It's just a game. People get really touchy and defensive about how they play it, and want to get all up in arms over the 'right way' to play, who cares? No wonder politics are so messed up, we can't even decide how to properly play a video game, let alone run a country.

Here's the 'right way' to play skyrim: However you want to. Period.

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I've removed a number of posts that were insulting and by our rules flaming and flamebait. Warnings could occur.

There is just no reason to tell others how they should or should not play a single player game. That should be every individuals choice and when discussing it here it's expected that you should respect everyone's opinions and choices despite them not being one's own.

And there is never a reason to be rude or to ridicule someone because of their choices just because it is not your own. In fact sometimes you might find something to try that may lead you to a bit more fun.

Please continue this discussion with mutual understanding and respect.

Whether or not I live with the consequences depends on if it was a choice I made that I ended up regretting, or just a complete blunder where I had a momentary lapse of coordination or did something unintentionally. I don't play dead is dead often, and when I do, it's with characters I started for that purpose. But with my main PC, there have been a few times where I reloaded, and a few where I made him live with it. Accidentally stealing something when trying to initiate dialogue: reload. Accidentally kill an npc will trying to defend them: depends on the npc. Getting pushed off a cliff by Seranna because she doesn't understand what personal space is: reload. Choosing to get involved in the civil war and regretting it: live with it. When Dawnguard came out and the vampire attacks were killing off npc's that I liked or otherwise depending on because they were merchants, I reloaded.

To respond to the statement that reloading is wrong, I wouldn't say that. Everybody has their own way of playing, and not everyone gets into roleplaying their characters. Some people just enjoy going through the game and solving the puzzles, and want that perfect game. That's up to them to decide. Just because you think someone should follow your rules to roleplaying, doesn't mean that's going to be someone else's idea of fun. The whole idea of playing a fantasy rpg is having a level of control over your world and enjoying yourself. If you don't like a choice you've made, you can go back and fix it. If gaming is meant to be exactly like real life, live with the consequences no matter what, even if it was an accident, then it's not playing, it's more of a chore than a fun activity. I know many people that get into total immersion, realism, and roleplay everything out and never reload. But that's their gaming style. My gaming style is if I don't like, I fix it. Because it's my game, I play it to have fun.

I live with it ,last night I killed all of white run and I forgot to save before so I guess I kind if have to life with it now

BTDT! I don't reload in situations like that, however I just might switch from my bow to the Sanguine Rose, then just relax and watch the fun!

For the most part, no I don't really live with the consequences of my gameplay choices in Skyrim. As others, I reload if I accidentally pick up/ steal an item when i meant to talk to an NPC. If one of a protected follower goes down, I reload.

I'm in agreement with most of the crowd that dumb game goofs or glitchy moments get a reload, but I do have 2 interesting scenarios where I had to make that call with Birgitte and NPC deaths.


When vampires attacked her home (Solitude) and killed Taerie, the slightly less b*itchy of the Altmer sisters who run Radiant Raiment, I let it stand. Even though she considered Taerie her friend and important business contact (Birgitte makes and enchants jewelry to sell in RR), it was exactly the justification we needed for her to join the Dawnguard. It was a good plot point and character moment, so I ran with it, and I'm glad. Moral of the story: life is unpredictable and it can take from you violently and senselessly sometimes, andyou have to deal with it and use the experience as best you can.


The big one though came before that, when she fell in love with Farkas and decided to marry him. After finishing the questline so he'd become an option, she went to take care of other business (Main Quest stuff mostly) and planned to pick him up in Whiterun after. Well, several levels, dead dragons, new Words and new items later, she returns to Whiterun and as she's about to enter Jorrvaskr, a courier hands her a letter - an inheritance letter. Farkas had died. I, in real life, screamed "NO!! This can't be happening!" She went in to Jorrvaskr to see if it was a mistake, if he was there or to find out what happened. None of the Companions had anything to say about it. It was like he never existed. And there was no way of ever knowing how or why it happened, it was completely senseless. I was so angry I back loaded to the autosave where I'd entered Whiterun 3 or 4 times, and it was still too late - the courier would still find me. The closest hard save I had available to load was over 40 saves prior (a random one I hadn't deleted, halfway through the Companions' main quest). So I had a decision to make: let it stand, play on with her true love dead, taken from her before their life could even start; or back load and redo everything she had done (including Ysgramor's tomb, which was at the time the worst experience ever), lose all her progress, but get her man back. I also considered running both as parallel lives, like the movie Sliding Doors, but that would have been confusing. Anyway, I put the game down for a day and was literally, physically depressed - as if I were in mourning myself. So I went 40 saves and several levels back and did the thing all over again. And this time, at the end of that quest, she grabbed him and walked him directly to Riften. He has been her follower ever since and rarely leaves her side (thanks to the "Talk to the Companions leaders for work" objective, she knows where he is at all times). Their relationship was an aspect of her game that meant too much to me to lose.


