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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion |OT|

bengraven

Member
My infamy is skyrocketed compared to my fame. Probably a 6/1 ratio. My Speed and Endurance attributes have been drained because of a curse and I can't use a chapel to restore them; my being so wicked.

61 hours in and I could have had 20 or 30 more if not for some other things that came up these past two weeks. Four Oblivion gates closed, only three quests in the MQ finished, DB and TG done (hence the Infamy), need to collect three more Vampire Dusts to re-enter the Mage's Guild (killed a wizard in Thieves Quest) but other than that no quests for the MG done, no FG done, never entered Arena, about twenty random quests done.

This is such a huge improvement over Morrowind as much as I loved that game and I have to say, it's a great fucking game. I, too, wish people would do more games like this. Imagine a FPS with a huge sci-fi city that was free to explore, every building can be entered (DX3 for example), flying hovercraft can be flown, upgrading abilities. Or even a GTA like game.

Someone said short games are the new standard and it should be encouraged. FUCK THAT! This is the first time in the last few years I've actually felt like a company earned every dime I paid for it! And I bought the CE for 360 ($70)!
 
I think I have 2 quest glitches.

First I should say that these questsn are ones that I did awhile back because I thought I just wasn't doing them right so I did other quests, however I still have not been able to complete these 2.

1. At the Mages Guild where Falcar tells you to get the ring from the guy at the well behind it I remember selecting him and doing the "take all" and not getting a journal update saying I got it. Well, I went back there and not only is his body gone but I've looked everywhere around down there and I can't seem to find any ring.

2. The quest where you're supposed to find the womens husband Aleron and he's at Griff Fort. I did everything and looted the orcs guys body and got out, but it still says I should look on his body for a way out. I even found the guys wife but she just tells me to try to find him.

So am I doing something wrong, or have I been strucken with some quest-breaking glitches?
 

GreekWolf

Member
Seth C said:
What are some dungeons that always have human (bandit/marauder) enemies? So far I know of Viverin and Sercen, two ruins, but there must be more.
Explore the caves and caverns
scattered around Bravil.
The infamous Black Bow bandits are headquartered in that area, and can be found in most of the dungeons.
 

Krowley

Member
bengraven said:
Someone said short games are the new standard and it should be encouraged. FUCK THAT! This is the first time in the last few years I've actually felt like a company earned every dime I paid for it! And I bought the CE for 360 ($70)!


I haven't played the game yet, but i love morrowind and you are speaking my kind of language... FUCK SHORT GAMES... lazy devs can kiss my ass... rock on bethesda, you guys are the bomb.

Action games should be at least 20 hours

Adventure games should be at least 30.

RPG's should be massive and 60 hours minimum

Also rockstar with their gta games... everybody tries to do the free roam thing, but what they always don't realize is that rockstars free roamers are great because they are insanley massive and have tons of content. Activision/EA (all the company's that try to do free roamers and rip off rockstar) could do that too if they wanted, but they always try to skimp.

why do i love morrowind more than KOTOR? because it has shitloads of content... why is baldurs gate 2 still the best bioware game ever? becaue it's like 200 hours of open ended gameplay... that's why.

I love god of war, but they had the backing of sony and could only produce a 12 hour game.. With sony's money they could have made a 30 hour game, but they wanted to make a quick buck and do a quick sequel. bethesda is out there releasing one game every few years and making MASSIVE games, and everybody loves it. I like that strategy a lot better. the 10/12 hour game bullshit is just a way to rip people off and make 20 sequels per generation.
 

Meier

Member
Oh man, the lady who asks you to do the rat quest in Anvil is such a kook. :lol Letting my girlfriend play some Bejeweled now though.. damn, I dont wanna go to work tomorrow!!
 
Meier said:
Oh man, the lady who asks you to do the rat quest in Anvil is such a kook. :lol Letting my girlfriend play some Bejeweled now though.. damn, I dont wanna go to work tomorrow!!

