Oblivion Blog

[Scorp1on]

For those of you who remember the Oblivion Blog I have been pondering upon its return. I have set up a pole to get votes on who would like to see it come back. So, if you would like it to return please vote!

If it returns it will receive all of my attention and will be handled properly this time round. If it is succesful I will branch off into other games aswell. Hopefully this will help further development of gaming in South Africa.

Thanks

[ReinHer]

Yay for the Oblivion blog!

[Acid apple]

Yay for the Oblivion blog!
It looks to me like more of a nay than a yay

[Scorp1on]

And the text in your sig?

[Somebody]

Can you please tell me about this oblivion blog I am new and I dont know anything about the old one but I love oblivion


And by the way Acid apple you got owned. (http://Acidapple.justgotowned.com/)

[Scorp1on]

It was a blog I ran when Oblivion became quite popular on the previous forums, on it I would review mods and give news about the game. It became quite popular when it started getting many hits per day and lots of feedback.

"You got owned! Owned! Owned! Owned!......." I lol'ed.

[Somebody]

Lol ya I love dat you got owned thing!!! Cool I voted yes I want it back because it sounds good just to bad my oblivion doesnt work at the moment. :-( You say you review mods do you randomly select them or are they chosen by people

[James Donaldson]

I still haven't got Oblivion

[Somebody]

Then get it you wont regret it

[MrDeVil_909]

I think the Game of the Year edition is due fairly soon, not sure if it will be on the PC, I know it will be on the 360. It included Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles.

Honestly the game didn't move me, but it is very pretty.

[Scorp1on]

Lol ya I love dat you got owned thing!!! Cool I voted yes I want it back because it sounds good just to bad my oblivion doesnt work at the moment. :-( You say you review mods do you randomly select them or are they chosen by people

You can submit a mod you want reviewed, and if no-one submits I pick some popular ones.

[Somebody]

well I have a mod I made some time ago. Its not that good tho but theres no harm in trying to get feedback on it. heres the link CLICK ME!!! (http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=7774)

I was gonna finish it but then I got too lazy and then I never added more tombs

[H1TMAN]

Yo i'm new to this game so could you guys tell me how well will it work on a 56k as adsl wil only come in november . And will I still have to update it on the net? Please let me know from the begining wat to do to get started with this game if you dont mind.(reply here or private) thanx

[Vexo]

Its not a online game. Allot of people love it but it never really grabbed me.

[Scorp1on]

All you need is to buy the game. Its an offline RPG so yeah. No internet needed.

[H1TMAN]

Ok cool thanx. I always thought it was mainly for online. So wat is the best mod for this game ?.. Lucky I kept all those nag dvd's with oblivion stuff on there.

[Interfan]

Didn't like it. Not a true rpg imho.

[Gambit]

Didn't like it. Not a true rpg imho.

Why would you say it is not a true RPG?

[Miktar]

Gambit, I get the feeling you don't want to know how Interfan rationalizes it out.

[Somebody]

not a true RPG WTF!?!?!?!

The best mod I know of is that bank of cyridol mod it helps noobs get alot of money like me!!!

[Interfan]

Why would you say it is not a true RPG?

In a real rpg your choices affects the game. How can you be master of all the guilds in the same game?? It's not logical.

To me oblivion is a great action/adventure game with some role playing elements but I hate it being categorized as a rpg and compared to the great rpg's like Baldur's Gate when to me it isn't a true rpg.

[ReinHer]

This game is a RPG. Its a little easy though. All you need to do is join the mages quilg and enchant all your items with chameleon and viola! You have a completely invis character! All you need know is a trusty dagger and some sneak training.

[Interfan]

This game is a RPG. Its a little easy though. All you need to do is join the mages quilg and enchant all your items with chameleon and viola! You have a completely invis character! All you need know is a trusty dagger and some sneak training.

That depends on your definition of rpg. If your definition is just play a role then sure it's rpg. but if you define rpg's as being about character building, role playing and influencing the story line then no it's not a true rpg.

[Miktar]

You could influence the story more in Oblivion, than you could in Baldurs Gate, Interfan.

So I fail to see how you calling Oblivion a non-RPG makes any sense. I think you have a warped view of what makes an RPG.

