Why do I get burnt out around level 30?

When I get my character up to around level 30 I start to get burnt out and want to create a new character. Is it because I keep going into each character with a set plan in mind? For example, for my current guy I knew I wanted to be a stealth assassin/ranger, so I once again did the DB quest line as well as the Thieves Guild. I've done these several times.

Basically I am looking for ways to not get burnt out on a character. I am not burnt out on the game itself. Every time I start a new guy I am really excited to play, so it isn't the game. I still haven't even done the Dawnguard quests yet.

Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?

Are you going to the same places, in the same order? Every time I start a new character I try to head in a different direction.

Also, I find if characters look similar or wear the same armour at certain stages, I get bored quicker. For example, the general leather --> elven --> scaled --> glass cycle. My Breton kept his Elven Armour much further into the game, because it's the armour he's had for a couple of years, since his influential parents became aligned with the Thalmor. However, my Nord flat-out refuses to wear Elven Armour, and would much rather wear fur like she's been used to through her teenage years; wearing leather boots and bracers but keeping her fur currias until level 20 or so.

I like to keep things different

I always have started in Riverwood and done those quests. I think I need to do something different once I leave Helgen.

My characters do look different though as far as armor. I have a lot of armor mods. This is a big deal to me. I wonder if doing the quest lines for Companions or DB, etc is getting me burned out? Depending on my character, I go after these quest lines because they have some item I want, such as Blade of Woe or the shield you get from the Companions. Maybe I should ignore these items?

Yeah, ignore them - at least at first. Just for a change, maybe all your characters don't want to be Werewolfish assassins?

Try heading straight to Falkreath, or east to Riften. Or RP a refugee from Morrowind arriving at Windhelm, or someone who's just arrived at the port of Dawnstar after a long voyage

Why don't you try making a character who doesn't have a goal in mind? Stay away from questlines you've done before, from areas in which you've already spent a lot of time. I think a good way to go is to simply make an explorer - to go around discovering areas that you've never found before, getting into completely random adventures that you'd never have found otherwise. I tend to get a lot closer to characters that I play this way, as opposed to ones that I specifically make to accomplish a task.

Neriad13 said:

Why don't you try making a character who doesn't have a goal in mind? Stay away from questlines you've done before, from areas in which you've already spent a lot of time. I think a good way to go is to simply make an explorer - to go around discovering areas that you've never found before, getting into completely random adventures that you'd never have found otherwise. I tend to get a lot closer to characters that I play this way, as opposed to ones that I specifically make to accomplish a task.

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Exactly this.

I have a general idea for most of my characters, in terms of where I want them to end up. Some of my best ones though, have been exactly like Neriad says, just play as your character goes and enjoy the game!

Edit: shameless, I know, but a journal character of mine follows this kind of aimless ideology
Steel, Fire and Fame - Acilio's Journal | Skyrim Forums

Neriad13 said:

Why don't you try making a character who doesn't have a goal in mind? Stay away from questlines you've done before, from areas in which you've already spent a lot of time. I think a good way to go is to simply make an explorer - to go around discovering areas that you've never found before, getting into completely random adventures that you'd never have found otherwise. I tend to get a lot closer to characters that I play this way, as opposed to ones that I specifically make to accomplish a task.

Click to expand...

I like this idea a lot. I may just start a new character tonight and do this.

It is almost like when I have an objective (joining the DB, etc), once that is complete, I start getting burnt out. Not sure if it a mental thing or what, but I still have a lot to do on my character but am already getting burnt out.

This was the gist of my 'Does anyone play Skyrim just to live' thread which I deleted the message body leaving everyone wondering what drugs I Was taking when posting the thread. But basically I have been thinking of making a character that is just what you said - an explorer. No objective. He is just in Skyrim living. He has no knowledge of dragons (only what he hears from people), no interest in other guilds such as the Thieves guild. He just lives off the land and explores Skyrim.

I think this will renew my interest if I go this route.

AS88 said:

Exactly this.

I have a general idea for most of my characters, in terms of where I want them to end up. Some of my best ones though, have been exactly like Neriad says, just play as your character goes and enjoy the game!

Edit: shameless, I know, but a journal character of mine follows this kind of aimless ideology
Steel, Fire and Fame - Acilio's Journal | Skyrim Forums

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the link. I will follow.

AS88 said:

Edit: shameless, I know, but a journal character of mine follows this kind of aimless ideology
Steel, Fire and Fame - Acilio's Journal | Skyrim Forums

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Speaking of this, are you going to update this sometime soon AS88? I saw it when you first started it and I was looking forward to following it...