Do you mean the woman from the
Fighter's Guild
quest? If so, I found her disturbing and promptly put a few arrows in her after the quest was done. :D
 

Meier

Member
Vyse The Legend said:
Do you mean the woman from the
Fighter's Guild
quest? If so, I found her disturbing and promptly put a few arrows in her after the quest was done. :D

Yep, that's her. I've avoided killing anyone so I won't do that, but damn is she a bitch or what? I'm planning on making a character who is a khajiit thief next and I'll do the Dark Brotherhood stuff with them and kill and steal at will. :D
 

SpokkX

Member
Krowley said:
why is baldurs gate 2 still the best bioware game ever? becaue it's like 200 hours of open ended gameplay... that's why.

Baldurs Gate 2 = easily the best Bioware game with KOTOR second. Jade Empire was a simple, easy and short piece of crap

Personally I do not like action-games to be much longer than 12-15 hours though.. I rather have replay value. Action games should be so fun som you´d want to play them several times
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
The rat lady quest is a throwback to the first fighters guild quest in morrowind, where you're tasked with clearing out some rats from a woman's house. This time with a twist ;b
 

Krowley

Member
SpokkX said:
Baldurs Gate 2 = easily the best Bioware game with KOTOR second. Jade Empire was a simple, easy and short piece of crap

Personally I do not like action-games to be much longer than 12-15 hours though.. I rather have replay value. Action games should be so fun som you´d want to play them several times

I can deal with 15 hour action games, even though i prefer longer ones...i guess i got a bit emotional during that post... but i just hate it when i hear a developer say "the days of 40+ hour games are over...we're gonna do 10 hour stuff.. people have short attentions spans now.. blah blah blah" it reminds of of the reaction you get when a game like this comes out and captures everybody's imagination. David jaffe in his GOW interviews is one of the worst offenders in this regard... i loved god of war and jaffe is certainly a huge talent, but it's a classic example of a game that would have been much better with about 20 more hours of gameplay added on. He's a game developer and works 18 hour days sometimes trying to meet deadlines.. maybe he doesn't have time to play long games anymore, but GOW was a classic adventure title, with epic leanings, and it should have had epic length.

For any developer that tries to use the common excuses for making super short games (IE: attention spans, games for the mtv generation... that kind of crap)... i direct them to look at GTA, Final fantasy, and the elder scrolls games. They all sell well and have strong followings. i don't expect every game to be long, but there should be more of them.

Another common excuse is the stats about people rarley finshing games... A lot of people probably never finished the GTA games, but they spent hundreds of hours just messing around playing them.. I've never finished the main quest of morrowind, but i've spent 100's of hours playing the game and the satisfaction it's provided has been well worth my investment of time...

i'm extremly disapointed that biowares games have gotten so much shorter. I'm pretty sure everybody here would have loved KOTOR even more if it had been as long and open ended as baldurs gate 2. Just because they are making it for consoles doesn't mean it has to be bite sized or simplified. GTA and FF prove that console gamers have plenty of love for long games. And bethesda are proving again (just like they did last gen with morrowind) that you can make a big 3d game with an epic world that still has cutting edge graphics and plenty of content. Morrowind may not look all that great now, but when it came out for the PC, it was extremley sweet looking. It still has a great atmosphere and tons of ambience.

Anyway, sorry for getting a bit off topic, but oblivion just really excites me and it depresses me that there aren't more games like it.
 

xabre

Banned
bengraven said:
I, too, wish people would do more games like this. Imagine a FPS with a huge sci-fi city that was free to explore, every building can be entered (DX3 for example), flying hovercraft can be flown, upgrading abilities. Or even a GTA like game.

Yeah developers using their imagination for once, what a concept.
 

GreekWolf

Member
Man, if you guys haven't completed "The Collector" quest... you are really missing something.

It's like straight out of an Indiana Jones movie, with a surprise twist at the end.
 

