Talk about Oblivion

[Martine A.]

Oblivion is my overall favorite of the Elder Scrolls saga. I did love the atmosphere in Morrowind the most, but gameplay did its work. In Oblivion, the atmosphere is a bit down, but gameplay is better. Played Skyrim twice and didn't return to it. I keep coming back to Oblivion.

Note, I did my homework, only found this ancient topic, and decided to open mine.

So, this time I would like to talk about deities there. Figured after all things I have been exposed to in life, the most important is to find a way to enjoy it. That same thing passes to my ingame character, so she often stops by Sanguine's post. Hedonism sounds like me. How about you?

Feel free to share other things you like about Oblivion.

[Lady Smith]

As much as I enjoyed Morrowind it's Oblivion I keep coming back to as well.  As you say Martine Morrowind had far more atmosphere to it than Oblivion, but Oblivion is better for gameplay and I prefer modding for Oblivion over modding for Morrowind.

Religion and deities are a large part of the colour and background of Oblivion and that certainly is an attraction for me.  My little custom Sylph character Niggle is very fond of Mara, and prays often at her shrines despite Niggle being an appalling little thief.  My risen UnDead Elf Queen Eiolynn hates Daedra even though with her hedonistic tendencies and drunkness she could be mistaken for being a devotee of Sanguine.  She hates vampires and most necromancers too (actually she seems to hate everyone....) and can be barely considered to be any kind of ally of the Cult of Worms.  I used to play her with a mod that let her wear the Amulet of Kings which says everything about her warped state of mind and grandiose tendencies.

I did try playing a holy woman/warrior nun type character once, but it's very difficult to roleplay a 'good' and mostly non violent character in Oblivion without having to mod the game first.

[Galyo]

I like Morrowind the most, including the Bloodmoon expansion pack (the other expansion wasn't that interesting). Skyrim would be my second favorite, with Oblivion landing on the third spot.

All three games have a lot of bugs and glitches, but I think Oblivion is the most buggy. I frequently managed to get out of bounds in that game, to the point where it really took me out of the experience. I also don't really like the story in Oblivion that much. I know the PC version has a lot of mods that fix some of the bugs, but I still prefer to play a game the way the creator intended it to be played.

However... The Shivering Isles expansion pack for Oblivion is a different story. It has a great story, and they made the environment and characters a lot more interesting in my opinion. Although Shivering Isles also still has a lot of bugs (I remember one game-breaking bug in a ghost castle), it's still better than vanilla Oblivion to me.

That's just my opinion!

[CalmRage]

By Azura! By Azura! By Azura! You have great taste!

my most played game. i think i may have played 18-20 hours in a row (except for food and bathroom breaks) for a while when i first got into it. me and my best friend would both compare our progress and give each other tips. He also has (or had? i don't know) the official guide book, which was a tremendous help for those without internet (not me). Also one of a few games i rebought when my discs accidentally got scratched beyond hope. And then i finally was able to play it in English. I also tend to use lots of mods. Ask RavenL for what I gave her as a "mostly-vanilla, but improved" list of mods (quite a few of them being bugfixes).

[Lady Smith]

Oblivion without the bug fixes and certain well chosen mods is just about unplayable IMHO.  The gameworld itself is very rich and well developed and is crying out to have additional mods made for it so I'm quite unashamed about running a lot of mods.  I don't go in for 'god' items though as they tend to ruin gameplay too much.
My custom UnDead risen Elf Queen player character could be considered to be too overpowered by some players, but as her cognitive blunting and lack of coordination is near a match for my own with this illness I live with she actually works out very well for me despite her high strength and endurance stats.  I'm teaching her to use a bow at the moment and of course she's not very good at it, but at least she's starting to actually hit the target now.
She did a mod quest recently to obtain a summon rats spell and this spell is an absolute perfect match for her personality and character.  Rats aren't the most powerful creatures anybody could summon, but their numbers do a marvellous job of distracting an opponent 

[CalmRage]

my favorite TES PC was either the balding high elf mage or the grizzly old orc. Those were in Skyrim, but i still spent most of my time on Oblivion (i started 6 years ago).

[Martine A.]

Stopped by to mention Oblivion's (Cyrodiil's) cities. Is there one you particularly like??

I am fond of Skingrad's streets. Forgetting the canals and floods of tourists, Skingrad's streets remind me of ones in Amsterdam, where I walk so often. It is just that feeling I like. Too bad every city in Oblivion is so small.

About bugs, on my system I need to do the following steps to run Oblivion...

0) Start the steam
1) Start Oblivion once; nothing happens on my system
2) Open task manager and kill Oblivion.exe; just that process, not the whole tree; make sure its rundll32.exe remains orphaned.
3) Run it again. Now it works.

If Oblivion won't start because 'another its instance is running', kill all Oblivion and steam processes. Clear steam's cache. Then give it a go again.

[Galyo]

I liked that town up to the north that was themed in a Skyrim-like style. I don't know how that town was called... o_O

I liked that one because both Morrowind and Oblivion contained a lot of books and lore that talked about Skyrim, and both that town, and the Bloodmoon expansion pack for Morrowind were the only things that came just remotely close to Skyrim's atmosphere at that time.

[CalmRage]

I liked that town up to the north that was themed in a Skyrim-like style. I don't know how that town was called... o_O

I liked that one because both Morrowind and Oblivion contained a lot of books and lore that talked about Skyrim, and both that town, and the Bloodmoon expansion pack for Morrowind were the only things that came just remotely close to Skyrim's atmosphere at that time.

Bruma, which is down the road from Cloud Ruler Temple

[Galyo]

Bruma, which is down the road from Cloud Ruler Temple

Ah yes! x3 That's the name.

