I am playing the original Oblivion without the expansion packs.

If I solve all the main quests and side quests, and then buy the expansion packs, will it be more difficult to discover the new quests? (No spoilers though, but I'm wondering if its hard to do it this way)

Is it better to add the expansion packs before you start the game?

Ordering them on ebay will cost me almost $20, are they worth it?

Later,
Wahooka

You won't have any problems starting the new quests if you're playing vanilla Oblivion - they all start as soon as you load your save game. (For that reason, PC players often use a mod called "SM Plugin Refurbish"; that mod requires certain criteria to be fulfilled before the addons' quests start.)

EDIT: One word of warning. One of the addons makes changes that can prevent you from ever being able to finish the Restoration Master Trainer quest. If you're not interested in that quest, then no need to worry.

So as soon as you install the expansion, these new quests just automatically appear in your journal?

What if you have the GOTY edition? Will the expansion quests be there when you come out of the sewers after the tutorial?

Thanks, Wahooka

Assuming that Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine are "checked" in your data list, then yes, they are there from the beginning, if you installed the GOTY in the default way. If you don't want them to start right away, you can "uncheck" them. (No need to deactivate SI, though, all it adds is the "strange island" near Bravil.)

You should get them in case you feel like something different. Definitely do them at some point cause they are really fun

Spoiler??

Shivering Isles is definitely worth getting. It's an Island that is huge at least a 1/4 to a 1/3 the size of Cyrodill, strange and full of wonderful things like the Prince Of Madness, Madness Armor/Amber Armor, New Enemies, New Dungeon Types, an excellent main quest, etc. It's definitely one of my favorite places in Oblivion to visit.

It's not a spoiler at all. Oblivion itself informs you of the "strange island" 24 hours after installing it or starting a new game.

So is the Knights of the Nine expansion not worth buying? Apparently it just adds some items and abilities? I guess if you've already solved a huge chunk of the game, you wouldnt need an extra sword or something..

Worth buying? You are the one who has to make that decision. If all a quest is to you is "some items and abilities" then, maybe, it's not worth it to you. But if you like to roleplay, have new adventures, spend more time with your character in the game world...then it is very much worth it.

I thought the story behind it was one of the best parts Bethesda put out for Oblivion. Better than the MQ. Definitely worth a purchase IMO.

Well I was told the Knights of the Nine is just a few extra items.. I didn't realize it adds an entire new quest to the game. Of course, if its a new adventure, I am IN!!!

If you're playing a good "knightly" character, it's probably the best quest line in the game.

This. It's questline is easily as big as the major questlines in the base game. You can plow through it and end up with a good set of gear (that levels itself, btw). But if you take time and enjoy the story, it's hand-down got the best lore content in the game.

Shivering Isles is a lot of fun, too, although maybe not for everyone. I have characters that bypass or avoid it altogether. It's very rare that I have a character that spends much time there beyond completing the main quest (which is huge, admittedly).

Not sure if you care about other content, but those two are the best ones. Other than those only Mehrunes' Razor is what I would put in the category of "you should at least try it". Everything else is pretty straightforward and simple - either you want what it offers or not.

quick question about the knights dlc, is it possible for an evil or choatic nuetral person to be able to start and or comete it?

Not without repenting and changing your ways.

Mmmm maybs the reason why ive have yet to do that quest, hopefully I can lie about repenting mmm. Ill try it out one day. Dang I forgot about fame and infamy, thats problemly whats stopped me in the past, been so long.

Yeah, the game checks your infamy. You can erase your infamy by doing the pilgrimage to all of the wayshrines, but the problem with that is that an evil character needs the infamy for fame points.

It's a lot easier to just create a new character for the "good quests" like KOTN.

Actually.... the most fun I've ever had running the knights quest line was side-by-side with the thieve's guild quest line. It does require you to complete the pilgrimage quest over and over, but I just got in the habit of stopping at any wayshrine I passed, and usually when I needed to "repent" I'd only have to visit one or two shrines to erase my infamy. Not too bad. There's even some unique dialog for the "infamous" Divine Crusader. That's when I started to look at the lore surrounding Pelinal Whitestrake (divine psychopath, perhaps...?)

How can you buy all the other plugins like KOTN, Mehrunes Razor, etc if the official site is down? I don't want to have to buy the GOTY edition or something.

Ugh. There's that. I think the only way to get them at this moment in time is either the GOTY (adds Knights & Shivering Isles only) or the Deluxe Edition (adds all DLC's). That or wait for the site to come back.

Shivering isles expansion is by far the best part of Oblivion.

So if I solve the Restoration Master Trainer quest first, and then install the expansions afterwards, will the expansions work as planned?

You don't even need to do that. All you have to do is make sure either: (I don't think that's really a spoiler, but just in case)

OR

2) Have the Unofficial Oblivion Patch installed, which you should have anyway if you're playing on a PC. This fixes the problem without having to worry about it.

Well I am on a PC and installed the "official patch"... not sure what the unofficial patch is!