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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion |OT|

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
SteveMeister said:
Most enemies scale according to your level, and so does loot. One of the main complaints about Morrowind was that it was that it was too easy to become so uber-powerful that you could kill anything without breaking a sweat. So in Oblivion, we've worked hard to make sure the game is a challenge no matter how long you've been playing it.

You will still run into some low-level creatures as you go along. Also, it's not always a one-to-one leveling. Some things always stay above your level, others always stay below, sometimes there's randomness to it.

I have a level 40 character with several stats and major skills maxed out, and the game is DEFINITELY challenging even at that level. I prefer it that way, and I think most gamers will too.

If it's too hard, there is a difficulty slider :)

This *really* hurts the game.

Here's an example. I got a quest when I was level 3. The enemies were way too hard. I figured I'd need a couple levels before defeating it. So, I go out and level, do other quests, and come back to it when I'm level 12. Should be a cakewalk, right? Actually, no, now it's even *harder* to defeat, as the enemies all are doing 5 hit combos, disarm attacks and are knocking me backwards with every hit.

I actually regret not doing it when I was level 3, as it was hard, but not this hard. I've found this happen with almost all my quests. What is the point of leveling at all. Nothing will ever get easier, it's just going to get harder. Something too hard? Better keep reloading and trying it over and over, because if you try to go out and improve your character, you'll get punished with a much harder experience.

The risk/reward ratio is completely out of whack. The game is almost a linear set of "RPGesque mini-experiences" stringed together and rigidly difficulty-tuned.

Instead of having this be an RPG, it's more like some sort of weird action game where everything gets harder no matter what. There is no choice on my part of getting my character better prepared for anything. That's what an RPG is. I'm not sure what exactly this game has turned into.

EDIT: There's a reason why no one has ever tried to overcome the design problems of an open ended RPG with the easy route of scaling every quest to the level of the player. It's because it wrecks a lot of the entire idea of progressing your character, which is central to the entire basis of an RPG.
 

Unison

Member
FlyinJ said:
This *really* hurts the game.

Here's an example. I got a quest when I was level 3. The enemies were way too hard. I figured I'd need a couple levels before defeating it. So, I go out and level, do other quests, and come back to it when I'm level 12. Should be a cakewalk, right? Actually, no, now it's even *harder* to defeat, as the enemies all are doing 5 hit combos, disarm attacks and are knocking me backwards with every hit.

I actually regret not doing it when I was level 3, as it was hard, but not this hard. I've found this happen with almost all my quests. What is the point of leveling at all. Nothing will ever get easier, it's just going to get harder. Something too hard? Better keep reloading and trying it over and over, because if you try to go out and improve your character, you'll get punished with a much harder experience.

The risk/reward ratio is completely out of whack. The game is almost a linear set of "RPGesque mini-experiences" stringed together and rigidly difficulty-tuned.

Instead of having this be an RPG, it's more like some sort of weird action game where everything gets harder no matter what. There is no choice on my part of getting my character better prepared for anything. That's what an RPG is. I'm not sure what exactly this game has turned into.

We get it already.

If the game is too hard, turn down the difficulty.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
IJoel said:

Remember that you can also MAKE more powerful spells once you're in the Arcane University, as long as you're skilled enough to cast them. So if you have Open Easy Lock, and you're skilled enough to cast Open Very Hard, you can make it rather than hunting down the guy who sells it.

Sorry about that double post -- I'd edited the original, and when I saved changes it made a duplicate. Weird. Or I fat-fingered a button, who knows :)
 

Belfast

Member
FlyinJ said:
This *really* hurts the game.

Here's an example. I got a quest when I was level 3. The enemies were way too hard. I figured I'd need a couple levels before defeating it. So, I go out and level, do other quests, and come back to it when I'm level 12. Should be a cakewalk, right? Actually, no, now it's even *harder* to defeat, as the enemies all are doing 5 hit combos, disarm attacks and are knocking me backwards with every hit.

