After some weeks surfing the forums I've come across a lot of negativity, and a lot of that negativity is directed towards Oblivion and how "bad" it was. I agree, Oblivion could have been better, but it wasn't all that bad as it has been claimed. We have to remember here, Oblivion was the welcoming door to the Elder Scrolls universe for a lot of gamers, it were for me at least.

Instead of flamin', we can start lovin' and look back at the good times we've all had with Oblivion (well, at least most of us). I know I have been enjoying (almost) every minute of Oblivion. I sometimes play it, even.

But - If you have a problem with Oblivion, please, comment respectfully and constructive. Do NOT flame - ever. And if you have a problem with Oblivion, please post it as a comment here.

Edit: What I don't like about Oblivion is the animations, they are kind of stiff and seems to be "unnatural". Well, at least some of them... I wasn't a big fan of the leveled loot and monsters, either. I would also appreciate more voice acters

While Oblivion had its flaws, it is still one of the best games I've played.
I'm not gonna [censored] and moan, because I liked the game

Edit: Naughty me and my words

I have wondered the same since I arrived to the forums... No idea, still.

It wasn't bad to everyone. And it is common for the game to be compared to its predecessors. Some of the criticism has been valid but much of it isn't. I think that Oblivion was really innovative in a few key areas but some people coming from Morrowind felt that it didn't allay itself as being a spiritual sequel to past Elder Scrolls. In the end any reasonable person will acknowledge Oblivion for its accomplishments and see it as a well made game, even if it didn't have all of the same elements as Morrowind.

In short, both games are well made and they both present a different flavor of game play. When some players who tasted the flavor of Morrowind (or Daggerfall or Arena) and then tasted Oblivion they cried "it's not the same!". But most persons should acknowledge that each flavor tastes good.

That's all I got this morning, my brain still waking up

EDIT

Also, my own personal criticism (I know it has been stated by others, but just to add my voice) when Oblivion came out I didn't like the level scaling. So I used a mod (Franscesco) way back when to help keep monsters at a static level. But I will say that I played vanilla first, and modded it later. Most of my game play after several hours in vanilla was with very few changes. Just Frans and cosmetic texture changes.

Later, many years later (2010) I went back and played Oblivion with about 150 mods. It was a lot of fun, and some don't feel it is valid to rate a game based on the mods but it is a valid criticism because, regardless of where the mod comes from or who made it, they are available and increased the longevity of the game. Oblivion has an absolutely incredible modding community, and that modding community has given Oblivion a special place in history as one of most versatile and personalized games ever created. To each his own, with mods

Well for me it was the level enemies and loot,the compass that told what was in every direction before you went there, the waypoints that held your hand way too much, and the limited armors system, and the lack of some freedoms in Oblivion like killing anyone you wanted to. They ruined any reason or fun in exploring or customizing your character, which is why I played these games in the first place. I see what they were going for, but it didn't work out very well, and felt like a huge step down from Morrowind.

Although the game was fun after you put the past games out of your mind, I only put a fraction of the time in Oblivion than I put in Morrowind. Oblivion was a good game, but IMO it was no Morrowind.

I dislike the supernatural senses of the guards. If you attack someone in their sleep but fail to kill them in one blow the guards automatically start chasing after you and know exactly where you are. I hate that. Even if you finish off your victim with a quick follow up swing before theyve so much as stood up, its too late!! The guards are upon you!!!

The distinct lack of beards makes me sad.

Orcs sound wayyy too civilized... and dont seem any bigger or buffer than the other races. (well not significantly anyway)

The VAing.

Vampirism makes your characters T-zone age... yet the rest of his face stays fine.


*EDIT*
Still having a tonne of fun with it though.

It is because the forum is divided at about this:

20% people who don't just complain about everything (Us)
30% Morrowind or older TES game [censored]
15% Trolls (I think one of them is Peter Molyneux)
10% People who are irrationally afraid of change
20% Cynics
5% Mods and gamesas Employees who have to stay neutral

That explains a lot! All the trolls are Peter with his different accounts!

I loved pretty much everything about the game. I think it's the best game I've ever played. It's just that I've played through it so many times I'm just bored with it now. I've done virtually everything there is to do multiple times. There is no more fun to be had with it.

I have come to the highly researched based conclusion that most of those complaining on the forum, be they male or female, have their panties in a bunch in uncomfortable ways! *Sagenod*

Edit: Forgot the 'un' at comfortable. *Rolls eyes*

A discussion of oblivion should not be in the Skyrim section of the forum really...

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/forum/87-iv-oblivion/

there is a simple explanation, people played Morrowind first, they are biased towards it, they scrutinize every detail of oblivion that wasn't in Morrowind, and quite honestly there is only a few things wrong with Oblivion, but people have a lot of opinions like Fast traveling and quest markers

I played Oblivion first, best game I have ever played, Morrowind was meh in my opinion, it was really the combat that made me mad

I have no time to write a lot but.
I'd say as short as possible:

In general it was a great game. Morrowind beat it RPG-wise though, I think.
It had some flaws though. There are the more obvious ones, as the level scaling, quest markers etc...
I also think that fast travel was a bad step made by Bethesda. They should have kept going with Morrowind's fast travel system.

