The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion---Discussion Thread

[Joey D]

I still play it on the PC, mainly because there is thousands of user made mods out there for it. I have 13 different characters all specialising in something different.

 

[ceiling_fan]

I love this game, it's very easy to spend a LOT of time playing it. You might want to look up some character building FAQs because the game doesn't give you a lot of information regarding race, classes, etc. 👍

 

[LaBounti]

I want to play it but im so behind on ALL my games. I'm not buying anymore games until February or something. sorry Fallout3, LBP, Res2, MotorStorm2, Far Cry 2, Dead Space,Saints Row 2, BioShock and Valkyria Chronicles I'll see you guys next year.

 

[klondike]

Its really a great game. Although the graphics are a litle turn down for me, especially those green faced reptiles. I am not sure to laugh or cry when i look at them.

Anyway the gameplay is great, there is lots of hours in this game and its cheap now.

The real problem for me is I have so many games I am trying to complete. I always end up buing new ones before i complete my old ones. Right now I am playing Final fantasy 7, even its a PS1 game it is one of the best games ever made. I also have Disgaea 3 i havent even opened it yet, because i want to complete some other games first.

Also you should look into Fallout 3 wich is being released very soon. It is very similar to oblivion but with modern graphics and gameplay from a post nuclear explosion world with a lot of humor in it.

 

[Dave A]

I know the feeling, I still haven't completed FF XII, I have it and every once in qa while I go into a spurt of playing it, but them I buy something new. My gaming time is limited anyway, some completing games can be difficult sometimess, which isn't ideal for an RPG or heavilly story based game.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Cool, im' glad there's others still here.

So far i have several small (very small) complaints. Lack of multi-player is the biggest of them. is there a way to hook up with other players online? Create an entire party like we used to in the old days? (and in Evercrack)

The combat also doesn't live up to my expectations...but it's not horrible. I'm having a hard time manuvering my fighter (excuse me, adventurer) to face the correct foe when i want. But i'll get used to it. 👍 It's not nearly as bad or cumbersome as EverQuest is. In case you're not familiar, in EverQuest i remember you just STAND there, mashing the X button. Moving around & dodging during combat is counter-productive. Not so in Elder Scrolls.

I'm your typical older geek in this manner: i grew up playing D&D till i was in college. In the 70s & 80s, we used to sit there with tons of books, mechanical pencils, and MORE books. We'd have those lead figures we painted ourselves, a hex grid, and lots of imagination to simlulate combat. Either that, or we'd REALLY geek out and sit there acting the parts of our characters!

So to have real-time combat AT ALL is pretty cool...i think most older RPG gamers don't mind so much that the combat isn't as smooth since we grew up with the pencil & paper method.

But i really LOVE the difficulty switch. That rocks, i totally didn't expect that. I love the fact you can turn the music off without turning down other sound effects. I love the double moons. Last nite i stood in a field and watched them roll slowly across the sky for several minutes. Rain +. It rains in Evercrack too, but last nite it rained REALLY HARD.

I dig the fact that you can buy a house (who woulda thought i'd have this option??) Or ride a horse. Or get in a boat. Or simply walk ANYWHERE. That's one thing i hate about most RPGs (why they wind up sitting on my shelf or going straight back to GameStop) is they are so damn linear. And if you walk 3 feet off the path...there's that invisible wall that keeps you from straying.

I love the fact that if i wanted to, i could make a character who looks similar to me (i didnt' do this, tho! taht would be too freaky).

Too many other things to mention right now. I'm thriving off of 4 hours sleep over the past 36 hours so....that tells ya something!

My question again: is there any way to make it more than a 1-player game? Perhaps hook up a broadband even?.

 

[Joey D]

The only way to make it multiplayer is to dump it for the console and play it on the computer. There are some user made mods out there that kind of sort of give you a multiplayer experience although I have no idea how well it works. Oblivion with multiplayer over the internet would suck though, it would be to much like an MMORPG and lose the free story aspect of it. Maybe a co-op mode, but really nothing else would fit the game. The whole multiplayer thing has been hashed on several Oblivion forums over and over again always coming to the same conclusion.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

The only way to make it multiplayer is to dump it for the console and play it on the computer. There are some user made mods out there that kind of sort of give you a multiplayer experience although I have no idea how well it works. Oblivion with multiplayer over the internet would suck though, it would be to much like an MMORPG and lose the free story aspect of it. Maybe a co-op mode, but really nothing else would fit the game. The whole multiplayer thing has been hashed on several Oblivion forums over and over again always coming to the same conclusion.