I actually regret not doing it when I was level 3, as it was hard, but not this hard. I've found this happen with almost all my quests. What is the point of leveling at all. Nothing will ever get easier, it's just going to get harder. Something too hard? Better keep reloading and trying it over and over, because if you try to go out and improve your character, you'll get punished with a much harder experience.

The risk/reward ratio is completely out of whack. The game is almost a linear set of "RPGesque mini-experiences" stringed together and rigidly difficulty-tuned.

Instead of having this be an RPG, it's more like some sort of weird action game where everything gets harder no matter what. There is no choice on my part of getting my character better prepared for anything. That's what an RPG is. I'm not sure what exactly this game has turned into.

The only thing left to say is to learn how to be more effective in combat. The higher the level you are, the more the game is going to assume you've learned some techniques or have become better at fighting. It doesn't sound to me like the enemies are stupidly hard, but that they exhibit a wider arrangement of attack/defense possibilities than lower-level characters.
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
FlyinJ said:
The risk/reward ratio is completely out of whack. The game is almost a linear set of "RPGesque mini-experiences" stringed together and rigidly difficulty-tuned.

Instead of having this be an RPG, it's more like some sort of weird action game where everything gets harder no matter what. There is no choice on my part of getting my character better prepared for anything. That's what an RPG is. I'm not sure what exactly this game has turned into.

A "role-playing game" is not a fucking level treadmill. I'm sorry if your expectations of a vast grinding experience ala WoW or Final Fantasy weren't met, but Oblivion is far and away the closest you are ever going to get to a "role-playing game" on a console right now.

SteveMeister said:
Remember that you can also MAKE more powerful spells once you're in the Arcane University, as long as you're skilled enough to cast them. So if you have Open Easy Lock, and you're skilled enough to cast Open Very Hard, you can make it rather than hunting down the guy who sells it.

Sorry about that double post -- I'd edited the original, and when I saved changes it made a duplicate. Weird. Or I fat-fingered a button, who knows

Steve, are you ever going to reveal the way stat multipliers work? I remember it being really confusing in Morrowind too until someone wrote an understandable fact, and I hate to have to deal with all the misinformation again.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Belfast said:
The only thing left to say is to learn how to be more effective in combat. The higher the level you are, the more the game is going to assume you've learned some techniques or have become better at fighting. It doesn't sound to me like the enemies are stupidly hard, but that they exhibit a wider arrangement of attack/defense possibilities than lower-level characters.

Yeah, this is exactly what I am doing. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this game. I can't stop playing it. I just want to give some feedback :).
 

Sysgen

Member
I don't agree with the argument. Let's say I battle a bandit who keeps kicking my ass. The argument is that if I level up and come back the same bandit will still kick my ass. However, if I level up and learn a paralysis spell or a restoration spell where I can siphon his fatigue, I'm going to kick his ass. So sure, if you level and try and do the same exact fight you won't win but if you think out of the box and use your imagination you can spend a good portion of the game preparing yourself for that battle.
 

IJoel

Member
I mentioned before i was annoyed at the rubberbanding in enemy level... it hadn't bothered me that much until a damn mountain lion killed me at level 14 or so. I mean, WTF...

:p
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
Geoff9920 said:
So I've put several hours into the game and I've been looking to buy my guy a house. The only luck I've had is the
haunted place in anvil. Is there an easy way to get rid of the ghosts?

After you get attacked by the ghosts use your flare spell or any other non ice based spell / enchanted weapon. It will say something about hearing a "crash" downstairs. There is a pot that crashed by the front door that has a note along with a skeleton hand. Take both and then start looking for the guy that sold the house to you.

Spoiler 2 warning if you haven't gotten this far don't read on.

