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Am I the only one who doesn't use crafting skills to improve items? I never do it because everyone says it becomes to overpowered afterwards. It I ever need a certain potion or weapon I just buy it. My crafting skills have never gone past 40.

I superpower weapons for endgame only. Because, when there's not much else to do, you might as well be able to nuke something with one hit.

Well I play on expert for the added difficulty. I just find it more fun that way

I use crafting skills all the time. I won't sell any weapon or piece of armour without improving it first, and I only use ores and materials I've gathered myself. I never buy anything, I only sell.

Do weapons and armour become overpowered with high smithing skills? Absolutely. Does it ruin the game for me? Not at all. Making the game easier as you go along is your reward for playing. If you contrive to keep things "balanced" and difficult throughout, then what's the point of leveling up to begin with? Things may just as well remain pegged at level 1. Having to soil yourself at level 50 because of wolves, spiders and bears at every bend in the road, just like you did at level 1, would be boring in the extreme. Being able to dispose of these constant nuisances easily opens the game up and allows you to get on with the real business at hand.

I most definitely use the crafting skills so I can look how I want to look. I just also make sure not to stack too many bonuses for the creation and use of that equipment. That means I don't take the +100% damage perks from my favorite weapon skill, and don't drink an obscene smithing potion.

I usually level them up accidentally.. I use potions to make money so it hit level 100 at the same time speech does. I sharpen only the weapons and armor that I use or that I give to my followers, but I like to repair magic stuff so I usually hurry up to 60. Enchanting always gets boosted for me. I keep enchanted weapons when I need to watch magic, but typically I use bound weapons so I have constant souls and I keep the charges flowing. I dont perk out any of the 3 crafting skills to overpower my character, but that doesnt mean that they dont get used.

I always keep my weapons and armor as upgraded as possible (I don't enchant anything though). Then again, I suck at the game so it's not such a big deal for me.

I maxed smithing and enchanting. But not for the sole purpose of making doom weapons. It was just how I played my character. I never bothered with alchemy to form the unholy triumverate even after I knew, I didn't need it and I was trying to rp my character as a warrior guy and spending time crafting potions just didn't feel right.

Most of the time I just pick one skill to use. The only exception to that is if I am playing a hybrid character where it would make sense to use more than one.

I RPed as a smith in one of my plays. It felt rewarding that way. When I played as a thief I did no smithing, and as a mage I only enchanted items.

My altmer mage did Enchanting + abit of Alchemy,
whereas my Orc brute does only smithing (very usefull so you can use whichever weapon/armor you want).

And just to say, you're being greedy if you choose the entire skill tree. If you gotta smith then choose the side your going to wear.