123rl

Member
Someone said short games are the new standard and it should be encouraged. FUCK THAT! This is the first time in the last few years I've actually felt like a company earned every dime I paid for it! And I bought the CE for 360

QFT!!!!! QFT!

Oblivion feels like the sort of thing I expected from next-gen, but I never really thought would happen. tbh I think it's about two/three years ahead of anything else on the market and it's going to be a while before another game comes along with this kind of scale and polished, overall, high quality
 

winalot

Member
123rl said:
Oblivion feels like the sort of thing I expected from next-gen, but I never really thought would happen. tbh I think it's about two/three years ahead of anything else on the market and it's going to be a while before another game comes along with this kind of scale and polished, overall, high quality
Absolutely.
But is anyone else a little worried that we've seen something this epic so early on in the console's life (Talking Xbox 360 of course)? IMO it completely surpasses everything in pretty much every area. I can't imagine there being something to come that will spend more time in my drive tray. Of course I've only played 55 hours so I'm still well in the Oblivion honeymoon period :lol
 

Crag Dweller

aka kindbudmaster
Finished the game this weekend with 154 hours in. I mostly only did the main quest and the fighters guild. Here are some stats from my quest:


Lv. 33 Imperial Knight

Major Skills:
Blade: 100
Block: 86
Blunt: 85
Hand to Hand: 55
Heavy Armor: 100
Illusion: 72
Speechcraft: 72

Minor Skills:
Armorer: 100
Athletics: 74
Alchemy: 5
Alteration 5
Conjuration: 7
Destrution: 22
Mysticism: 6
Restoration: 50
Acrobatics: 42
Light Armor: 26
Marksman: 15
Mercantile: 37
Security: 43
Sneak: 66

Stats:
Strength: 100
Intelligence: 54
Willpower: 68
Agility: 80
Speed: 65
Endurance: 120
Personality: 109
Luck: 75

Active Effects:
Fortify Endurance: 30
Fortify Agility: 10
Fortify Strength: 10
Fortify Luck: 25
Fortify Personality: 25
Fortify Hand To Hand: 10
Fortify Blade: 3
Fortify Athletics: 3
Fortify Block: 3
Resist Disease: 35
Resist Magic: 50
Feather: 105
Reflect Spell: 110
Spell Absorption: 17

Misc. Stats:
Days Passed: 249
Quests Completed: 94
Skill Increases: 718
Training Sessions: 71
Fame: 113
Creatures Killed: 1614
People Killed: 490
Places Found: 266
Locks Picked:126
Lockpicks Broken: 383
Oblivion Gates Shut: 14
Houses Owned: 8
Books Read: 392
Nirnroots Found: 104
 

syllogism

Member
123rl said:
QFT!!!!! QFT!

Oblivion feels like the sort of thing I expected from next-gen, but I never really thought would happen. tbh I think it's about two/three years ahead of anything else on the market and it's going to be a while before another game comes along with this kind of scale and polished, overall, high quality

I wouldn't go that far. It's pretty much Morrowind with some very good improvements (physics, better npcs), but on the other hand Morrowind did some things better, too. A very good game, but still not my favorite rpg on PC.
 
Krowley said:
i'm extremly disapointed that biowares games have gotten so much shorter. I'm pretty sure everybody here would have loved KOTOR even more if it had been as long and open ended as baldurs gate 2. Just because they are making it for consoles doesn't mean it has to be bite sized or simplified.

That's really got nothing to do with it. The cost and time it takes to make a game that size is the problem. I remember when Jade Empire came out there were developers on Bioware's forums basically saying we're not likely to see a game with the scope of BG2 again.

