>>31793700
I always played Breton (aside from a few attempts at a sneaky Khajjit). I loved being a 'battlemage,' using mostly magic for long ranged attacks and supporting stuff, but I couldn't ever keep up with the spells. With arms and armor, you level up enough, you find the newest best armor. With magic, you have to actually flex your magical muscle and buy some spells/ find the proper spellbooks.
Oblivion was where I started, and I love it, but to be honest Skyrim does make the process a bit easier, since rather than only being able to buy spells from stores you can find them in books. Even if now I can't use a sword, shield, AND magic...
Still, there was a beatiful moment once in Oblivion where while going through a cave, I gathered together a full set of steel armor, a silver warhammer, and an enchanted steel helmet called the 'Witchhunter's Helm.' I knew exactly what I had to do.
Anyway, going all out melee sounds badass, so I'll give Orcs a try.