I never plan my characters out anymore because they never turn out the way I want them to. On a side note, it's been a while since I played Oblivion ( those damn gates annoy me too much) But how did people manage to sneak into those gates ?

is that an option? i'd consider though if i had a level 30+ character and he just died i don't know if that'd be very fun. i'm more focus on the difficulty of battle than the overall realism. permadeath doesn't really make the gameplay any different, only makes it REALLY annoying if you die.

even on the highest difficulty the rats and such eventually become easier. What i really want is to come upon a group of bandits and not be able to just run in and swing away until everyone's dead. i want to feel like i accomplished something when i kill someone - just like in real life! (i kid! i kid!) i want my shield to be an actual useful tool rather than something i eventually just do away with in favor of a two hander.

I will problably have a Nord dual wield two sword or axes

This, but being a man, dual-wield swords instead of shield, and adding Destruction.

Battlemages FTW.

well i play it is a self-enforced rule, one that's not hard to enforce at all once you get into it, it adds an intensity to the whole thing, but i guess it depends on how much you like to rp, which i do, a lot.
but i know what you mean - i always go with the highest difficulty option in certain games - dragon age and mass effect for example - because it's all about pausing and planning and giving commands and reacting to ambushes and stuff like that.

I play the default character the first time through any game, just to find out what the developers were thinking (or IF they were thinking). If the default one's a complete bust, that first time may not be a long one.

I always say I'm going to go big and bad, hack and slash, kill yo momma heavy armor and giant battle axe nord.
Then i always end up sneaking around with a bow and picking them off from a distance.

EVERY DAMN TIME!

hahaha you have more self control than i. i would never be able to impose that on myself. i hear ya about dragon age and mass effect, but for skyrim i'm more interested in the actual fight being more intense.

hard difficulty or bust!

Sword + shield and some occasional dual wielding blades. I won't use magic often though apart from healing myself with it (if that spell exists in Skyrim).

Let's just hope that the melee combat is fun now compared to oblivion and morrowind.

And i'll be playing as a Nord ofcourse .

I'm going to be a heavily armored Argonian warrior.

Im going with my Dunmer assassin /thief. Illusion, knifes, bow, alchemy for poisons, sneak, light armour.

or my Imperial Battlemage. Heavy armour, Shield, Mace, Destruction, Restoration, Alteration.

I'm going to take it slow. Look at everything, inspect every piece of armor, every weapon, listen carefully to every piece of dialogue, take in every moment. No fast travel (hopefully I'll have another method besides walking) taking everything in as I go.

Argonian Assassin with an affinity for Poisons, Compound Bows and Claymores.

Stealth Khajiit, like always :tongue:

I think I'm kind of a cheat. I will probably play my first character as a spellsword (thinking dunmer), but my playstyle typically ends up being rather stealthy. I try to get the first hit in stealthily, but will then finish up in hand to hand melee and spells. I just enjoy battles more when I am sneaking around the environments slowly, taking in my surroundings. It helps to make each expedition a journey instead of a speedrun. That being said, I feel Bethesda does a better job creating melee combat and spell combat than they do creating stealth gameplay. For that reason, I prefer my skills to be in combat and magic. If I play multiple characters, the next ones I will try to make more specialized (I may want to try a full stealth build or a full mage). Furry stealth build so appealing! *no bestiality*

nord warrior with sword/shield and a bow. i think...

Nordic Spellsword (or Spellaxe)

Breton battlemage - I can try out melee, spells and keep to my bloodline :-p

I'm thinking of adding archery to this skillset as part of hunting though (I usually play ranger-esque, survive in the wilderness types). This may however clash with attribute distribution (note I did not say skillset- you get better at what you do). Hmmm. Nerd puzzle!

Nord Spellsword... maybe, it all depends... on how I feel on the moment when I'm purchasing the swords, and shields, and armour, and spells, though most likely, once I "beat" the game i.e. main questline, I will do other things (well, I will be doing side quest along it, but you know...) But I will probably try to get as many achievements/ beat as many quests as possible in my main character and once I level as high as possible, and no more achievements are possible with that character, I will start a new one... (and Im playing on 360 as well...)

Archery most likely shall be one of my many skills (and as in oblivion, if this tale from one of my friends friends is true, he played oblivion so much, he had everything had maxed out, so I hope to do that on my Skyrim character someday...)

Assassin, definatly.
I never played a stealth character before oblivion, but I tried it on my second playthrough, and now I make nothing but stealth chars.
Second will probably be pure mage.

My first character will be Sibyl, a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lva, a pagan Norse shaman, or in her instance, a shamaness.

She will probably spend her first few hours just surviving, while trying to find the nearest safe village, or town, depending on the circumstances in the story.

She will engage in a little exploring, hunting and gathering, and further, getting to know the political lay of the land. She will, of course experiment with what crafting that may be available to her early on in her adventure.

As far back as Sibyl can remember, she has had dreams in which she hears the dragons. It is disturbing to her, however, that she knows not of what they speak. It will become her desire to pursue knowledge of their language.

Although her need to learn the dragonspeak will be strong, actual pursuit of the main quest will be quite leisurely, yielding to exploring her world, while enhancing her skills, as well as her crafting, and living life to the fullest.

A male Bosmer who uses stealth, namely daggers and little-to-no armor. I will also use alchemy and maybe a little magic here and there. I will probably use fast travel minimally, and take my time.

Nord Warrior/Barbarian

I like using the one hand weapon and the other hand shield method. Weapon being either an axe or mace.

Nord Crusader/Paladin type. Sword, shield, heavy armor, and some restoration magic. Basically a self repairing tank.

I'll probably play as dual-axe wielding Nord on my first playthrough to get the feel of the game and then move on to a Bosmer assassin then an Altmer pure mage