» Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:52 am
How many times have I "finished" the game? The answer is either ZERO or ONE, depending.
If "finishing" means doing every single quest and quest-line available, I've never done that. I've no interest or intent in participating in evil or criminal activities, so won't consider either the Thieves or Assassins guild quest lines. Heck, there are a few vanilla side-quests I refuse to do, one in Bruma involving helping a lady recover stolen loot from her jailed "companion" comes to mind...it's too shady for me. (Admittedly, mod-added quests sometimes require my avatar to perform less-than-virtuous acts. In those cases I find a way to compensate the victim, such as substituting gems worth several times their value for any item pilfered.)
If "finishing" means completing all tasks one sets for his or herself, I've done that once. My first play-through I became MadGod, Champion of Cyrodiil, Divine Crusader, Arch-Mage, Master of the Fighters Guild, and finished almost every side-quest. I intentionally did not complete the Arena quest-line, not having the heart to kill its current champion. Nor did I do all Daedric Shrine quests, finding several too black-hearted.
If one factors in certain PC quest-mods, a game of Oblivion can theoretically go on forever. I've one that, amongst other things, lets one join the Imperial Legion and be assigned to patrol roads between IC and the various major cities. These are recurring assignments, and can be repeated endlessly. I quite enjoy these patrols, riding the roads of Cyrodiil to ensure them safe for innocent travelers.
-Decrepit-