Rick and I were talking the other day, and I've been considering it ever since. In the competition, I had gone to a specific place and gotten a particular spell book that I happened to KNOW was there, though my character couldn't possibly have known. Rick mentioned that he avoids doing that for for role playing reasons (which I understand perfectly) and waits until some questor ingame prompt takes him to specific places to get specific things, even if he knows what is there.

Personally, I have a problem doing that, because unless a quest or some info sends me directly to a place, i won't go in and explore it if I KNOW some desired item is inside that I want. That's because I just can't bring myself to believe that I am really going in just to explore. that means, I can never acquire that object. In the end, I've decided that If I pass near a place with desirable items, for whatever reason I will go in.

I was wondering though, how everyone else resolves this issue... If you want something and you know where it is, do you just go get it, or wait for a quest to send you there? Also it seems to me that doing a quest simply because it sends to that place is mroe or less the same as just going after it. eh?

So, what do you think? What do you do?

I always make it so that my player finds stuff on his own, meaning that my memories of the game do not play a part in his/her discoveries. And, I have an invaluable personal ability, I forget.

I strive to use only character knowledge when I roleplay. This has prevented my characters from doing many things in all of Bethesda's games.

As an example, so far only two of my characters have gone into the Shivering Isles. Some of my characters have never gotten close enough to see the island. Some saw it but did not want to swim out there. A few actually swam out there but decided, for personal reasons, that they did not want to go in.

This kind of thing happens all the time in my games. And the way I see it, this is one of the reasons why I can keep playing characters in Bethesda's games year after year without getting bored. Because none of my characters do the same things as any of my other characters. All of my games are different.

From time to time I do play a non-roleplaying character. With these characters I use my own knowledge when making decisions. But I tend to lose interest in these characters pretty fast.

Depends on the character and the roleplay. I am not really considering the DiD competition a serious roleplay. My character went to Riften and ended up doing the Mara questline, which pretty much falls into the same category as going for the bound bow book in Fort Amol. I did not worry about it too much. Rationalized it as the character thinking tha ta trip to Riften would be fun. When he got there, it was dark, so he naturally sought out the inn, where he ran into the guy from the Mara temple doing his "you are all sinners" speech. Talked to the guy and decided to check out the Mara temple the next morning. And, as they say, the rest was history.

In my more serious roleplay games, I typically will wait until there is some prompt from the game to go to a particular location that I know harbors a particular reward. On the other hand, I have heard of people specifically going to such a location because they, the player, decide it is time in the character's story for them to go there, do that and get that reward. That's sort of what I did with the Mara questline, then worked it into the story.

I don't think either of those methods is inherently wrong. How did you work Fort Amol into your character's story? I know, I should probably watch the vids, and I did watch a few of them but did not have time to watch them all. Instead I started my own character, but now I need to spend my spare time playing since the contest ends next week and there is still much to do.

My characters all seem to react differently, and use different items and such without effort on my part usually because of the back story I give them, and of course that keeps the game fresh for me. For instance, I personally dearly love mounted combat, but for some characters I will try to avoid it. Or I avoid using certain weapons, such as the Bound Bow. I think I've only had two characters who used it exclusively. My problem is that I never seem to forget the important stuff. I may not remember where the walls are with the words I'm not really fond of, but you can bet I know where the walls are with the shouts I like...

That makes it hard for me to either just get it, or pretend I don't know where they are, eh?

Turija: Truth is I'm not sure exactly how I worked it in. A rumor perhaps? I like to go to Riften early though, (again because of knowledge my characters wouldn't have) for the Thieves guild or spells, or a horse, or all three if the character is a thieving sort or a thief/mage. I usually pass Fort Amol either coming or going, but most of the time I leave those bad boys alone.

About the videos, I certainly understand not having enough time for everything, and its no problem. However, that being said, I highly recommend watching Chapter 4... except it isn't edited and published yet. Late this evening or tomorrow I expect to have it up. Hair-raising would describe it well...

I travel as a distinct entity but within my character. A voice and presence if you will inside her. We pvssyr all the time to each other as we play. I do indeed know much more about Tamriel than she does as far as the kinds of info that one might find in UESPwiki. I share with bits of that information with her on occasion. Since there is not a single piece of 'special' equipment to be found within the game that she needs or wants, that aspect of things does not really come up. Where I more often whisper in her ear is in the negative - that is, I recommend sometimes that she not do this or not do that. That is to avoid bits of game silliness that I know would logically take her in directions that would dramatically disappoint her. This usually involves stopping progress at key points of various quest lines using knowledge she would not have. For example, she is member of the College of Winterhold. I know that all she ever wants to do is be an adventuring mage. In our game, this is exactly what she will remain. Another example is that she is not Dragonborn - and I coach her a bit to avoid being svcked into what the game tries so hard to svck characters into.

What a good question/issue!

I didn't run into this problem for a long time because I kept trying different builds and forgetting previous discoveries. However, after a couple years, it began to sink in!

For me, it boils down to two things: alchemy and artifacts.

Alchemy: I usually forget the recipes naturally and I intentionally don't look at my notes from previous games. My alchemist knows (say from his alchemist mother) that different items have alchemical powers so he puts everything in his mouth (including Falmer ears, giant's toes, and Skeever tails - yuck) to discover their effects. Once I get all four effects for all ingredients (more or less) I consult my old notes and become a potion-brewing god.

Artifacts: This covers stuff like a particular spell-book in a particular dungeon or a particular item as a reward for a quest etc. I generally pretend that there are rumors in town or among various guilds that hint at the existence of such items in these places. That feels pretty normal and likely to me. After all, this is a world of fantasy and magic so it seems likely that such rumors abound. Too bad Beth didn't develop a more robust diaglog/rumor system which could include false leads or dead ends. I know PC players have mods for stuff like that.