TES 4: Oblivion

[Cylian]

Sure, the game isn't perfect, but it's definitly the most enjoyable game I've played in a long time

too bad for the translation. why oh why is my minor healing spell called Fireball ?

Mage: Hahaaar! Burn Goblin Burn!
<heals scratch on little finger>
Goblin: <hack'n'slash'n'hack'n'slash>

 

[Thorwyn]

too bad for the translation. why oh why is my minor healing spell called Fireball ?

Because they wanted to save money for some reason and thought it would be a good idea to make the localization inhouse. But I`m sure there will be a patch, fixing all those translation flaws.

Spoiler

In the german version, you can´t solve the vampire quest, because one of the key ingredients has the wrong name

 

[Cylian]

performance increase for nVidia cards:

clicky

off to try that

 

[Naffets]

I have an ati card and it still runs poorly. Well...i expected better.

1280 x 1024, ultra high detail and HDR on etc. but it still slows down a bit too much in some areas. Seems like hdd caching but unsure.
Hopefully performance will be improved in upcoming patches

 

[Zoia]

When that´s done, they´re asking me: oh btw.. what CLASS do you want to play? After 40 minutes into the game/tutorial?! If I want to play the game again with a different class, I need to play the entire tutorial again!?

Save the game before you pick your class, skills, looks, etc.
If you want to start again as another class, load that save-game and chose different things.

 

[Thorwyn]

Save the game before you pick your class, skills, looks, etc.
If you want to start again as another class, load that save-game and chose different things.

Haven´t done that the first time (how could I know). Of course it´s possible to circumvent all the annoyance. One might even just run through the tutorial, not caring about the features. But why am I (as the player who should have fun playing the game) supposed to find/use workarounds to counter lazy design features?
See, it´s not that it spoils the game. All I say is, that after 25 years of gamedesign experience, people are still making those kind of mistakes... simple mistakes that are being described in more than enough design books.

 

[Cylian]

guess the newer gfx cards are quite capable to display Oblivions graphics, but the drivers need tweaking.
Those modifications I linked earlier did work nicely for me

 

[tris-]

It´s not about what I *know* how things work, it´s about communicating with the player. Of course I know that Dexterity is good for, say, acrobatic maneuvers and that it fits to Rogue classes. But there might be people out there who don´t know that and can´t transfer gaming experience into this new game.

The RL disease example is correct, but this is a game. And the disease is going to influence the entire course of the game fundamentally.

first off - dexterity should be something you know from irl, lol.
secondly - this is what TES is about. one decision can influence everything in game. one thing that can happen will change the course of everything else.

imo, there should be no indications you have a disease. apart from like -2 con or what ever you mentioned. if you got a minus stat then you should be off reading the ingame books to find out about why its dropped

 

[Raven]

only just started reading the in-game books, its cool because you gain skill in things from reading about them too.

 

[Aran Thule]

i prefer this method of it suggesting a class rather then the multiple choice questions in previous games.
Got through the tutorial and he said he thought i was an agent, which is pretty close to how i was playing it, of course i went custom, ive made a few decisions that i would change if i did it again but its a great looking game (512 1800 ati card) and has fixed a lot of the issues i had with morrowind.
one question i have, i found the person in the capital who i think is supposed to train security (Samual Bsomething i think, the former locksmith) but i dont get the train option.
Anyone know if i have the right person or if i have to do something before he will train me?

 

[tris-]

you dont always get the trrain options. i dont get it with the blades dude in the fighters guild. i think there must be some kind trigger to start it. dunno what though. it maybe random from person to person.

and by person to person i mean irl persons

 

[Zede]

went for

blades/light armour/conjuration/destruction/mysticism/restoration/alteration.


my only gripe is the total lack of any sort of visual quickbar, makes fighting multiple opponents a real p.i.t.a

I have like 30 spells now and only 8 slots on a non visable qb...ZzzZz

 

[Raven]

yeah i am finding the quick bar to be a real pain in the arse now, and i am not even a mage. hopefully they will patch it or something, it seems to be a problem for a lot of people, at the end of the day it is a console port so a few problems are to be expected.

