The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[Thunderfall]

Don't think so... When I want to cancel, I usaually just fire at the wall or the ground nearby, then pick it up.

 

[Colonel]

So what quest is everyone up to right now?

I just did Mephala and Meridia, going to finish all the rest of them next
Also did Azura and Nocturnal

 

[kcwong]

Yup, firing at the ground is the best way. Immediately press space to pick the arrow back up, since it might bounce around a bit, and arrows left on ground disappear after a short while.

 

[Ultima Dragoon]

Sanguine's quest.
MQ (Damn quest glitch)
Fighters guild - searching for the other guys (beside from oreyn) to get quests for.

 

[kcwong]

I've done all of them

Now just playing around with my high level character, waiting for the ability to delete spells before I start a pure mage.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I'm nowhere, and I don't think I'll ever get anywhere.

 

[BlizzardGR]

I've done all of them

Now just playing around with my high level character, waiting for the ability to delete spells before I start a pure mage.

Don't hold your breath on that.

 

[Snerk]

Does anybody have any advise on where I should go as a oblivion newbie? Im trying to find a warrior or mage guild to get some basic learning. Im in imperial city, can someone tell me the direction to a warrior giuld?

 

[Chukchi Husky]

There's a Fighter's Guild in Anvil with an easy first quest.

 

[kcwong]

Don't hold your breath on that.

No problem... I'm too familiar with all the quests to do them all over again so soon anyway.

Besides I have HoMMV to finish. Just started Necro campaign map 3, after restarting map 1 and 2 because I screwed up my skill choices.

 

[kcwong]

Does anybody have any advise on where I should go as a oblivion newbie? Im trying to find a warrior or mage guild to get some basic learning. Im in imperial city, can someone tell me the direction to a warrior giuld?

In the big cities, you can ask the guards for directions. And they'll tell you... there're no guilds in the Imperial City... yup, the Arcane University is there, but you can't enter without being a full Mage guild member.

Visit any of the other cities... each of them have both Fighter and Mage guild. Talking to the person in charge inside will give you the membership.

A hint: Once you're a member, *most* of the stuff inside the guild houses are free for taking. Remember, *most* of the stuff. Some items are reserved for higher ranking members, which you will gain access to later on. So use the first person mode and note the cursor's colour.

This ranking stuff is a bit weird... e.g. at first there's a locked display case you cannot touch. Later you can pick the lock legally, but cannot take the items inside. Then when you're near the highest rank you can take them all.

 

[Godwynn]

So I just got this game about 3 days ago, and my warrior is stuck trying to kill that orc vampire in the gutted mines. No matter how many potions I drink I cannot kill that thing. So I started an Archer and made a custom class and I am unstoppable now. Still haven't gotten to the Gutted Mines yet.

 

[Godwynn]

You will probably regret ever saying this and sending me on this rant, but oh well .

First off, I really like this game. I finished the main quest yesterday and I will most likely restart it with a new character after coming back from short vacations next week. So I really do like Oblivion...

BUT...

I don't know how many of you are old enough to have played the Ultima games, and particulary I mean the Ultima VII. That's the one that really became a point of reference for me, according to which I judge all the other RPG/adventure games I play. On this scale Oblivion places much better than Morrowing but still...

So you have the much hyped AI engine that has a 24 hour cycle and makes people go to sleep at night... wow... and they also eat sometimes, and practice archery or swordplay and maybe something more... wow...

But at the same time you have to realize that the Ultima VII game I mentioned had the same and much more well over 10 year ago. AND MORE, because those people in Ultima really felt like they were having lives. Smiths didn't just stand there at the counter, they actually made swords (using tools, the bellows and a furnace). Bakers baked bread, and it wasn't just appearing out of nowhere. No, they would get flour, get water, make the dough, fire the oven, put the dough in the oven, wait a bit, and take out a loaf of bread. And you could do the same yourself BTW.

