Oblivion community dead in 5 months

[Deleted1754360User]

*sigh* i love oblivion to death but,oblivion modding has stopped.many famous mods stopped getting updated.what little hope there was for oblivion living on was killed by skyrim.i am really exited for skyrim.however i am fairly certain it will kill the oblivion modding community and its playerbase..why make oblivion mods,when you can make skyrim mods,right?

 

So, if I understand you correctly, you're not really saying Oblivion mods have stopped being updated and made. Because, after all, anybody can check the lists for many "famous" mods over time, and note that the last year has seen major updates in several, such as Supreme Magicka, Oblivion War Cry, and Wrye Bash, as well as many new major and minor mods (and translations) every day. Would you accept a list of major mods that have come into existence over the last year, alone? No. What you really want is us to stop being interested in Oblivion. That's the bottom line. You're not telling us the way things are. You're trying to convince us to make them that way.

 

It won't work. Even if we all miraculously and suddenly thought Oblivion wasn't worth it, it wouldn't make your Skyrim craving one bit more realistic. :D You can sit around waiting for a game whose enormous value is exactly the same as the enormous value of every other game a year or more before its release: PR built out of statements subject to change, and player desires to wish these things into reality. But no game ever fulfills these dream castles, and modded Oblivion remains a thrill for all of us who prefer fact to fiction.

 

and skyrim looks very fun,with mechanics such as TRUE dual wielding.....both hands acting seperately and you being able to choose a spell and a sword or two spells or two swords...its pretty mutch IMPOSSIBLE to add that to oblivion's engine..

 

Two things are wrong with this. First, a good sized Danish Renaissance palace could be built out of all the promises made for games that are left out of the finished result. Second, maybe, just maybe, wielding two weapons isn't a game breaker for most of us, who prefer not to trade away the wealth we have for the vapor we don't. Hell, I still like things about Morrowind that can't be modded into Oblivion, so I play both games.

 

Meanwhile, by all means, keep trying to get the rest of us to think white is black, that the mods are there and being updated, and that we don't enjoy what we do. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

what the f*** are you on? im SAD that oblivion will be even more forgotten and that skyrim will be where its at.... i love oblivion to no end and am kidna sad skyrim is coming....i don't know what your on but i want some

[dcinroc]

I think your melancholy over the inevitable decline in the Oblivion community is understandable, but misplaced. The community will not "die"...but it WILL shrink. That is not necessarily a bad thing, since typically one is left with those who have a real love for the game, plus some new faces who are just discovering it.

 

Realistically speaking, the bulk of the truly quality mods are made and maintained by a relatively small group of people. People with talent and love for what they do. Some popular modders have moved on to other projects, but others are still around. No doubt there will be new ones popping up as well. When a game builds a loyal following it is never really abandoned. Just look at Morrowind. Hell, check the Knights of the Old Republic mod pages. People are still cranking them out.

[Balakirev]

what the f*** are you on? im SAD that oblivion will be even more forgotten and that skyrim will be where its at.... i love oblivion to no end and am kidna sad skyrim is coming....i don't know what your on but i want some

 

There's no need for rudeness. Did you come here for discussion? If so, you can certainly expect it, but that also means treating others with the same courtesy you'd want. If you don't understand why somebody is saying something, ask. If you think your point isn't getting across, a polite inquiry is worth a ton of "What are you on, man?" comments.

 

For the rest:

 

*sigh* i love oblivion to death but,oblivion modding has stopped.many famous mods stopped getting updated.what little hope there was for oblivion living on was killed by skyrim.i am really exited for skyrim.however i am fairly certain it will kill the oblivion modding community and its playerbase..why make oblivion mods,when you can make skyrim mods,right?

 

You start by saying "famous" Oblivion modding has stopped. I posted several examples where it hasn't. You haven't replied. I check frequently in (and take part in) discussions of these famous mods and other mod threads on Bethsoft's boards, where you can see all the activity in progress. So your statement is factually incorrect, and I posted several more examples proving what I'm saying.

