» Sat May 28, 2011 8:50 am
I don't approach the game from a perspective of knocking out quests, because that can become repetitive and dry up. Rather, my character is one of my best friends and she just happens to live in Tamriel. I learned this approach from a dear friend and fellow forum member here named bobg who had an amazing rapport with his characters.
I first met Buffy on the 19th of April, 2009 in the Imperial Prison and have spent time visiting, traveling and adventuring with her almost daily since then. I guess we have played about 600 hours. In that time, she has accomplished perhaps 30 of the game's quests, for she is simply trying to live her life in a beautiful but sometimes dangerous land. She is a member of the guild of mages (Journeyman) and a University-trained mystic archer. She does love to explore and, along with her black mare Superian, has provided the Mystic Archives with perhaps the most complete and detailed map of Cyrodiil that exists.
She is curious and enjoys flexing her skills and exploring dungeons. Much of her time however is spent simply traveling and visiting friends all over Cyrodiil. Between taking care of her mare and her own needs (making a little money, shopping, bathing, eating, sleeping, etc), her days pass quickly. Fortunately as an elf, she has a rather amazing lifespan. Much of her time is spent simply writing of her thoughts and travels in her journal.
I believe when I visited her yesterday, she spent most of the morning trying to figure out what to wear. Finally, she decided to go shopping to buy something new, then visited her fellow mages at the guild. Perhaps today, we will go hunting - if she feels like it.
She recently visited a dear friend in Bruma. Lothran is a dark elf who travels with his mentor, mirocu. Lothran has been traveling Tamriel far longer than Buffy and has a rich and fascinating history that Buffy could listen to for hours. In fact, Buffy and Lothran correspond regularly via letters delivered by riders for the Black Horse Courier.
At less than 5 quests per 100 hours of play, and with dungeons, roads and wilderness areas that continually fill with foes and travelers, I don't see her getting bored. If she did, I'm sure she would ask me to help clear her memory and let her start anew.
If you listen to your character and allow them to live, perhaps they will show you the way.