The RP is that she did go on without him... until she encountered Hermaeus Mora and made a deal with the devil - he would let her go back in time and change things if she became his thrall and disposed of Miraak for him.


Moral of that story though - always tell someone you love how you feel whenever you get the chance - you never know if you'll have the chance again.

I try to live with my actions. Sometimes, though, a technical glitch will happen (mouse jumping to unwanted dilogue responses is HUGE one) and I wil reload with no remorse.

I do not play Dead is Dead (DiD) so I reload when I die.

I'm a worrier.

I tried to give up followers, especially pets because they kept on getting killed and I reloaded in an attempt to save them. Those spiders and my doughty but vulnerable rieklings were a constant concern.

I'll reload if an innocent bystander gets killed and attempt to intervene to stop it happening.

I do stick with some quest consequences though or at least have in the past, such as the TG and DB questlines. I figure at least the TG is a tradeoff to have to jail some people in order to get my favourite armour (nightingale).

In recent saves I've lost Bran in Forsaken Cave, Teldryn Sero to a pack of Werebear on Solstheim, and one of the entranced sailors at the Water Stone.

I accepted their fates and moved on - it would have felt wrong to me to say 'oh well' and just reload. I was genuinely moved by losing Bran, however. He had been my companion for a relatively long time and hearing his final whine as he went down was rather upsetting. I killed the remaining draugr, then carefully lifted Bran's broken body and found a nice little alcove to lay him in. It was quite fitting really - giving him a warrior's burial.

I live with it. Reloading feels cheap

I don't understand the no reloading thing. If it's about realism then I wonder why play a game where you're an elf, using magic, to fight a dragon? That's not exactly the most realistic scenario. I look at it this way, in real life I don't get a chance to reload. I have to live every stupid mistake I make. I play video games to take a break from real life. So if a screw something up or some weird glitch happens, I'm going to reload and not feel like I just committed the 8th deadly sin.

Not that I have any real backing for this idea other than my own "I wonder" type thoughts, but I wonder if part of the enjoyment for no reloading and dead-is-dead and that sort of playstyle comes from people's real-life situations. People who are generally happy and comfortable with their real lives may not have as much problem imitating reality and all the cruelty and upsetting things that happen to a lot of people as much as those who are struggling a lot and for who real life may be pretty miserable or at least a constant battle for survival.

For me, I have a lot of stress, anxiety, and even depression and real life for me is neverending fight vs. flight and frequent feelings of impending doom, so I really don't want *any* of that in my game and I definitely don't want my games to make me upset. I want my characters to be strong, powerful, and happy with good lives and who are also capable of spreading good things to other people and making their lives better. All my families in the Sims are that way too and they *never* die unless they make a choice to live out their lives as a ghost...who can later be resurrected if they decide they don't like it. (I turn off aging unless I want a child to grow up.) I am an extremely benevolent "god" to my characters in practically every game I play.

So yes, if something doesn't go right for what I have in mind for a character, I will reload without any hesitation. Not to say that they don't have to accept *any* negative consequences, but it's usually quite minor and when I typically already know that it will be still be okay in the end. I just don't have that "luxury" in real life.

Of course, I'm probably completely off the mark, but such thoughts have crossed my mind on occasion.

100% yes

Eh, I have a very nice life, calm, quiet, plenty of money, no stress to speak of. I really dislike stuff like DiD and playing games without reloading saves though. I play games to have "not real life" fun - not to recreate a reality I don't even have to deal with IN real life.

