So for some strange reason I get this super urge to play oblivion when its raining outside where I live its probably because the southern part of cyrodil is my favorite by lets say 60/40 so when it rains I want to head down to bravil or leyawhiin (spelling) and just start "mucking" around down there. Anyone else get like this around rain?

Could be - I like to go up to Bruma when it's cold and snowy outside, and then go inside and get near a fireplace in some inn. The big fireplace in Cloud Ruler Temple is my favorite. Probably some form of subconscious immersion response.

I know Renee Gade III likes to create new characters when it's raining.

Rain doesn't affect my playing habits though. What does affect them is how I feel about my work. If I feel I've done good work I'll feel that I have a license to enjoy myself for the remainder of the day. If I'm dissatisfied with my work I often feel that I have not earned the right to play.

I really only play video games in the winter, I've kinda become an outdoors person...who just happens to hate the cold.

Real life rain doesn't affect my desire to play the game one way or the other. The only way real weather does have a bearing is when don't play or feel the need to exit early during a severe storm threat. That and of course not being able to play at all when adverse weather leads to power outages.

Some years ago I stated that when it rained in Cyrodiil I often smelled wet air as if it were falling around me in real life. I should never have publicized that phenomenon. From that day to this I have never again been able to smell in-game wet air.

YES! YES! oH my god, you and I both!! I've been saying this for years! Matter of fact, I only create characters if it's raining or snowing outside. I like playing TES games if it's overcast basically, and Fallout if it's sunny outside. For some reason, sun seems to go with FO3.

It's actually snowing outside right now. I am not creating anybody new today, but I have a really great idea for my next one. She'll be a witch who holds down an ordinary job., and it'll depend on a couple of mods, heh heh hahahaa. Not today, though.

For me, it's somehow twisted around: when it rains IN the game, I get the urge to stop playing it, unless my character has a hood. Especially since resting or waiting does nothing to clear the weather up.

I get the urge to play Oblivion when it is raining, I think it comes from nostalgia. Was Autumn/Winter when I really got into it. Just feels comfortable, raining, have fire going, explore Cyrodiil.

To quote Decrepit - I know there are 4D Cinema's that add smell and other things. Personally I think being sprayed in the face would be annoying and distracting rather than immersive.

Don't know how that would work for gaming. Think I would rather stick to my imagination than actually smell the inside of an Oblivion Gate or delving deep into a Necromancers Den.

It is sort of a comfort thing, this is true.

In my case, it all started when I was living in Oregon, back in 2000. It was dead-winter, when it rains or drizzles, or is juts plain overcast for weeks, when I discovered Tomb Raider. I got really hooked on Tomb Raider, spent hours, days, weeks, months playing it. And the whole time, it was raining outside, or at least cloudy.

Before this phase, I was homeless by choice. Long story, but I basically got sick of living in a 'box', paying rent to live in a box. I had a lot of friends in those days, and I'd frequently just crashed at one of their places. One of these friends had Tomb Raider on the original PS, and I got hooked on this game fast. I did not see it coming. Lara Croft is what got me to move back into a box (a more permanent place to live) in a funny sort of way.

So maybe I've been doing this subconsciously all along; playing some games only if it's overcast or dark outside. I only became super-aware of this habit during my PS3 / Oblivion days.

Sorry, still trying to figure out how to quote properly just yet....

That's quite amazing Renee. To go off topic for a bit, I think a lot of people forget or don't understand how powerful gaming can be as a media.

For me it helped a lot around 5 years ago with depression. I found gaming helped to occupy my mind, found it calming and peaceful.

To go back on topic, where I live we have not had any significant rain since before Christmas, so that doesn't help me get into Oblivion. That's ok though, trying out a new build in Skyrim instead

There are several of us who have had problems with depression. I think playing fictional characters in the safe environment of a video game can be very healing. I think games can allow us to escape ourselves for short periods of time, and that can be a blessing. I hope you're doing better these days.

Thanks for your words Pseron, I think you make a very valid pont. Thankfully I can say I am well and happy, and have been for a few years now. Hope others have also found some peace as well.

I wonder if we (gamers) share certain traits or personalities that may lend us to being more susceptible to things like depression. Or perhaps it's just a fact of the society we live in.

You are right - the urge to do something is usually caused by nostalgia. I for one get great desire to play Oblivion when ever I read Silmarillion. The reason for it is simply: I was once again reading through that book while I bought my copy of Oblivion. Ever since I haven't been able to read through Silmarillion without ending up playing Oblivion afterwards. And that isn't a bad habit I think - after all the lands of Cyrodiil and Beleriand doesn't feel that different if you do not care about the matters of immortals.

Shadow: to quote, just click on the 'Quote' button beneath somebody's post. This will put the person's quote (in text form) at the bottom of the entire page. The text will be in a gray area, but below this text, it will be somewhat darker. You'll see what I mean.

Then you can just type text below this quote. Make sure you don't type into the grayed-out text area with the person's text you just quoted, or it will be hard to tell your text from his or hers. After you've typed your own own text, just hit Post. If you want to quote multiple people, just press the MultiQuote button under each person's already-existing posts. This will each person's text into the bottom text window of this page, then you can just type in some text below each person's text.

This might not be as easy if you're on a cell phone, perhaps.

Back on topic kinda/sorta: In my case, Oblivion actually helped me defeat my former drug addiction. Not that the game itself did this all by itself (I also went through counseling) but the game was certainly a huge distraction; something to do during my free time, other than ... that.

Agreed. Playing games and music are my two drugs that I use to forget about the real world.

For me most things start like that. Might be a bit off topic though... but anyway. There are 3 Whitesnake songs that when I hear them I feel like playing Oblivion, becaise I got into those songs at the time I got into Oblivion. Works for every other game (and everything else, really) like that. When it's snowing, and that Christmas feeling is around, I feel like playing Skyrim because I played Skyrim heavily around 2011's winter holidays, and there was snow up to the knees outside. I was inside in warm, and my character was freezinh his ass off in my place. Then there's a Serbian band that was visiting Croatia and people around me were all talking about going, so, naturally, they constantly put on their songs, and at that time I was playing Assassin's Creed 2, which I now wish to play whenever I hear their songs. Bob Marley makes me want to play Morrowind. Etc.