Thanks. 👍 Yeah, now i'm trying to figure out how to make potions. I keep mixing ingredients with a mortar & pestle, and then i name it. But where does it go after that? After i name the option, it disappears!

 

[klondike]

After you make the potion it goes to your inventory.

You can check out this link to learn more about alchemy. The topic is far to deep to explain it all here..

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Alchemy

Making potions is actually a good way to make money in the begining of the game. just pick up any ingridients you come across, or even buy ingridients from shops, and make potions out of them. You can resell them with tons of profit. ( Keep the good ones with hp recovery and mana recovery and some poisons are always good to have )

Its another flaw of the game it is way to easy to make money, also once you join a guild ( mage guild is best ) there is another way of making tons of money.

Mini spoiler !!!! Highlight text if you want to know how to make some easy money...

Once you are member of any guild, you can pick up all the items in the guild, and sell it with a huge profit. all those stones and alchemy items are worth a lot in the begining of the game. and all the items respawn every 3 days.

In general the game is so deep, and has so many quest and stuff to learn that the Wiki is a very handy tool to learn more about the game.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Hmm. I've made 3 potions so far. It says to "name" it. So i do. I back out pressing circle. Look in my inventory, and can't find the potion i named.

Thanks for keeping that text white! No spoilers for Parnelli!

What about persuasion? I don't get it. What's the point? I tried to persuade a guard last nite (just to see what it does). I thought maybe there would be some options after that--like maybe i could persuade him to leave his post and join me on an adventure or something. But nothing happens.

I didn't really persuade him very much, tho. Got to maybe about 60 on the meter.

 

[Joey D]

With persuasion you gain disposition which makes some characters tell you more information then they would have originally. Also if you do it to a shopkeeper more often then not they'll sell stuff to you cheaper. If a guard has a high disposition they won't arrest you if you commit a crime. If you get a beggar to have a high disposition you get a quest, although I'll let you figure that one out. Also if your character becomes something it's not (once again I'll leave this out) only people with 100% disposition will talk to you.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

My copy of Oblivion is still wrapped. I don't know if I should even start it. I got bored with Morrowind.

 

[Joey D]

Oblivion plays a bit quicker if you want it to because you can fast travel from place to place. There is also much more to do.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

I can see why some people would get bored with it, mostly because it's a very sparse game. You're not being constantly bombarded with enemies, even if you go seeking for them. And money is hard to come by (so far). If you need instant gratification, this is not the game for you.

Personally i like the sparseness. I can't stand games that have constant stimulation, they give me a headache (GT is the exception, of course). That's what playing D&D was like in the old days; alot of travelling occurs before you finally meet an enemy.

So i defeated 3 yellow teamers at the Arena, which kicked ass! Travelled the entire perimeter around Empire City (or whatever it's called), making plenty of stops to battle enemies and explore some forts & dungeons, just to get to the town where the emperor's son is located. This took ALL DAY. And i still didn't make it to that town! Kvatch, i think it's called.

I'm still poor. I have about 400 golds...haven't figured out how to up the ante yet, which is fine. I'm in no hurry.

 

[Picc84]

I can see why some people would get bored with it, mostly because it's a very sparse game. You're not being constantly bombarded with enemies, even if you go seeking for them. And money is hard to come by (so far). If you need instant gratification, this is not the game for you.

Personally i like the sparseness. I can't stand games that have constant stimulation, they give me a headache (GT is the exception, of course). That's what playing D&D was like in the old days; alot of travelling occurs before you finally meet an enemy.

So i defeated 3 yellow teamers at the Arena, which kicked ass! Travelled the entire perimeter around Empire City (or whatever it's called), making plenty of stops to battle enemies and explore some forts & dungeons, just to get to the town where the emperor's son is located. This took ALL DAY. And i still didn't make it to that town! Kvatch, i think it's called.

I'm still poor. I have about 400 golds...haven't figured out how to up the ante yet, which is fine. I'm in no hurry.

Did you just start?! Do you know that you can fast travel? lol

 

[klondike]

Also money is in no way hard to come by. Personaly I thought it was to easy.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Did you just start?! Do you know that you can fast travel? lol

I'm not interested in fast travelling. Unless there is some sort of genuine teleport device, but even then, i won't make a habit of using it. I like the method of travelling by horse or foot, and just exploring all the small hamlets and forts. I'll back and forth this way for months (earth months, not game months) literally. Is that not a popular thing to do? Just curious.