Furthermore, I think that there were not many choices in the game. Quests felt static and like a routine chore. In addition, there were no unique artifacts gained by exploration (all was received from quest rewards).
Dungeons also felt bland and kinda all the same, in a way. Landscapes felt a bit of the same direction; no "unique" landscapes existed. We all know the reasons of this.
Compass icons was also a miss according to me. It took away quite a bit of the satisfaction of discovering something and looking carefully after hidden dungeons.

Despite of all this, I think it was a great game. If I were to rate it as vanilla, I'd rate it 8.5/10 or 9/10.

The things I didn't like with Oblivion was the fact that (if you ask me) it was build for another generation of players... so a lot of the features in Oblivion wasn't something I wanted to see, and a lot of the features this generation of players probably wouldn't like had been taken out... the landscape seemed pretty earthen, and it wasn't that unique, the guilds were a bit flat and all forms of politics had been pushed out...
now I think Skyrims biggest problem will be satisfying both Arena fans, Daggerfall fans, Battlespire fans, Redguard fans, Morrowind fans, and Oblivion fans, without hundreds of toggle-able options.

The thing I liked in Oblivion was that it was what got me into the Elder scrolls... the place I live surely would never sell a copy of Morrowind...

There has always been a bias against OB outside the OB specific forums, and much of it also, that OB is the last game, so when people reflect what they want in SKY, they usually reference the last game as an example of what they didn't like.

Lol I'm serious. One of the accounts will seriously only post stuff about Fable. I can't say the name but I'm sure some other people know who I mean. "Skyrim should have this system from Fable", "Fable is better in this respect", "Fable This, Fable That"

I heard that Fable 4 will only use the anolog Sticks and the A Button. The A button is referred to as the "Do" Button. It will automatically attack, talk to NPCs, use magic, and open doors. Characters will only change gear and appearance in certain circumstances and there is no HUD or Menu. Mr. Molyneux commented on the new design, calling it a "Huge advancement in Console Gaming." He went on to say that in a few more Fable titles, he will finally be able to be rid of the remaining buttons and features and make a movie

I hardly think any of us logged less than 50 hours on the game. I myself should be at somewhat 250 I guess, hard to tell - that's more than any game I played, bar Morrowind.

So whatever criticism is issued here, is not about a game we hate, but about a game we played way too much not to have enjoyed immensely. Put in *that* perspective, there's nothing "so wrong" with Oblivion. Only some flaws some of us noticed, which we want to see corrected in Skyrim, same way Morrowind had flaws which were corrected in Oblivion. *Shrug*

It seems to me that most of the harshest criticism about Oblivion comes from some of the most hardcoe fans of the previous Elder Scrolls games. That's not to say that Oblivion didn't have it's faults, because it did. There were lots of things that could've been done better. The problem is, is that some of the most vocal critics of Oblivion seem to forget (either conveniently or otherwise) that the previous games that they hold in such high regard had plenty of faults themselves.

I think about it this way, some people tend to look at previous Elder Scrolls games through "rose colored glasses" and either can't or don't want to acknowledge that Oblivion really was a pretty good game despite it's drawbacks.

To the person who said that it's common to compare one game to it's predecessor is common., You are absolutely right, it is common. We often don't like it, and it does get tiring hearing how much better game x was than game y. I suspect that this trend will not end anytime soon. it's a shame really.

Oblivion brought me into the Elder Scrolls universe. Its a great game! And I've sank days into that game. Just recently I started a new character

Misplaced thread is misplaced.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/forum/4-oblivion-general-discussion/

A lot of things that I've gone over so much I don't think I should repeat myself. So I wont.

Oh come on, I never go there. It's the Oblivion section ! *cough*

... By the way, how come Seti18 hasn't materialized in an angry cloud of bloom yet ?

I liked Oblivion and enjoyed playing the game as much as Morrowind and Daggerfall. I wish there were more RPG choices involved in the game. I believe Skyrim will have more to do.

I could write an entire tirade about all the little differences between how Bethesda approached each game and why Oblivion ends up on the bottom, but I'm not. It's still a pretty good game, and I actually think it's the most fun in some ways because you aren't as strongly compelled to get your skills up right away/go into a purist roleplaying frenzy. However if I were to give one reason it'd be the soulless levelled lists and scaling.

You bring up a good point.

To the OP, you shouldn't look at complaints as a sign of people who are unthankful or people who are trying to create negativity. Emotion in people is usually only invoked when there is an investment. Many here on these forums are emotionally invested in the series, and you will only hear complaints from people who like Elder Scrolls, not dislike it. People who loved the past installments are voicing their opinion because they care, not the opposite.

Think about something that has made you angry in a game. For me, I wasn't impressed with Halo 3. I like Halo and Halo 2 very much, but when Halo 3 came out I wasn't impressed and a bit disappointed. But I didn't care enough to voice my opinion on the Bungie forums. Now, Elder Scrolls I care more about (which is why I have been lurking these forums since Skyrim announcement). Those of us here voicing our opinions are invested in the game and would like to see it succeed.