[Scorp1on]

http://oblivionblog.wordpress.com/

b'coz I can! (and 72% is quite a lot)

If you like you can suggest games I can create a blog about, give me some constructive critism, recommend stuff, any suggestions in any way will be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Interfan]

You could influence the story more in Oblivion, than you could in Baldurs Gate, Interfan.

So I fail to see how you calling Oblivion a non-RPG makes any sense. I think you have a warped view of what makes an RPG.



In Baldur's gate if you decide to join the thiefs faction for instance you can't join the mages guild and the fighters guild as well. While this is the case in Oblivion. In oblvion you are pretty much able to do all the quests in one play through the game. Hence it doesn't really matter what choices you make.

While in Baldur's gate 2 your actions towards certain characters and your alignment either good or evil will influence whether you can actually do those quests.

Hence my opinion that Oblivion is an action/adventure game with some role playing elements but not an true rpg.

But I don't see us agreeing so best is probably to say we agree to disagree.

[Miktar]

In Baldur's gate if you decide to join the thiefs faction for instance you can't join the mages guild and the fighters guild as well. While this is the case in Oblivion. In oblvion you are pretty much able to do all the quests in one play through the game. Hence it doesn't really matter what choices you make.

While in Baldur's gate 2 your actions towards certain characters and your alignment either good or evil will influence whether you can actually do those quests.

Hence my opinion that Oblivion is an action/adventure game with some role playing elements but not an true rpg.

But I don't see us agreeing so best is probably to say we agree to disagree.


No, you're right - Baldurs Gate has better checks and balances in place for it's systems, I agree with you there.

However, in the case ob Oblivion, it is the lack of those checks and balances that make you think it is not an RPG.

I consider that a failing on the developers side, not the game itself. There are hundreds of modifications for Oblivion that fix *exactly this problem*, of being able to join the Thieves Guild, for example, with the Warriors Guild not paying attention at all.

Oblivion is very much a true RPG like Baldurs gate, if you look at the construct.

Don't call it a faux RPG just because the developers didn't finish their damn game properly.

[ReinHer]

The thieves guild is secret, they dont know you are a member. The worst case is when you join the order of virtuous blood when you are already an admitted vampire.

[DaBaish]

Ummm...I also have a complaint vs Oblivion...luckily it's a logical one not like Interfan's "wah wah, I can join all the guilds" issue.
Mine is the fact that compared to its predacessor, Oblivion lacks a few crucial skills and spells, plus there's 1 tiny thing that makes Oblivion lose its wonder...it's a tiny red or green arrow on your map. In Morrowind, there were no pointers...you had to find your own way to your objective via BRAIN and MEMORY. Also, in Morrowind, there are parts in each guild which makes it impossible to join opposing guilds, so, you know...maybe that'll make Interfan stop complaining about a minor issue.
I think Oblivion's a FINE game, just sad such fine elements were taken away, like the werewolf transformation in Bloodmoon. I WANT THAT BACK! > <

[ReinHer]

If only the armor system was like it was in Morrowind... I loved that.

[Interfan]

Nah you guys won't convince me thats it's an rpg. but I guess each to his own.

[Drakus]

@ Interfan: You do realise that Oblivion forms a part of the Elder Scrolls series. It has been a series that defined the PC-RPG scene.


Oblivion is a bit too small for my liking:


Daggerfall, like the other games in the Elder Scrolls series, takes place on the fictional continent of Tamriel. In Daggerfall, the player may travel within the High Rock and Hammerfell provinces of Tamriel. The journey through these realms is made difficult by a wide range of formidable enemies, the strongest of which are the Daedra.

Daggerfall is the largest Elder Scrolls game to date, featuring a game world estimated as being 161,600 square Kilometres (63,125 square miles) ? roughly twice the size of Great Britain ? with over 15,000 towns, cities, villages, and dungeons for the player's character to explore. According to Todd Howard, Elder Scrolls programmer, the game's sequel, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is 0.01% the size of Daggerfall, but it should be noted most of Daggerfall's terrain was randomly generated. Vvardenfell, the explorable part of the province of Morrowind in the third game has 6 square miles. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has approximately 16 square miles to explore. In Daggerfall, there are 750,000+ non-player characters (NPCs) for the player to interact with, compared to the count of around 1000 NPCs found in Morrowind and Oblivion. It should be pointed out that the geography and the characters in these later games are much more detailed.

