Help me want to play Oblivion

[Merad]

but, people are able to collaborate.
<snip>

Unfortunately Bethesda's construction set makes collaboration difficult if not almost impossible, so most Oblivion mods are solo projects.

 

[simonizor]

This post made me finally complete the main story line. I have done all the side quests, but never got past the great oblivion gate. I used cheats to level my stats so i didnt have to worry about the leveling system.

I have to say I was pleasently surprised. Everything that I had read said the main story was barely worth finishing, but i found it to be very engaging. I definiftely didnt see the end coming.

 

[shortylickens]

This post made me finally complete the main story line. I have done all the side quests, but never got past the great oblivion gate. I used cheats to level my stats so i didnt have to worry about the leveling system.

I have to say I was pleasently surprised. Everything that I had read said the main story was barely worth finishing, but i found it to be very engaging. I definiftely didnt see the end coming.

The main quest and Dark Brotherhood have excellent stories, as does the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine.
Most of the other side quests and mini quests are frustrating grinds if you've done them several times already. The thieves guild is boring up until the last part, where you invade the IC and then the Grey Fox exposes himself.
Dungeon crawling gets boring very fast as well. A vast open universe to explore isnt exciting when all the caves, temples, ruins, lairs and such look exactly alike.

 

[Joemonkey]

OK so I have these installed

unofficial patch
natural weather
OOO
Elven Map
HGEC Body

and so far so good. I picked a custom character, a breton born under the mage and i'm not having much trouble at all just spamming destruction spells. I got up to level 3 and I'm pretty sure Destruction is the only thing levelling me.

I'm confused about some of the trainers though, if I go to a mage guild and talk to someone they have an icon for what looks like someone meditating. I went ahead and "trained up" destruction for 470g but I'm not sure if that was necessary. Will I go ahead and get max skills in destruction just by spamming spells and sleeping when it tells me?

I also seem to have all the DLC so there are multiple places of residence that have been left to me, but it seems awfully expensive to get the places outfitted (like 2555g per thing). I went to the frost spire place and it told me where to go to buy the stuff to fix it up but the door is locked at all hours of the day.

So far I haven't really done any of the main quest, trying to get into the arcane university first by getting recommended by all the guild leaders, then I'll do more real questing

 

[shortylickens]

OK so I have these installed

unofficial patch
natural weather
OOO
Elven Map
HGEC Body

and so far so good. I picked a custom character, a breton born under the mage and i'm not having much trouble at all just spamming destruction spells. I got up to level 3 and I'm pretty sure Destruction is the only thing levelling me.

I'm confused about some of the trainers though, if I go to a mage guild and talk to someone they have an icon for what looks like someone meditating. I went ahead and "trained up" destruction for 470g but I'm not sure if that was necessary. Will I go ahead and get max skills in destruction just by spamming spells and sleeping when it tells me?

I also seem to have all the DLC so there are multiple places of residence that have been left to me, but it seems awfully expensive to get the places outfitted (like 2555g per thing). I went to the frost spire place and it told me where to go to buy the stuff to fix it up but the door is locked at all hours of the day.

So far I haven't really done any of the main quest, trying to get into the arcane university first by getting recommended by all the guild leaders, then I'll do more real questing

Early in the game money is short. Later on you will have so much you wont know where to spend it all. Just get the handful of things you think you need and worry about the deco shit later.
Also, it doesnt matter what class you are, looting is always in character. Just sign on with the thieves guild and learn about the fences. Also, any mod that gives shop keepers more money is a good mod.

 

[Edge1]

Reinstalled and modded a bit because of this thread. Fun to be playing again and this time I'm determined not get too sidetracked, just stick with the main quest and DLCs. Never really studied the levelling system in detail, I'm just enjoying playing and saving a lot.

Thanks to the OP as well as some of the helpful posts in this thread.

 

[Joemonkey]

Early in the game money is short. Later on you will have so much you wont know where to spend it all. Just get the handful of things you think you need and worry about the deco shit later.
Also, it doesnt matter what class you are, looting is always in character. Just sign on with the thieves guild and learn about the fences. Also, any mod that gives shop keepers more money is a good mod.

I apparently have some mod where the shopkeepers may have like 50 gold, but selling things to them doesn't deplete it. For example, a merchant has 50g and I can sell something for 40g. I get 40g but the merchant still has 50g. However, if I try to sell something worth 51g the merchant says they don't have enough money to buy it. I found someone w/ 2000g so this really hasn't been an issue.

