Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2004-10-21 06:28pm

I'm all for immersive story experiences, but hours of killing mealbugs to get xp is just boring, lame, my gf hates it.

What does this have to do with multiplayer?

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2004-10-21 06:45pm

SPOOFE wrote:
I'm all for immersive story experiences, but hours of killing mealbugs to get xp is just boring, lame, my gf hates it.
What does this have to do with multiplayer?

LOL It feels less like a treadmill if you can actually compare to someone else? Of course, pretty much all MMRPGs are broken levelling up wise too, but even simple co-op multi is good in the few RPGs that employ it. Although I doubt that would work in any non-realtime RPG. But now I've been reminded of Daggerfalls non-level based xp system, maybe I'll give Morrowind a spin. I hope its not full of 'get the widget, kill the foozle' missions like bloody Balders Gate.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-10-21 11:29pm

Morrowind's system is not based on XP. You go up in the traits you use most, selecting two lots of primary and secondary traits when you make your character. As they hit certain values, you go up in levels. The tertiary traits don't offer level bonuses when you increase in skill, but they're all useful. Basically- use a sword a lot, become good with swords. Wear heavy armor a lot, become good with heavy armor. Etc.

There's also trainers who can help you along your way for a fee, which is also very cool.

The only problem is the curve is very steep then flattens out. After a certain level, NOTHING can seriously harm you, provided you have all the coolest gear. And the gear in Morrowind is unbelievably fucking cool, and the best stuff is hard to find indeed (but easy if you go on the net and look)- there's even a program called 'the revealer' where you type in the name of the item and it gives you directions as to where to find it.

I originally got the game off my friend, but then I bought the GOTY edition with both expansion sets included- I have yet to finis hthem though (though ive finished morrowind of course), Rome has taken up all my spare time.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-10-21 11:33pm

They might also want to do something about the obscene things alchemy can do to your character. Kinda tone it down a bit, eh?

Aeolus · Post by **Aeolus** » 2004-10-22 01:39am

Vympel wrote:LOL! Back in 2002, Morrowind was the first game I got for my then new PC.

Now, with the 3-year period (I get a new computer every 3 years) nearly expired (July next year), the next Elder Scrolls game will again be one of the first games to grace my new gaming rig.

great timing. I still have not done half of the things possible in Morrowind... maybe by the time oblivion comes out.

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2004-10-22 04:28am

The problem with Morrowind's system is that they were aiming for a more "realistic" approach, but only went halfway. It's true, yes, that in real life, the more you practice something the better you get at it. HOWEVER, for strength-related activities, the way you build muscle is by causing damage to the muscle tissue (technically)... after a short period of strain, stiffness, and soreness, the muscle rebuilds itself stronger than before.

That's what they should've thrown in. It would require a fourth meter (in addition to health, mana, and stamina), but it'd be a certain maximum amount of physical exertion one can put forth before having to rest. Extreme physical activity (like jumping all in the same spot for a day) would require a larger amount of time - several days - of resting in order to recoup.

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2004-10-22 11:05pm

New screenies!!

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-10-22 11:39pm

StormtrooperOfDeath wrote:New screenies!!

The borrom two pics:

Lord of the Rings, anyone?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-10-22 11:43pm

Very nice...hopefully the magic will have as much use as the effect looks.

Something I disliked of Morrowind. Magic had a few here-there uses but all in all, it was rather...mundane.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-10-23 02:58am

This one http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/theelder ... tml?page=7
was the one I talked about, is it really individual models of grass or is it something else?

On that matter..

Any game out today who can beat those landscapes?

EDIT: damn nice coverage today, GS, IGN And Gamespot, whats next? the release of the HL2 NDA?

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2004-10-23 09:33am

is it really individual models of grass or is it something else?

I guarantee you that they're not individually modeled blades of grass.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2004-10-23 10:45am

SPOOFE wrote:
is it really individual models of grass or is it something else?
I guarantee you that they're not individually modeled blades of grass.

They aren't. They're high res sprites (look at the image, you can see several blades of grass on the same plane, with other planes of grass intersecting them). The leaves are also sprites. Another image shows trees in the background that are sprites. It same technique Farcry uses, only better looking.

I'm looking forward to this game. Morrowind was fun, but their some game play issues (controls, plot-points, interactions) I didn't like. From what I've read, they're fixing a lot of that.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-10-23 11:11am

I'm more excited that Fallout 3 will be using that engine.