After you question around you find he is in Imperial City in the King and Queens tavern. Fast travel to there and talk to him. He will then go back with you to Anvil and then go with you into the house. After I got in there I didn't waste time fighting, I just ran to the basement door, then ran all the way to the soul gate. He will follow you and not even fight. After that, the ghosts are gone though there is much evil waiting for you. That is where I will stop talking :)
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Nerevar said:
A "role-playing game" is not a fucking level treadmill. I'm sorry if your expectations of a vast grinding experience ala WoW or Final Fantasy weren't met, but Oblivion is far and away the closest you are ever going to get to a "role-playing game" on a console right now.



Steve, are you ever going to reveal the way stat multipliers work? I remember it being really confusing in Morrowind too until someone wrote an understandable fact, and I hate to have to deal with all the misinformation again.

It's really very straightforward.

Every time you advance a skill -- major or minor -- a counter for that skill's governing attribute increases.

When you reach the level up point, that count is saved, and a new count is started for the next level. This enables you to reach the level up point multiple times before sleeping, so you get all the appropriate bonus multipliers for each level advancement.

Anyway, when you finally DO sleep to level up, the count for each attribute is converted to the attribute multiplier -- either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

So if you level up 10 skills that are all governed by Intelligence, you'll get an X5 on Intelligence when you level up.
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
SteveMeister said:
It's really very straightforward.

Every time you advance a skill -- major or minor -- a counter for that skill's governing attribute increases.

When you reach the level up point, that count is saved, and a new count is started for the next level. This enables you to reach the level up point multiple times before sleeping, so you get all the appropriate bonus multipliers for each level advancement.

Anyway, when you finally DO sleep to level up, the count for each attribute is converted to the attribute multiplier -- either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

So if you level up 10 skills that are all governed by Intelligence, you'll get an X5 on Intelligence when you level up.

so you're saying that counters are not dependent on whether a skill is a major or a minor skill? That's the only thing I wasn't 100% certain about - I know in Morrowind if it wasn't part of your skill set (i.e. if it wasn't a major / minor skill for your class) you could only get a x2 multiplier, and I take it that isn't the case anymore (which I like a lot better).

And I hate to bug you so much about it, but I'm at work so I need something Oblivion-related to fixate on until I get home :)
 

Geoff9920

Member
Sp3eD said:
After you get attacked by the ghosts use your flare spell or any other non ice based spell / enchanted weapon. It will say something about hearing a "crash" downstairs. There is a pot that crashed by the front door that has a note along with a skeleton hand. Take both and then start looking for the guy that sold the house to you.

Spoiler 2 warning if you haven't gotten this far don't read on.

After you question around you find he is in Imperial City in the King and Queens tavern. Fast travel to there and talk to him. He will then go back with you to Anvil and then go with you into the house. After I got in there I didn't waste time fighting, I just ran to the basement door, then ran all the way to the soul gate. He will follow you and not even fight. After that, the ghosts are gone though there is much evil waiting for you. That is where I will stop talking :)
That's awesome, I know what I'll be doing this evening. :) Thanks Sp3eD.
 

IJoel

Member
Another question: Should I bother with armor? I'm wearing some atm, as it only hinders my spellcasting by 10% (spells at 90%) and the armor I have seems quite decent (loot from a Vampire Matriarch.) Are there some robes with attribute bonuses for mages? I think I found some back in Morrowind, so I'm inclined to believe there will be, but I wonder.
 

Dr_Cogent

Banned
IJoel said:
I mentioned before i was annoyed at the rubberbanding in enemy level... it hadn't bothered me that much until a damn mountain lion killed me at level 14 or so. I mean, WTF...

:p

It's a lion. You are not. Lion FTW!
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
SteveMeister said:
It's really very straightforward.

Every time you advance a skill -- major or minor -- a counter for that skill's governing attribute increases.

When you reach the level up point, that count is saved, and a new count is started for the next level. This enables you to reach the level up point multiple times before sleeping, so you get all the appropriate bonus multipliers for each level advancement.

Anyway, when you finally DO sleep to level up, the count for each attribute is converted to the attribute multiplier -- either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

So if you level up 10 skills that are all governed by Intelligence, you'll get an X5 on Intelligence when you level up.

