NoNewTaleToTell: Skyrim. I've put many, many hours into my current character (I'm up to level 27) and am just now getting into my first "major" questline (Dawnguard) with this character. I've also just started fast traveling again, I don't plan on making it a habit but I'm not going to constantly walk back and forth from Riften to the other side of Skyrim back to Riften like a ping pong ball. I'm also thinking of digging into the Creation Kit to see if I can disable wolves/bears/sabre cats as I'm tired of them spawning every fifteen seconds.
toxicTom: A Skyrim... a real timesink.
If you want to roleplayit, I think it's okay to to use the in-built quicktravel option (carts). I used the scenic carts mod, where you can (if you wish) can actually experience the voyage (with the option to get off anytime). It also has the feature of having a schedule for the smaller settlments. Most of the time there will be a cart waiting in the morning to take you to the nearest larger settlement. If you need to travel greater distances, you will need to switch carts there. Whiterun is like the central hub.
I used the "cheating" quicktravel only to move stiff between my different homes (it becomes really tedious otherwise, especially with Hearthfire). On the other hand, I'm a professed hiking simulator fan :-)
I had forgotten about the Scenic Carts mod, I was going to try it a while back but heard a lot of people say it's really buggy, did you have any issues with it? I used to fast travel all the time when I was interested in questing but a couple of characters ago I decided "most of the quests are terrible, just explore the world" and since then I've mostly walked/rode everywhere, however Dawnguard sends you all the way across the map constantly so I don't feel the least bit ashamed about fast traveling during that quest line.
Speaking of Dawnguard, man I'm ready to be finished with it. I've already completed once (as a vampire) and I'm nearly done with a Dawnguard playthrough. The new landmasses are really interesting with perhaps the most likeable art direction(s) in the game, but geez the questline is really obviously padded and there are mile wide plot holes everywhere. I wouldn't mind that so much if you weren't stuck with the most annoying (save for Barbas) follower in the game and if they hadn't made a mockery out of one of the better (non-joinable) factions in the game.
Despite all of that whining, I'm actually enjoying the game (for what it is, an action hiking simulator), granted it's extremely modded and I'm outright skipping most of the dialogue haha.
