Please answer my questions about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[Dragonsoul]

I've heard about this game for a long time. I hadn't played it until recently but I've seen some gameplay footage. The only two games in this rpg subgenre(1st Person, PC Style, Western Style) I've played a bit was Ultima VIII(kinda good, only played a little bit), and Diablo 2(not too interested in this at the time).

I decided to rent this game and I finally played it a few days ago. It is great!!! I've played 11 hours in three days. I like this game a lot!!! Currently I like it more than Rogue Galaxy and about as much as Final Fantasy XII, which I am playing both of those ones also.

I am not sure whether or not I will play the "Knights of the Nine" downloadable content and the "The Shivering Isles" expansion pack, or whether I will buy them or the upcoming "Game of the Year edition". Maybe I will just play Oblivion and skip all the sidequests and random dungeons, but now I think I've changed my mind. What I think I'll do now is go all out in this game and beat all releases of this game to 100% or nearly 100% completion, which is what I am currently doing with Final Fantasy XII. This also means that I may start this game over and do this, and buy a strategy guide and area maps to use while playing this game.

My questions to you are...

1. How many hours will it take to beat Oblivion if I don't beat any sidequests or random dungeons?
2. How many hours will it take to beat Oblivion if I beat all sidequests and random dungeons?
3. How many hours will it take to beat Knights of the Nine if I don't beat any sidequests or random dungeons?
4. How many hours will it take to beat Knights of the Nine if I beat all sidequests and random dungeons?
5. How many hours will it take to beat The Shivering Isles if I don't beat any sidequests or random dungeons?
6. How many hours will it take to beat The Shivering Isles if I beat all sidequests and random dungeons?
7. What is the "extra stuff" in this game besides sidequests and random dungeons?

Basically, I want to know what I'm getting into. I'm leaning torward going torward a 150 hours quest for this game, how many hours will this take I wonder. I'm currently researching this game right now.

I'm already extremely busy with upcoming fall rpg's but me deciding to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will make me change my plans. I've already previously decided that I probably won't have time to beat Mass Effect. Now in the past day or two I have another decision that I believe I will be making.

This decision is to stop playing Rogue Galaxy(14 hours into it) and not buy DS to play The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings this fall. My reasoning for this is this: I only have time to play the blockbuster games and Rogue Galaxy just doesn't have a good enough story and characters and some other stuff, so I think that my time might be better spent elsewhere. Also, handheld rpg's are in general not as long, good and "bigtime" as a console rpg, even if it is a Zelda game, or a Final Fantasy game, or a Kingdom Hearts game. I should save my time and money for the "long, great, and bigtime" console games.

So I'm thinking that I will beat Final Fantasy XII and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to 100% completion and then play Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey this fall. I'll rent some other top console rpg's this fall but I am not sure if any of them are definete ones for me to beat yet. I'm interested in these other console rpg's this fall by the way: Two Worlds, Bioshock, and Mass Effect.

If possible, please answer all 7 questions for me please. Thanks! Also, is there anything else I should know or be concerned about in regards to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[Captain Maxx Power]

1: Depending on your playing speed about twelve to fourteen hours
2: Depending on your playing speed about one hundred and sixty five hours
3/4: KotK is all one big sidequest so really the answer for both of these is the same; approximately two to three hours
5: Depending on your playing speed around about three to four hours
6: Depending on your playing speed around about thirty five to forty hours
7: Exploring the overworld, talking to NPCs, stealing houses, killing off randoms and seeing if you can evade the guards, knocking over all the Havoc-based items, finding non-sidequest items and relics, finding all the wayshrines, amongst any other random stuff you can think of

Additional: Oblivion is a fun game, but suffers from a distinct feeling of similarity. After a while all of the dungeons start to feel the same, you get a bit sick of doing the same tactics against monsters, and that's not even to mention the fact that unless you plan your stats well monsters will become perhaps too difficult/tedious for you to handle. The stand out part has got to be the main quest and some of daedric shrine quests.

[Dragonsoul]

Thanks! I'm 11 hours into the game, and you say I theoretically could be almost done with this, hehehehe! I think I'll need another ten hours to do this.

What is the advantage of beating the random dungeons besides exploring the world and beating random enemies and getting random items?

