hello there everyone, i got really bored of MW and decided to give arena a try, it was hard until i figured out how to attack :facepalm:
so any more simple advice would be great, just nothing too big like where i can find an artifact or something.
starting out as a warrior is probably best, what should i spend my attribute points on? and other obvious advice that would come in handy.

Delete and install daggerfall.
Theirs a 50% chance of you abandoning arena out of frustration.

i cant its rated M and i'm not 17, so my parents wouldn't like that too much.

For Arena, all characters need AGI. Pump that like crazy. It gives you both a better chance to hit in melee (handy for fighters), and to dodge attacks (handy for everyone!).

Save often. Not only because you can die from the game randomly generating enemies behind you with claymores for no reason, but because the bonus points you get when you level are random, and getting 3 or 4, out of a maximum of 6, several levels in a row will basically put you one level behind the average and make you want to punch whoever thought of this level system. You can't unlevel, and it is basically easier to restart 10 new games and do the first dungeon over and over to level 4, then it is to get to level 5 once after getting svcky level gains - because you'll just die when jerks with claymores appear behind you after you looked around and made sure the room was empty.

Once you start gaining levels, talk to random town folk about Rumours - General and Rumours - Work. The higher your level, the better info you will get.

Restart your game if you picked a thief or thief-subclass. They are very underpowered in this game, and since most can only wear leather, and the game generates jerks with claymores that appear behind you, you will seldom get the drop on enemies to make use of those critical strikes and whatnot. Morelikely, the jerks with the claymores will chop you twice and you'll die before you even turn around to face them.

If you can use magic, learn yourself a Shield spell. It's massively overpowered, because there is no timer on it, and lasts until it is broken. At high levels, you can cast a 100 point shield plus 100 points per level, making a 2100 point shield by level 20. Easy mode! Spellswords are maybe the best for this, since they are a good combination of magic, weapons, and armor (anything but plate and towershields).

High Elves are a good race to pick. They are immune to paralysis, which will save you a lot more than all the other racials combined. Again, this is due to the game making monsters appear behind you. Being able to do more damage doesn't help when enemies get the first strike, which happens 90% of the time in my experience.

Play a Spellsword. The Shield spell, as already stated, is probably one of the most important things you can get in the game. Even with the spell, Arena is [ugh I hate the censorship on this forum; simile removed] really hard.

Just remembered some theory of mine! Maybe someone else can confirm it, or you can test it....

Knights auto-repair all damage to equipment in inventory. The artifact Auriel's Shield Absorbs all damage you would have taken, but consequently, sacrifes it's own health in place of your health - causing it to break eventually. It also has some "use" enchantments, but never mind those for now. Anyway, I've always wondered if a Knight could keep Auriel's Shield forever, without needing a blacksmith to repair it. It would basically absorb all the damage, taking damage itself, but because of the Knight's ability, it would be immediately repaired. Right? This would be even better then the Shield spell, if it worked!

Well you can turn on child guard during installation.
And isn't oblivion M rated?
or did you get it before the rating change?

I like your parents already!

And agree with what's been said already.

Wow lostminstrel, didn't know there were any Arena veterans around here!

Anyway, to the OP, I pretty much agree with everything already stated here for Arena. The biggest annoyance in this game is, unlike Daggerfall where combat is a lot slower-paced (you generally backpedal as you swing at the enemy), in Arena enemies seem to come out of f*cking nowhere and move incredibly fast. So when it comes down to encounters, it's basically a click fest to see who gets to land more blows first. Kind of annoying, but that's how it was done.

Try to get to level 4 or 5 in the starter dungeon. Hell, you may get some pretty good equipment in the random loot piles (I got an Ebony Longsword once).

^ It's an addicting game, in it's own special way. It's not like the other TES games, other than having the same races and a few of the same premade classes. When I play it, I approach it as a "Wolfenstein game with RPG elements", and it ends up being loads of fun that way.

In the first dungeon, my greatest find has been a longsword of firesotrm. It's base offer price when you sell it is 18,000+!!

Did you tell them you could turn the child guard on and look at this (http://www.svatopluk.com/xroads/dfnudity.html) to avoid the content that gives it an M rating?

Yeah but there's plenty of M-rated content in Daggerfall that goes beyond its aesthetics. Let's see, the plot line itself is full of love affairs, betrayals, murder. Lots of quests would probably cause the game to get banned in this day and age, such as a Thieves Guild quest (may have been added in a pack) where you have to bring a child, who was witness to a murder, to an empty house and leave him/her there to die.

Really, Childguard won't protect you from everything. I respect your parents' restrictions though, and the final choice is up to you (or them). Just know that Childguard won't nullify all the reasons this game got rated M. You may not really care, but still, don't expect your parents to be able to pace over the "censored" version of the game and be completely okay with it. You have been warned.

In my opinion, Daggerfall without everything that got it rated M just isn't Daggerfall. But whatever - do what you want. Either way, I hope you get a chance to experience this jewel of a game!

