Yeah I think I've clocked over 13 hours into this game but I keep switching characters/making new ones. First go, I made a bandit, then a thief, then another bandit because I didn't like my stats, then a hunter, quickly deleted because i wasn't digging the name and his eyes where weird, then a pyromancer, then another thief... There where a few other minor ones too but now I'm cycling between my 2 bandits (one of them is currently a stain on the wall thanks to a certain boar) and a thief and i'm wondering "Am I playing this wrong?"

That describes every MMO experience I've ever had, pretty much.

 and i'm wondering "Am I playing this wrong?"

Nah, the characters all blend once you get into the proper game. I started with a wanderer and haven't started again. I'm only SL55 though, so its not like I'm really deep into it yet. I made some poor choices, but what makes these games fun is having to live with them.

It's OK to experiment with new characters until you get what's best for you. It's just a matter of time. I did the same with Demon's Souls until I decided I wanted a Wanderer because it's easy to dodge attacks.

The starting character "classes" are pretty irrelevant in the big scheme of things....just pick one and commit. You'll build your character around your play style as you go. Just don't spread your points too thin.

I got very far and have the same problem. My main character just completed Tomb of Giants, Lost Izalith, and New Londo, but is pure melee. I made a sorcerer last night, and got to the armored boar, but now I don't know what I want to play.

On many occasions i thought about starting a new guy and decided that as soon as i get stuck or screw up bad enough ill restart since i figured that would probably end up happening. Well it hasn't happened yet but im about to enter blight town and i have heard nothing but terrible things about blight town so guess ill find out how well i made my dude.

I've been doing that while playing Dungeons of Dredmor, but that's because your character is highly customizable, since there are 30 or so skills to choose from, and you can only choose 7 for any given character. My brain is just always coming up with new builds I want to try out, but unless you fuck up and die early, each character can last 10-20 hours depending on how thoroughly you play the game.

I can sort of see why you would do something similar in Dark Souls, but the fact that the different classes are largely just starting stats and equipment, it seems like you should just commit to playing one character for like 6 hours, and by that point you can start customizing it into whatever class you please.

Sorta. I ended up making 4 characters all focused on different things so despite playing more than 50 hours combined I've only defeated 3 of the bosses at most. I have no desire to make any more though, so as soon as I decide what to focus on with my thief (I'm thinking dual wielding, dodge focused with sorcery support) and get caught up with the others I'll pick one to go further with.

I dunno yet if I'll end up sticking with a single character or if I'll keep switching back and forth between a few favorites as I go along.

Well, I've made it into Blighttown with one of my characters, but have realized that maybe I don't like him. I feel like I specced him wrong, and spent souls on stupid things and now have the desire to create a new character.

Yeah, I'm terrible with that. Since no one starting character was exactly how I wanted it, I finally decided to stick with my Cleric. So far, he's pretty good.

However, I am interested in other gameplay styles, I wouldn't mind trying a thief or a pyro/sorc sometime soon. Maybe in another playthrough.

Got six hours in with a sorcerer and figured out that they suck. So I switched to pyromancer which so much better.

Nope, once you get far into the game it doesn't even matter what class you picked. Some classes just have an easier time with the start than others.

I made my knight and stuck with him, SL 63 now nearing what seems like the end of the game. He is a general purpose build purely for beating the game (I can use miracles and magic fine, have a mix of str and dex to use weapons).

I've made and deleted four different characters. This is a common thing for me to do in most games though. And I really need to cut it out.

I'm about 40 hours in with my first character when I went back and made a second, which I'm about 4 hours in with now. It's just helpful because sometimes I'll get stuck with one so I'll switch over to the other and it keeps things interesting.

I'm guilty of this. So far I have three characters, all are around the same place in the game. The furthest is the pure sorcerer who just rang the first bell, a pyro who is ready for the parish and a knight who is ready for the parish. I'm actually contemplating starting a warrior or deprived, my sorcerer beat the gargoyles on his second try but I'm starting to see him having some survival issues in the future, not sure if he will pay off long term.

It's that much more pointless in DS because contrary to a different RPG you can always shift your playstyle and you're not limited by your class choice.

@Jimi said:

Nope, once you get far into the game it doesn't even matter what class you picked. Some classes just have an easier time with the start than others.

I made my knight and stuck with him, SL 63 now nearing what seems like the end of the game. He is a general purpose build purely for beating the game (I can use miracles and magic fine, have a mix of str and dex to use weapons).

Yeah, unless you threw all of your points into Intelligence or Faith, later on it doesn't really matter what your class is. It's really just about your starting equipment and starting spells. I started as a Bandit, now I'm a SL 83 Heavy Armor Knight who uses a Greatsword and Shield and high level Pyromancy who still does full rolls. I say, just play longer and level up Stamina, Vitality and your choice of STR or DEX if you wanna play as melee character.

Ahhh...whatevers fun for ya. The beauty of this game though, is the way you can morph any starting character into any role, given some time. My Pyro is morphing into a tank, based on what I've found and how I have found I play best(keep it real simple for me, :p). You are able to aquire pretty much anything in the game, ability or gear wise, maybe except the master key? Dunno about that one. But unless you just hate yur guy or you accidentally murdered an important npc, just keep playing and evolve your character. I guess covenant choices could require multiple files too. IMO, if your having fun playing this game, your're doing it right regardless, as it can be the pinnacle of frustrating at times.