I'm on my way to Best Buy to pick up The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Xbox 360, along with the strategy guide(updated/revised version that includes Knights of the Nine). Later I'll buy Knights of the Nine and The Shivering Isles and the strategy guide for The Shivering Isles.

In the game I see tons of "random items" like knifes and forks and calipers, what's the point of these items?

In the game I see books on shelves that I can read, what advantage do I have from reading these books?

I have a $17000 bounty on me because I stole a horse and defeated many Imperial guards over and over. How do I get my items back after serving time in the jail and is there anything else I need to worry about in regards to jail?

This game is about as long as Final Fantasy XII, they can be played for 200 hours! What other recent rpg's can be played for this long? Also, how long is Kingdom Hearts 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, with and without sidequests?

Anybody who can answer those questions, please reply! Thank!

EDIT:
Currently I'm trying to download some maps. I want a basic map for Cyrodiil(location of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), and an advanced marked map with locations(I found two of them). I also want a basic map for The Shivering Isles and an advanced mark map for it. I also want a map of the world of Tamriel. I think I found most of the maps, with a fifteen minute search.

Cyrodiil map
- Planet Elder Scrolls
Cyrodiil marked map 1
http://z.about.com/d/vgstrategies/1/...apAGM_v1.1.jpg
Cyrodiil marked map 2
http://www.hpix.nl/omaps/oblivioncyrodiil0bq.jpg
The Shivering Isles map
- Planet Elder Scrolls
Tamriel map
http://www.oblivionportal.com/info/i...eoftamriel.gif

Also, is Tamriel a world or a country? Also, please post a "marked map" for The Shivering Isles.

Currently I mainly need a standard Cyrodiil map and all marked maps for Cyrodiil, please post them if you find them! I also know about the interactive map website. Please help me find maps! I hope the strategy guide I'm getting in an hour will have a great one!

Also, I just remembered to search on Google images...
oblivion map - Google Image Search

That's a link to a search for Oblivion map with "large images" and no filtering and 50 images per page settings selected! I hope I find what I'm looking for!

[JKTrix]

The random items are just that--random items. They're just there. If you feel like fooling around with it you can do all kinds of stuff unrelated to the actual game. CMP mentioned 'knocking over the Havok based items', that's what those are. And you can use them to decorate your own house.

Some of the books will give you stat improvements, some of them get into the history of the world, and some are just plain fun to read. One of the favourite ones I read is this one where a guy has a disease where every sentence he says goes in alphabetical sequence.

Part of the thing about Oblivion is that you can just exist entirely outside of the main game. I think I put over 60 hours into my game (before I quit*) and I had only closed 2 Oblivion gates. Talking to people, doing guild quests, building up your stats, creating spells...
Alchemy is something I put a lot of time into as well. You can pick up flowers and other random plants as well as scraps of crap off dead things, then mix 'em up into a poison or potion or something. Then you can either use them (you can apply poisons to your weapons if I recall) or sell them.

Oblivion is less of a game where there 'a point' to doing everything. It can be quite open-ended. You can play it like a normal game, going through all the main objectives in a linear fashion and be ok with it. Or you could play it like I ended up playing it, doing everything outside of the main story.

As far as jail goes, I think if you just store all your items somewhere before you get locked up they'll be there when you get out. I own a house in my game, so I know I can store stuff in my house and it will stay there. Not sure if that works for anywhere else. I think your crime affects your general notoriety in the game. Your bounty will disappear once you are jailed, that's for sure, but I think depending on who your crime affected, they'll remember you and be permanently angry with you.


*I quit it because it was taking up all of my free time. I was so sucked into the game that I would play it until all hours of the night, messing me up the next day at work. Plus, Kingdom Hearts 2 came out shortly after Oblivion did, and if I didn't quit Oblivion I would have never played KH2. I played Oblivion for a solid 2 weeks, then quit cold turkey. Haven't even touched the box since. I'm afraid.

[Dragonsoul]

I heard of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, please tell me how long is that game with no sidequests and with 100% sidequests?

I will use caution in not spending tons of time in this game at once. Gah, I still have fifty hours in FF XII left also!

How do I get my items back after serving jail time? I find myself outside of jail with no items, and I reloaded my game and didn't go to jail.

