I guess this is where alot of the popularity of mods comes in. Oblivion is a great game, enables lots of replayability - too a point. You start seeing patterns over and over again.
There's not really a great deal of variation in weapons, armour, enemies, NPCs, dungeons. Not enough for 4yrs of play.
A handful of mods can easily mix all that up, and rid you of the other part of the game you dislike (like the leveling system for example)

i wish there was a spell to cast that erased my memory, as i would love to start again without knowing anything about it

i have played the mainquest through many times and once closing 55 gates, completed all dlc.... basically everything

and to think i bought Oblivion, not after reading reviews or listening to the hype.... i picked up the game on the 360 about a year after release

read my sig for how nuts i went for oblivion

although i dont play very often now, i still think Oblivion is great and cant wait for TESV

the game can be repetitive, but give it a break, play something else... it will wait for you

What? I'm so confused! :confused: YOu hate it but you want the next edition of it? If I played a game I reallly didn't like (and I have) I'd stop playing it. I wouldn't force myself to keep going thru it. Life's too short.

My allegory is the uncanny valley for RPG games. Oblivion did so good, it magnified all its flaws with x10000.

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f386/vtastek/morrowind/morrowindmisc/special/uncannyvalleyOblivion.png
(Disclaimer: There is no good or bad in this chart. It is also not scientific, I just decided the amounts of action and RPG positive and negative just show different ends of spectrum in a totally subjective way.)

The valley is creating confusion, that's normal. Wanting next version to see if they are out of valley is normal too. Enjoying what we have today is normal as well.

I like it. It felt like getting slapped on the head with someone else's idea of what is true in the game world. I prefer to be able to question what I see, look for other explanations.

Well, that and the lack of truely epic boss battles, but that's true with most WRPGs -- they don't have those kinds of fights.

Simply, Oblivion is filled with paradise. The basic concept of being able to transport yourself into a different dimension, with oddities we don't have now is paradise for an adventure-seeker. Dark brotherhood, for those who enjoy a different type of thrill. Same for Theives guild. Fighters guilds for the paradise of being able to say you've done the people good. Mage's for those who want to experience magic that you can't in everyday life. If you thought hard about what's put into the game play you'll actually see that the creaters created a master piece called Oblivion. How could you hate that? There something for everyone and you're addicted because theres something in this particular game that you just can't get enough of.

Well atheism never really worked in Elder Scrolls because most gods - Aedra, Daedra the Tribunal etc. are pretty obviously there.