Honestly, most classic literature that people in their high school years should be reading has elements like affairs, betrayal and murder as well as many more gruesome things. This is a bit off topic, but I don't feel like you suddenly develop the ability to process these realities when you hit 17 or 18. These things exist in the world worse than they do in fiction. I doubt you would tell someone to avoid reading "1984" or "Lord of the Flies" because they haven't reached the age of 17. Both books, which are classic literature, have far more graphic elements than can be found in Daggerfall. Many sixual situations described in other classic works of fiction are probably more graphic than a few heavily pixelated briasts.

I think if you're a mature enough individual to even be able to enjoy such a deep and rich game and not be off-put by the graphics like most people under the age of 17 would... then you're probably mature enough to deal with the mature themes. I figure the game will be relatively more tame than many things seen on prime time television or even sometimes on the news.

Daggerfall is a work of Shakespeare compared to the trash you find on television nowadays.

i dont have OB, mostly because my comp cant handle it though

How old are you vampire?

no offence but i can't stand people like your parents they make me /rage :banghead:

What's wrong with parents not wanting their kids to see nudity/bloody violence (as in tons of blood in the violence) etc.?

because they think their kids will turn into a pshyco killer which is BS :swear:

Actually, i am 17, it was just only a month ago though so i forget sometimes. like when i made my earlier post.
not that it matters, i have a younger brother who would certainly want to play DF, should i get it. and he shouldnt see the nudity, we both play diablo 2 and other games, and its not like blood is going to make me go crazy, i dislike lots of blood in video games, OB for example, it makes me sick. he however likes tons of blood, i cant understand why though.

As has been stated before, (I'm guessing he's pretty young) if you concerned about nudity in Daggerfall you can look at the nudity guide, enable the child guard (This disables all the violence though but if your just playing a video game for blood and gore, well..... :poke:) and make sure he avoids the areas, it sounds like it's really pixelated though. (UESP does make the pictures into a higher detail then they are. Haven't actually encountered any though, parent's aren't a huge fan of the Daedra Seducers. I think it has to do with her being nvde and flying around with those wings. I mean, it doesn't look remotely normal. (Nudity isn't the entire reason though, I have seen Valentine, Final Destination's 1 and 2, and Halloween.))

well when i play gears of war 2 and put my chainsaw bayonet on someone i feel satisfied

M for mature is 17 and older

While there's something to be said for setting limits as to what your children see and do... it's also silly to think you can keep them completely sheltered from everything and that the sudden act of turning 18 makes them miraculously mature enough to handle the cruel, gristly reality of the world. It's a better strategy to allow them access to moderately mature content while the parents are still in a supervisory role. This is much like teaching a child to drive a car. They don't just turn 16 and you hand them keys and assume they've developed the skills necessary to drive. They have to learn slowly while being monitored to develop good driving skills.

In addendum, some parents would be so freaked out and offended by a tiny pixel nipble, but would have no problem with their child watching ridiculous amounts of violence on TV. To take that even further.... they would object more to them seeing violence in a game than seeing it on TV... to a very large extent, the same is true about any kind of sixual content. Of course, calling it "sixual" content gives it more credit than it deserves. Some random demon with boobs isn't sixual content. It's just a demon with boobs. We hyper sixualize any type of nudity and choose to get our panties in a wad about it.

I'll repeat, that what is required learning for children for most children in high school is far more graphic than anything they might see in Daggerfall. I checked the local book store to see what types of books were on the required reading table. I saw "A Clockwork Orange" among other things. Anyone familiar with the book or Kubrick's adaptation should be aware that the "questionable" content in DF pales in comparison. That's not to say that kids shouldn't be reading the book, but that we shouldn't set different rules for what children should be exposed to in literature, television and gaming. If anything, we should expose them more than less because that is reality.


All that said, Mr. Vampire, you're 17 now and M rated games are for people 17+ as has been noted. Unless your parents would just have a conniption, I'd suggest trying DF.

Aye. Thing to consider is that it's dependent on the child. Parents believe that children who see a pixellated nipble at an early age will become rapists, and children who end up experiencing virtual violence will shoot up their school. That, or it is believed that too much virtual violence can get you "desensitized" to real violence - no longer understanding the seriousness of death nor the value of an individual's life.

If anything, I think The Elder Scrolls has done the opposite for me. Living in a world where every NPC has their own duties, personality, and significance in one way or another, it's really increased my empathy for them. In DOOM where you're fighting 12 identical Imps though, I wouldn't say that you should be able to relate to them and feel bad for them, especially since they're the "bad guys".

Anyway, some children can experience "obscene" content at earlier ages and come out fine, like my exposure to Daggerfall around the age of six/seven. I couldn't understand much of the game, but honestly, I wouldn't say it had much of a negative effect on me either (besides possibly having a deeper fear of the dungeons than others do). However, there are people in our society, and I hate to say this, but it's true - there are people in our society that will get the wrong idea from profane content.

Even then though, I can't honestly say it's the game/movie's fault. Anybody who takes something like that seriously to begin with is a nutcase, and I'm sure almost anything could set them over the edge. Video gaming as a violent practice is just a scapegoat for the ESRB and Sarah Palin. It has plenty of benefits, too.

In the end, you seem to be a very mature and intellectual person - not everybody even would bother coming onto this forum and asking for friendly advice. Talk to your parents about why they don't want you to experience the game. If it's for some religious reason, I can't help you - but if they just think you're not ready, I think they're seriously mistaken.