Hi,

I've picked up Oblivion again and have been playing for a couple of months now but I still haven't found a character which suits me! I keep making characters and getting bored with them and then start new character... Over and over again. I read posts of people like Acadian who has found Buffy, and uh Lothran (that's not his forum name but I'm bad at names, sorry!) with his character, Lothran, and I really really enjoy them.
Now I'm not such a heavy roleplayer as they are (I can not see my characters as separate entities) but there must be something out there with which I can "bond" so to say?

I've already played every archtype... I've played characters which use only their bow and a small knife, combined with a bit of magic. I've played melee characters (although only sword + shield in heavy armor style... and H2H), and I've played a mage, once (I didn't know what to do after I had finished SI :$).

I am currently playing a Nord Spellblade but I'm noticing I'm already losing interest! Can anyone please help me, give me some tips?

The best way to find a character that suits you would be to make yourself. My first ever character was a Breton mage who I took through every questline and every side quest, it was fun but he was just a character. I kept playing with various builds of characters until I came up with Haa-Rei: He is an Argonian and has skills which don't really go together but they are skills that I would want if I was in Tamriel. He buys stuff that I would buy, talks to people that I would talk to and decides which quests to do depending on which quests I would do. You probably don't want me to say "just keep making characters" but that is exactly what I did, that's just me however. Other people have totally different ways of finding their 'perfect character'. I hope this helped. :turtle:

There is certainly nothing wrong with playing a character until their story is complete and moving on to another. 'Permacharacters' are indeed in a minority it seems. I honestly don't know what it is that causes one to want to simply go further down the rabbit hole with the same character rather than starting a new one. I don't believe it is so much a formula as perhaps stumbling into it - I would have no idea how to recreate the magic that Buffy has brought to me over the years. Like any long-term relationship, I believe there are things one can to do retain that magic however. Some things that I believe have helped me:

- Respect your character and pay attention to their aspirations and needs. Buffy is like a granddaughter to me and I truly want only the best for her, and for her to experience life to the fullest.

- Allow your character to put their thoughts in writing. With over a quarter million words of fan fiction, most every aspect of life in Tamriel comes vividly to life for Buffy and I. We can tell you the life story of all four of the Black Horse Courier riders by name for example. At this stage, she has a very rich history of wonderful friendships with a long list of NPCs. A journal helps fill the gap between what you see and what your character sees, feels and hears.

- Mods can help, but are by no means required. We do not use very many and I would place such simple mods as portable campsite and horse saddlebags very near the top. Imagination is so much more important than mods.

- There are a few things we do in recognition that our game is so very very long. We don't focus on quests, since there are a finite number of those. Rather, our attention goes more to things that are neverending like clearing dungeons, traveling by horse and visiting Buffy's many friends across Cyrodiil. We make important NPCs and those who 'wander' essential so they do not eventually get killed. Killing a non respawning NPC is a big deal that we consider heavily, because they will be gone from the game forever. We pay attention even to things like Nirnroot, Welkynd stones and Varla stones - once they are gone, they are gone forever.


I hope that a couple other of the 'permacharacter' players, such as mirocu (Lothran's creator), bobg and Decrepit will come on and share some of their thoughts.

I had this problem too, so this is what I did. I made a character that took the best things I enjoyed most out the game, and I didn't roleplay. My last character I roleplayed heavily, after notching up lots of hours and getting really into it my PS3 got the dreaded YLoD. So when I got my new one it was hard for me to get into another character. So with this one I decided that I would get the most out of the game and not roleplay. I set out a clear objective on what I wanted to achieve, which was a soon as I could buy an expensive house. So I went around the Ring Road going to every location on it and soon made 20,000. Before I knew it, I was roleplaying as a Dungeon Diver who looks for the most rare items in the land and sells them to shops.

So my advice is don't set out to roleplay and you then may accidentally start to.

I always have the same problem when starting a new character. Even if its boring I try to get out of the dungeon you start in and do some stuff. Suddenly after playing to say, level 4-6 I start to like the character and it gets fun playing even if its boring at first.

Oh, you could always try to make lots of different chars until you stumble onto one you like.

My only suggestion is don't expect to make a "permacharacter". In my experience, going back and making new characters is the best part. I recently made an Orc spellcaster, called him a Warlock, made his skin dark red, and I use restoration (specifically Absorb Life spells over time) and summons as my main attack. Orcs aren't meant to be casters, which makes this guy even more unique (not to mention red skin). Right now, I'm thinking "this is the coolest character I've ever made!" But its the same thing I thought when I made my Shaman, my Paladin, my Arcane Archer, my Battlemage, etc...

I made a character that can do a little bit of everything. In general all rounders get way over powered, but I've placed self enforced limits on skills and attributes to keep her from becoming over powered to the point of boredom. So far it has worked and I've been with her since January.

You're kidding, right? :rofl:

No. And if you have a problem with that, I suggest you keep it to yourself.

To be honest, Lothran has been hard to be friends with so to speak. He has lived out his life through my fingers but it took me quite a while to really "get to know him". But if it′s one thing I′ve always done and that is to listen to him. It may sound stupid, but to speak off chart here I let his thoughts about whatever come into my mind. For instance, what would I do in his very shoes in a given situation? After knowing that I take his view in consideration. Maybe what I think would be best does not suit him in his world?

All of this may sound too deep for some, but it really isn′t a set of rules I′ve made up. It has simply come to me while playing. The key however is to take your character seriously. Don′t constantly think "it′s just a game", but rather "this is actually for real!" Perhaps then your character will come to you and you can share a story as great as mine and Lothran′s or even Acadian′s and Buffy′s! :twirl:



Well, for me it is a matter of history. The more I play with Lothran the greater history we get together. Many times, especially when he is in Bruma, we have gone through his extensive library of saves and reminisced.

- Oh yeah, I remember when we cleared that fort!
or
- I had completely forgotten all about the Jemane brothers!

So there′s my answer why I will stick with Lothran for as long as I will play Oblivion. To start over would almost be an insult to him, all that we′ve gone through means too much to be swept away. He truly is my friend! :foodndrink:

Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't talking to you.