In the old D&D days, that's how we did it...you travelled a certain number of hexes per "day", and rolled the dice. If you rolled a 24 (and there was a 25% chance of an encounter, for instance) you would be attacked. We NEVER just went from one town to the next without rolling dice; matter of fact, most of the time we'd look forward to encounters because they meant possible money & treasure was to be had. Eventually, we wound up rolling for all sorts of things, not just encoutners: we'd roll dice to see if anyone got sick. Or got too drunk, or whatever. Yup, we were some geeks for sure.

klondike: I'm also not interested in being too rich too fast (so no spoilers! Please!) That would in fact make me a bit bored if all a sudden i had tons of money. Some "RPG"s are like this: within an hour, you're already using very advanced spells, gigantic weapons, and have a crapload of money. I don't like that; i like the early struggle this game presents us with. When i finally do something and get alot of money for doing it, the surprise will be genuine, know what i mean?

I like playing Gran Turismo the same way...instead of looking for shortcuts, i prefer to get to know the game's physics, cars, and tracks slowly, while making a few hundred or thousand credits, and getting really good at the game while driving slow. Something about being poor in videogames i dig, i'm not even sure why. Perhaps it's psychological. Again, when i finally hit some real money (more than $100,000 or so) the surprise feels genuine. It makes my entire day. Makes me feel like i actually worked for my money.

I"m really wishing now that i chose a character who's better at alchemy, though. I know why i can't make potions...it's because her skill is really low (like 7) and it's a minor skill, rather than a major one. I'm assuming that if i keep practicing somehow, i'll eventually get better and be able to make my own stuff, right? But it'll take awhile.

If i wind up dying, i might start over, but with a character who's more knowledgeable about alchemy. I also like pure fighting and sneaking around, too. I'm afraid to start off with someone who's jsut a wizard or something, though.

 

[klondike]

Yeah sure I wont post spoilers without warnings, as I hate when people do that my self. I was just saying that within the normal game play it is to easy to make a lot of money, wich i find a litle bad, because I am like you I like when games are not to easy.

I dont know why you cant make potions are you sure you are doing it the right way, because it has nothing to do with if your skill is minor or major.

The is no real diference between Major and Minor skills, besides it is your major skills that determines when your character level up.

It was quite some time ago I played Oblivion so I cant remeber it all now. But as far as I remeber you need a mortal & pestle ( or one of the more advanced Achemy items) + 2 ingridients wich match eachother.

When you click the mortar & pestle a screen comes up where you select wich ingridients to combine, then click combine and you have made a potion, that is all there is to it.

Also the game does have classes but it is more of how you play them that determines wich class you character will become. You could in fact make a character wich would eventually have 100 in all skills, so in practice the character would be all the classes in one.

Anyway the game is way to complex to explain it all here. I sugest you take a look at the Oblivion.wiki.

You can do that with out getting any spoilers, but you will get some knowledge about how the leveling system works, how skills works, guild etc.. It is very hard to play the game with out this knowledge, as you already found out, because the game is so complex as it is.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Thanks klondike. YOu mentioned 2 ingredients must "match" each other. Perhaps that is the problem. I'm just throwing random stuff into the mortar. A couple times it let me mix them, and asked me what i wanted to name it, so i gave it a name and pressed circle (exit). Went to my inventory...and no potion under that name. The rest of the times, it wouldn't even let me mix them.

Here's a story: last nite i was going to cross some bridge. A long bridge. And it was nighttime in the game. Not only that, there was fog everywhere. I got off my horse, and I saw some figure in the distance. Wanted to just shoot it with an arrow, but i wasn't sure if it was an enemy or an imperial guard.

So i chose to sneak up on him, instead. I forget if i attacked him first or if he heard me. Turns out it was a highwayman that looked like a walking cat.

Halfway thru the battle, i realize i need health. this guy was tough! So i click my hotkey for health potions and nothing happened. I turned round and started running away, looking in the inventory. NO HEALTH POTIONS. And i'm apparently not good enough to cast health spells yet (either that, or i'm not doing the health spells right). So i get on my horse! The highwaycat/man attacks me but doesn't get a good hit. My health was pretty low, too.

