The first 10 levels or so, when I level up every other encounter or so. Anyone else like this? I used to keep a save in the sewers of oblivion so I could make a new char and git that dungeon to the nw across the water. I think I've had about 7 chars in Skyrim thanks to the "Live another life" mod.

To be honest, I don't like it, but in most of the games, you're leveling non-combat skills the quickest in those first levels, so when the monsters scale with you, you still have a Blade/Long Sword/etc skill of a lower level.

What I do like however, at least in Morrowind and Skyrim (sometimes) you can find a fairly powerful weapon at the start of the game to ease the transition. It's always fun one-shotting those mudcrabs and scamps, and just snowballs into an awesome godly character later on, even if your combat skills were/are a little on the low side.

I dunno, I usually just run off into the wilderness as soon as I can. I could probably do.Vinadesel in my sleep.

Exploring!

Not going in the direction it tells me too after I leave the Sewer/Cave.

Depends on which game of the series it is.

Morrowind, it was the huge amount of quests, factions, intrigue, interconnectivity between guilds etc, basically the intricate massive faction/quest system blew me away. And later mods, it was about the only game i even dabbled in making mods myself.

Oblivion, no favourite part.

Skyrim, the world and the atmosphere i think was carried out perfectly. I loved exploring the world just for the sights, the feeling of standing on a windy mountaintop on my white horse in dragon-bone armor being all nordic and shit, the ice-flows, etc.

I agree it depends on which Elder Scrolls we are talking about.

Morrowind: everything. That game is my all time favorite game. Everything from the difficulty of the game, to the world, factions, exploration, etc. was perfect for me. And once I found the PC version and the plethora of mods available, it just rekindled the love even stronger.

Oblivion: I liked the attempt at a better combat system. And Patrick Stewart of course.

Skyrim: The aesthetic of the world was amazing. I didn't think I would like traversing mountains and hills, but I was way wrong. The feeling of the different landscapes you encounter was great, from the southern, forest area to the northern mountain range covered in snow. Also the "Skyrim Unarmed" challenge was really fun, managed to play the entire game as a punching Khajit :D

Mods.

Same here, I lose all interest after a few levels.

i like fallout 3

@Hizang said:

Not going in the direction it tells me to after I leave the Sewer/Cave.

Haha best feeling ever.

putting the game play on expert having the no fast travel mod and having the eat sleep and drink mod having to run or ride a horse everywhere so there is more exploration

Just wondering around and checking out random locations does it for me. So basically, doing everything except follow the arrow.

My favorite part of the games is emerging from the starter dungeon, taking stock of where the quest arrow is pointing and then immediately going in the opposite direction.

mostly the sense of freedom that the series is known for

I've finally played through Skyrim, and I'm pretty much sick of it. Couldn't play it now if someone put a gun to my head and told me to. Oh well, back to Fallout 3.

Exploring the world. I still think I left 2/3 of Morrowind unexplored when I put that game down, but the improvements made to Oblivion and Skyrim make that game feel like work to play now. It's too bad because that was my favorite world of the three.

For Skyrim, I'm trying to see as much of the world as I can through questing before I just start diving into random dungeons.

One of my pet peeves about Skyrim is the lack of interesting hidden stuff. Everything has a quest or a marker to take you to a spot, and if there isn't one, the loot either isn't worth getting or there's no loot at all. Blackreach would probably be the perfect example. It's this massive, spectacular underground subcontinent, but it's completely barren past some red nirnroot, a few geodes, and some resident Falmer. There's no reason to go back. Which is fine, except that now I have an unsatisfied itch to keep exploring, but nowhere to scratch it.

The Dawnguard DLC is a great example of how to make a worthwhile exploration that feels really satisfying; It's a vast expanse that is, to be fair, not packed with stuff. But there are enough interesting things scattered about (enemies, items, unique loot) to make it really fun and worthwhile, and out of the 30 or so hours I spent playing Dawnguard material, I think about 10 or 15 of those hours were spent just wandering the Soul Cairn. The Forgotten Vale wasn't quite as good, as much of the loot was a bit more obscure, and there wasn't as much to be had, so really past the quest stuff I didn't really get my explore/find treasure itch scratched the same way I did in the Soul Cairn.

I'm a 96% explorer, but the idea of getting somewhere and finding...literally nothing, just some rocks or whatever that everyone else sees, is stupid. I do like exploring for the sake of exploring, but only when it's meaningful, meaning I'm actually finding something cool and different, like when you spend a couple hours just rowing a boat in Minecraft off across the ocean to land a brand-new settlement. In a game like Skyrim where it's all the same map, it's really boring to get somewhere and find "just a view". I want to find something cool about that place that not everyone is going to know about, like the Notched Pickaxe or the Atronach Forge, where if you critical path the quests you'll never see it, and it's more there for people who want to go find that stuff.

organizing my things. weird i know, but hearthfire is spoiling the shit out of me with all the storage options. i am obsessed with keeping my inventory as clear as possible.

Silt Striders.

Giant bug taxis!!

Stealing peoples food while its dinner time and throwing it all over their front lawn.