Tell me if you are what I would call a true gamer and you would play the game as Bethesda , IMO, ideally mean it should be played (a virtual-reality life adventure), and enjoy the nail-biting feeling of the possibility of really having to accept the consequences of your decisions, good or bad. and with no re-loads, if at all possible. I believe such an approach does add an extra depth of enjoyment ( allowing, of course, that there are times when you cannot prevent getting killed, or the game will crash etc., and you do have to go back to a previous save). However - to each his (or her) own belief or opinion.

Maybe you have already d/loaded a list of cheats to enable you to shoot thru' with unlimited ammo, extra health, zillions of gold, and a bag of buckets to put over every man, woman and child you want to steal from. ( I must confess I laughed my head off when I watched that on Youtube).

So - what exactly is your own personal game style?

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate yourself.

Approximately: 9 to 1O for deciding to bite the bullet and treat it like you only have one shot? No cheats. Stand by your decisions, misguided or not, etc. and see thru' the effects, maybe to your pleasant surprize; maybe to your dismay. Your belief: "This will be MY true virtual-reality adventure."

6 to 9 for needing to re-load only when you make a really big ****up? Otherwise you will connive if necessary, steal, lie, kill, run to save your miserable life, do whatever you will to survive, heroically or cowardly. Your motto:"I am a realist - That's how life should be. ."

3 to 6 if you will enable SOME basic cheats just to give you an edge.(After all, no-one is looking over your shoulder to confront you - it's only a game). Your opinion: "This really is only a game so - what the heck? Let's have a ball."

1 to 5 if you decide to be one of the first, if not the first to blast your way thru' the Main Story using every trick and cheat available just to be able to say : " I finished the game in xx straight hours. How about that? Your only concern: " THAT is what really turns me on."

I enjoy the thought of aiming to hit the 9-10 rating you outlined. In an RPG of this size I think you should accept the consequences of your actions, not reload your saves until you reach a desired outcome. If you screw things up, that's only going to add more replayability.

I'm trying to make sure I only do things when I'm prepared for their consequences. It makes it interesting though, because now I'm scared of pulling the random switches in dungeons and sneaking deep into troll caves.

@w00ties: Yes, such an approach adds to the immersion and to the real sense of being in the actual world of Skyrim. Obviously it will slow you down considerably as you take stock and weigh up possibly nasty consequences of whatever course you are about to embark upon BUT, what a truly great feeling you get as you do remind yourself that, for you, "This IS Your Life".

Thats kinda what im doing, im not saying i wont reload when the game glitches to hell and im stuck in the environment, or when i die, but im not planing on reloading just because i made the "wrong" decision.

9-10. That's primarily the way how I roll. If I screw something up, I'll probably just make a second playthrough to remedy that.

I am playing by a rather strict set of rules for myself:

• My character will only dual-wield - no two-handers or shields (originally, this was only dual-wielding axes, but I found Bolar's and said fuck it...just dual wield in general)
• The only spells I am allowed to use are Flames, Healing, and anything that is a buff from the Alteration tree (like Oakflesh)
• I can only wear heavy armor.
• I can never level up my Magicka.
• I must sprint into every fight the minute I see an enemy, traps and everything else be damned
• My smithing must always be higher than all my other crafting skills
• Whatever decisions I make, I stand by...and the minute that someone becomes aggressive, I must kill them.
• Once I have entered a dungeon, I cannot leave until it says it has been "cleared".

Essentially, I'm playing like I'm Olaf from League of Legends.

Pretty much what I've done so far. Although there was that quest where i had to 

I am playing by a rather strict set of rules for myself:

• My character will only dual-wield - no two-handers or shields (originally, this was only dual-wielding axes, but I found Bolar's and said fuck it...just dual wield in general)
• The only spells I am allowed to use are Flames, Healing, and anything that is a buff from the Alteration tree (like Oakflesh)
• I can only wear heavy armor.
• I can never level up my Magicka.
• I must sprint into every fight the minute I see an enemy, traps and everything else be damned
• My smithing must always be higher than all my other crafting skills
• Whatever decisions I make, I stand by...and the minute that someone becomes aggressive, I must kill them.
• Once I have entered a dungeon, I cannot leave until it says it has been "cleared".

Essentially, I'm playing like I'm Olaf from League of Legends.

Definitely shooting for 9-10 of the OP's list, at least for my first character. When a game really grips me, I give it my all. Accept the consequences of choices and actions, accept the reality of character deaths, and steer clear of guides - endeavour to learn everything 'in game'. With that in mind, I'm also making sure I don't look at the list of achievements, lest anything get spoiled or clued in. I'm also liking the game enough, and Skyrim as a place, to avoid 'map screen' fast travel. I walk, ride, or pay for carriages - so long as it is 'in game'.

I've made quite a few characters and they're all a bit loose in how I'll play them, but my Breton mage is going to be the one that follows the most strict guidelines and I refuse to go back on whatever I have done in her case. Only going to do things that benefit her and give her the biggest rewards. I try to be like that 9-10 range as best I can.

I'm using these guidelines for the game;

• No fast travel, only if a location close to requires an exceedingly long path to get to (Falkreath to Angi's Camp etc).
• As I want to be stealthy, I want to level up my sneaking by literally sneaking everywhere I go.
• Light armour only, see above.
• Do one mission, explore the surrounding area dry, then repeat for the next area.
• Never reload to rectify a mistake in the future, only if you glitch or find it impossible to get out of a situation.
• Enjoy the view, all the time.
• Don't take any companions, they will only slow you down. It certainly doesn't help with my sneaking that's for sure...

Myself? I headed down the Rogue/Thief/Mage way. Ideally Bethesda wants me to choose Argonian but the cat face kinda spooks me. Besides I want a bit of real nasty spell casting so I go for a Dark Elf. That way, I can whack the sh*t outta my foe, run, hide, sneak, wait for him/it and back-stab "with extreme prejudice". My companion is an Archer who pulls him. Guy doesn't know what hits him from left field. The "feel-good factor" ranks appropriately high.

How many games offer you such personal "mix and match" as Bethesda ?

I've never played an Elder Scrolls game before so I don't know from experience how I will play Skyrim, but I've played a few other roleplaying games and I like to let my character live with his or her mistakes. I will probably go for 6 to 9, but ideally 9 to 10.

7. If I make a fuckup, I stick with it, but I don't want to kill an NPC as I feel a bit attached to them. I do pay off my fines If I'm caught stealing.