Tips on Changing from the Linear Game Style of the Intros to the free form styles of the maps

[HardestyGrimwall]

In my starting up process I must have run 30 character/class combinations or more through the intro...

by the time I settled on my 4 Characters I had those intros ingrained in me, they were known linear substances From A to B to C To D To E To Finale

and then poof out into the big map where the world is a scattershoot side missions and chores. Now that my guys are above level ten, instances have opened up and that will help, but every time I sit down to play my first reaction when thinking about the character I want to play (an Elf Lore Master in Celondim, a Human Warden In Bree , A Hobbit Minstrel in the Shire and a Dwarf Hunter in Thorins gate) I get the urge to start a new Character....after all who has heard of a dwarf hunter why not run a Dwarf Champion!...(which I already did and decided I liked ranged combat better)

Changing my thought process from the linear game play (which has been ingrained in me through repetition) to the free form style that exists beyond the intros is proving to be a little harder than I thought (The main game theme travels through the prologue series at this point, and it helps, but there are little golden rings all around me and I don't want to level up and miss any - got the tortoise stone btw)

any thoughts?

[Boraxxe]

Have you tried keeping the Tortoise Stone active until you reach the point that you cannot complete some quests? You will end up running most of the content against Red or Orange mobs, but it is much more challenging. And, as a side effect, you end up completing almost all of the quests (and most of the deeds) to boot.