The OP3RaT0R said:

Speaking of this, are you going to update this sometime soon AS88? I saw it when you first started it and I was looking forward to following it...

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Ahh thanks man, yeah probably soon. Although lately I've been playing something a little more sinister, I can give you an exclusive sneak peak of that via messages if you promise to be patient for Acilio a little while longer?

ps sorry for hijacking

By level 30, you've more than peeked at your character's abilities. The game is very easy, going through quests is just to experience it, not to really improve your character. I'd argue this happens at level 32ish.

Skyrim is built to be played many times over. I have literally 100's of hours played, and have only finished the main quest once. To me, you've "solved" the game by the mid 30's. You can raise the difficulty, and purposely run with weaker gear, but than it just feels artificial.

In short, starting a new character is what Skyrim is all about. If you try and do everything with one character, you're missing out on a lot of fun. (see my signature!)

AS88 said:

Ahh thanks man, yeah probably soon. Although lately I've been playing something a little more sinister, I can give you an exclusive sneak peak of that via messages if you promise to be patient for Acilio a little while longer?

ps sorry for hijacking

Click to expand...

Sounds good.

So I made a new character last night. He is a Nord who uses 1H axes/shield and bows for hunting.

I got out of Helgen, and took the route that Katastrophe took in his journal to start out. I went to Riverwood, stole some clothes and shoes from the Riverwood trader, swam to Whiterun, then took the cart to Falkreath. I am level 3 and still only have the clothes on my back, plus a pair of iron gauntlets I bought from the shopkeeper. I am pretty poor.

I almost felt lost at first not having a set objective, but I've already discovered a place I never knew existed, lol. We will see where this takes me. I like it so far.

Like Neriad13 said, create a character with no clear motive in mind. A explorer. I m currently playing as one now and I'm having more fun doing that than any main questline.

I don't think I've gotten one of my characters past 35. I finaly have two that I think have some staying power. Useually I lose something like Dragon Priest mask or decide Im tired of my spouse thanking me for taking care of that problem. And have to start over.

Hey, I'm new on here and this is the first thread I have posted in. I have been playing Skyrim for ages now though and have enjoyed every minute. I've gotten bored of most of my characters like you have, but here are some things I have done that have helped me:

1) Maybe this is one of the more obvious options, but try creating a backstory for you character. I understand that everyone is saying that you shouldn't have an objective or any idea of where you are going, but creating a backstory gives you far more insight into how your character would react in certain situations. Also look into hardcore RPing. It can keep the game interesting but also slow down the rate at which you do things in a sense, meaning you can keep playing until you physically can't play any more.

2) Like others have said, have no clear objective and wander the land of Skyrim. You might not even want to enter a city until it is absolutely necessary. Wander into caves and take on quests from and strangers you might encounter.

3) Have a clear objective, but keep your options open. I began a character a few weeks ago with the clear objective to become the arch-mage, a quest line I had never attempted before. I have still yet to complete it, but once I have finished I want my character to travel Skyrim to meet people and discover places where he can further practice magic and become even more masterful. Since buying Skyrim I can honestly say that I have never been to Morthal with any of my characters, this is somewhere I want my character to explore as well.

These techniques might not work for you, but there are loads out there. Just keep testing out different methods.

I love all the great ideas on this forum.

Roger

Too much of a good thing is bad. Basically that happens in this game. Some people never get bored while others get bored after about 10 levels. It's good that you get bored though. You get to experience different things.

Only works on the PC:

If you are getting burnt out on a character, or you want to make characters specifically for one questline, then just swap your character mid-game.

If you push the tilde button (`) right under your escape key, and type "showracemenu" (without the quotes) it will bring you to the character creation screen.

Change your race and whatnot on this screen to create a whole new character.

The problem with doing this is that it will mess up your stats when you change races (even just changing your race and changing back will mess them up) but this can be circumvented.

If you refer to this youtube video: it shows you a .bat file that you can use to reset all of your stats and level to that of a fresh new character.

So for instance, you could do say the Dark Brotherhood and thieves guild quests, then decide you want to do the mages guild. That's okay, just create your new character and reset their levels back to the beginning, and you can do your new quests and new character without feeling like you need to redo anything you did before, or that you aren't moving forward because you keep restarting.

And it keeps it from being a cheat because you are completely resetting your character back to beginning levels.

Well I am just going with my new character for now. I have been fiddling around Falkreath and doing misc quests so far. I am level 5. I have no goal, but am really enjoying it. Like I said yesterday, I dscovered a place I had never been to in almost a year of playing this game within 30 minutes of starting yesterday. Exploration is a huge part of this game and something I have neglected.