An automap was implemented to help players navigate through the lengthy tombs and ancient underground fortresses. Players have to visit approximately 6-8 areas in order to finish the game, although a total of 47 areas are present. A limited array of building blocks were used to construct the towns and dungeons, causing some reviewers to complain about the game's monotony. In 2002, Morrowind, the third game in the series, responded to this issue with a smaller, more detailed world with unique-looking cities and NPCs with greater individuality.

[Interfan]

@ Interfan: You do realise that Oblivion forms a part of the Elder Scrolls series. It has been a series that defined the PC-RPG scene.


Oblivion is a bit too small for my liking:

Yes I do and I played both. It doesn't change my opinion that oblivion is more of an action/adventure game than an rpg.

And it's debatable whether it changed for the better. Personally preferred the Baldur's Gate,Kotor and NWN smaller worlds compared to the huge worlds of Morrow wind with it's poor map and navigation system.

[Drakus]

Well, saying that it is not an RPG due to the fact that you can join different guilds at the same time is rediculous. Just think about it: how would the fighter's guild know that you are in the thief's guild or mage's guild? In fact it seems you've got this puritan view of RPG's.

I've played baldur's gate and played D&D with a pencil, paper and a set of die (true RPG style). It it would depend on your DM (which made it an extremely flexible game) if you could join multiple guilds or not. But yes, there are biased views from each guild towards the other. And if you were caught you'd be in for a bit of explaining.

Oblivion is definitely an RPG and not an action/adventure. Your character is in a fantasy world where magic is real. He/she goes up in levels as your character completes quests. The entire game is based on stuff that made D&D popular in the first place.

[DaBaish]

Yeah, it just has a 1st person feel to it, to give more maneuverability to the characters. Not bad at all!

[Interfan]

Well, saying that it is not an RPG due to the fact that you can join different guilds at the same time is rediculous. Just think about it: how would the fighter's guild know that you are in the thief's guild or mage's guild? In fact it seems you've got this puritan view of RPG's.

I've played baldur's gate and played D&D with a pencil, paper and a set of die (true RPG style). It it would depend on your DM (which made it an extremely flexible game) if you could join multiple guilds or not. But yes, there are biased views from each guild towards the other. And if you were caught you'd be in for a bit of explaining.

Oblivion is definitely an RPG and not an action/adventure. Your character is in a fantasy world where magic is real. He/she goes up in levels as your character completes quests. The entire game is based on stuff that made D&D popular in the first place.

It has elements of an rpg but not all the elements. Thats why in my first post I said it's an action/adventure game with role playing elements but imho it's not a true rpg.

If you can join all the guilds in the game then your actions has no consequence. And thats what makes a true rpg. That would you do has an influence on how the story and your interactions with new characters will be influenced.

[Drakus]

http://www.theescapist.com/basic_gaming_faq.htm#RPG


What are role-playing games?

One of the best ways I have heard to describe role-playing to a non-roleplayer is this one: Think of some of your favorite boardgames that you like to play, now or when you were younger; popular games like Monopoly, Battleship, Clue, Stratego, or Risk. Try to imagine playing one of those games while stepping into the role of a shrewd businessperson, a Navy captain, a master detective, or Army General. Now, instead of just rolling dice, drawing cards, and moving pieces around the board, you're acting out that role, interacting with the other players who are doing the same thing, and creating a story as well as playing a game.

Put simply, a role-playing game (RPG) is a form of interactive storytelling, in which all of the participants act out the roles of characters in the story. One player acts as a sort of writer/director/referee, and is usually called a game master (or Dungeon Master, in the case of Dungeons & Dragons). This player prepares the story beforehand (by writing it and stocking it with characters, or reading a prepared story), describes the scenes and events of the story as they unfold, and tells the other players the results of their actions.

In all, it's very similar to the childhood game of "let's pretend" or "cops and robbers," but with rules and a referee. In such games, all actions taken by the characters and referee are described, not performed, and the players do not usually dress as their characters. This distinction is made to differentiate RPGs from LARPs, which are described below. In most of these games, dice are used to generate random numbers to resolve certain events (such as whether a character can climb a slippery wall, or if an attempt to fast talk a guard will work). These dice come in an array of shapes and sizes; a common set of dice includes 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, and 20-sided dice. Some games use a complete set of these dice (Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu are two examples), while others may only use one particular kind (GURPS uses only 6-siders, for example, while the World of Darkness games use only 10s). In others, dice are replaced with other randomizers such as cards, or in some cases, removed altogether in what is often called a "diceless" system.

