I was running a Imperial Mage, level 17 then gave up because I finished the main quest too early.
Restarted with a Orc Warrior (Sheidl/Dual Weilding one handers). I am having a ball of fun so far how I put the main quests on the side and complete quests that are on the side. Join the Imperials first and captured all Stormcloak Territory. Join the Companions and completed all their work (Got their axe which is hanging out my entry door in my home at Whiterun.
I join the Dark Brotherhood, though I dont like it too much. Im against killing innocent, but killing criminals is different.
So far 40+ hours on my Orc Warrior and its a ton of fun so far. Her is level 26, though I need to work on getting dragon Armour