The current status of the Oblivion game: Still fun and obsessive!
In the game, you get to come across so many neat things, of late I have started collecting in game books. Some of the books are very short at only a few paragraphs, others span to 30+ pages. Through the books I have essentially figured out the primary story of the main quest, even though I still haven't started that up yet.
Oblivion is the name of a plane of existance that certain demons come from. The plane of existance was sealed, but that seal was broken with the emperor's recent demise. I have the impression that it is possible to actually go to that plane of existance and I will at some point. But I still haven't conquered all of Cyrodill (I think that is the correct spelling).
There is just so much to do! I'm not just talking quests either. Through many nights of theft, I have earned enough gold to buy a home in a city. My current goal is to buy all of the furnishings for that home which nearly equal the same price. I have plundered most of the nice houses in the major cities, so now I am starting to look for new targets in the smaller villages scattered around the map. The neat thing is that until you find the villages they do not appear on your map; unless someone marks it for a quest.
I wonder how many more hours this game will offer me? I have become the Theives Guild's newest Guildmaster through a series of very challenging quests as well. With the rank comes my own guild house in the biggest city, essentially my first home. I still wanted a home, who would want to store stuff in a guild house for theives?
I am currently working on the assassin's guild membership to help fund my home furnishings. Muhaha. The neat thing about these quests is that you receive a bonus if you complete your contract in a specific way. Just before I signed off last night, I had to sneak into a house and kill this old man. To get the bonus I had to make it look like an accident by loosing some fastenings for a Minotaur Trophy head on the wall. It fell down and struck the guy on the head and killed him. I then snuck out: Mission Accomplished. With a nice enchanted dagger as a reward.
My next mission involves killing this jerk of a Dark Elf that you met at the very begining of the game. I decided to end it there so that I can savor it after work when I am fully awake. Besides it was approaching 3AM.
Between the two guilds, I'm enjoying the assassin quests more so far. I like having the optional bonus.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Dilema
Now that I have taken a sabatical from World of Warcraft for about a week, I have noticed that I am lacking enthusiasm for getting back into the game.
Upon reflecting about what the game offers, I realize just how little of the end game that I am interested in. I have a little interest in going to some of the raiding locations, but I abhor the gear requirements that are basicly needed to actually go there.
Essentially, if I want to improve my gear I am limited to three choices.
1) Arena PvP. This requires a team and there is no gameplay strategy involved (unlike battlegrounds). Essentially a glorified duel with 1 or more partner on your team. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.
2) Daily Heroics quest: You can kill bosses in high level Heroic dungeons for badges. These badges can be traded in for some decent gear. The amount of badges needed to get the gear will require going into every dungeon every day; and it will still probably take weeks to complete a set. The problem with this is that I only like doing these dungeons with friends, but have a hard time coordinating with them. The alternative is to go in with a PUG (Pick Up Group). Quite frankly, that isn't going to happen with me. I'll either go in with my friends or not at all.
3) Weekly tours of Karazhan: My guild has started raiding Karazhan and this is the most likely course for me. The good news is that the bosses do drop the badges that you can get in the heroic dungeons. The bad news is that it can only be cleared once a week which means months of clearing it to get better gear. Unless you are lucky and get something halfway decent in a loot drop.
So, what is the point to going to all this effort to get better gear? Well, it is so you can go to harder instances so that you can get better gear...
I crave something more in a MMO. Give me something to do that doesn't require constant combat through constant raiding. Give me a decent crafting system that isn't based on loot drops. Give me a home to decorate. Give me a reason to go to cities besides duels and spam.
As things stand, I don't know when I'll return to WoW. I can always level another character to 70, but what is the point in it if raiding is all I have to look forward to? I'll have to give this some thought over the weekend. Right now, I am leaning towards leaving and not returning until Blizzard has released the expansion.
Upon reflecting about what the game offers, I realize just how little of the end game that I am interested in. I have a little interest in going to some of the raiding locations, but I abhor the gear requirements that are basicly needed to actually go there.
Essentially, if I want to improve my gear I am limited to three choices.
1) Arena PvP. This requires a team and there is no gameplay strategy involved (unlike battlegrounds). Essentially a glorified duel with 1 or more partner on your team. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.
2) Daily Heroics quest: You can kill bosses in high level Heroic dungeons for badges. These badges can be traded in for some decent gear. The amount of badges needed to get the gear will require going into every dungeon every day; and it will still probably take weeks to complete a set. The problem with this is that I only like doing these dungeons with friends, but have a hard time coordinating with them. The alternative is to go in with a PUG (Pick Up Group). Quite frankly, that isn't going to happen with me. I'll either go in with my friends or not at all.
3) Weekly tours of Karazhan: My guild has started raiding Karazhan and this is the most likely course for me. The good news is that the bosses do drop the badges that you can get in the heroic dungeons. The bad news is that it can only be cleared once a week which means months of clearing it to get better gear. Unless you are lucky and get something halfway decent in a loot drop.