And on topic: is there some reason I can't enchant certain effects on weapons? I want to make a bow that paralyzes, I have the spell and I can cast it fine, but it doesn't show up when I go to enchant a weapon. Other effects like invisibility don't show up either.
 

slayn

needs to show more effort.
probably because having a weapon that paralyzes on every hit would be way overpowered?

the enmy would not ever be able to do anything. They'd just keep getitng up/falling down
 
slayn said:
probably because having a weapon that paralyzes on every hit would be way overpowered?

the enmy would not ever be able to do anything. They'd just keep getitng up/falling down

That's what the spell does, so why would it be overpowered as an enchantment?
 

Gattsu25

Banned
slayn said:
probably because having a weapon that paralyzes on every hit would be way overpowered?

the enmy would not ever be able to do anything. They'd just keep getitng up/falling down
I think that might have something to do with why he wants to enchant it on a bow...just guessing


I wouldn't though...might as well turn on any invincibility codes the game might have...less effort and you still completely ruin the difficulty...
 

slayn

needs to show more effort.
Confidence Man said:
That's what the spell does, so why would it be overpowered as an enchantment?

because a mage with the spell can't do damage and paralyze both at the same time 3 times a second.
 

Unison

Member
Confidence Man said:
That's really got nothing to do with it. The cost and time it takes to make a game that size is the problem. I remember when Jade Empire came out there were developers on Bioware's forums basically saying we're not likely to see a game with the scope of BG2 again.

This is a lame excuse. There is nothing preventing Bioware from targeting a niche audience and making an RPG with an upgraded Infinity engine.

Technology doesn't always have to be placed before gameplay. The PC Adventure market would be a good example of one that caters to its niche, in spite of technological advances. There's no reason that we can't have a huge Bioware RPG except that Bioware is more interested in graphics than gameplay.
 
slayn said:
because a mage with the spell can't do damage and paralyze both at the same time 3 times a second.

A mage can paralyze and just attack with a sword or cast another spell (or maybe just create a spell with paralysis + damage). Alternately someone skilled in alchemy can use paralysis poisons on weapons and achieve the exact same result as an enchantment.
 
Has anyone besides myself been wondering where the next game in the series should be located? Should they go back to the Daggerfall days and create the entire world *gulp* or do should they continue the trend from the last two Elder Scrolls games where it's been basically isolated sections of Tamriel? Looking at the landmasses, all the other countries are smaller than Cryodill so I'm no so sure I'd want them to focus on just one of them. Maybe they could section out a few of 'em like Highrock, Skyrim, and Hammerfell or Summerset Isle, Valenwood, and Elsweyr. Or maybe they could revisit Morrowind and include the Black Marsh as well.

Of course my dream would be that they work on the entire continent but god only knows how much work that'd be.
 
I got some serious play time in over the weekend and managed to not only finish the Mage Guild Quest (That's Mr. Arch-Mage to you! :) ) but the Arena as well. Arena was fun, but not all that tough, and the money was ok, but I could have made a lot more in that time raiding a tomb or dungeon. Fighting as Grand Champion against creatures was fun, and worth the extra cash though.

So, now I've got to ask the question. As Arch-Mage, the chambers at the top of the tower are open to me, and I rest there, and I've left some stuff there, but is it considered my house now? Is it safe to leave things there? I didin't get a key to it, so I'm guessing not, but I thought I would ask. I did blow 25k on the house in Skingrad though! :)

The Ingredients Chest is pretty cool too, but it didn't work on Ninroot. Guessing that's a special case though. I'll have to see what happens after I complete that quest.

I found one thing interesting. While I was hunting down Necromancers in one of the caves for the Mage Guild Quests, I received the message that "Unseen Eyes had observed me" and of course later I was visited by the Dark Brotherhood. It surprised me that I achieved that message while simply killing off enemies on another quest. Not sure what triggered it, but I'll do the Dark Brotherhood Quests soon too.

I agree with everyone else about the length and depth of this game. So many things to do, so many things to see. I've been playing everyday since release and I'm not even close to being bored with anything yet. It has been a really long time since I was this sucked into a game, and I'm loving every moment of it. Oh, and ragdoll physics on destruction spell effects are awesome! :D
 
Mejilan said:
Yeah, you can't rename the real saves in the PC version either. They just fall under the name "Save x" where x is a number, and of course are time and date stamped. I think they have your character's level as well.