 

and skyrim looks very fun,with mechanics such as TRUE dual wielding.....both hands acting seperately and you being able to choose a spell and a sword or two spells or two swords...its pretty mutch IMPOSSIBLE to add that to oblivion's engine..

 

...and as I wrote, you're stating that promises by a PR department for a future game have depressed you, because they (in effect) beat the existing reality of a healthy game with tons of mods, and loads of active, modding activity. Are you truly unaware that sky-high feature claims have been a major aspect of PR in the gaming industry since it really took off in the 1990s? I could tell you about the tons of things that we were all told to expect in many products--such as an innovative "five lords fighting among themselves, each giving you quests and weighing your reputation with them based on their shifting alliances" in Might and Magic VI, to Morrowind's "we'll have houses and guilds actively fighting one another on different levels--combat, diplomacy, exploration, corruption, etc--and all this, never the same, while you're working for one or another." Neither of those ever happened. Nor the introduction of extensive tree dialog that pulled you into genuine conversations as you passed by NPC groups in Knights of the Old Republic; nor the abliity to board and command multi-level ships and sail everywhere, engaging in hundreds of randomized quests in Ultima IX. The list goes on. The only features that matter, are the ones in the final game code. Until then, they're just words.

 

Jon van Caneghem, creator of the Might and Magic series, once told me that all games are subject to the 80/20 Rule: 80% of development time is spent on 20% of the product, and much of the rest that was promised gets left out.

 

If you really, really like Oblivion--and you say you do--then I've misunderstood your initial post, but you still leave me confused. Because the modding community is the strongest in gaming by far, with tons of ongoing development. I can't emphasize that enough. My suggestion, for what it's worth: don't focus on vaporware. When Skyrim shows up, see if a comparable machine to yours can run it, and in the meantime, make a list of all the things a) you like about Oblivion, and b) all the things you like in the promises about Skyrim. Check out a friend's copy of Skyrim, and see how it really stacks up. In the meantime? Celebrate what you enjoy. Don't focus on the decline of a modding community for a product you love, when that's still years away. If Morrowind's modding isn't dead yet (and it certainly isn't), rumors of Oblivion's demise are even less correct. ;)

[Deleted1754360User]

If you really, really like Oblivion--and you say you do--then I've misunderstood your initial post, but you still leave me confused.

 

 

 

 

you sorta did misunderstand me...but you can't deny that oblivion's fanbase,playerbase and modding community will decline.....lately the files of the month get 10-40 votes....thats sad..plus great and famous mods (ofcourse not all but some if not most) like deadly reflex...also you seem to think that skyrim will fail and when i brought dual wielding you said it will not be present.we have seen gameplay,plus i don't and won't doubt the man himself,Tod Howard..

[HazardHighlanders2011]

yeah we SAW the dual wielding in the E3 demo. but how can you say that Oblivion's fanbase will decline? just because a new game is coming out doesn't mean people will stop liking the old ones. it is true that a lot of people will concentrate on Skyrim when it releases, but if you're that worried about mods, just make them yourself. lol, but yeah, i understand your concerns, but decline happens to a lot of games. so it will decline a bit once skyrim is out and the mods start being made. but i don't think you should really be worried too much.

[crudius]

I dont know why people bother making threads like this....

 

I have been playing Oblivion on p.c for two months! before that on XBOX for a year or so,and in my short time herei have seen a lot of new people appearing,the mods seem well maintained,if not by the authors, then a healthy community steps in.

And as said, Skyrim may be a flop.We have to wait and see,but they seem to be pushing the console side of it so far,and the interface may be too simplistic for the pc market.Like any openworld game,it will need a patch or two before its a stable palyable release.

Anyway the pc community is a hardy animal and will continue under its own steam regardless.

Also, someone else mentioned Morrowind (10 years old) still being modded and OB 6 years old and probably one of the best communities going.

 

I dont know if you got out of bed the wrong side,or something.....but dont let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.

Edited July 3, 2011 by crudius

[Balakirev]

you sorta did misunderstand me...but you can't deny that oblivion's fanbase,playerbase and modding community will decline.....

