Years after everyone else I've finally become hooked to this game
My first character was a female Breton Spellsword, but my gaming style was pretty different to that class, during one quest I started heavily using speechcraft and sneaking, so I started a new one.
Now she's a Imperial Bard, bithsign is the thief, I basically sneaked through the opening dungeon/sewer, I love the sneak damage
(Other than the class skills, my sneak is already 'apprentice') , and now I've just gone up to the imperial city for some equipment and I'm literally talking to everyone I can find and maxing their disposition! I figure you never know when that can come in handy, right? It seems to get you some decent deals, combined with haggling. It also means they open up with more information at times. Useful in the missing picture quest I did with my last character.
I'm using light Armour, I'm hoping that when the going gets tougher later that this chick can deal with it, but she just kind of feels right at the moment if you know what I mean!
Using a blade mostly after the obligatory backstab, occasional archery, hardly used magic yet, just the initial healing spell, I'm hoping to get some useful spells at some point, even if they are more buffs, utility spells than the 'Big bang'
A question on guilds though, do you have to stick to the one or can you join whoever you want?
More after the play session tonight
You're right to enjoy the scenery and just go around exploring things. That's how you stumble unto the more 'magical' quests, ie the ones that don't feel like they'll happen even if you're not even trying to complete them. 
(Main Quest et al)
I plan to pretty much explore the entire map just for the hell of it.
