Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[Quirinus]

I've just spent the whole weekend playing this game. The lag was pretty annoying at first, but after turning down the graphics specs it was alright, though battles in the forest are still a nightmare.

I'm loving the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild missions so far, though I've been expelled from the Fighter's Guild for accidentally killing a member of the guild.

[rajpoot]

Great game isn't it, , what kind of charecter are you playing? All the times I've played I end up as a sort of uber battlemage charecter.

And if you don't have them, get the plugins, specially, the Vile Lair and Mehrunes Razor. Those two are a must for any one who likes Dark brotherhood and Thieves Guild stuff.

[CountArach]

Its a great game, but it has nowhere near the longevity of Morrowind.

[naut]

If the lag is getting to you open the console and type tt and tg, it'll remove the trees and grass respectively and that should increase the fps.

[Mikeus Caesar]

I saw a mudcrab the other day...

[PBI]

Its a great game, but it has nowhere near the longevity of Morrowind.

Tricky one, I'm not at all decided as to which I prefer. Certainly I see your point about longevity; in Morrowind you could keep busy for months without ever bothering with the main quest; whereas in Oblivion I seem to have zipped through all 5 factions and all the Daedric shrine quests in no time. The faction quests are engaging, and most are not as repetitive as Morrowind's could be, but they are too short and seemed to end just as I was getting into them. On the other hand, the simpler, more polished feel of Oblivion can be nice; I definitely like the simplified skills system, most of the useless skills have been cut out (Medium Armour, Spear, Enchant) while the remaining ones have been made much more useful and easy to level (e.g. Expert armourer now meaning you can "repair" weapons above 100%). Plus, you can poison your weapons in Oblivion which is great fun (and means that the Alchemy skill is actually useful).

[CountArach]

Tricky one, I'm not at all decided as to which I prefer. Certainly I see your point about longevity; in Morrowind you could keep busy for months without ever bothering with the main quest; whereas in Oblivion I seem to have zipped through all 5 factions and all the Daedric shrine quests in no time. The faction quests are engaging, and most are not as repetitive as Morrowind's could be, but they are too short and seemed to end just as I was getting into them. On the other hand, the simpler, more polished feel of Oblivion can be nice; I definitely like the simplified skills system, most of the useless skills have been cut out (Medium Armour, Spear, Enchant) while the remaining ones have been made much more useful and easy to level (e.g. Expert armourer now meaning you can "repair" weapons above 100%). Plus, you can poison your weapons in Oblivion which is great fun (and means that the Alchemy skill is actually useful).

That pretty much sums up my thoughts, though I preferred having more skills and the non-scaling combat system.

[PBI]

That pretty much sums up my thoughts, though I preferred having more skills and the non-scaling combat system.

By the non-scaling combat system, I assume you mean the fact that monsters are matched to your character's level, so you can dutifully level up using lockpicking and alchemy only to discover your level 20 bookish cleric who can't swing a sword to save his life is constantly coming up against massive ogres and minotaurs who can squish him flat in one hit? Yes, that is pretty annoying (not to mention opens the door to some rather egregious abuses of the levelling system, like keeping your character at level 1 the whole game so you never fight anything tougher than rats). I thought monsters were levelled in Morrowind too though?

Certainly it was nice having more skills in Morrowind, the problem was just that they weren't all balanced particularly well. Either they took to long to level up and often failed at low levels (armourer, speechcraft, enchant) or they just weren't that useful in the first place (alchemy, hand-to-hand, unarmoured) or they could have been useful, but the weapons or armour they governed were inherently underpowered compared to other types (spear, medium armour, polearm).

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

It's a good game. Very Time consuming though.

[TevashSzat]

Very dissapointing compared with the masterpiece that is Morrowind.

My favorite char in Oblivion, though, had max Light Armor, Illusion, Marksmanship, Sneak and something else...

The idea was that I start off with a sneak attack ranged attack, cast invisibility, move to another position and repeat until everyone is dead and I have suffered no damage at all

[Whacker]

Oblivion is a good sandbox style game. However it is and remains a very shallow game, as others have pointed out. Haven't found any good mods that "fix" that either. It also suffers from the god complex, where one can literally do anything and any quest. Magic users can swing 2 handed swords, etc etc etc. Also I've found that the damn thing crashed left and right on me, and trying to get some of the mods to play nice together is just about impossible.

That said, it's a great way to just waste time. The quests are all quick and dirty, and 90% of them involve "kill it with fire/sword/bow and arrow", no thinking, planning, or strategy involved. And with the right texture packs, it's a stunningly beautiful game. There are also some very good mods that can extend gameplay.