Also, what RECENT rpg games are as long(200 hours!) as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Final Fantasy XII?

[Captain Maxx Power]

Morrowind's main quest is a LOT longer than Oblivion, especially if you don't know what you're doing. This is mainly due to Morrowind's main quest being much longer (with more steps) and the lack of quest markers or quick travel. The main quest may take you upwards of twenty plus hours. As for all the sidequests there's notably less than Oblivion. I'd say around about a hundred and twenty hours.

If you don't try to escape from jail and serve your time your items should be returned. If you break out you have to get your gear from a chest present in every jail.

As for recent "uberlong" RPG games there's really not that many. The sheer volume of people needed to make games of this ilk means they're few and far between. Dragon Quest 8 isn't very recent, but it is long and a PS2 game. I could also cheat and say that MMORPG's such as FF11 and WoW are "as long".

[Dragonsoul]

Thanks! Anybody who reads this please let me know of any 2005 or 2006 or 2007 rpg's that are extremely long(over 120 hours or 150 hours) but are not mmorpgs.

I have made a decision. Earlier I had decided that I probably won't play Mass Effect since I was busy with even better rpg's coming out this fall and I wasn't sure if I liked the genre of the rpg it is. Then I decided to stop playing Rogue Galaxy because it wasn't super ultimate enough and I need to spend my time on only the very best. Then I decided not to play The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings this fall. Here are my reasons for that...

Zelda: PH Advantages: It's a Zelda game, I wanted to return to the series.
Zelda: PH Disadvantages: I'd have to buy a Nintendo DS to play it, handheld rpg's are not as great and long as console rpg's in general, plus I don't have a huge amount of interest in the game itself, may be aimed for a younger audience than my preference.

FF XII: RW Advantages: It's a sequel to FF XII, which is a great game.
FF XII: RW Disadvantages: I'd have to buy a Nintendo DS to play it, handheld rpg's are not as great and long as console rpg's in general, plus I don't have a huge amount of interest in the game itself, may be aimed for a younger audience than my preference.

I've made another decision today. It is that I will probably not play Blue Dragon. Here is my reasoning...

Blue Dragon advantages: It's a Mistwalker game including Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematasu, and Akira Toriyama. It's also their first game and could be the start a huge bigtime popular running series.

Blue Dragon disadvantages: I don't have a huge interest in the game. It seems also to be aimed for a younger audience than my preference.

The only rpg coming out this fall of the original five that I still plan to play is Lost Odyssey, and I'm extremely excited to play it and I don't see anything that could stop me from getting it!

Here's a summary of my decisions...
Games decided not to play: Mass Effect, Rogue Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Blue Dragon.
Games playing or will play this fall: Final Fantasy XII, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Lost Odyssey.

I don't feel like playing any handheld or pc rpg's coming out this fall. I don't have a Playstation 3 or a Wii so I won't be playing games on those consoles this fall. I'm not super interested in the top PS 2 rpg's coming out this fall also: Persona 3, Wild Arms 5, .hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption, and FF XI: Wings of the Goddess.

By the way, I bought yesterday The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Xbox 360 and will buy Knights of the Nine and The Shivering Isles this month. I'm gonna buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Game of the Year edition next month also. Here are some Xbox 360 rpg's coming out this fall that there is a chance I could play, but I haven't mentioned them: Two Worlds, Bioshock. I don't feel like beating Eternal Sonata, may be aimed for a too young audience compared to my preference. Did I leave any significant Xbox 360 rpg fall release out I wonder?

[JKTrix]

Just because things are colourful and whatnot doesn't mean they're 'aimed at a younger audience'. However, so far a couple of your 'skips' are in fact 'less than ultimate' games so it's safe to skip them.

You are gravely mistaken to write off Persona 3 on PS2 however, thinking it is not an 'ultimate game'. Persona 3 reviews have been very strong (each word is a different link), and it's actually different than the standard RPG bore that some other titles turned out to be (like Blue Dragon).

I've never been one to call Zelda an RPG, because I always thought that labeling it as such was an insult to the series. Phantom Hourglass is awesome, but I can deal with your lack of hardware. Though I hate the idea that if something is on a handheld, people write it off as being lesser than the console games. I'll withold comment on the FF game.