I love you, Bethesda.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-10-23 11:39am

Gamespy has an awesome preview showing they fixed the combat system.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-10-23 02:17pm

Stark wrote:
SPOOFE wrote:Fuck multiplayer. Every game that panders to multiwhores winds up broken. Let 'em weave their immersive single-player quest for those of us who prefer quality gaming to quantity gaming, all right?
Maybe all the RPGs I've played lately are just poorly designed, but the treadmill aspect (oh noes! I can't go into that cave because its guarded by skeleton lvl 5 +2 attack and I need to level up first!) has really started putting me off. I'm all for immersive story experiences, but hours of killing mealbugs to get xp is just boring, lame, my gf hates it. At least Zelda and Stalker base their plot scripting on objects you need in a tangible sense, and not power levels. I never played Morrowind - I heard terrifying things about its performance issues - so maybe they don't do that anymore.

If anything, in Morrowind you wanted to be LOW level with high skills. Because level has no effect on anything but your hit points (yeah, some of the attributes increase also) and making every monster in the game a lot harder. But having a high skill in axe means you're going to whack those damn houndogs like there's no tomorrow.

Heheh. Palladium RPG books used to say they used xp/level systems because they were 'realistic and accurate' ...

SHUT UP SHUT UP ABOUT THAT WANKER KEVIN SIMBIEDA!

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-10-23 02:23pm

Vympel wrote:The only problem is the curve is very steep then flattens out. After a certain level, NOTHING can seriously harm you, provided you have all the coolest gear.

That when you install Tribunal, and go to the sewers of Mournhold to be assraped by goblins and their dogs

Damn Almalexia's soul, had to ruin a perfectly good azura's star and now I don't know what to enchant with it

And the gear in Morrowind is unbelievably fucking cool, and the best stuff is hard to find indeed (but easy if you go on the net and look)- there's even a program called 'the revealer' where you type in the name of the item and it gives you directions as to where to find it.

I always just open the included map editor and look for the item myself... of course only after I already finished the main quest and lots of other quests and I'm all uber and stuff.

somehow i'm not sure tripping the mega evil final boss and make him fall off the bridge was the legit way of winning this game

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-10-24 02:54am

That when you install Tribunal, and go to the sewers of Mournhold to be assraped by goblins and their dogs

Not my experience. You're talking to a guy who maxed out his primary and secondary skills- ALL OF THEM. My level was obscene, I couldn't die even if I wanted to.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-10-24 08:19am

Vympel wrote:
That when you install Tribunal, and go to the sewers of Mournhold to be assraped by goblins and their dogs
Not my experience. You're talking to a guy who maxed out his primary and secondary skills- ALL OF THEM. My level was obscene, I couldn't die even if I wanted to.

Go to the hightest point in the world, strip, rest, jump down, then while naked go fight Dagoth Ur.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-10-24 09:19am

Vympel wrote:
That when you install Tribunal, and go to the sewers of Mournhold to be assraped by goblins and their dogs
Not my experience. You're talking to a guy who maxed out his primary and secondary skills- ALL OF THEM. My level was obscene, I couldn't die even if I wanted to.

Actually that's pretty much what you have to do, to NOT get assraped by those little bastards.

Course it and Bloodmoon have some really fun end bosses.....oi vey.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2004-10-24 10:08am

Ghost Rider wrote:
Vympel wrote:
That when you install Tribunal, and go to the sewers of Mournhold to be assraped by goblins and their dogs
Not my experience. You're talking to a guy who maxed out his primary and secondary skills- ALL OF THEM. My level was obscene, I couldn't die even if I wanted to.
Actually that's pretty much what you have to do, to NOT get assraped by those little bastards.

Course it and Bloodmoon have some really fun end bosses.....oi vey.

I never played Bloodmoon, but I found Tribunal's end boss to really easy to beat. My character was a fighter mage with some nasty armor, even nastier custom spells and a truly horrifying sword (which got even more horrific once I had the end boss's soul...). Morrowind was more challenging that Tribunal.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2004-10-24 12:13pm

Ace Pace wrote: Go to the hightest point in the world, strip, rest, jump down, then while naked go fight Dagoth Ur.

I kinda did something similar to become the leader of House Redoran.

When that asshole Dunmer councillor decided to challenge my character to a duel, I went to the Arena, stripped and waltzed in completely naked.

After I was done assraping him, I left his carcass in the sand without any pants. Imagine the humilitation of his family line...

Gotta try this with Dagoth Ur, though

P.S.

Did I mention my character was a frail-looking woman, too?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-10-24 12:52pm

Nice move there, personally, maneging to steal each and every single item in the inhabitied houses in Balmorra, Vivec and assorted villeges was enough for me

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-10-24 08:08pm

Killing any of the uber-gods (Almalexia or Vivec) can be hard, but not if you're a master pugilist. No matter how powerful they are and how many hit points they have, once you start the ol' one-two and knock them to the ground, you can assrape them with a rusty fork pretty easily if you want to.