interesting.

    Anyway, I hope my ramblings will be of some use to you, have a nice day/night!

    • 277 posts
    February 24, 2016 1:46 AM EST
    From what you wrote I get it that you are pretty new at the game. My best tip for you in this case is: Stop playing other people's builds. Experience the game on your own terms, not those set by someone else. Make a Jack of all Trades if you want. Don't feel sad about the perks you spent in a skill you're no longer using. On my first playthrough I played as a sword and board until level 7 or 10 and then switched to sneak archery. Then at level 30 or something I decided to add runes and spells to my skill set and leveled up Destruction and Illusion. Ten levels later I wasn't using them anymore. You could roleplay too, but I think this is something meant for later playthroughs.
    • 321 posts
    February 24, 2016 2:05 AM EST

    "Restartitis" for me is what happens when my character gets too OP or when I decided to play another modded playthrough with differents mods rather than getting CTD'ed everytime.

    The best way to avoid or minimize "Restartitis" is, again like Legion said, roleplay. It helps a lot since the second playthrough wouldn't be the same as your first if you roleplay properly.

    Second thing about roleplay is that you decided who your character is. Sometimes to fully enjoy roleplay is create your one.

    Try and challenge yourself in your playthroughs like getting your perfect set of enchanted armor without spending perk points on Smithing or Enchanting, fight with only your bare fists or kill your enemies without actually killing them etc.

    If you think you made a big "Oops" by spending a perk point on a wrong skill, save your game every time you level up. This allows you to try out the perk before deciding if its useful.

    The point is, you'll suffered "Restartitis" if you don't roleplay or be immersive in your playthroughs. Instead of thinking Skyrim as a game, think of it more like an interactive story where your actions shaped the plot.

    • 288 posts
    February 24, 2016 2:54 AM EST

    There's no such thing as "restartitis", at least not in the way it's generally described.

    If one cannot settle to play a character to the end, that usually means one of the following:

    -the gameplay is not interesting enough for you or has already lost its initial appeal;

    -the story of the game is not interesting enough for you or has already lost its initial appeal.
    In that aspect, "restartitis" means that you're trying to play a game that's already not interesting for you. Calling it "restartitis" means that you fault and beat yourself for the fact that a game is not (no longer) interesting for you. Call it what it really is, then you have the real solution - find a new game to play.

    • 54 posts
    February 24, 2016 7:49 AM EST

    I would agree to an extent, but not completely. I have what some would call "Restartitis", and I have found, after experimenting, characters that I stick with for a long time. My main flaw was focusing on skills and gameplay over roleplay.

    • 773 posts
    February 24, 2016 8:19 AM EST

    Or another option

    'There are so many great builds on this site, you that just have to restart so you can try out another one'

    Just saying... 

    • 288 posts
    February 24, 2016 9:50 AM EST

    That's not a flaw, that's an inherent gamer trait. One is either a predominantly gameplayer/powerplayer (like myself), or a predominantly roleplayer. If you are a roleplayer and you were trying to approach a game like a game/powerplayer then, yes, this is a mistake and switching to roleplay will correct it. If, however, you're an inherent game/powerplayer, forcing yourself to hard roleplaying would be hard and artificial and won't give you any satisfaction.

    • 288 posts
    February 24, 2016 9:53 AM EST

    Ah, yes, that is possible, but that is another story altogether. That would require a roleplaying gamer, who likes to roleplay, but cannot hold his attention to a specific role for long, because he quickly starts wanting to fit in some other role; something like a roleplaying Attention-deficit disorder.

    • 54 posts
    February 24, 2016 3:57 PM EST

    That's kind of what I have and failed to describe. I have ADHD, and usually I want be this, then two days later I'm want to be that, and BAM! I have twenty characters. Story of my life.

