My favorite games of all time:

01. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
02. Fallout 3
03. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

And having recently finished Oblivion finally for the first time, and going back and replaying Fallout 3, those rankings may swap.

Oblivion isn't just a good game. Or a great game. It's an amazing game, and one of the greatest games ever made.

I just got done with playing a new warrior character on oblivion AGAIN and loved it just got my Crusader Armor and now im entering the arena!! WHOOOT!

The problem is that it was different from the last game in the series. I think that Morrowind fans did not like it cause they started with Morrowind. Daggerfall fans didn't like Morrowind cause they started with Daggerfall (almost all who started with Arena agreed that Daggerfall was better). For Oblivion Daggerfall fans were not expecting another game like Daggerfall so they enjoyed Oblivion. I think that since the cycle goes something like this that Morrowind, Daggerfall and Oblivion fans will enjoy Skyrim (since Skyrim has so much in common with Oblivion).

Morrowind fans also were upset at the way Oblivion was not "fantastical." Problem with that is that Morrowind is the only game that is actually fantastical.

Edit: I started with Morrowind btw, so I know this is not true for everyone (cause I like Oblivion better).

It was a large step forward but for the technology avaliable it should have been what skyrim will be. Just how I feel, combat was boring and unresponsive, magic special effects looked like PS1. The character creator was inventive and the enviorments were great but what skyrim is doing makes both of those pale in comparison. Just imagine if bethesda actually focused on making the greatest game of all time and not worried about Xboxs limitations!? yesh could you just imagine?

The pattern I've noticed is: If the person complaining about Oblivion was predisposed to the series before the fourth game, particularly referring to Morrowind, they'll likely hate or dislike Oblivion more than the average person. Now, speaking from my own perspective on the matter, I started my love affair with the TES series beginning with Oblivion and while it isn't the greatest game I've ever played it certainly rates high on my list. :tops:

I loved Oblivion when it came out and still love it and I will love Skyrim. I am not one to overly criticize a game series I love, I will be playing any Elder Scrolls title long after any other game title all the rest of my games several years from now will be gathering dust and I will still be playing my Elder Scrolls. I've played since Morrowind been searching retail for the first two main games in the series no luck yet.

I do hate when people flair up about what game is better Morrowind or Oblivion I liked Morrowind better but that does not make me hate Oblivion and no its not a bad game at all its one if the best ever.

Oblivion and Morrowind are my favorite games.

Hate Oblivion? Huh? Man I'm still playing it. I'd still be playing Morrowind probably if I still had it on my pc. A major crash a few years ago took care of that.

In comparison to a lot of other Elder Scrolls games, in my opinion Oblivion was pretty bad. But in comparison to other non Elder Scroll games it was pretty good especially at the time it came out. Oblivion was one of Bethesda's weakest titles in my opinion but that doesn't mean it was god awful horrible.

It depends on who you ask. So, DON'T ask. Just play and judge it for yourself. Do the same thing with Skyrim.

I love Oblivion! One of my favorite games of all time for sure.

Exactly.

there's nothing wrong in asking other fans of a series to give their input. It is the same with reviews, previews and other articles. You always have to reserve your own judgment for yourself and not treat other people's opinions as gospel but it doesn't hurt to hear and listen to other people.

I remember seeing people dragging Oblivion threw the mud a lot I was one if the few that defended the game.

for what it was, oblivion was good in my opinion
liked morrowind better, but thats just personal preference
still loved obliv

Morrowind was better, but for what it was, Oblivion was still pretty good...

I love Oblivion. I was just playing it earlier, in fact. Easily my favorite game until Skyrim comes out.

What is Oblivion? The last Elder scrolls that came out was Morrowind

Daaaaaang, it was all like that! BAM!

No it wasn't. And neither was Dragon Age 2. But this is the internet, there are only extremes :shrug:

Oblivion was awesome, some people just can't accept that it's not Morrowind.

you see, while i definitely agree that Oblivion is a great game, there is one main problem in your post, fact is that statement is incorrect, subjects like these are completely subjective, no matter how much ya wont want to admit it, it all depend son prefrence, and a game being good/bad is not fact in any situation, even in the case of Big Rigs, some found the game so bad that they enjoy it.

anyway, i think oblivion is a great game, i still play it, but in my opinion, when ya look at skyrim, and then look back at oblivion, ya cant help but notice how many things Bethesda fixed for skyrim that they did wrong in oblivion, i think that's the issue,

A lot of things sound great with what they have do to Skyrim. I am going to reserve my final judgement tor when I actually play the game next month. It is as you say subjective to flat out say the game is bad and its argumentative I feel the game is great one if the best ever. I have an extreme amount of confidence in Bethesda to deliver us another amazing game. I an just waiting to judge how great the game will be.

Here's the main thing I don't like about Oblivion: Bethesda put trying to impress us before the actual game. The most hyped features were the new engine and (the worst case) Radiant AI. But come crunch time, the engine was performing badly and Bethesda just couldn't get Radiant AI as we saw it in the E3 demos to work right. The effects were abysmal: the game was delayed, the world got stripped, the cities were closed off, Radiant AI was completely gutted, and the results were a massive disappointment for all the people who bought into the hype.

That was a big learning experience for Bethesda. Thankfully, Oblivion was still quite capable of standing out on its own, but it doesn't have as strong a presence in the series as the previous games.

Comparing Skyrim's launch run to Oblivion's, I can tell they learned. They are not making the same mistakes over again.

just got done with a step back session of tes series it took 2 months to finish. starting with Oblivion and finishing with Arena. After every game the next game would be more of a task, and the games would get progressivly worse (which is a good thing mind you). All in all Bethesda has came true to their statments and improved each game in the series, the complaints you hear are nothing more then slander against a 5 year old game being compaired to todays games. Bethesda and the TES series seamingly stay two steeps ahead of any competition (if you call them that) and lead the gaming industry in innovation that any game studio would envy.