hello people.

So im a huge fallout fan, have been playing forever and thought I would try out Oblivion. All I can say is that im in love with this game.Tthe mythological stories and themes are something I really enjoy.... but im really REALLY lost. I dont know if its the fact that this game is bigger than fallout or im just new at it, but i feel like other then the main quest, side quests are hard to come by and i have no idea where to really begin. im currently level 2 and sticking to the main quest. I am a dark elf that is focusing on my strength, enduance, and agility stats right now. Also im using heavy amour. Anyways, i got some rare items, like the fin something helmet and this sword from a side quest that is pretty cool. the one with the fighting between the two shops and you kill that dude that steals from graves. So what are some cool things I can go do away from the main quest? how do i find more rare and unique items? everything is so vast and im so lost....... help?

Not in cheats, hints and spoilers, so can't say much, but go to Chorrol, ask around, visit the pubs and join a few guilds.
Then go to Bruma, ask around, wait to be summoned.

Those side quests will come, trust me! Soon you'll have more than you can keep track of if you decide to take them all on. Talking to everyone you can find in towns helps to bring those quests on. You never know who's got something or some task for you to do.

Also, walk or ride around the countryside. NO fast travelling. Fast traveling is convenient later on, but you miss about half of what makes this game so great if you do it all the time early-on.

You find rare items by exploring the game more often than you'll find them during quests. Walk thru the forest and find that cave or whatever. Explore the entire thing. Sometimes there's a boss who's wearing some rare enchanted stuff or has a chest full of gold.

Just walk around towns, talk to NPCs. You'll find quests eventually.

You could also join a guild, like the Fighter's or Mages. The Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood are a bit harder to get into, and I don't want to spoil anything.



This too, definitely. So much more fun and rewarding to walk than to fast travel.

If you love the mythology and the size of the game, you really should check out Morrowind. It feels much larger--the architecture is more varied, and the mythology more prevalent. Most of Oblivion's books were written for Morrowind.



Stick to one city, and talk to everybody. Find out what's going on. Alternatively, join a guild, and do the quests that are assigned to you.

Also consider mods. There are tons of mods, many that are a huge number of side quests. http://knol.google.com/k/toql-the-oblivion-quest-list# is perhaps the best meta-site to find out about Oblivion quest mods, and it has lots of links.

You sound like a good fit for the Fighter's Guild, they can give you lots of sidequests and loot. Talk to someone at the fighter's guild hall in any of the major towns

Also if you want a useful online guide for Oblivion: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion this site has guides for every quest and a guide for new players as well

hello mister.
here's what you must do: live.
there is no thing that you should do, just live the game and enjoy it. explore, do quests, fight, help, and just do whatever you want. you will find your path soon enough. i often go for full days without killing a thing and still enjoy.

99% of my time playing oblivion i have spending time on exploring, exploring, exploring, and doing side quests. There is no other game free roam game that offers so much content

I quite agree with this.

The most fun I have in Oblivion is travelling with Helena Aurelie. We quite often spend many days in towns, without killing a single thing.

What do we do?

She lives her life, and I offer her occasional guidance. She visits her friends, brews Restore Health potions to sell, goes for walks, goes shopping (this one seems to happen a lot), practices her spells, goes swimming (she loves being in or around water), etc.

If you spend some time with UESP wiki. It can provide you astonishing detail on just about everything in the game. If your approach is to know everything and do everything and find everything, that will help. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion

For what it's worth, I highly recommend taking the approach offered by golliath. The game is big and complex enough that a wonderful approach is to treat it as if your character is truly just trying to live their life in Cyrodiil. Just like life, you have no idea what's in the next box of chocolates or conversation with an NPC. Or what lies just over that hill. This approach takes years to fully uncover the game, but perhaps that is a good thing?

Ask about rumors. Lots of them lead you to quests.

Yes, as it says on the box itself; "Live another life in another world". This is not a lets-get-it-over-with type of game, you cannot run through it and think you′ve seen it all. Like Rindir at Rindir′s Staff says; "Take your time"

I′ve clocked over 1500 hrs now and still I haven′t seen everything

shivering isles..

nuff said.

The main quest. What is that??

My Dunmer got out of prison, ran straight into the forest and never looked back.

The immense scale of the game is the best thing. Getting lost is great fun. Bethesda knows that nobody plays the Main quest anyway. That is the reason Todd Howard has put dragons in as boss battles as you explore Skyrim. Nobody would guess they were in the game otherwise. :laugh: