I've been moderately active on the Oblivion forums for year now, but truthfully besides a two-month run back in September of last year I have only played tiny and stretched out bits and pieces of the game. With Oblivion's tenth anniversary coming and going, I decided to step back into the world again, and try playing in ways I never had before.

For example, in another thread I said that I had never played as a Redguard, Orc, Khajiit, Argonian, Altmer or Bosmer, and that I intend on doing so now. Well I created a Redguard and an Altmer, two very good looking and solidly-built characters. However, rather than going through the whole tutorial dungeon again I saved a character I made a year ago at the gates at the end of the dungeon: an Imperial Nightblade named Saturnanis. I remade him as a Redguard and an Altmer, saving both as new save files. However, after two and a half hours playing as my brilliant Altmer, I realised that I forgot to change her name! Can you imagine? A highborn Altmer with Falmeri blood named Saturnanis So I had a cry, made a cup of tea and reluctantly deleted the character and started again. I'm just glad I realised after two hours and not twenty. I've made this mistake once before and I now have a level 4 Breton named Saturnanis. However I decided that he shall be a Reachman, and embodies the cultures of all races of Nordic descent. So having an Imperial name, depending on the backstory, made some sense.

Now, onto the more wild experiments. I decided to write on several scraps of paper the three specializations, the seven attributes and all the skills. I then wrote the names of all ten races on paper and put them all in separate boxes. As you can probably figure out, I intend on making a character who's creation is entirely at the mercy of Lady Luck. So I pulled out the pieces of paper that would define my next character and here's what I got:

Name: Al-Amir

Race: Redguard

Specialization: Stealth

Attributes: Intelligence, Willpower

Major Skills: Conjuration, Security, Sneak, Heavy Armour, Mysticism, Armorer, Marksman

So needless to say this character is a mess However, it has compelled me to play the game as I never have before, and I've got to say, it's refreshing for the game to genuinely challenge me again. I feel as though I'm playing through for the first time again because I've had to throw most of my previous knowledge of the game out the window to adjust to this bizarre character. If you haven't tried making a totally random character yet, I recommend you do so. No matter how nonsensical and jarring it is, you will find yourself approaching the game differently, offering a fresh new perspective.

Another thing I've tried doing is capping myself at certain levels. For example, I want Al-Amir to use a steel cutlass (being a Redguard and all that) but obviously just a few levels down the line the cutlass will not hold up against what the world throws at him. Of course I could enchant it (and with Al-Amir's random side of magic Majors I probably will) but I figured, why bother? Why bother level up and have the world level with me to the point where the fun's sapped out of everything by myself being a damage sponge and the hacking away at enemies gets beyond tedious? So I've elected to cap myself at level 7 for the time being, though I may with enough thought move up a few more. And so far, I've found it quite enjoyable. Rather than focusing so much on my levels and rushing from one place to the next, I found myself enjoying the present. Properly taking in the characters, locations and the general exploration of Cyrodiil. I've found so many more gameplay hours in just exploring and looking for cool things rather than hoping to get more powerful. It's simple things, eh?

I also played my first Altmer in Oblivion, and my second ever TES Altmer. I don't know why I never played an Altmer in Oblivion, but in Skyrim the first-person camera would make the Altmer see the world from the height of an Imperial, which was obviously quite irritating and immersion-breaking. But I digress. The Altmer I created is actually a Snow Elf called Nuarri. She is a pure mage but after maxing out the Intelligence and Willpower of this character I shifted her into more of a battlemage. I'm curious to see how close I can get to maxing out all of the attributes if I plan properly.

So this is all new stuff I've tried out in the last month, and it's been a blast. The game seems to have opened itself up to me for the first time all over again. I'll continue to play with different characters and classes, and I want to make more of an effort to properly roleplay. I still feel as though there is an entire level of understanding to this game that I haven't yet reached. I read about the immersive roleplays people do of this game that are so in-depth a psychologist might take interest


Anywho, I'm sure Oblivion will be my go-to game for another ten years, and I have much more to do in this game!

I'm glad you've found a renewed enjoyment for Oblivion!


This game will always hold a special place in my heart, I know I'll always without fail get the itch to play it...


Then I'll find myself sliding the disc in, loading it up and am greeted by those all too familiar Cyrodillic trumpets!


Keep us updated with how your game with your Snow Elf goes!

I do too. It's something we've discussed from time to time and it's a great idea. Here is an old thread about this by gpstr: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1115805-completely-random-character/ I think it's a really fun way to shake you up up a bit and push you out of old habits (which can happen when you've played a game for years). There's nothing like introducing a bit of unpredictability into your gaming when you fee like you're getting into a rut.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Al-Amir= the Prince. Good name choice, my appreciations.

Just make sure, if nothing else, that you spend a good amount of time in the Shivering Isles. Not only is it the best DLC Bethesda has ever put out, it's arguably better than the rest of the game.

And if you've never played a pure mage, drop Supreme Magicka (the mod) in and play a pure mage.

My current character, her name is derived from two Lamborghini models:

Venena Aventadore

Breton

Mage-Rogue

Atronach

Magic

INT & WIL

Alchemy, Destruction, Illusion, Mercantile, Sneak, Marksman, Mysticism.

Past characters have been a knife-fighter (never uses any weapon larger than a dagger), a pure mage, a necromancer, a ranger-assassin (focus on stealth bow attacks), a pugilist (never uses a weapon, only fists), and a Merchant (no useful fighting skills whatsoever, just an average Joe). That last one didn't go too well.