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So here's a gaming challenge for you that I'm currently doing in Skyrim: Special Edition, and I thought you all might enjoy. With the exception of main and guild quest chains, do not put off a quest, ever. As in, once you receive the prompt to do a quest, you complete it to the best of your ability. Quest chains, once you decide to start them, have to be done as soon as you can.

The intention of this challenge is to clear up that often common complaint of a ballooning quest journal, giving off the impression that no one in the whole world can do a damned thing but you. This resolves that, since you shouldn't see a bloated task list if you constantly scratch off your objectives. Additionally, it makes you take people up on their offer to ignore their problem, that they often give you. It also makes you have to invest more into projects. If you have to kill a giant for an early quest, you might have to go all out.

So post in here if you intend of trying this in any of the games, and your progress on your journey.

As of right now, on my character Cirrus Octavius, I have one quest in my log that is not a quest series (all of which are initial objective). I have to retrieve Nettlebane somehow, that'll be quite the task. I might have to resort to using paralyze poisons and then spamming stamina pots to take out that Hag.

Yeah, I got one for y'all, too. Play as something other than an elf or a Breton.

Anyway, I've done something similar to this challenge. I tried treating urgent quests as actually urgent, with top priority to the main quest. If there's ever a break in the urgency, like after delivering Martin to Cloud Ruler Temple in Oblivion, then I take the opportunity to do other things. But when I'm on my way to Kvatch and some crazed wood elf in Skingrad tells me to meet him behind the chapel at midnight, he's gonna have to wait.

The very reason my Dark Brotherhood archer is named 'Casandra' is in direct reference to the Cassandra of The Iliad, who knew what was going to happen next. As such, the seemingly odd measures my character takes is a result of knowing just what'll happen if she talks to a certain someone or heads to a particular dungeon. This presents certain challenges here.

I like it. I've done that, variably, for the sake of reducing that bloat. To boot, my play time is cramped these days, so I prefer to get things done in an hour or two whenever possible. I do enough multi-tasking in real life that I can enjoy taking a break in a virtual setting. I'm presently playing Thief this way.

I haven't played as a Breton since Daggerfall. I've not been an elf in Skyrim.

I kinda like getting back into journal bloat strats. ESO forces you to limit your amount of quests at any given time, so it's nice to just pick up and forget a whole bunch of quests again.

Finding the hagraven was the easy part. A quick journey through some mountain passes, avoiding a risky encounter with a wispmother along the way, and I found the coven led by the hagraven.

Immediately, my poorly equipped, novice character was overwhelmed. Fighting against magic users when your best item is a iron shield enchanted to block just a bit more than an average shield, you're in for quite a fight.

My strategy was to drain their magical capabilities by engaging them behind cover, and then rushing in with some swift strikes. Thankfully, they were spread out enough that this worked for the most part, but I definitely got a bit of a beating from the hagravens fireballs before I finished off the last of her witches. The Hagraven unloaded a good number of fireballs at me before I managed to get a shot off on her, thankfully missing me.

Lessons learned: save your limited use items as much as possible. While this run isn't about efficiency, I used more poisons and potions before the final fight than necessary, although it certainly made the fight up to it a lot more manageable. Also, food is surprisingly useful if you intend to wait out an enemies attacks so you can close in.

It's nice watching the AI stay near cover, away from you, when they are a squishy mage. It certainly makes me more engaged then if I just had to wait around a corner to pound them.