 

[Thorwyn]

Anyone played the collector quest already? I found an elf dungeon in the far W of the map but couldn´t find the statue. :/

 

[Aran Thule]

havent found that one, found two dungeons but only got statue from one, other one i got stuck by a door that needs a key.
Found out about the security training problem, seems he doesnt offer to train when you talk to him in his house, but he will train when he leaves it.
Having fun, level 10 and 82 or so speed, who needs a horse, having a big sword doesnt help them if they cant catch me, mainwhile i can make them into a pincushion.

one little thing i like is that you shoot someone and you see the arrows in them, except skeletons which the arrows fall through.

 

[Zede]

Anyone played the collector quest already? I found an elf dungeon in the far W of the map but couldn´t find the statue. :/

not all the elf dungeons have a statue, so i found out.


What are peeps using to kill things ? my m8 who plays it has high sneak and uses stealther skills, I cast a pet and send it in, follow up with a few fire damage spells to finish em off.

 

[Thorwyn]

I`m a stealther/marksman, so I just sneak around and bow-kill stuff. Pretty easy so far, usually a shot from stealth is a one-shot kill (triple damage etc.).

Btw... lockpicking made easy:

a. always quicksave before picking a lock to save lockpick sets

b. if you try to pick a lock, test all the bolts (dunno the correct word, sorry). all except one will snap up very quickly, however, one of them will snap up a little slower. find out which one it is and try to fix that one first. then repeat the step.

 

[Konah]

ye think the default difficulty is too easy, but fortunately there is a difficulty slider u can use anytime ;p

i suggest 66%-75% makes things more interesting

 

[Lethul]

Now AFTER going through all this boring first 40 minutes, they´re asking me what star sign I was born under (giving you certain boni like +10 Dex... now is that good or very good? or where do I need Dex anways?). When that´s done, they´re asking me: oh btw.. what CLASS do you want to play? After 40 minutes into the game/tutorial?! If I want to play the game again with a different class, I need to play the entire tutorial again!?

Every skills shows which its governing attribute is so shoudlnt be that hard to figure out. Besides its a singleplayer roleplaying game, people want to be born under certain starsigns without even caring about attributes.

As already mentioned, save before exiting the sewers. Or download one of the many mods thats already released that starts the game at the sewer exit.

The complexity of the world is awesome. Lots of towns, lots of factions and people/NPCs to trade/talk to. Then why are the game mechanics so utterly simple? A sword has a "fighting" value of 2. What is 2? The ammount of damage? The number of dice? What´s the difference to another sword with a value of 2 that´s worth 100 gold instead of 20 gold?

its the amount of damage, different swords with same value does same damage, regardless of the material they are made off. Some materials are worth more then others. And in some other cases certain materials are needed to damage ghosts.

Combat... against more than 1 opponent, combat is ridiculous. You just click and hope that the guy you want to target is in your crosshair at the time you swing your weapon.

You do know there is paralyze spells, differnet styles etc, recoil of hitting shields? its hardly just swing away. Altho im not very good at melee combat

i play a level 30 stealthy type of char

Athletics, Marksman, Blades, Light Armor, Illusion, Sneak, Security.
Locked Chests becomes a joke when you reach 100 security

 

[Jeriraa]

Heh yes, combat against multiple opponents is messy. But thats how it is irl too isnt it? Unless you got uber skills or your enemies are utter wimps you're not gonna win a 1 vs 3.

I usaly try to decimate groups from stealth or if that doesnt work I wait... everybody needs to sleep at some point.

PS: Yes, I play an assassin and yes I am a vampire too.

PPS: If you are a playing a pure fighter poisoning your weapons might help a great deal in multi-opponent fights. There is a wide variety of poisons available at alchemists or selfmade.

 

[Thorwyn]

Every skills shows which its governing attribute is so shoudlnt be that hard to figure out. Besides its a singleplayer roleplaying game, people want to be born under certain starsigns without even caring about attributes.