So i ride back the way i came. I figure i'll ride far enough to get off the horse and rest, and go back to finish him off. But before i get maybe a 1/4 mile, there's an Imperial getting off his horse. Turns out, the stupid highwaycat left his post at the bridge to follow me! The imperial starts attacking the highwayman/cat thing. I figure it's safe for me to join in the attack with a bow & arrow from a distance, so i get off my horse.

Well, i get off, and the stupid looking highwayman/cat immediately ignores the guard and starts coming after ME instead and my health is still low!

Somehow......(i forget how) we got rid of the highwaycat/man thing. Phew!

 

[Picc84]

Here's a story: last nite i was going to cross some bridge. A long bridge. And it was nighttime in the game. Not only that, there was fog everywhere. I got off my horse, and I saw some figure in the distance. Wanted to just shoot it with an arrow, but i wasn't sure if it was an enemy or an imperial guard.

So i chose to sneak up on him, instead. I forget if i attacked him first or if he heard me. Turns out it was a highwayman that looked like a walking cat.

Halfway thru the battle, i realize i need health. this guy was tough! So i click my hotkey for health potions and nothing happened. I turned round and started running away, looking in the inventory. NO HEALTH POTIONS. And i'm apparently not good enough to cast health spells yet (either that, or i'm not doing the health spells right). So i get on my horse! The highwaycat/man attacks me but doesn't get a good hit. My health was pretty low, too.

So i ride back the way i came. I figure i'll ride far enough to get off the horse and rest, and go back to finish him off. But before i get maybe a 1/4 mile, there's an Imperial getting off his horse. Turns out, the stupid highwaycat left his post at the bridge to follow me! The imperial starts attacking the highwayman/cat thing. I figure it's safe for me to join in the attack with a bow & arrow from a distance, so i get off my horse.

Well, i get off, and the stupid looking highwayman/cat immediately ignores the guard and starts coming after ME instead and my health is still low!

Somehow......(i forget how) we got rid of the highwaycat/man thing. Phew!

I have ABS. NO IDEA what bridge you were on that was THAT long, But I do know that these Highway men are all over the game, and the "Cat" thing is called a Kajiit (Sp?) And is my character in game, very high at sneak, and acrobatics...

What level are you? And have you tried hitting R2 for your health? I forget how to explain how to make Minor Healing Spell your default spell, but Your DEFINATLY going to need that. Heres a few links your going to like, Some big reads, but helped me RIDICULOUSLY in the beginning of the game.

http://www.tesguides.com/tes4/main.htm
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps3/file/941877/42063
http://www.uesp.net/oblivion/map/obmap.shtml

The last is hard to use, but after you get into the game and know your way around, and know items your looking for, your going to need it.

Also! Figured I'd let you know, Be Stingy when in caves and such about what you pick up. In the beginning, I picked up EVERYTHING, but found a friend who play's Oblivion (Level 40) And he helped me learn whats valuable and not. ALWAYS take Enchanted Items. Although you may not see alot at your level. (I'm a level 18 BTW, If you play like your playing, you'll get there quick)

 

[klondike]

Yes the ingridients have to match each other when you make potions. When you start you can only see ( If I remeber correct) 1 posibel effect for each ingridient, but when you get higher skill you will be able to see upto 4 posibel effects for each ingridient.

Anyway are you sure you dident cancel the combine ?
Because as far as I remeber pressing O cancels any action, you have to press X to confirm the combine.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Wow, thanks much, picc84. I'll keep those links handy. 👍

The first time i played, i did just that; picked up everything, every cup and plate i found outside the dungeon. Any weapons...anything basically except bones & skulls That character died and i started over. 2nd time, i made a rule: only one ready weapon, one bow, and one weapon for selling later. It's just unrealistic to hoard everything you find without a party of hirelings to carry all that stuff. 💡 I'm into trying to make things at least somewhat realistic, as you can see.


klondike: now i'm not sure. I know i combined everything with [] the square button (that's what it says to do for PS3). Then i named it. Not sure if i ever pressed X. Guess i'll try again and see later. .

Hey DOES ANYONE know how time works? I'm not sure if "seeds" are supposed to be weeks or months or years. I actually went on that wiki site you posted to get an answer but couldn't find an immediate answer. Didn't want to look too far into the links at wiki...trying not to accidently read any spoilers again.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Ha! I found one of those ways you guys were talking about to make money!
I'ts a SPOILER for anyone else new who's reading it, so i'll lighten the text. All you guys who have been playing for awhile probly already know about this..