I have a somewhat fonder view of Morrowind. It was more complex, a bit 'deeper', and the world felt much much bigger. Thankfully I got that game after it had been patched, so many of the initial bugs that bothered others I didn't experience. The soundtrack was wonderful, the scenery was fantastic (esp the Dwemer ruins), and there was a good amount of backstory if one took the time to read the books. It also felt and played much more like a true RPG than it's sequel.

Morrowind suffers from some of the same problems that Oblivion has as well. First off, it'll crash left and right even with some of the "fixes". Some of the god complex is there, but it's not as bad as Oblivion. Mods are still rather hard to get to work together sometimes.

Bottom line, the Morrowind GOTY pack was a good buy at $20, it might be cheaper now if one can find it. Just be sure to Google for the fixes and popular mods. Oblivion I think would be a good buy for it and the expansions and DLCs at $20 or so.

My $0.02.

[Veho Nex]

I saw a mudcrab the other day...

mud crab huh? I saw a mudkiep

[Quirinus]

Some complaints so far:

On the characters-- The voice acting is a mixed bag. Some of them are spot-on, but some of them, especially early in the game (such as Jauffre) are awfully flat. When talking to you, the eyes of the characters sort of dart around even as their face remains static, which really makes them look dodgy. The dialogue system is pretty cool, but I don't like how they have the same words for everyone sometimes. Given that it seems that most of the time they get different vocalisations, whould it have been too difficult to get them to speak slightly different things, befitting their character? It's off-putting to see a grumpy orc suddenly adopt an admiring tone about me being the Hero of Kvatch, and then telling me to piss off when I end the conversation.

The guards and the criminal system are messed-up. Sometimes when you murder someone in an alley in broad daylight, nothing happens, but you kill someone in the dead of night after breaking into his house, the guards will be on to it immediately. The same action button for speaking to characters as for picking up stuff also leads to a lot of inadvertent stealing. The first time I got arrested, I accidentally picked up some food or the other on the tabletop when I was aiming to speak with the innkeeper.

Still an awesome game though.

I saw a mudcrab the other day...

Vile creatures, though I hear they're good eating....

By the non-scaling combat system, I assume you mean the fact that monsters are matched to your character's level, so you can dutifully level up using lockpicking and alchemy only to discover your level 20 bookish cleric who can't swing a sword to save his life is constantly coming up against massive ogres and minotaurs who can squish him flat in one hit? Yes, that is pretty annoying (not to mention opens the door to some rather egregious abuses of the levelling system, like keeping your character at level 1 the whole game so you never fight anything tougher than rats). I thought monsters were levelled in Morrowind too though?

D: I didn't know that! No wonder some of the guides were always going about how you should pick the skills you use the most as minor skills (i.e. so they level up slower). No way I'm gonna do that, I'm just gonna play the game like it was supposed to be played (for the first time anyway). So far I've resisted checking out anything but a couple of guides about character creation and skill sets.

If the lag is getting to you open the console and type tt and tg, it'll remove the trees and grass respectively and that should increase the fps.

What I did was to scale the grass and tree distance all the way down, which improved outdoor fps considerably. But now I can't see grass (which is alright to me), and trees look like **** (which is..... okay if I concentrate on other things). Won't you bump into invisible trees if you remove them from sight? Or does it just remove the trees from existence per se?

Great game isn't it, :) , what kind of charecter are you playing? All the times I've played I end up as a sort of uber battlemage charecter.

And if you don't have them, get the plugins, specially, the Vile Lair and Mehrunes Razor. Those two are a must for any one who likes Dark brotherhood and Thieves Guild stuff.

I'm a sneaky archer/light armor type. I just dig getting a critical hit on the target's back. =D There's an item that I've found to be very useful in sneaking missions, especially indoor sneaking missions-- the "Eye of Sithis". It's expensive as hell, but it's worth the money.

I didn't actually figured out how to cast magic until yesterday... so...

I've heard that the plug-ins come with SecuRom, I'm not going anywhere near that. </3

[Morrowind] also felt and played much more like a true RPG than it's sequel.

Yah, well, compared to the non-RPG games I've played, the RPG elements of Oblivion are just... through the roof. I plan on trying the hardocre RPGs at some point in time, but for now Oblivion is the most awesome game in the history of the universe.


EDIT: swear words must be entirely blotted out or not used - froggy.