What is the average play time for the main quest? I think I'm about 7 hours in and I have

Spoiler

already found Martin and brought him to the blades for safe keeping, then went to the imperial city and talked w/ the guy at the bar. Then I talked to someone in the mages guild after finding a book on the guy that tried to kill the guy at the bar. Now I think I'm supposed to go to some bookstore and find the 3rd and 4th editions.

Main quest seems kinda silly right now, but I'm hoping it picks up.

 

[Merad]

What is the average play time for the main quest?

Dunno about average playtime, but I'd say you're probably about 1/3rd of the way into the MQ.

Going by memory, what's left from where you are is to

Spoiler

Raid a Mythic Dawn hideout in the mountains.
Martin will then want to do this ceremony, and you have to go 2-3 different places getting items for the ceremony.
The ceremony takes you to Camoran's paradise where you get back the amulet.
Martin & co realize Bruma will be attacked, so you have to gather forces to defend Bruma (visit every city and close a gate by it).
Fight the battle to defend Bruma.
Then travel with Martin to the IC to complete the MQ.

 

[simonizor]

I apparently have some mod where the shopkeepers may have like 50 gold, but selling things to them doesn't deplete it. For example, a merchant has 50g and I can sell something for 40g. I get 40g but the merchant still has 50g. However, if I try to sell something worth 51g the merchant says they don't have enough money to buy it. I found someone w/ 2000g so this really hasn't been an issue.

What is the average play time for the main quest? I think I'm about 7 hours in and I have

Spoiler

already found Martin and brought him to the blades for safe keeping, then went to the imperial city and talked w/ the guy at the bar. Then I talked to someone in the mages guild after finding a book on the guy that tried to kill the guy at the bar. Now I think I'm supposed to go to some bookstore and find the 3rd and 4th editions.

Main quest seems kinda silly right now, but I'm hoping it picks up.

You are not very far into the game at all.

Spoiler

It really picks up after you find the 3rd and 4th edition books. You go after the guy that took the Amulet of Kings and it only gets better from there.

I don't know what average time is, but steam says I've played it for 13 hours, and I have completed the main quest and a few others. Also fucked around for a while with cheat codes to spawn characters that had died

 

[taltamir]

Merchants don't have a gold amount, they have a maximum amount of money they will spend on a single purchase.
That is by design. It allows merchants to have limits, without the utter frustration of depleting merchant money.
It also makes sense, the merchant is selling what you sell him and making a profit, but if he has a total of 1000 gold, it makes sense for him to buy things in 50s, it makes less sense for him to blow all of it on a single 1000gp mega item that he would not be able to find a buyer for.

 

[sham63]

I apparently have some mod where the shopkeepers may have like 50 gold, but selling things to them doesn't deplete it. For example, a merchant has 50g and I can sell something for 40g. I get 40g but the merchant still has 50g. However, if I try to sell something worth 51g the merchant says they don't have enough money to buy it. I found someone w/ 2000g so this really hasn't been an issue.

If I remember correctly that is not a mod. The gold amount shown is not there total amount, but the most that they can pay for an item. Otherwise I think their gold is limitless.

 

[Scooby Doo]

If I remember correctly that is not a mod. The gold amount shown is not there total amount, but the most that they can pay for an item. Otherwise I think their gold is limitless.

Correct. However there is a mod that brings back morrowind's style (daily limited cash). Also Merchantile skill is kinda broken, you gain skill with each set of item you sell (i.e. sell 1 - 100 arrows = 1 skill point, sell 100 - 1 arrows = 100 skill points) There's also a mod that fixes that too (might be the same one, I can't remember offhand)

 

[Joemonkey]

Merchants don't have a gold amount, they have a maximum amount of money they will spend on a single purchase.
That is by design. It allows merchants to have limits, without the utter frustration of depleting merchant money.
It also makes sense, the merchant is selling what you sell him and making a profit, but if he has a total of 1000 gold, it makes sense for him to buy things in 50s, it makes less sense for him to blow all of it on a single 1000gp mega item that he would not be able to find a buyer for.

ah ok, makes sense, I'm just used to Fallout where you see how many caps a merchant has and they'll keep letting you "sell" stuff to them even though they don't have the caps to actually purchase the items.

You are not very far into the game at all.