So, what is the point to going to all this effort to get better gear? Well, it is so you can go to harder instances so that you can get better gear...
I crave something more in a MMO. Give me something to do that doesn't require constant combat through constant raiding. Give me a decent crafting system that isn't based on loot drops. Give me a home to decorate. Give me a reason to go to cities besides duels and spam.
As things stand, I don't know when I'll return to WoW. I can always level another character to 70, but what is the point in it if raiding is all I have to look forward to? I'll have to give this some thought over the weekend. Right now, I am leaning towards leaving and not returning until Blizzard has released the expansion.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Obsession Review
I wasn't going to post a review on a game nearly two years old. However, there is something I really like about the game.
NPCs
The NPCs in towns are really fun to watch. First off, they don't just stay still waiting for you to come up to them and talk to them, like you were the only reason for their existance. They have a schedule that they keep. At (X) time of day they need to go to (Y) location. Since the game cuts the weeks up into days (and I will have to look to see if months are shown) it is even possible that their pattern might changed depending on which day of the week.
It isn't just that they move around, either. They talk to each other and you can learn a lot from listening in to those conversations. When they talk about a specific event (I just heard one about corrupt imperial guards), you can then talk to NPCs to pick up a quest. You can't do the quest until you listen in on conversations, and the conversations vary in each city. You can also learn where to go for skill training or other tips about the game. For example, I heard two NPCs talk about how the "Dark Brotherhood" will appear to people that have committed murder when they sleep, it is how they recruit. I'm assuming they are an assassin guild. I'll have to try it out, but only after I finish with the thieves guild because they frown on killing innocents during their quests.
Another thing I discovered on Monday when I was checking out the Oblivion webpage, you can download these mini plug-ins that will add even more quests to the game! I don't know exactly when they were posted, but it looks like they have been adding quests since it was released. Some are free, others are for pay only. They are cheap at just under $2 per download. I haven't downloaded any yet, because I still have many many more quests to do; but I will probably download that Thieves Den one tonight.
Finally, they also have a Construction Set download so that you can create your own content for the game. This is like the storytelling version of the Sims games for user content. This is something that I can really get into unlike the Sims user generated content which is all based on graphics. I have graphically challenged eyes.
NPCs
The NPCs in towns are really fun to watch. First off, they don't just stay still waiting for you to come up to them and talk to them, like you were the only reason for their existance. They have a schedule that they keep. At (X) time of day they need to go to (Y) location. Since the game cuts the weeks up into days (and I will have to look to see if months are shown) it is even possible that their pattern might changed depending on which day of the week.
It isn't just that they move around, either. They talk to each other and you can learn a lot from listening in to those conversations. When they talk about a specific event (I just heard one about corrupt imperial guards), you can then talk to NPCs to pick up a quest. You can't do the quest until you listen in on conversations, and the conversations vary in each city. You can also learn where to go for skill training or other tips about the game. For example, I heard two NPCs talk about how the "Dark Brotherhood" will appear to people that have committed murder when they sleep, it is how they recruit. I'm assuming they are an assassin guild. I'll have to try it out, but only after I finish with the thieves guild because they frown on killing innocents during their quests.
Another thing I discovered on Monday when I was checking out the Oblivion webpage, you can download these mini plug-ins that will add even more quests to the game! I don't know exactly when they were posted, but it looks like they have been adding quests since it was released. Some are free, others are for pay only. They are cheap at just under $2 per download. I haven't downloaded any yet, because I still have many many more quests to do; but I will probably download that Thieves Den one tonight.
Finally, they also have a Construction Set download so that you can create your own content for the game. This is like the storytelling version of the Sims games for user content. This is something that I can really get into unlike the Sims user generated content which is all based on graphics. I have graphically challenged eyes.
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Elder Scrolls IV: Obsession
Last weekend I had the pleasure of caretaking with my granddad. Always an enjoyable experience. We have a routine set for when I spend a weekend with him. Friday nights we go to a BBQ place (means missing my movie night, though) and we go to a Village Inn for omelets on Sunday morning. Otherwise, I pretty much just heat up pre-arranged meals and make sure he takes his pills.
So I have a lot of free time, but not enough time to make it worthwhile to drive back and forth between my home and my parents (pill schedule difficulties), not to mention that it is a horrible waste of gas.
That means I tend to stop playing World of Warcraft when I go over there. I do have the game installed on their computer, but macros are saved on the client (PCs not servers) and it is a huge pain to reset it every time I switch locations. Further, their computer is set up for Photography and they have a widescreen monitor which just annoys the heck out of me when playing WoW. If I maximize the screen the graphics become short and fat, if I go into window mode I see a lot of distracting icons on the sides.