[Xiahou]

By the non-scaling combat system, I assume you mean the fact that monsters are matched to your character's level, so you can dutifully level up using lockpicking and alchemy only to discover your level 20 bookish cleric who can't swing a sword to save his life is constantly coming up against massive ogres and minotaurs who can squish him flat in one hit?

There are mods for that.*

The guards and the criminal system are messed-up. Sometimes when you murder someone in an alley in broad daylight, nothing happens, but you kill someone in the dead of night after breaking into his house, the guards will be on to it immediately.

Also mods for that.

I'd sum up Oblivion by saying that you get out of it what you put into it. It has many problems that can be exploited or abused, if that's what you want to do. But it's also a beautiful game that can be heavily modified as you see fit. If you decide to engage in some mental role-playing it can be quite engrossing to creep around ancient ruins or spooky crypts. However, if you instead want to exploit the system and simply blast thru the storyline you can do that too.

*Of all the "flaws" I see in the game, the scaling is truly the most egregious, as it totally destroys the risk vs reward concept of adventuring and exploration. Also, as others have said, it can render certain character builds completely unplayable- or at least un-enjoyable. There are many mods out there, but the one I chose to address this was Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. It changes a whole host of things- but what I loved best was that it made exploration interesting again.

edit: Trailer for the OOO mod.

[Kekvit Irae]

I have a somewhat fonder view of Morrowind. It was more complex, a bit 'deeper', and the world felt much much bigger. Thankfully I got that game after it had been patched, so many of the initial bugs that bothered others I didn't experience. The soundtrack was wonderful, the scenery was fantastic (esp the Dwemer ruins), and there was a good amount of backstory if one took the time to read the books. It also felt and played much more like a true RPG than it's sequel.

Two words: Cliff Racers.

[Mikeus Caesar]

The guards and the criminal system are messed-up. Sometimes when you murder someone in an alley in broad daylight, nothing happens, but you kill someone in the dead of night after breaking into his house, the guards will be on to it immediately. The same action button for speaking to characters as for picking up stuff also leads to a lot of inadvertent stealing. The first time I got arrested, I accidentally picked up some food or the other on the tabletop when I was aiming to speak with the innkeeper.

[PBI]

I've heard that the plug-ins come with SecuRom, I'm not going anywhere near that.

Is that true? I was considering getting them but won't bother if they come with SecuRom.

[Quirinus]

*Of all the "flaws" I see in the game, the scaling is truly the most egregious, as it totally destroys the risk vs reward concept of adventuring and exploration. Also, as others have said, it can render certain character builds completely unplayable- or at least un-enjoyable. There are many mods out there, but the one I chose to address this was Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. It changes a whole host of things- but what I loved best was that it made exploration interesting again.

Read the very lengthy manual (nearly sixty pages!! It's more detailed than many game manuals), was impressed. Downloading now. <3 Does OOO address the problem I mentioned as well? I don't remember the manual saying so, but...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I lol'd.



EDIT:

Is that true? I was considering getting them but won't bother if they come with SecuRom.

Actually, I'm not too sure, don't quote me on that.

[rajpoot]

Great stuff , I'm saving that picture.

Two words: Cliff Racers.

Those are some chaps in Redguard aren't they? Out of the Elder Scroll universe?

I've heard that the plug-ins come with SecuRom, I'm not going anywhere near that.

No they're not, I have them all, downloaded them directly. Infact I was waiting online when the launched the Battlehorn plugin, they had it up as a free download for the first week.

The omniscient law enforcers are pain in the butt, the creatures leveling up with your charecter are troublesome too, yeah, (I mean what? Did the stupid Lich go for magic lessons before coming to fight me again?), but;

Yah, well, compared to the non-RPG games I've played, the RPG elements of Oblivion are just... through the roof. I plan on trying the hardocre RPGs at some point in time, but for now Oblivion is the most awesome game in the history of the universe.

Amen. The only one that's anywhere as good is Mount and Blade, but it does not look as good. (I'm a sandbox addicted nut).

[naut]

What I did was to scale the grass and tree distance all the way down, which improved outdoor fps considerably. But now I can't see grass (which is alright to me), and trees look like **** (which is..... okay if I concentrate on other things). Won't you bump into invisible trees if you remove them from sight? Or does it just remove the trees from existence per se?

Nah, it removes them completely. Also if you don't like the trees, etc, I'd recommend the Natural Habitat mod. It makes the weather, sky, trees, birds and such alot better and more realistic.

[PBI]

I've heard that the plug-ins come with SecuRom, I'm not going anywhere near that.