So is it the number of attributes leveled divided by 2?

Other then that I understand fully now. Thanks :D
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Sp3eD said:
So is it the number of attributes leveled divided by 2?

Other then that I understand fully now. Thanks :D

it was in Morrowind, I can't imagine it would be any different in Oblivion.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Dr_Cogent said:
It's a lion. You are not. Lion FTW!

Lions are really really powerful. Increase your armor rating (shield spells or potions, or just wear better armor that's in good condition) when fighting creatures that do a lot of melee damage. I've also found that a summoned Daedroth can take out a mountain lion in a couple swipes :)
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Nerevar said:
it was in Morrowind, I can't imagine it would be any different in Oblivion.

It's different. There are gamesettings that determine what the multiplier is for each value of the attribute counter I described above, from 1 to 10. Not a straight divide by 2.
 

IJoel

Member
SteveMeister said:
Lions are really really powerful. Increase your armor rating (shield spells or potions, or just wear better armor that's in good condition) when fighting creatures that do a lot of melee damage. I've also found that a summoned Daedroth can take out a mountain lion in a couple swipes :)

hahaha... well at least I don't feel so silly...

I was prancing around minding my own business and out of nowhere came that damn lion. Now, since i was level 14 or so, I thought, what could a puny lion do to a badass mage like me?
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
SteveMeister said:
It's different. There are gamesettings that determine what the multiplier is for each value of the attribute counter I described above, from 1 to 10. Not a straight divide by 2.

oh, I think I see what you were saying. I think I need to figure those values out then :)

And also, it seems like you don't get the "lost attribute bonuses" you could get in Morrowind too, which is nice. Thanks for the help Steve, looks like I've got something to experiment with when I get home.
 

Sysgen

Member
What Steve mentioned about the condition of your armor (and your weapon) is very important. Just becuase you are wearing does not mean it's providing you any protection.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Is there a spell or some way to determine the weaknesses of monsters? Such as weak to fire/cold/etc? Or what they are immune to?
 
epmode said:
Is it possible to delete a spell from your spellbook? 360 version, if it makes a difference.

I'm playing the PC version and I have the same question. I can't find any documentation on how to delete spells. I want to get rid fo the spells I have no use for anymore. This is important since the inventory screens on the PC are terrible and I don't want it to be any more cluttered than it already is.

Some other annoying things I've experienced are that there is no way of telling if you have a disease or not, only through effects. Also I'd like to bind my quick keys to different keys.
 

Leatherface

Member
I'm not sure if this was mentioned in the last 50+ pages, but are there any tweaks floating around to boost performance in the pc version? Thanks! :)
 

Dr_Cogent

Banned
epmode said:
Is it possible to delete a spell from your spellbook? 360 version, if it makes a difference.

Why would you want to delete a spell?

Leatherface said:
I'm not sure if this was mentioned in the last 50+ pages, but are there any tweaks floating around to boost performance in the pc version? Thanks! :)

Boyrs posted ini stuff that could be tweaked.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Another question:

Do effects stack? Such as, I have a sword that does -20 endurance and -20 agility. If I hit an enemy with this, then hit them with a harm spell, does it cancel out the sword's effects? Or, if I hit them with the sword, then add -10 agility poison to the sword, is the total -20 endurance and -30 agility? Or does it cancel it out, and make the enemy have just -10 agility? Or does nothing at all happen if a more powerful poison is already on them?
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
I think I have found a bug in the merchants selling.

Every person I go to that has 800 gold to buy your stuff, their gold never goes down as I sell them stuff. I sold one chick 5000 gold worth of stuff yet she only had 800 total :-|.

360 version btw.
 