I liked that one a lot. I was honestly never a big fan of the imperial architecture throughout Cyrodiil, plus it was cool to have this little sneak peak into Skyrim.

I'm curious; what you guys think of the Shivering Isles expansion pack?

[Lady Smith]

For some reason my Player Character has been spending time around Bruma lately and the town's difference to the rest of Cyrodiil is quite refreshing.  I like Chorrol too for its pleasant small town atmosphere.

My little fairy Sylph thief character 'Niggle' liked the Imperial City because of the great opportunities for nicking stuff and my risen UnDead Maggot Queen character 'Eiolynn' owns a shack in Bravil (a city she considers to be restful) and has fond memories of Kvatch.

I'm running Oblivion on 64 bit Windows 7 and I find that if the game is started in administrator mode I don't have any problems.  I don't own the Steam version btw, my copy is an old GoTY version.

Edit:  When I tried Shivering Isles the computer I was using was fairly marginal and there were places in the expansion where I couldn't go without the frame rate dropping to a standstill.  Overall I was impressed by the expansion though and I will give it a go again now that I've rebuilt my PC.

[Martine A.]

what you guys think of the Shivering Isles expansion pack?

It is awesome. I had a shirt printed with Sheogorath stamp.

So, many Skyrim lovers, eh? Myself, I play as a Nord since Morrowind. A tall blonde.
What I am curious about is how Elsweyr is going to look like. Apparently I am a latent cat lady.

I would be also looking forward to bash Thalmor guys back to their corner of Tamriel. And add a dunce cap for imposing their religious beliefs on others.

[Jera]

Khajiit are the best since Oblivion. It was awkward not being able to wear boots/gloves in Morrowind, but in all games Khajiiit are clearly the master race.

I also would like to visit Elsweyr, even if it might be hard to keep your stuff if you don't lock it up tight enough.

[Galyo]

It is awesome. I had a shirt printed with Sheogorath stamp.

Awesome! XD
When I played that quest featuring Sheogorath in Skyrim I thought to myself "No way... Did they include him in Skyrim??". It's so cool!

[Tamika Olivia]

Whodunnit is, like, objectively the best quest in a video game ever.

[Lady Smith]

Khajiit are the best since Oblivion. It was awkward not being able to wear boots/gloves in Morrowind, but in all games Khajiiit are clearly the master race.

I also would like to visit Elsweyr, even if it might be hard to keep your stuff if you don't lock it up tight enough.

There is the ELSWEYR ANEQUINA mod by Iliana which sounds very impressive.

High beyond the hills of the Niben lies the great desert plateau of central Elsweyr. From sandy desert wastes to rocky, red badlands, from grassy savannah to jungle coast, the lands of Anequina beckon.
This new region, spanning the section of Elsweyr between Skingrad and Leyawiin, includes four new landscapes (desert to jungle), five new towns, several villages, Khajiit sub-races, a couple dozen quests, four player homes and a monster-filled wilderness to explore.
The deserts and badlands of Anequina are hidden behind high hill ranges so are not readily visible from Cyrodiil despite their close proximity.
When you first install the mod an Elsweyr Anequina book will be added to your inventory which provides a quick overview of all the settlements, as well as the location of quest givers, inns, merchants and trainers. Copies of this book can also be found sitting in the middle of the Elsweyr border bridges near Riverhold and Rimmen.
I hope you have lots of fun exploring these new lands!

The mod can be hard to find though as the creator of the mod pulled it from many sites due to being harassed by too many ungrateful cretins.  As a result of this harassment she no longer supports the mod.
I'm still in process with downloading it so I can't comment on how the mod plays as yet.

[CalmRage]

Whodunnit is, like, objectively the best quest in a video game ever.

it's up there. definitely the best Dark Brotherhood quest along with the one where you kill Valen Dreth (AKA the dark elf insulting you at the start of the game). The latter was so satisfying and not to mention a bit funny as well. And the sneaking was pretty cool once you had the hang of it.

[Martine A.]

it's up there. definitely the best Dark Brotherhood quest along with the one where you kill Valen Dreth (AKA the dark elf insulting you at the start of the game). The latter was so satisfying and not to mention a bit funny as well. And the sneaking was pretty cool once you had the hang of it.

The way I see it, he is a poor soul. I was sorry for him from the day 1. I bet he hates himself when left alone with his thoughts. Such a misfortunate soul.

At the DB quest to assassinate him, there is Valen's conversation with the guard where I couldn't help the thought that the prison had taken its toll on his sanity.

A sad assassination in my gameplay. Spending some time with him in prison, I would try and show empathy for what he has become. If there was any sanity left in him, he might come around and open up eventually. If not, oh well, it was worth a try.

[CalmRage]

The way I see it, he is a poor soul. I was sorry for him from the day 1. I bet he hates himself when left alone with his thoughts. Such a misfortunate soul.

At the DB quest to assassinate him, there is Valen's conversation with the guard where I couldn't help the thought that the prison had taken its toll on his sanity.

A sad assassination in my gameplay. Spending some time with him in prison, I would try and show empathy for what he has become. If there was any sanity left in him, he might come around and open up eventually. If not, oh well, it was worth a try.

my latest character taunted him briefly then struck him down. he wasn't the type for idle chit-chat, unless it was with Vilja or his horse (he IS the new Sheogorath after all).

[Lady Smith]

I made a mod that makes it possible to open the cell doors and go and give Valen Dreth a good couple of punches before having to dash back before the Emperor and the Blades arrive.  Otherwise it gets a bit silly with the player character being in Valen Dreth's cell while Captain Reynard is standing at the door of the other empty cell saying, 'What's this prisoner doing here?'