As already mentioned, save before exiting the sewers. Or download one of the many mods thats already released that starts the game at the sewer exit.

I think you´re missing my point.
It´s not that I can´t figure out what´s good for what, it´s the generally bad design I`m talking about. Why am I supposed to download and install some custom made mod to circumvent the annoying design? Wouldn´t it be much better to develop the game correctly in the first place?
See... developing games is what I do for a living, so I´m naturally interested in the ways of how other people are designing their games. And this title - despite the fact that it´s a damn good game - has lots of flaws and questionable design decisions which are contradicting the existing conventions of "how to".

 

[Dukat]

Thorwyn's comments aside I think this games great so far.

Its been a long while since a game has kept me this addicted for so long. Even DAoC wasnt this bad for me.

Thinking of restarting on another character though - he's lvl 16ish at the moment, I went blades/block marksman armourer acrobatics sneak and security.

I'm missing illusion and restoration I think, will probably swap out acrobatics and something else to make room. I've pretty much ignored the magic side of the game so far, apart from the heal spell you get from the lord and a few basic charm spells, will re-roll and see what happens

 

[Jeriraa]

will re-roll and see what happens

Try becomming a Vampire too! So far I am having great fun... Ok, if you didnt drink for a while you might find sunlight rather uncomfortable but I'm a thief so I prefer nightjobs anyways. The supernatural strength and dexterity comes in handy there too and the ability to see better in the dark is the iceing on the cake.
I mostly have to limit myself to doing legal business just after sunset thou but I can bear a bit of sunbathing if I have to. (Only if I've had some blood recently.)

Shame thou that you cant buy a coffin to sleep in for your house.

 

[Outlander]

anyone know what umbra is for in this one? or she just making an appearance in the game, since I can talk to her n all but she just shuns me

Spoiler

also shame, my first char was nice lil thief type scout, sniping everything etc and sneaking about. shame that you can just sneak up to lvl 100 whenever you feel like it, and shame you can get a skeleton key thus rendering security skill kinda shit

I have rerolled

 

[tris-]

i havent really encounterd many problems with the level scaling system. tell you summit though, im on one hell of a tough quest for fighters guild.

Spoiler

in some kind of fought. 3 of them with steel plate armour against just me, wtf! it seems impossible at the minute and ive tryed about 10 different strats with no success

 

[Jeriraa]

Just had a similar situation in Oblivion while trying to close a portal. 1 Dremora caster and 1 fighter + some silly scamp.

Died like 10 times while not even getting 1 down. Then I made use of a couple of scrolls and potions and managed. I've learned from that that you should always carry:
a) Silence poison
b) 'heal over time' potions
c) a few damage spell scrolls

But what actually saved the day was my trusted mortar and pestal... I was lucky and had the right stuff to make a shield potion.

PS: And I used an elven arrow to 1-shot the Scamp. Seemed like a waste thou afterwards.

 

[tris-]

also i got a question. i started out with the basic heal spell. now 6 levels later i still have the same spell healing the same damage? is it not actually possible to permanently learn an improved version of the spell?

or will i all the way upto level ?? be healing my self for 4 dmg, lol.

 

[Jeriraa]

also i got a question. i started out with the basic heal spell. now 6 levels later i still have the same spell healing the same damage? is it not actually possible to permanently learn an improved version of the spell?

or will i all the way upto level ?? be healing my self for 4 dmg, lol.

Yes it is. Iirc the mages in Anvil have specalized in Restauration magic. Check the local mages guild there. (I was only told this by someone ingame and havent verified it.) But most any mages guild will sell 1 or 2 Restauration spells.
I've got one that heals for 25 from the alchemist in Bruma. However healing spells dont really do it when you are fighting. You better get some potions for the tough fights so you dont have to stop blocking/attacking.

 

[tris-]

do you know it permenantley or is it a one off use scroll type thing?

 

[Jeriraa]

do you know it permenantley or is it a one off use scroll type thing?

Its a spell. Pay once, use forever.