Hi all,

I'm making this post to hopefully help me get over what I call "Sandbox Paralysis".

I love the idea of TES games but I find I rarely get very far. I'm always afraid that by walking into a cave or fort or whatever, that I will somehow screw up some quest I don't have yet. That if I do quests in the wrong order, something will get messed up. That by doing a quest now, the loot I get now would have been so much better later. ie Thieves Guild Armor. If I advance certain skills to fast, I'll gimp my character.

So I end up playing for a bit and then quitting for a few months.

Are my fears founded or am I just an idiot?

Thanks,

Ambar

In my opinion, there is no right or wrong order to do quests. That's what makes this game so great. You have the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want. As far as going into a cave or dungeon, always save before you go in. Above all else, have fun.

I think this is more the case of "perfect character syndrome" Sir, if you would permit me to diagnose. I'll settle that one for you now. Your character will never be 'perfect'.

As well as the good advice offered by the previous poster "Above all else, have fun", your character is allowed to make mistakes, do quests 'the wrong way round' and generally level up different skills at different times. And not necessarily, 'conveniently'. Else it's just someone else's walkthrough writ large - painting by numbers - "Do not pass Go, do not collect ￡200"

My advice? It's just like real-life as a matter of fact:

Be natural. And above all else, be authentic. Whatever the cost.

Now, I'm off back to my compound....

There are Mods such as Dungeon Quest Awareness, Websites such as the UESP, and even the Prima Guides for aid.

You are not the only Person that has posted about problems with worrying about screwing up a Quest or not getting the best rewards possible, and some of Your concerns are justified.

Try Roleplaying.

Play a single Questline like the College of Winterhold or the Companions.

If You start playing, and can overlook a mistake on One character, You will eventually be able to know which Dungeons can be looted at any time in the Game, and what can be picked up as loot. Make up a good backstory for a character and play AS the character.

My advice is to stop worrying. Is it possible to break some quests by entering a cave and clicking on a quest object out of order? Yes, although there aren't really that many of them. But most importantly, they are not major game altering quests. It won't break the game if you can't tell somebody that their husband is dead. With a little experience you learn pretty quickly which bodies you shouldn't touch, and if the value of a book you see is high, it is either a skill book or a quest item, you don't have to pick it up just because you looked at it. Could you get better loot from doing a quest later? Maybe, but the rewards for quests in this game aren't good enough to be worth worrying about. I've never gotten an item for doing a quest that was good enough that I cared about it anyway. I'd rather be given septims, most of the reward for doing a quest is actually just the fun of playing the game. Can you advance non-combat skills too fast and create a character who is temporarily underpowered? Maybe, but it actually takes some effort to grind any skill that much. Just go out and explore the world, take plenty of health potions with you, and keep fighting all the wolves and thieves and random assasins who keep attacking you and your armor and weapon or destruction skills will rise, the problem corrects itself. Just go out and have fun Ambar, don't worry about breaking something.

The only right thing to do, and your first priority, is to never enter a place called Valthume. It is a dangerous place, inhabited by a wicked spirit called Valdar, that instantly freezes your game when you enter his chamber. It's also filled with game-breaking glitches.

Best to steer clear of that place. I assure you.

Thanks for the replies. It helps

As long as you save frequently, you'll always have a reset button at your disposal, should you accidentally make a mistake or do something you regret.

Definately Save often to prevent messing up a quest. Also, If you've purchased Dawnguard I suggest NOT fast travelling to towns/cities, instead goto the Stable. As if you fast travel to a town there is a likelyhood you'll arrive at night and a random vampire attack will kill off quest npc's and or merchants.

As for doing a quest out of order.. no real such thing. A few quests are linked (Companions, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, etc) but these can be done whenever you want. You could effective level up without completing any quests at all if you really felt like it (Which I have done). Just play and have fun.. and remember my tip about fast traveling if you have Dawnguard.

Just go play the game and enjoy it and quit worrying all the time.

Yes save often in case something goes wrong, take no books or unusual items out of chests, just in case, save before going in any door, but do things in what ever order you want to.

if you find out in 6 months time you missed something, you can always just create another character and do it again.

RP, don't worry about questlines as such. IF a particular questline fit's your RP then do it, but don't stress about it. One of my favorite RP's is a mercenary type character, I had one merc that started both MQ and companions... to get dragons and to become a werewolf... then didn't do a single quest more in either line. All he did was get "job's" from Inn keepers, stewards and Jarls. He also explored various caves and ruins and such.

Their is enough other things to do to never worry about any of the questlines unless you want to. Pick a "job" it helps with knowing where you want to go. Be a Dwemer scholar and check out every single Dwemer ruin, collect all the books and have enough artifacts to decorate Vlindrel Hall ( the house in Markarth). You will intersect some of the other questlines doing that, but really as long as you can get the "Dwemer" stuff done it doesn't matter.

Become a follower of Meridia and "wipe out all the undead", you could do Dawnguard or just play it your own way... but DG gives you crossbows.... Van Helsing style.

As I said lots of stuff to do without worrying about "questlines" and breaking them.

You need to transfer your completionist feelings from accomplishing specific game assigned goals to accepting an immersive and progressive play style as the true purpose of the game. The goals are secondary to the world itself. The world is not linear or set in stone. To fail or break the goals is to authenticate the world, and that is the true way to complete a TES title.

You can relax. Skyrim is a game for winners. You must win.

If you enter a location with a quest item and get that item without talking to the quest giver first, the quest will update properly. You will be able to return to the quest giver, complete the quest, and in some cases it will let you say "oh, you mean THIS item?" and hand it to them victoriously.

As far as getting items at their strongest incarnation, are you on pc? If so, then a quick search on nexus found me these mods:

No Leveled Item Rewards:

http://www.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/22996/

You will always get the highest version of the reward

or

Scale Quest Rewards:

http://www.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2226/

You will get the item at your current level, but the item will scale as you gain levels