Spoiler

It really picks up after you find the 3rd and 4th edition books. You go after the guy that took the Amulet of Kings and it only gets better from there

Yeah last night I got the

Spoiler

3rd and 4th edition books and even managed to keep the guy alive that sits at the table for you. I was surprised that he simply walked away afterwards. All this "read the first word of each paragraph" and "come back tomorrow" stuff has me annoyed with the main quest line so I'm doing mage task side quests, like finding the vampire mage guy in Skingrad, turning in those black soul gems for the Necromancer's moon, and finding that ancient elven helmet under the ruins of Vahcaten. It keeps giving me better robes but I need a better weapon, my staff is too expensive to keep recharging.

 

[taltamir]

Craft either a custom weapon or a custom spell that does.
X damage shock (very few things are immune to it)
touch (or melee weapon)
+100&#37; magic vulnerability 3 seconds
+100% shock vulnerability 3 seconds

Those stack... so your first hit does
X damage
100% magic vul
100% shock vul
second hit
4X damage (x * 2 from magic vul * 2 from shock vul)
200% magic vul (100% * 2 from magic vul)
200% shock bul (100% * 2 from magic vul)
third hit 9X damage
fourth hit 16X damage
fifth hit 25X damage

 

[Joemonkey]

i didn't know you could even craft spells or weapons...

 

[Scooby Doo]

I think he means enchanting/spell making.

 

[taltamir]

I think he means enchanting/spell making.

i think he means he didn't know you can enchant items or make spells

 

[Joemonkey]

i think he means he didn't know you can enchant items or make spells

i knew you could get items enchanted, i didn't know I could enchant anything, nor did I know i could make spells

 

[Dorkenstein]

Anyone know if there's a newer FCOM Omod installer other than the 2009 version I see?

 

[namtran512]

Anyone know if there's a newer FCOM Omod installer other than the 2009 version I see?

Not that I know of.



But to the OP if you must play Oblivion please use FCOM, it makes the game much more enjoyable and more balanced overall. Though it changes certain aspects of the game, for the most part it is for the better.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Hey guys, maybe you can explain the leveling a bit to me. I tried to play this game back when it came out, I think I even got some 30 hours into it before I just couldn't play it anymore.

My problem, like many others, is the leveling. In other RPG's you want to level up so you can beat enemies that you might not otherwise be able to defeat. Titan Quest is a hack & slash game I really like. Sometimes I still play it as I need to improve my charactor to finish the last boss in Hades (I have the expansion) on Epic difficulty. So, I try and level my charactor up from time to time (I think I'm at level 58 if you care). There is a reason, an incentive to level up.

In Oblivion I just don't get why I even care to level up. When I level up, the NPC's/enemies level up. If I'm at level 1, they are at level 1. This just ruins it for me, why do I want to put more hours doing various side quests when there is little to no benefit?

I guess I think I may be missing something, or am I pretty much exactly right? It's been a long time since I've played, but I remember just not having any desire to play any longer due to the leveling system. Thanks.

 

[Joemonkey]

yeah, i wish it was more like Fallout where I do a side quest and I actually see an experience reward. I think there are mods that change the levelling system, but I'm afraid I would have to start over and I'm already getting bored 10 hours in

 

[Edge1]

yeah, i wish it was more like Fallout where I do a side quest and I actually see an experience reward. I think there are mods that change the levelling system, but I'm afraid I would have to start over and I'm already getting bored 10 hours in

I think OOO (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul) addresses some of those leveling issues. I also installed Quest Award Leveller mod in order to get better items at whatever level you are at. Seems to work for me. Game is fun. Early on I'm still vulnerable, but that just means better use of weapons, spells, etc are required. Make sure you understand your character's strengths and play to those.

If you are bored then maybe its just not for you though.

 

[Joemonkey]

maybe the game's age is showing and since I've played FO and FONV I'm just wishing the game was a bit more like them. I'm finding it hard to really care about any of the characters, or even my own really.

 

[Edge1]

maybe the game's age is showing and since I've played FO and FONV I'm just wishing the game was a bit more like them. I'm finding it hard to really care about any of the characters, or even my own really.

Could be. I do remember that distinct feeling at one point in my previous experience playing the game (extensively) back in 08 or so. There is a ton of content (different quests/storylines) that I find pretty cool, but after the shine wears off it can seem a little "samey" and you don't really have a feel for your character. They could have spent more time in developing that, but they clearly spent a lot of time creating so much content instead.

I admit I hate that one female voice actor with a passion . Still plan to play through the main quest/Shivering Isles/Knights of the Nine though. Never did finish those last time.

Also looking forward to Skyrim.