I play both long term RP's, 500 / 600 hrs is average and short RP's that can be less than 50 hrs and DiD... with some of those characters lasting 100's of hrs.


My life is anything but calm and serene. .. I am a happy person..I do try for serene ...lol. I like the DiD competition community, though we are not playing together, we're a group of friends playing the same thing. I don't always play DiD because it doesn't always suit my characters story.


I reload IF it suits the characters story, except DiD, where it's against the rules. It's a choice... it's a single person game, I do what is fun for me at that time, if it's not fun I have no reason to do it.

Everyone has their own "cut-off" point. Some people re-load fequently, for whatever reasons. Others never re-load. Still others, never even save a game.

What I don't get are the ones who say "immersion" or "cheap" and then re-load their own deahs.

I suspect its more a pride issue, no-one likes to see their character dying its like a slap in the face and people like to challenge themselves for the achievement. And a I suspect a little bit of oneupmanship.

I wonder how many of DiD'ers would challenge themselves to a 100% completed no-death scenario on a first ever playthrough of a game though, not many I suspect and even fewer achieve it.

I hate seeing any of my characters die, often the more time ( and /or emotion) I have invested in a character, the more I hate to see them die, the harder it is for me to reload and continue with that RP.

hmmm generally my 1st run through any game is a "test" character, I don't even set up an RP... I try to figure out the games mechanic's, how everything works...etc. That said, my 1st Dragon Age Inquisition character never died... not once... Did I do everything... well I don't think so, because this choice, made doing that impossible. I did do everything on the map and talked to every person that the game allowed me to. Of course I did play it on the easiest setting... That character ran....a lot, but that is sometimes what it takes to stay alive. Was she a DiD character...well no...not even a real RP'd character either.

Adain, my Avatar died 3 times at lvl 1...yep... re-load... my 1st play through after downloading Deadly Dragons. He started out as Erik's best friend ( Alternate Start LaL) They didn't even make it to Whiterun... 2 separate dragon attacks. 305 hr's later and those were the only re-load's I had to do. http://i.imgur.com/yhGEzQw.jpg ( Bard/ Assassin ) glass cannon that she was...256hr's and never died, she was not a DiD character, but she made it all the way through the Dark Brotherhood on a very slow route, without dying.

What I am saying is, I reload IF it suits my RP and my idea of fun.... When I play DiD ( competition or otherwise) I follow the rules and don't re-load.... because rules are rules and no matter how fun it is...running to 3rd base 1st...isn't right.

I definitely reload or not if it suits me.

For example my first PC accidentally killed Lydia in Killkreath. Reload or resurrect. Cannot remember. Next time she died in a high level nord tomb after an epic fight with deathlords and a dragon priest I rolled with. He was out of himself with selfpity and sorrow. Went on drunken spree and when he finally sobered up he was in a schack with a lady in a tight leather armor and three people bound and gagged...

I'm a very happy person and very comfortable with my life and reload whenever I'm not happy with how the game went. I think it's more about personal preference than anything else. I guess in some ways there could be a deep seated psychological connection to individual playing styles, but all that's way too Freudian. I like to see my characters succeed, and I just think accidentally falling off a cliff, killing an innocent npc, or stealing something when I intended to initiate a dialogue is not something that jives with my idea of having a good time. I play for fun. Others play for competition. Skyrim is a very easy game to play with a linear storyline and clumsy combat mechanics. Not reloading, playing DiD, or role playing is one way to make the game more challenging. I just personally don't play video games for the challenge. I play for relaxation. I have plenty of challenge in my everyday life which I'm perfectly happy with.

In my game, I want to be Perfect but not too perfect.

I want to be the best but not to be immortal.

The problem IMO is that otherwise insignificant actions make serious impact in world of Skyrim, blacksmith dies, too bad, he is the only blacksmith in this massive city, that in itself is not actually that massive, IRL some other blacksmith would fill in for him but in Skyrim if you go on a rampage in the city you basically depopulate it for ever, i would be more willing to accept consequences of my actions if the game had some sort of eventually compensating for them.

What would be the "consequences," then?