How to Enjoy Oblivion

[tapakidney]

Hi everyone. I am here for help on something that's been bothering me a very long time. Being someone who loved Daggerfall and Morrowind, I was very sad upon release of Oblivion to find that I did not enjoy it one bit. I finally got around to taking the advice of modding it in hopes of finally being able to enjoy the game. Got OOO, FCOM, Francesco, MMM, Warcry, all the expansions and DLC installed...Man, that was a lot of work. After 5 hours, doesn't seem much better to me. Now, instead of being too easy, most mobs I come across are way too much to handle. Now, maybe this is normal? Just a sign I need to move on to the next area and gain some levels? Fair enough...but almost evey dungeon I come across?

 

Difficulty isn't my main gripe, though (but I would like to know if i installed soemthing wrong...) What I was really hoping for with all of these mods would be that the game would just be a much richer experience...NPCs would be at least a little more interesting, combat less clunky, dungeons more intereesting, etc. It really just feels the same as it did when I was sorely disappointed a few years ago.

 

Now, where I really could use some help... Can someone please help me to see what I am missing in Oblivion? Is there a mod that maybe I am missing that would make the difference I am looking for? Is Oblivion just not for me, even though I would love for it to be? Please help me understand why everyone loves Oblivion but me!

[BossDweebe]

Please help me understand why everyone loves Oblivion but me!

 

Because you are you, and we are we.

It takes all kinds. If you didn't like Oblivion in the first place no amount of mods is going to help.

The mods are only to enhance what you liked about the game in the first place.

If modding is not fun, or an interesting learning process, then why do it ?

You liked the other two games. Oblivion is not those other games.

Why have you tried so long to like something that didn't grab you right off ?

Is it possible that you are just burnt out on games full stop ?

[tapakidney]

Well, I want to like Oblivion for its open world and beautiful graphics. I still love a good RPG, so I don't think burnout has ever been a factor. Oblivion just isn't a good RPG in my eyes, which is a shame due to all of its potential.

 

Are there any mods or addons that give your character real and meaningful choices? As in choices with actions AND dialogue? Like from Gothic and Fallout series. Is there anything that makes the stealth system more fun and...real? Like from the old Thief games? More complex stats and skills? More armor and equipment slots?

 

I guess I don't know EXACTLY what I want from Oblivion, but I have always hoped I could eventually get what I was looking and hoping for in it - an extremely rich and awe-inspiring RPG experience.

 

Or if someone could even just describe their personal experience playing Oblvion in a way that would help me more appreciate it for what it is as opposed to what it isn't...

[Tchos]

I enjoyed Oblivion, but that was from the perspective of someone who hadn't played Morrowind. Now that I've been playing Morrowind, I don't think I could go back to Oblivion.

 

You might like Thieves' Arsenal, though. That's a mod that was made by a fan of Thief, and it adds all of Garrett's usual items, as well as "ghosting" missions. I don't think it overhauls the stealth system, but there are a few other mods that do that, I believe.

[Oruboris]

I know where you're coming from, and feel the same to a lesser degree.

 

I've enjoyed it, but I play for a while, get bored and quit. There isn't much dramatic tension pulling you forward. There isn't a million different things to do, you can just do the same thing a million times.

 

Ultimately, there aren't many choices that really matter, not that many actions that have consequences: all the outcomes are scripted, most are only scripted one way [no alternative endings].

 

So in a wierd way, what you do doesn't matter at all-- fer instance, you are supposed to rush, rush rush off to find Martin, but nothing will have changed if you wait a year or two. You seem to have a choice sometimes in quests like 'fingers of the mountain', but you really don't-- sooner or later, you WILL give the book to the mages. Nothing you do for the fighters will change things with the assasins will change things with the mages will change things with the thieves...

 

It's supposed to be cool that your character can learn everything, do everything, be everything, but it would have been better if you had choose-- this OR that, not both. Join either the good guys or the bad, be a master sneak thief OR a lord of battle axe and heavy armor. You should HAVE to play through more than once if you want to see every quest from every faction...

 

Thee commerce system makes random dungeon crawls pointless early on, , and the game world is small enough and homogenous enough that you get to feeling 'been there, done that' pretty quickly.

 

Mods help a LOT, but can't really fix the fundamental flaw: this is a game where you are going through the paces. The ending has already been written, and it's' a flippin' CUT SCENE.

[Falconkaji]

I just absolutely love sandbox games. I agree that the story is crap and such, but for that reason, i love modding oblivion even more than playing oblivion (ironic). I love how the construction set allows me to weave any story I want to. I've only played Morrowind for about 4 minutes. Being somebody into 3D graphic design myself, I care about graphics a lot, which is why I couldn't stomach morrowind. Call me shallow, but I can't live without my QTP3, body replacers, head06 and other various high polygon/high-res texture mods. To me, navigating through a world that looks almost real with my own customized music folder with the UI turned off is amazingly immersive - and its immersion that draws me to this game.

 

If I played this game as only a game and not a surreal experience, I would hate it. Perhaps that's your issue, not sure.

[minion5]

well what has made me play oblivion for years is the fact that you could create any character you ever dreamed of, and get the feeling you are in an accuall country. mods further push these things,but after like 3-4 years of oblivion, i am almost burnt out on it. the onlly thing i have left is a mod called "personnal cruesade" which alows you to conquer cyrodiil with your army. after i play that mod for a while im done. oblivion is done. oh and there are plenty of games were im in the same situation as you. like CoD4, everyone loves that game, and i like the idea behind it, but theres something about the game that draws me away from it, and i dont really like it, and i dont know why! so hopefully you like the next elder scrolls better, thats alll i can say buddy.

[pyroman666]

"NPCs would be at least a little more interesting, combat less clunky, dungeons more intereesting, etc. It really just feels the same as it did when I was sorely disappointed a few years ago."

 

 

I played oblivion first then I went to morrowind and I was amazed at how much better it was. If only I could have morrowind with the same graphics as Oblivion I would be in heaven. Sadly its not...The problem is it was soo good, now when I say good, I mean it was extremely in depth, but if oblivion was the same way and extreemly in depth and maybe more so then morrowind, then it would have been a cult game...they were looking into getting more fans. My hope is they will go in a cycle, meaning the next game will be very in depth.

 

(when I say in depth, look at the quests, or with alchemy you "need" to be not moving, and you can fail to make a potion (based on skill, and if your moving)...or the enchanting process, or the Magic system sooo much better imo having a magic resistance wont make you un stoppable titan in morrowind, you need to get immune to the elements as well...

 

like I said, if oblivion was the same way it would be a cult game, The next game I hope they do dungeons much better, Quests a hell of a lot better and over all game mechanics (like alchemy) (or the rag doll effects) In the next series of the elder scrolls...

[dezdimona]

I played it when it first came out...god that's a long time and haven't stopped yet. I also played morrowind, also a great game but I prefer oblivion.. I never set my expectations too high on any game no matter how much hype or how many sing its praises.I leave final judgement up to me ,as it should be. Not every game appeals to every gamer any more than clothing styles,hair styles etc are all for everyone. I remain true to my self: and individual that won't fit a mold! :biggrin:

[tapakidney]

Thanks for all the replies so far! Another question to throw into this mix...

 

Has anyone found that mods can totally make the difference between strongly disliking Oblivion and really enjoying it? Or is what one poster said true, that if you don't like it unmodded, mods won't help?