No they're not, I have them all, downloaded them directly. Infact I was waiting online when the launched the Battlehorn plugin, they had it up as a free download for the first week.

That's good to know, I might get them then.

What I did was to scale the grass and tree distance all the way down, which improved outdoor fps considerably.

I'm actually tempted to try that even though my system can handle it fine, simply because I'm forever winning fights only to discover I can't find the body to loot its armour in the long grass. Especially when any and every body seems determined to ragdoll its way right to the bottom of even the gentlest slope.

@Mikeus Caesar:

[TevashSzat]

Wow, simply amazing

What I did just because I got pissed off at the guards so much was to get enough of the top sigil charmeleon stones to enchant some armor and give me 100% charmeleon. Then, I proceeded on a stealing spree and literally stole anything that could actually be sold and isn't nailed down.

Also, it is really funny to crounch right in the face of the guard and then start sneak attacking them over and over again with your fists; priceless stuff there

[Xiahou]

Read the very lengthy manual (nearly sixty pages!! It's more detailed than many game manuals), was impressed. Downloading now. <3 Does OOO address the problem I mentioned as well? I don't remember the manual saying so, but...

The guard problem? I could've sworn it made some changes, but I haven't played it in awhile either. I'd see how it plays, and if you're not satisfied, try something like Reneer's Guard Overhaul mod. I haven't used it, but it sounds excellent. The addition of guards following you when sneaking sounds hilarious.

[Veho Nex]

I lolled so hard

[Kekvit Irae]

Finally got 1250 Microsoft achievement points last night, so it's time to trade this game in for something else. It's an ok game, but I'd rather have the PC version with all the mods I can play with.

[Quirinus]

Played a bit more of Oblivion with OOO. My favourite feature, though minor, is how plants will lose a part after you harvest them, adds a lot to harvesting these ingredients. I also like the new mission bonuses-- I just got a "Shadowbow" as a bonus for completing a Dark Brotherhood mission.

One complaint I've got is that the "Shrouded Armor" you get for joining the Dark Brotherhood is overpowered. From the armor-stat standpoint alone, it's much better than any light armor I've encountered so far, except Amazon armor (which I understand is an OOO addition). And even that isn't as good because the Shrouded Armor is very light, and gives huge bonuses (+8!) to pretty much every stat I need (i.e. marksman, blade, sneak, acrobatics, speed...). And it's easily-obtainable-- you just have to join the Brotherhood. About the only (small) minus is that you can't repair it with repair hammers.


On another note, has anyone actually become a vampire before? It sounds really cool but not so easily reversible, so I'm abstaining from recieving the "Dark Gift" for the time being.

[Raz]

Two words: Cliff Racers.

*shudders*
Not the cliff racers.

Anyway, I play using Francesco's Mod (full name: Francesco's Leveled Creatures/Items Mod), it's pretty darn good, but I'd prefer to play the BTmod if I could ever be bothered to download the beast...
Also, if frame rate is a problem, I'd suggest looking for a short-, or 2d-grass plug-in.

[rajpoot]

On another note, has anyone actually become a vampire before? It sounds really cool but not so easily reversible, so I'm abstaining from recieving the "Dark Gift" for the time being.

I did it after I had finished every other quest, plugin etc in the game, just because I'd heard that you hear a nice little background story about Count Skingrad when you do it, and you can interact a little more with him while on the quest (I found his charecter very interesting, couldn't resist see).

Well, the quest for the cure (if you want to be cured at all, I did as I found nothing appealing about my charecter's appearance or the gameplay; the charecter loses all facial hair) is not a very lengthy one, but quite interesting.
On the down side, somehow, after getting cured, my charecter's face texture returned to normal, but some how the shape was ruined, bloated sort of, I had created a shape modelled on Sylvester Stallon, which I lost.

The gameplay is worthwhile though, I think, if you're sticking to the Dark Brotherhood and The Thieve's Guild.

[pevergreen]

I saw a mudcrab the other day...

i c wat u did ther.


I really didnt like the idea of having half the gameplay, and most of the time where you converse with people damaging me in the later stages, so I avoid vampirism.

[CountArach]

On another note, has anyone actually become a vampire before? It sounds really cool but not so easily reversible, so I'm abstaining from recieving the "Dark Gift" for the time being.

Vampirism is brilliant for the final Thieves Guild mission because you are indoors most of the time and the talents and bonuses conferred on you are awesome (Like having the detect life ability as well as bonuses to sneak). My thief who was a vampire was great because I could break into a house at night, steal all the good stuff and then feast.