I have been thinking on asking on this forum for help for the exact same problem. Glad (I know I shouldn't be) to see I'm not the only one with this problem. I always get to like 30-40 and realize that my character is not where I would want him to be and that my playthrough so far has little narrative logic in terms of the quests completed and order in which I have completed them. But my "issue" goes a little bit further than that, because once I reach that point I also tend to see things in the game which frustrate me to no end. To give some examples: - The fact that I never feel like a powerful wizard, I almost always have to rely on gimmicks in order to play as a mage. Destruction always feels underpowered when I'm using it (although the enemy hurts like hell when he uses it) and my magicka pool and regen force me to use shitty tactics and take advantage of the limited AI to win. I know there are such things as potions, but the no cooldown implementation they have just makes it a cheap and exploitable mechanic. I want to feel like more than a conjurer of cheap tricks, dragging a sack filed with potions after him. - The fact that I CAN'T refuse a quest. Just by talking to people I end up having a huge list of hints in my list and even when quests give you the option to refuse, the questgiver is like "Ok, so you don't want to do this quest, but we'll keep it in your journal just in case". - All the freaking houses! Don't get me wrong. I think one of the first mods I got for Morrowind was a house, but Skyrim has outright devalued them by the sheer number of houses you can get. I know no one is forcing me to buy any, but the fact that I end up Thane in almost every city makes me feel like I'm playing the game wrong if I'm not buying all the houses, just for the reason of providing my Housecarl a place to stay. Morrowind did it perfectly IMO, with just 3 houses, each unique in style and design, based on which political faction you end up being in. - This brings me to my next point: Why is there NO exclusivity in this game apart from the civil war within Skyrim? Why am I allowed to become the "Master" of all the guilds in the game? And why am I encouraged to become a member of every freaking guild, when my thief has clearly nothing to with magic >.< I remember a time when you actually had to meet requirements in order to join a guild and even advance to a rank. I end up as the Arch-mage or whatever and yet almost half of the mages in the College can most likely kick my ass if they wanted to. (Also am I the only one annoyed when Ulfric asks why would he want me on his side when I'm like, the advisor of the most renowned fighters guild in Skyrim, oh and also the mother effing Dovahkiin?) And whenever I get to these things I end up trying to "fix" the game using mods... And I keep repeating this process over and over again each time I start a new character. Same thing happened in Fallout New Vegas, although there it was more because towards the end things get messy and confusing with all the factions involved (and my brain fries when I try to do all those quests and still have some logic when it comes to the outcome and order in which I complete them). Am I hopeless? Does anyone have any advice for me? I can't seem to enjoy the full experience Skyrim has to offer and I certainly can't finish the game in a satisfying manner. Am I the only one who notices these things, the only one bothered by them? P.S. I feel like s*** after writhing all of this. It saddens me that I can't enjoy this game although I'm desperately trying to.