Also, Ultima had children, starting with toddlers in cribs and finishing with adolescents. And those children had their own AI patterns, they didn't work usually, but they would run around, play tag, play with toys, etc. IMHO despite all the bells and whistles of oblivion, that wourld was just much more real and fleshed out.

I daresay the 10+ years old Ultima had much better logic when it came to NPC or team members following you around. Playing Oblivion I nearly always had to look behind me if the person supposed to be following me was still following me or maybe got lost, stuck on a hillside or whatever. I actually had to revert to the last save once or twice, because I lost the person who was supposed to be following me.

Then, dungeons are really boring in Oblivion. Take the Ayelid ruins for example - you've seen one, you've seen them all the differences are really minor and are pretty much limited to variations in the twists and turns of the corridors. Same with forts, same with caves. Oh sure, one is flooded, the other is not, but there is just nothing interesting inside! A few monsters, a few chests. In Ultima many caves were just caves, but many actually had something special inside. An inhabited section where some weird society lived, a dragons' den or, for example, a giant heap of child bodies that made you go what in the world happened here???.

And so on. Chests - I may be prejudiced here because my character sucked both at alteration and at security - but comeon, here I have a wooden chest and a big effing axe in my hand... Do I really have to fumble in the lock with a frigging lockpick? In Ultima - sure enough, you could just hack a chest open.

And so on, and so on. This is not to say Oblivion is bad. Only that all those things have really been done before, and I think 10+ years is long enough time for somebody to do them better at last.

Sure, there are few things in Oblivion that were less elaborate in Ultima. Alchemy for example. Oblivion has many more ingredients and many more potion effects. Graphics - no doubt, but then again these were different times. Player stats are more elaborate, true...

But as for AI and realism, there's really nothing in this game that would not have been here 10+ years ago. And it's a shame really because with today's processing power I'm sure something interesting could be achieved. Aparently this is not what people want. Maybe for some reason people prefer ragdoll effects to elaborate NPC AI, because somehow ragdoll physics gets done, and AI doesn't... I don't know. I just hope one day I'll see something better that U.

BTW, anyone who still happens to have original Ultima VII game files can download a free Windows engine called Exult and run the game on Windows. It works briliantly.

I downloaded Exult and I emersed myself again in the realm of Britannia. I miss the 90's. I did like how you could make dough, put it in the oven, and it turn to bread, and take it with you on your next journey.

 

[Thunderfall]

Does anybody have any advise on where I should go as a oblivion newbie? Im trying to find a warrior or mage guild to get some basic learning. Im in imperial city, can someone tell me the direction to a warrior giuld?

It's good to visit to as many cities as possible early... more fun that way. In my game, I spent LOTS of time in Imperial City before visiting any other city (only started to visit Chorrol a few days ago).

 

[Ultima Dragoon]

Heh, first place I went when I was out of the Imperial city was to cheydinhal, then up the valus mountains to Morrowind. Couldn't get over them, though.

 

[Chieftess]

How big is the gameworld compared to Morrowind?

 

[kcwong]

According to lore? See UESP's section on Tamriel.
UESP

If you mean in the game, then Morrowind is bigger. Cities and stuff in Oblivion are re-scaled.

 

[Godwynn]

So I'm in Sancre Tor, how can I hurt ghosts with my arrows? It says my attack does not have any effect!

 

[Godwynn]

So I found out I need a Silver Bow or Silver Arrows. Where can I find either?

 

[kcwong]

Shops. There should be some for sale in Imperial City's market district right from the start.

You could also get a ton of them for free inside Fighter guild and mage guild halls.

To hurt ghosts (or other critters which are immune to normal weapons), you need either one of these:
1) Spells
2) Silver/Daedric melee weapon
3) Enchanted melee weapon (with charges remaining or not)
4) Silver/Daedric bow with any type of arrows
5) Enchanted bow (with charges remaining or not) with any type of arrows
6) Any bow with silver/daedric/enchanted arrows