Well while you cant rename already saved games you CAN name your saves.

Press ` to bring down the console and type savegame xxxx (x being whatever you want your save to be called)
 

slayn

needs to show more effort.
Confidence Man said:
A mage can paralyze and just attack with a sword or cast another spell (or maybe just create a spell with paralysis + damage). Alternately someone skilled in alchemy can use paralysis poisons on weapons and achieve the exact same result as an enchantment.

I dunno how magic spell creation works since I've not ever done it but for poisons you'd have to make a potion for every single swing you wanted to do this. And that is a ton of needed ingrediants.

I've found even taking like ~10 potions of paralyze into an oblivion gate makes the enemies pathetic. Having paralyze for free on every strike... I might as well go back to 100% chameleon.
 
slayn said:
I dunno how magic spell creation works since I've not ever done it but for poisons you'd have to make a potion for every single swing you wanted to do this. And that is a ton of needed ingrediants.

I've found even taking like ~10 potions of paralyze into an oblivion gate makes the enemies pathetic. Having paralyze for free on every strike... I might as well go back to 100% chameleon.

Yeah well there are a hundred ways to make enemies pathetic. The point is that the game should be consistent and not arbitrarily restrict certain things.
 

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
Check it out, Oblivion breaking sales records: http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/10671/The-Elder-Scrolls-IV-Oblivion-Breaks-Record-Sales/

I'm soooo happy about this, as it ensures a steady stream of new ES titles (hopefully!). Maybe they'll do Skyrim next, or Hammerfell. Would be neat to go to the lands of the Redguard, though it's supposedly all desert. Skyrim, of course, would be all snowy tundra. Still, would be awesome. Those would make great expansions for Oblivion *hint* *hint*!!
 
Seth C said:
What are some dungeons that always have human (bandit/marauder) enemies? So far I know of Viverin and Sercen, two ruins, but there must be more.

Droznot Cave (spelling?) - on the outskirts of the Imperial City island

I just ran across that cave yesterday while searching for Nirnroots and it had 6 or 7 bandits all wearing glass armor (at level 24).

If you don't have the guide, go to EB and look in the back - it has descriptions for every location in the game, including the caves and what types of creatures/people inhabit them.
 
I would definitely suggest getting the guide SOLELY for the dungeon descriptions. I bought it long after I had completed pretty much all the quests and such I was interested in. Especially useful is that it tells you which dungeons have bosses, and which type...
 

Leatherface

Member
Ok, lets say I cheated and boosted all my stats to the max (PC) but I wanted to return to normal leatherface. Is there a quick way to reset everything to what it should be?

I already saved =_(
 

Spencerr

Banned
Leatherface said:
Ok, lets say I cheated and boosted all my stats to the max (PC) but I wanted to return to normal leatherface. Is there a quick way to reset everything to what it should be?

I already saved =_(

load an older save?
 

Ferrio

Banned
I hated Morrowind, should I buy this?

The openness again piques my interest, but morrowwind was DULL DULL DULL. I still have nightmares of NPCs saying the same fucking thing over and over and over and over again.
 

Seth C

Member
mmlemay said:
Droznot Cave (spelling?) - on the outskirts of the Imperial City island

I just ran across that cave yesterday while searching for Nirnroots and it had 6 or 7 bandits all wearing glass armor (at level 24).

If you don't have the guide, go to EB and look in the back - it has descriptions for every location in the game, including the caves and what types of creatures/people inhabit them.

Thanks. That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. It has a Bandit Ringleader, an excellent source of special weapons and armor. Anyone have any more?
 

Pimpbaa

Member
Ferrio said:
I hated Morrowind, should I buy this?

The openness again piques my interest, but morrowwind was DULL DULL DULL. I still have nightmares of NPCs saying the same fucking thing over and over and over and over again.

