I don't like it when someone is missing from my game. So if a Vampire or Dragon attacks and someone ends up dying - no matter how insignificant - it makes me feel like part of the game has been taken away from me.

So you might imagine how I feel when having to choose a Steward. I don't want to use any of the Companions, none of the College mages, absolutely no one because I don't like it when they're not where they're suppose to be. I've considered Hirelings, but Janessa would have been the only one I wanted - yet she's not capable of being a Steward.

So are there any people insignificant enough I can use? Like, who don't really belong anywhere? Sort of like how Serana is post-Dawnguard.

You see, this the attitude that encourages developers to simplify everything to the maximum. Choices lead to inevitable consequences. Learn to live with them.

You could use Eric the slayer of crops.

You could always used that house's Housecarl. Either way they stand around the house ... doing nothing ... letting giants romp around the house ... letting rats in your cellar ... letting bandits come in and kidnap your wife ... ... ... why the hell do we get Housecarl's again?

Chiefly for songs. In fact, I consider them more as skalds than housecarls.

Wait... So that means I can have 1 wife, 2 kids, a bard, a steward AND a housecarl?

Well I'm not using any housecarls since I want more people in my house.

There are no housecarls.

Definition of http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/steward?q=steward (fifth definition).

TC, I usually use NPCs who end up "at loose ends" after a sidequest for my steward. I've used Golldir, but I don't like him that much. I really like Illia, though, and since I'm on the PC and use the unofficial patch, the bug where she is unable to rejoin you as a follower is fixed. I've also used Roggi Knot-Beard, but it seems weird to take him away from Kynesgrove when he likes it so much.

Found two potential stewards. But one wears miner clothes; can I change that?

Yes. I do that all the time. Just become Thane and get the Housecarl, then hire a follower as your Steward. Get married to someone else. Adopt two kids. Hire a Bard and carriage driver.

I generally use a Housecarl from a house I don't use (like Whiterun) to be my Steward in my main HF home. But about any follower will work. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Personal_Steward

There's a reason why they have a Steward and a Housecarl, they appear similar in role yet differ in ways: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housecarl

A Steward manages your home, a Housecarl guards it. Have you never asked a Housecarl what it means?

Build your house, get a housecarl as a steward, have the steward for that house, marry a housecarl, no more issues with bandits and giants.

So you are saying, for example get Rayya as your Housecarl, ask her to be steward, then marry her ... and you never get the Kidnapped Wife random quest or Giants?

I think he means have 3 housecarls in 1 HF house.
e.g.
1 Housecarl (Rayya)
1 Wife/housecarl (Lydia)
1 Steward/housecarl (Jordis)

How is fretting over a decision encouraging developers to simplify things? I spend a while trying to pick the appropriate Steward because I know it's a one time choice, and I want to make sure I don't regret it. I travel with them a while and hear their dialogue and whatnot, making sure they're fit for the post.

Illia is one I use as a Steward fairly often. Because I don't use followers that often, her not being useable as a follower again doesn't bother me.

I tend to pick Stewards based on clothes, disposition, and magic. I don't think my Steward should be wearing iron/steel armor, so I try and pick people who are mages and wear robes. Though I do sometimes pick that Imperial Armor wearing woman to piss of Skald the Elder.

^^This
If you have a housecarl as a wife then the side quest with your wife getting kidnapped wont happen. At least thats what I read somewhere here. Maybe someone can validate that. Add the fact that your steward is a housecarl, on top of your regular housecarl.

I need a steward myselkf, i cant decide if i should have lydia or not. Can't decide, wait, can;t talvas be your steward lol, i wonder what neloth would think of that

He probably wouldn't even notice. He might just start calling one of his Spriggans "Talvas."

that's what i figure.