So considering this, I decided to just take a break from WoW and be anti-social this weekend. Something that I think many people should do. Except for the anti-social part.
I decided to treat myself with a game I've heard much about but haven't bothered to start. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
For Easter: This is a continuation from that game you have mentioned before, Daggerfall.
Oblivion has been widely talked about all over the net, so I'm not going to do a review beyond saying that I love the style of play. It is a standard game in the beginning. You make a character, go through a tutorial and are pointed to the main storyline quest. What differs is that after going through the tutorial you can immediately ignore the main storyline quest and go do whatever the heck you want. Very different from traditional RPGs like Final Fantasy.
Another note, you are given TWO chances to design your character. When you start the tutorial and just as you are about to leave it and go into the wide world. Just before you leave you are asked if you want to change anything and I mean anything. From name to gender, race to class, or even create your own class. Awesome! That means you only have to do that tutorial once if you want to try something else, just save before you leave and don't overwrite that file.
So I created a character with a thief in mind, stealthy and avoids combat when possible. Went through the tutorial, started a bit of the storyline quest and discovered an issue with the leveling system. The leveling system is really counter-intuitive. It turns out that unless you make a pure combat class (boring!) as the game progresses you rapidly become underpowered.
Not being a mod person by nature, I decided to restart and work the system to my advantage. This time I decided to skip the storyline quest and join the Thieves Guild.
OMG! This is where the game has shined the most!
First you have to find the thieves guild. You can't just go up to a city guard and ask, for example. In fact, if I hadn't already started a bit of the game before I might not have known of its existance as you learn about it from the NPCs. So I tracked down some info on the guild and eventually got accepted into the guild. So what happens then? Not a damn thing. When you ask for a "quest" your superior essentially tells you, "you're a thief, go steal stuff." Apparently, after selling enough stolen items to a fence you are contacted for a special mission. How you steal is completely up to you though.
I have successfully avoided reading any spoilers on this game, so I will be enjoying this experience with the guild to the fullest. Not tonight, though. Tonight is reserved for corned beef and cabbage, I understand there will also be some colcannon served as well. However, I will probably be very absent from WoW for an extended time while I savor this new game.
So I have a lot of free time, but not enough time to make it worthwhile to drive back and forth between my home and my parents (pill schedule difficulties), not to mention that it is a horrible waste of gas.
That means I tend to stop playing World of Warcraft when I go over there. I do have the game installed on their computer, but macros are saved on the client (PCs not servers) and it is a huge pain to reset it every time I switch locations. Further, their computer is set up for Photography and they have a widescreen monitor which just annoys the heck out of me when playing WoW. If I maximize the screen the graphics become short and fat, if I go into window mode I see a lot of distracting icons on the sides.
So considering this, I decided to just take a break from WoW and be anti-social this weekend. Something that I think many people should do. Except for the anti-social part.
I decided to treat myself with a game I've heard much about but haven't bothered to start. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
For Easter: This is a continuation from that game you have mentioned before, Daggerfall.
Oblivion has been widely talked about all over the net, so I'm not going to do a review beyond saying that I love the style of play. It is a standard game in the beginning. You make a character, go through a tutorial and are pointed to the main storyline quest. What differs is that after going through the tutorial you can immediately ignore the main storyline quest and go do whatever the heck you want. Very different from traditional RPGs like Final Fantasy.
Another note, you are given TWO chances to design your character. When you start the tutorial and just as you are about to leave it and go into the wide world. Just before you leave you are asked if you want to change anything and I mean anything. From name to gender, race to class, or even create your own class. Awesome! That means you only have to do that tutorial once if you want to try something else, just save before you leave and don't overwrite that file.
So I created a character with a thief in mind, stealthy and avoids combat when possible. Went through the tutorial, started a bit of the storyline quest and discovered an issue with the leveling system. The leveling system is really counter-intuitive. It turns out that unless you make a pure combat class (boring!) as the game progresses you rapidly become underpowered.
Not being a mod person by nature, I decided to restart and work the system to my advantage. This time I decided to skip the storyline quest and join the Thieves Guild.
OMG! This is where the game has shined the most!
First you have to find the thieves guild. You can't just go up to a city guard and ask, for example. In fact, if I hadn't already started a bit of the game before I might not have known of its existance as you learn about it from the NPCs. So I tracked down some info on the guild and eventually got accepted into the guild. So what happens then? Not a damn thing. When you ask for a "quest" your superior essentially tells you, "you're a thief, go steal stuff." Apparently, after selling enough stolen items to a fence you are contacted for a special mission. How you steal is completely up to you though.
I have successfully avoided reading any spoilers on this game, so I will be enjoying this experience with the guild to the fullest. Not tonight, though. Tonight is reserved for corned beef and cabbage, I understand there will also be some colcannon served as well. However, I will probably be very absent from WoW for an extended time while I savor this new game.
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