Miniature plastic or metal figures are used in some games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, to help the players visualize where their characters are in a scene. They aren’t used in many RPGs, however, so you frequently will not see them at a game session. There are also strategy wargames that use the same or similar figures – these games are also a lot of fun, but are not the same thing as a role-playing game.


@ Interfan:
According to this all you know about RPG's is wrong. You have to "act out" or "role play" hence the popular term "Role Playing Game" (RPG). Some PC games were adopted from these games (ie. Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulu, Vampire the masquerade, etc.) and got labeled as RPG's. 100&#37; of the games you mentioned as RPG is directly influenced and controlled by D&D rules. So, if you realy want to be technical. Then none of the games that you mentioned are RPG's either.

As for influencing the world that you are in: Have you even played Oblivion? If you have then you would have noticed that you have points on fame and infamy. As you finish quests you hear other people talking about it. I had a botched mission in one of the mines where my entire team died and I heard someone talking (in passing) about it a couple of cities away from the incident.

Before you get your own ideas about RPG's, go and look up more info. It's not about influencing the world around you, but it is about "Role Play" (as the abbreviation suggests).

[ReinHer]

Why are we continuing with this 'RPS or Naat!?' discussion? Its pointless and it can be resolved by just looking at the games description on gamespot or Wikipedia even.

[Drakus]

Thanks Reinher, but I'm trying to educate our friend here. He/she will just look at those sites and still not change his/her mind. But I'm hoping that he/she might grow a bit wiser.

[ReinHer]

Lol, I wish I could/would use forward slashes as you do/did.

[Drakus]

Yep, I do slash a lot when I talk.

Anyway - the Oblivion blog looks good. I'll give it a go.

Thanks Scorp1on

[Stoffel]

Hmmm, Oblivion seems great the only reason im not buying it is: It doesnt seem to have alot of action. Are there any big battles? like big clashes with you in the middle of it? I dont want to sneek everywhere, I want to run in sward drawn and kicking ass.

[Miktar]

Hmmm, Oblivion seems great the only reason im not buying it is: It doesnt seem to have alot of action. Are there any big battles? like big clashes with you in the middle of it? I dont want to sneek everywhere, I want to run in sward drawn and kicking ass.

Unfortunately not. No big battles, really. Some good skirmishes, but the game wasn't designed for mass-battle.

[0blivios]

I vote YES!
I have oblivion but it wont run on my cheep PC *sob*
hopefully by the time iv up graded the oblivion blog will be running

[ReinHer]

Well, If you can get all of the Counties to lend you their aid on that Bruma battle... It's not MASSIVE but its respectable.

[Stoffel]

Unfortunately not. No big battles, really. Some good skirmishes, but the game wasn't designed for mass-battle.

that sucks, but then I guess with the radient AI it would problary have been too much for an average PC? But I heard that soon there will be a game of the year edition with shivering isles include, then i will buy it.

[Interfan]

http://www.theescapist.com/basic_gaming_faq.htm#RPG



@ Interfan:
According to this all you know about RPG's is wrong. You have to "act out" or "role play" hence the popular term "Role Playing Game" (RPG). Some PC games were adopted from these games (ie. Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulu, Vampire the masquerade, etc.) and got labeled as RPG's. 100% of the games you mentioned as RPG is directly influenced and controlled by D&D rules. So, if you realy want to be technical. Then none of the games that you mentioned are RPG's either.

As for influencing the world that you are in: Have you even played Oblivion? If you have then you would have noticed that you have points on fame and infamy. As you finish quests you hear other people talking about it. I had a botched mission in one of the mines where my entire team died and I heard someone talking (in passing) about it a couple of cities away from the incident.

Before you get your own ideas about RPG's, go and look up more info. It's not about influencing the world around you, but it is about "Role Play" (as the abbreviation suggests).

They talk about what happened but does this actually affect what happens in the game?? Not from my experience of oblivion.

And my opinion is hardly just my own. I have heard this opinion of oblivion being an action/adventure game with role playing elements on forums like gamespot,nvnews,etc as well.

And how would it actually proof it being an rpg because game spot said so?? They hardly going to reclassify a game which the game developers classified as an rpg.

I stand by my opinion and will leave you to your opinion.