I've been playing my second game for quite awhile now. I've become an expert sneak and archer. I don't plan on finishing the MQ -- I did that the first time through, I've become arch-mage just because I did all those quests, and I'm head of the Thieves Guild (although Vex, Delvin, and Dirge continue to treat me like dirt!). And I'm not sure what else there is to do. I'm at level 52 but it feels like an end to me, and time to move on to an entirely different kind of character. How do you handle these situations?

One other question: is it possible to succeed without becoming a pretty good archer? or sneak? I don't want to be repeating myself next time around.

Where you are with your current character is about where I usually get when I retire them. I'll typically set them up in a nice house, if one has not already been built or purchased, and take me a bride or just head back to the Cistern and remain there as Guild Master. Then I start a new character.

Yes, it is possible to not rely heavily on archery and/or sneak. I did that for the first time with my previous Orc warrior. It was a change of pace as I'm usually a sneaky thief/assassin relying heavily on archery. I had a lot of fun playing that character and still have him on the save file. I'm now playing a pure mage and this is also completely different than my usual characters. Having a blast with it (some pun intended).

I stopped ending my game because it takes so long to build characters only to have the game over when the character is finally where I like. So instead, while interacting with as little of Skyrim as possible, I build the character's skills and equip them as desired, then wait 30 days to reset whatever I have interacted with, then save. And keep that save. Then I can start a new save from that save and run quest lines, explore, hunt, do whatever. But I still have the original save to use and run different quests if I like.

I have 3 characters I keep like this. I have a 4th save that is a level 1 character, but in reality has enough skills built up to be level 52 once I go into the skills menu and level up. With that character I can perk and apply level ups into magic, health, and stamina as desired to make a ready-to-go character. She even has contracted Sanguinare Vampiris so I can choose to be a vamp with the character or cure it before vampirism sets in.

I retire a character when they become boring or annoying to play, or because of Mod related problems. I quit most characters after playing a Guild and the Main Quest, and the DLC. I usually end characters around levels 35 to 50.

Any type of character is viable, but some types are more difficult to play at a higher difficulty setting.

Yep. I backed it down to Adept for the mage. I was getting worked early and often.

I retire them when either I have become bored with them or they completed the RP I had them in mind for. Mostly when they are done what I had them in mind for.

I end mine after they've exhausted every quest or guild that pertains to that particular RP. If its level 20, so be it. If its level 80, so be it.

If you get bored, make a new character. Theres literally millions of different playstyles you can do. Dont limit yourself to just one character.

My characters retire or go home to another country, when they have finished the RP that I had in mind for them. Sometimes I will extend their RP if I really like the character and find that they are also suited to do something else.

for me it's when the character loses my interest

and then it's all over... I back up the saves and clear out the old and start a new one

Great answers everyone. Thanks so much. I'm off to be a Redguard!

As someone said earlier restarting a character from scratch can be arduous. What I do during a play through is make a "hard" save before making a play style choice.

For example at the beginning of the game I do a hard save before entering the keep. That way if I go with Hadvar the first time I can go back to that save and go with Ralof the next if I so choose.

If I'm about to start down the quest path for a guild I will make another hard save so if I want a different play through without that guild I can do so. Another example would be making a hard save after Astrid gives you the choice to kill one of the 3 captives. Then I can choose to kill a victim(s) or Astrid .

Although it may take you out of your roleplay to make such hard save decisions I find that in the long run it gives you multiple opportunities to start a new character without having to completely start over from the beginning.

I keep a pen and paper nearby to note what each save decision was for easy reference. This kind of play is not for everyone, but for me it makes it far easier to jump back to a specific decision choice and start from there and with the DLC that provides the face sculptor I can completely change my character up to match the new play style.

Cheers and best of luck in your Skyrim Adventures!

It depends on the character. Each character comes with her own unique story. When I feel that story has been told I retire the character.

This can happen in 2 hours or it may happen in 500 hours. It may happen at level 2 or it may happen at level 50. My character and her story determines everything I do, in every game.