 

Of course it will, but think of it this way: suppose I came running into your house and said, "It's coming down!" and everybody left in a hurry, but it turned out I meant the house would eventually come down, perhaps not for a long time. ;) My point is that nothing is fixed. Skyrim itself will develop a modding community that declines, too. I think you're being far too melancholy over something that isn't occurring now. :)

 

lately the files of the month get 10-40 votes....thats sad..plus great and famous mods (ofcourse not all but some if not most) like deadly reflex...

 

It takes a while to build votes. I've seen fantastic, complex mods that get no more than 50 votes, and some very superficial, small mods that get 200+. In addition, Deadly Reflex came in for some bad publicity in the last several months because of some bugs that caused game saves to crash. Things like that, wrongly or rightly, affect votes. But I'm still amazed at the vibrancy of the Oblivion community--and hell, for that matter, of the Morrowind community. I've just added two new quest mods to the latter game, both extremely complex ones that have been in very long development--and I'm helping out with a third, that's easily the most beautiful and elaborate Morrowind house mod I've seen. For a pair of dying communities, they sure kick nicely. :D

 

also you seem to think that skyrim will fail and when i brought dual wielding you said it will not be present.we have seen gameplay,plus i don't and won't doubt the man himself,Tod Howard..

 

I don't think Skyrim will fail. I strongly suspect it will be a big hit. What I meant (and wasn't clear about, it seems) was that the features claimed for any game, in advance, have to be taken with a very large dose of skepticism. That's why I stated several examples of leading games and the claims made for their features--features that never made it into the final cut. My advice, for what it's worth: Buy games. Don't buy PR. Set the PR to one side. Ignore Skyrim until a few weeks before it's scheduled to ship. Then you'll at least have a good idea what's made it into the final code.

 

As for Todd Howard--I've interviewed him (and his development teams) 4 times. It was Todd who told me about the active guilds and houses feature in Morrowind that never made it. He meant well, and I'm sure it was in the game design, but game designs change. As I noted above, the rule of 80/20 needs to considered.

 

Go download a bunch of Oblivion mods, and check out Morrowind. You sound like you need some cheering up. :)

[HazardHighlanders2011]

well,that was rude of you crudius, getting mad won't solve any problems now will it? and i agree with Balakirev, you do need some cheering up. also, i think it's about time we get a playable demo of the game. it'll also give us a head start on mod ideas if we find something we don't like.

[Deleted1754360User]

thanks a lot guys,you gave me some hope for oblivion.im sure that most of the fanbase that was at about 2007 or 2008 are gone....i think the devoted fans are left...and when skyrim hits only the true fans will be here...i know there are a lot of fans that will always be with oblivion. morrowind and fallout 3 proved this. well i have been playing since 2006 when it came out...or maybe a couple of months after it came out....but i would really love to mod oblivion..i have some great ideas...but the problem is i have a lot of things to do,meaning little time to devote to modding....modding is really hard and requires a lot of devotion... well maybe i will take it as a hobby..im not really good at that sort of thing,but im willing to give it a try.anyone willing to link me to a starting guide? something like "oblivion modding for dummies"? thanks in advance.

[Telyn]

TES Alliance has a modding school, with volunteers that will even help you if you get stuck. It's entirely free. You do not even have to join the site to access the tutorials, if you would prefer to just do them without getting class credit and the additional help from their volunteers.

 

http://tesalliance.o...81-the-enclave/

 

Skyrim and Oblivion will appeal to slightly different groups. There will be a large overlap, but some people will like one better than the other. That happened with Morrowind, too. I recently revisited a Sims modding site, and there are still about as many mods coming out for Sims 2 there as for Sims 3. Many people just prefer Sims 2 for various reasons. There are also people still modding the original Sims. Not as many, but that's more a function of people growing up, getting married, lives changing in all kinds of different ways. People move on, but there are always more people coming in, even with older games. Old games tend to stick around and are heavily discounted for a long time. That means fresh crops of new players coming in every time there is a sale. I am one of those. I only got Oblivion this year. I'm definitely not tired of it.