GreekWolf

Member
Dr_Cogent said:
It's a lion. You are not. Lion FTW!
No kidding. And while taking what was supposed to be a "leisurely" stroll through the Imperial Reserve, I've also figured out that I am not a Timberwolf or a Black Bear. :lol

After spending hours laying the smack down on your every day, garden-variety wolf, I was unprepared to encounter my first Timberwolf and see -

* a Timberwolf hits YOU for 1/4 of your health bar*
* a Timberwolf hits YOU for 1/4 of your health bar*
* YOU try to block but are stunned!*
* a Timberwolf hits YOU for 1/4 of your health bar*
* Moondancer runs!*
 
Sp3eD said:
I think I have found a bug in the merchants selling.

Every person I go to that has 800 gold to buy your stuff, their gold never goes down as I sell them stuff. I sold one chick 5000 gold worth of stuff yet she only had 800 total :-|.

360 version btw.

That means that they cannot buy items worth MORE than 800 from you
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Yeah I noticed that as well. I wonder if it means how much they'll buy an item for. For instance, if it says "800", you couldn't sell anything worth over 800 to that merchant.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
GreekWolf said:
No kidding. And while taking what was supposed to be a "leisurely" stroll through the Imperial Reserve, I've also figured out that I am not a Timberwolf or a Black Bear. :lol

After spending hours laying the smack down on your every day, garden-variety wolf, I was unprepared to encounter my first Timberwolf and see -

* a Timberwolf hits YOU for 1/4 of your health bar*
* a Timberwolf hits YOU for 1/4 of your health bar*
* YOU try to block but are stunned!*
* a Timberwolf hits YOU for 1/4 of your health bar*
* Moondancer runs!*

yeah i was damn surprised... i heard the music change and i was like "oh noes! not another imp!" then this wolf comes running after me

i smile and say "SUCKER!"

then it starts tearing me apart... I'm a knight/warrior and it still managed to take roughly 50% of my health...
 

Leatherface

Member
Dr_Cogent said:
Why would you want to delete a spell?



Boyrs posted ini stuff that could be tweaked.


Care to point me in the right direction? If it's in this thread it may be difficult to dig through 50+ pages. Thanks. :)
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Code:
Order Confirmation - Best Buy.com
Qty  Product Description
 1   The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion — Collector's Edition-Xbox 360 

 Ben XXXXX
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HILLSBORO, OR 97124
  Status: Order in process of being fulfilled. Estimated arrival date: 03/29/2006 - 04/05/2006.

Woooooo
 
Sp3eD said:
I think I have found a bug in the merchants selling.

Every person I go to that has 800 gold to buy your stuff, their gold never goes down as I sell them stuff. I sold one chick 5000 gold worth of stuff yet she only had 800 total :-|.

360 version btw.
Read the thread. This has been discussed many times.
 

TheDuce22

Banned
Ok my first character based on the barbarian preset was a horrible failure. You definitely have to know what your doing and have a plan from the start otherwise you gimp yourself.
Its basically impossible for me to complete the part after you close the first oblivion gate, when you try to take back the city.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
I just bought a house. It's a total shack on the Imperial Waterfront.

Anyhow, I just bought "house storage space" for it from the furnishings merchant. Can I now put stuff in the dresser and it will never disappear?
 

Sysgen

Member
FlyinJ said:
I just bought a house. It's a total shack on the Imperial Waterfront.

Anyhow, I just bought "house storage space" for it from the furnishings merchant. Can I now put stuff in the dresser and it will never disappear?

Stuff you put in containers does not disappear. If it did it would defeat a major attraction of the game which is exlporing / collecting / storing / using.

I need some place to put my vegtables. :lol
 

urk

butthole fishhooking yes
Sp3eD said:
I think I have found a bug in the merchants selling.

Every person I go to that has 800 gold to buy your stuff, their gold never goes down as I sell them stuff. I sold one chick 5000 gold worth of stuff yet she only had 800 total :-|.

360 version btw.

Each merchant has a ceiling on how much gold they carry. If you want to raise it so you can sell higher-priced items, you have to invest. When you invest, their ceiling raises permanently.
 
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