While Mass Effect hasn't been proven yet (as no one has gotten extended play time with it as far as I know), it is shaping up to be *the* biggest RPG of the year. Where Persona is probably the definitive Japanese RPG of the year, Mass Effect is the Non-Japan champion (Oblivion came out last year). If you never played 'Knights of the Old Republic', you probably dont' have a good grasp on how good Mass Effect actually looks (outside of the graphics). Do not write off Mass Effect. I command thee.

In the shadow of these two pieces of RPG brilliance (persona and mass effect), the rest of this year's RPG releases can be forgotten about without regret.* I'm not counting BioShock in the RPG category, though if it were it's still not as anticipated as Mass Effect. Personally I will still buy Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata, only to support the release of Japanese games on the 360. I've played enough of both of them in the Xbox Live demos and I probably won't touch them again shortly after I've bought them. It's not that they're not good (well, that's part of it) but they don't seem to be doing anything different or exciting (like Mass Effect and Persona 3 are doing). Two Worlds is looking less than impressive as well.

Back on topic though, about Oblivion. Why buy all those expansions, just to turn around and buy 'Game of the Year' edition? 'GotY' will include all the expansions in that one release, no need to buy a year-old game (awesome as it may be) twice in the same time frame.


*Everything in this post is my opinion, which should be obvious but I know some people like to harp on it.

[Dragonsoul]

This is fun! In general the audience for some games I mentioned are older or younger than my preference. I will base my decisions partially on this topic. Alright I'll look more into Persona 3, I'll rent it. From what I know of it I've decided so far not to be super interested in this, based on my tentative opinion of it. I don't have time to rent all the rpg's or play all of them so I have to make decisions on them based on what I know so far and I didn't have super huge interest in Persona 3 although I planned to rent the game, and I will. The labeling of Zelda as an rpg or an action game, eh, I just call it action rpg, it doesn't matter too much to me. I like Zelda! In general handheld rpg's are less good and long as console rpg's, that's just the way it is, don't worry too much about it. It doesn't mean that Zelda won't necessarily be by far the best handheld rpg ever created though, or maybe it will just be great. I have to make decisions based on what I know about a game so far and my previous experiences in similar situations.

I had decided that I probably wouldn't have time to play Mass Effect, in part also because I wasn't sure if I liked that genre(1st person) of rpg. Now that I played Oblivion(1st person) and I like it, I'll reconsider Mass Effect. Maybe I'll buy Mass Effect or Bioshock or Two Worlds later this year, but I'd probably want to be done with Final Fantasy XII and Oblivion by that time(I'll still be playing Lost Odyssey at the time). I haven't played Knights of the Old Republic, I want to play it! I'll rent or buy Mass Effect I guarantee you. We'll see. Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata seemed to be aimed at a slightly younger audience than my preference, please do not be offended by comment and please don't comment on the age discrimination I use in a negative fashion. I will have an opinion on the age orientation of a game and the style of game I also like to play. Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata I plan to rent both of them.

Bioshock seems like a combo between first person rpg(Oblivion) and 1st person shooter(Halo 3), is that true? Also, is Bioshock the same rpg genre as Mass Effect? Two Worlds is interesting to me, but I read that it's very similar to Oblivion. After beating Oblivion I may be more likely to beat Bioshock or Mass Effect instead of Two Worlds. Is there any other 1st person rpg coming out this fall that's great besides those three? I'm buying Oblivion right now because I like the game a lot and just wanted to get it, once I'm finished with the main stuff I'll need to get Knights of the Nine and The Shivering Isles. Game of the Year edition won't be out until September 3rd, which is a long time for me, I'm ready to play Oblivion now. I could just play Final Fantasy XII only during this time period but I prefer to pay both. I'll sell all three Oblivion thingies right before I get the Sep 3rd release.

I'm starting to get excited about Bioshock! How come this game gets much more press than System Shock 1 and System Shock 2? Rpg's are getting really popular nowadays, which is great. This may be in part due to the rising popularity of first person rpg's, which is great!

Gargh! I want Lost Odyssey to come out already! Oct 16th or Oct 30th probably. Thanks for your reply. What is your thoughts on Oblivion and Bioshock? Buy me Bioshock! In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, what is "The Elder Scrolls"? I haven't gotten to anything like that yet. Currently I'm 10 hours into my 2nd game, I abandoned my first 11 hour game where I only played the main quest pretty much. Currently I'm exploring Imperial City, I already beat all caves on the island. This takes forever to explore this city.