    • 7 posts
    February 24, 2016 5:45 PM EST

    Well get this, lol.  Last night I started over. Ready for this???  I quickly went from Riverwood to Whiterun.  When to the Alchemy shop and did that trick of pickpocketing  the women NPC after training.  I'll admit it was fun and there was the anticipation if I was going to get caught or not.  Doing this raised my PPing skill to 70 and mu Alchemy to around 40 something.  I leave to go to Bleak Falls Barrow from RW after getting the claw quest.  On the way there a Troll is on the road and he wipes me out.  I couldn't do jack $hit to his health.  Thought it was odd, but went around him and got into BFB.  At the end of BFB, the boss that has the dragon stone was invincible.  No armor combo or potion or anything else would stop him killing me in a few hits.  I go back and get a follower.  The boss 2 hits the follower.  Guess there was a price for raising my PP skill so high?  I spent a few hours playing altogether all for a penalty it seems.  Starting over again, lol.  There has to be a reward for all my site violations, start overs and now this 

    • 54 posts
    February 24, 2016 6:25 PM EST

    Lol. Yeah, don't just level passive skills, as the world levels with you, and you can bet that troll isn't investing into pickpocketing.

    • 27 posts
    March 3, 2016 11:53 AM EST

    So, nothing wrong with restartitis as you call it. Skyrim is about flavor and story. Of course I'm running about 5 different characters currently, each one with different objectives and play styles. I generally think as I'm creating a new toon on what their main focus is and then try to fit the experience with that focus. Mind you, I play on PC with a very heavily modded game. I did one playthrough as Dragonborn. Cool story, but I wanted more out of it. So, started getting into the Modding community and found I can have different starts, lives etc. In doing so, I have a Master thief (heavily focused on stealth, archery, one handed and lockpicking). An Imperial Legionnaire, A Nordic Barbarian (focused light armor, 2 handed, smithing, with some archery for survival etc). A couple of others that are in different stages. With the mods, I can keep the diffierent saves organized by character name. This has currently put me through over 700 hours of logged time and I still have a lot to do in the world. Really though, builds are to personal taste and what you feel your character should focus on. You got to love the creation you make enough to see it through. I've probably burned about 12 different restarts because it just didn't feel right. As long as you are enjoying the game, restarts are ok. When it becomes work...that's a different story lol.

    • 7 posts
    March 3, 2016 11:16 PM EST

    Hey Mister Vulkhammar!  This game is probably my favorite of all time.  I spent years playing World of Warcraft and before that even Everquest.  All these build makes me feel like a kid in the candy shop.  I love heavy armored types swinging the heaviest 2 handers.  Evil casters are a blast, but at times too squishy or whatever you have summoned won't follow you or gets lost.  Healer / support types I really get into in other games, but in this games there are no other RL players to buff and then back-up heal.  Pretty sure I get that from my medic days in the military.  I wanted to run with my guys and make sure they stayed alive over being the Rambo type.  Even in college I worked as an EMT for extra cash. Anyway... the Thief, Assassin or Thief / Assassin or Thief / Assassin / Mage I think is where it's at.  Problem is I HATE ALCHEMY and seems most times to stay alive isn't about your character, it's how may healing potions you have bought.  Right now I am playing Albino's War Mage and sticking with it to the end.  Why in the world I chose Orc, I'll never know.  After that play through the plan is to move to PC and be "the sneaky type".  Best wishes.

    • 224 posts
    March 4, 2016 10:45 PM EST

    Ah, hehe, I understand you, I have had Restartitis a lot of times, but not specially by making a new character over again, in my case I have restart over and over again because mods, so meanwhile I look at a cool mod I installed, then sometimes something broke because save over saves with or without mods, finally after a lot of Restartitis I have found the cure, and it was see almost every mod I could, also in the pass learning about little things like bashed patch, clean mods, mergin mods, etc. And about the character I use the mod names Character creation overhaul also another mod what makes random starts, so with Character creation overhaul mod I can save my character profiles, so If I make a different character and want to play with him/ her again will be saved. Also another cure for Restartitis is thing in deep about your character, then make it, those are my advises, nice post :)

    • 277 posts
    March 5, 2016 6:56 AM EST

    I always read this as "Re-star-tits". 

    • 288 posts
    March 5, 2016 7:32 AM EST

    Restart of the titties

    • 277 posts
    March 5, 2016 7:52 AM EST

    • 224 posts
    March 5, 2016 3:06 PM EST