It's plays a lot like morrowind except the land is very beautiful (not dreary and barren like morrowind) and the NPCs actually have some AI (they don't just stand there 24/7 saying "outlander" every time you walk by).
 
Ferrio said:
I hated Morrowind, should I buy this?

The openness again piques my interest, but morrowwind was DULL DULL DULL. I still have nightmares of NPCs saying the same fucking thing over and over and over and over again.

I think the world of Oblivion feels much more "alive" than Morrowind did. Not as repeitious at all, and it's fun to watch the NPC's go about their days when you see them up to something. For instance, I walked into an Inn last night, and I saw some guy in sneak mode creeping around. I followed him as he went upstairs, opened a door, and went inside and proceeded to look things. :lol
 
Solo said:
Sorry if its been posted already but I sure as hell wasnt searching.

Goodbye Adoring Fan!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4720748546419377494&q=Oblivion&pl=true

:lol :lol :lol Awesome!

Two questions:

1. I saw the little adoring fan guy after I became Grand Champion, but told him to buzz off. Does he show up again later on his own?

2. Where is that portal to teleport to the top of the Tower? Obviously some place close to the Mage Guild, but I haven't seen it. Looks cool!
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
:lol :lol

I bet that didnt work though.

KFJ, you can find him hanging around the arena if you feel like having him bug you for a while.
 
Ghost said:
:lol :lol

I bet that didnt work though.

KFJ, you can find him hanging around the arena if you feel like having him bug you for a while.

Ahh...so he won't show up to bug me again unless I go seek him out. After fighting three monsters in the Arena, I thought he might show up again, but he didn't. Not sure if I need him following me around, but it might be amusing for a very short while. :)
 

GreekWolf

Member
Ferrio said:
I hated Morrowind, should I buy this?

The openness again piques my interest, but morrowwind was DULL DULL DULL. I still have nightmares of NPCs saying the same fucking thing over and over and over and over again.
In Oblivion, you also have cool little experiences of meeting other NPCs walking from town to town on the same roads you're traveling... just like a MMORPG.

I always laugh whenever I'm running between cities, and see a Khajiit or an Argonian race past me like a gazelle. If I weren't loaded down with 500 pounds of armor, I might actually try to follow along behind them. :)
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Kung Fu Jedi said:
I think the world of Oblivion feels much more "alive" than Morrowind did. Not as repeitious at all, and it's fun to watch the NPC's go about their days when you see them up to something. For instance, I walked into an Inn last night, and I saw some guy in sneak mode creeping around. I followed him as he went upstairs, opened a door, and went inside and proceeded to look things. :lol

the biggest thing to me is how, if you stop and listen to the conversations NPCs have with eachother, they actually discuss your exploits. It's pretty scripted, but it definitely adds something that Morrowind totally lacked. I hated becoming head of all the guilds and houses, killing Dagoth Ur, and everyone's reactions remained the same. that doesn't happen anymore, which is a really nice touch.
 

jedimike

Member
Nerevar said:
the biggest thing to me is how, if you stop and listen to the conversations NPCs have with eachother, they actually discuss your exploits. It's pretty scripted, but it definitely adds something that Morrowind totally lacked. I hated becoming head of all the guilds and houses, killing Dagoth Ur, and everyone's reactions remained the same. that doesn't happen anymore, which is a really nice touch.

I love having everything voiced over. It adds so much immersion to the game. After playing Bioware's RPGs and now Oblivion, it would be difficult for me to play a text based RPG again. Plus I like how Oblivion NPC's recognize me for my accomplishments. A lot of times, when I walk by them, they'll go "look, there's the Hero of Kvatch." Ego padding is good.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
jedimike said:
I love having everything voiced over. It adds so much immersion to the game.

It seems to be at the cost of reusing some voices for multiple races tho (like orcs and nords sounding the same same goes for wood and high elves).
 
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