Joined the mages guild, started picking up everything in the building to see what i could and couldn't use since i won't get in trouble for doing so. Then i went to sell some potions to one of the guys, and lo & behold, i could sell the alembic, mortar & pestle, etc that i just picked up! HA! I dont think it's a glitch, it seems to be more of an oversight perhaps.

The game seems to recognize everything in the guild as "yours" once you join. And since you can technically sell guild stuff to the guild, it becomes possible to just pick up a peice of equipment, ingredient or a potion in the guild, and turn right around and sell it back to them!

 

[Picc84]

i made a rule: only one ready weapon, one bow, and one weapon for selling later.

No problem with the links, if you have any questions, or just want to talk about the game (i'm just as obsessed as you are) Send me a PM and i'll throw you my AIM or MSN or something...

Also, I wouldent say just one ready weapon, one bow, and one weapon for stealing, for im carrying right now...

Glass Mace (for blunt)
Some kinda longsword, possibily Elven, But its really sweet, some 23 damage?
Glass Bow
And every arrow i've ever picked up

And I only carry the armor I need, and i put allot of potions away aswell... If you have some 5k built up, look in those guides for where you can buy a cheap house and purchase one, they have crates and boxes you can store everything in and it will be there when you get back. They save your life >.<

 

[Parnelli Bone]

No problem with the links, if you have any questions, or just want to talk about the game (i'm just as obsessed as you are) Send me a PM and i'll throw you my AIM or MSN or something...

Also, I wouldent say just one ready weapon, one bow, and one weapon for stealing, for im carrying right now...

Glass Mace (for blunt)
Some kinda longsword, possibily Elven, But its really sweet, some 23 damage?
Glass Bow
And every arrow i've ever picked up

And I only carry the armor I need, and i put allot of potions away aswell... If you have some 5k built up, look in those guides for where you can buy a cheap house and purchase one, they have crates and boxes you can store everything in and it will be there when you get back. They save your life >.<

cool. It's good someone here is just as obsessed as me!

I'm not sure what my MSN is, but i'll try and contact you when i get home cause i'm on a work computer.

Yeah my "rule" for carrying stuff just applies for realism. It's just unrealistic for one person (no matter how strong) to be carrying more than 1 set of armour, 1 sheild, 1 ready weapon, a bow, and a small knife, and be able to engage in combat without losing any of their agility & dexterity. The assumption is that each character has some sort of pack to carry an extra set of clothes, ingredients, shoes, etc, although we can't see this in the game.

Back in the D&D days, we'd actually have hirelings carry all the stuff we looted. Yeah, we were that anal. These hirelings would just be poor, dumb folk represented by yet more lead figureines, and would only get involved in combat if an enemy got by regular fighting PCs.

 

[PeterJB]

Has anybody found this very small Fort Tower (about 10 feet tall) east of Lake Rumare that makes noises that sound like Bottles rolling around? It's it a bug? Glitch? Or Easter Egg?

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Has anybody found this very small Fort Tower (about 10 feet tall) east of Lake Rumare that makes noises that sound like Bottles rolling around? It's it a bug? Glitch? Or Easter Egg?

I'm not sure. I went by lots of forts this weekend, but i'm bad with names.

 

[Joey D]

The assumption is that each character has some sort of pack to carry an extra set of clothes, ingredients, shoes, etc, although we can't see this in the game.

Hammerspace FTW! It's always been a downfall of realism in RPG's. Although Oblivion's weight restrictions make it slightly better then other games of the same genre.

 

[PeterJB]

I'm not sure. I went by lots of forts this weekend, but i'm bad with names.

The Fort it's next to is either Fort Magia or Fort Urasek.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Hammerspace FTW! It's always been a downfall of realism in RPG's. Although Oblivion's weight restrictions make it slightly better then other games of the same genre.

Yeah, Oblivion is amazing. Matter of fact, whenever i find fault with something in this game, there's like 20 other things i'm not mentioning that are dead-on realisitc, or correctly done. 👍 I'm betting the next edition of the series will be more improved.

Funny thing. I just noticed Bethesda gameworks is literally right near Bethesda, Maryland. Well actually, it's in Rockville nowadays. But either way, it's only like 25 minutes from my house! One of these days i may just go down there to see if i can take a tour.

The Fort it's next to is either Fort Magia or Fort Urasek.

Again, i'm bad with names. I literally just started the game 5 days ago.