Also, should I steal random items from people's houses? If they don't see it, it should be fine right, I won't get in trouble later will I? Also, if anybody knows any rpg's in the last three years(05/06/07) that is over 130 hours, please post about it! I already know about Final Fantasy XII and Oblivion.

[JKTrix]

First note, Bioshock Demo is on Xbox Live right now. I wish I knew this before I left home, else I would have started do download it.

I was kind of hinting in my last post that Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata are skippable. Blue Dragon isn't doing anything new for RPGs, and Eternal Sonata isn't so interesting either. Both are quite pretty though.

Bioshock is a shooter, primarily. First-person at that. Which is what the Xbox is famous for, so it is getting pimped as such to the unknowing general public. Oblivion is not a shooter, it is primarily a First Person RPG (though you can switch to 3rd person). Mass Effect is not first person at all, so it's not quite the same.

In fact, take a minute (or 15) and watch this video of Mass Effect. Seriously. Besides the character creation (that makes Oblivion look like poop), you see more of the conversation system and the squad-based combat. The conversation system in particular is what is probably the most impressive about Mass effect. Watch it.

As for questions about Oblivion, this place should help.

[Dragonsoul]

Great! Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata don't have super interest from me, I'll rent them. Gah! Bioshock demo is out? I want it! Alas I don't have internet so I can't connect my Xbox 360 to Xbox 360 Live. How do I get the demo?

Is it possible to get it from a Electronics store, like taking my hard drive and/or memory card there and they download it for me? Or maybe I download it from a website? Or maybe they mail it to me in the mail? I want it!

I'm gonna look into demos for Two Worlds and Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata also.

Currently I'm reconsidering my stance on Bioshock and Mass Effect. I need more gameplay footage on Bioshock! I don't know if I seen any so far, I'll look into it.

That Oblivion Wiki you give me is great! I looked at it.

Gargh! That Mass Effect 15 minute video is great!! I might go buy Mass Effect now!!! One thing to remember is to read the novel before getting the game, so I know more about what's happening.

I'm planning to buy Xbox 360 and/or PS 2 rpg's this fall. Here's the game I have some interest in:

Shin Megamei Tensei: Persona 3(I'm renting this in a few days)
Two Worlds(after playing Oblivion for 200 hours, not sure if I want to play this)
Bioshock(I want to see gameplay footage and game length info and make a decision)
Blue Dragon(The game is aimed for a younger audience than my preference, I don't have huge interest in it)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Game of the Year Edition(I'm buying this, I'm already playing Oblivion)
Lost Odyssey(I'm buying this the day it comes out!!! !!!)
Mass Effect(let me get more info and gameplay footage and game length info and make a decision)

I'm definetely getting The Elder Scrolls IV: Game of the Year edition and Lost Odyssey. I'm looking into Shin Megamei Tensei: Persona 3, Bioshock, and Mass Effect. I decided not to play Two Worlds and Blue Dragon. By the way I never had a big interest in Eternal Sonata.

Current goals: Rent Persona 3 and research Bioshock!

How long is Bioshock in hours?! If it's short, I might get it, but I also have to have a huge interest in the game.

How long is Persona 3? What about Mass Effect? Give me your estimates please.

JKTrix, which is better out of Persona 3, Bioshock, or Mass Effect, according to your preference? Thank!

[Dragonsoul]

If I play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion I'm gonna be in this game for 150-200 hours! I think that this is a great game but right now I'd prefer to use that time on some other rpg's I like more, or some other hobbies I have, or use it as free time. I may not have time to play Oblivion! !

This gives me more time for other stuff. Here's my plan for what rpg's to beat this year...

Final Fantasy XII
Alundra 1
Lost Odyssey
Mass Effect(Tentative)

There are many other games that have a chance to be beaten. I change my mind often on which rpg's I will beat. The only games that I am 100% sure I will beat are Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Also I'm extremely highly likely to beat Alundra 1 and Lost Odyssey. I've tentatively added Mass Effect to this list. By the way Bioshock is the top runner to be added to this list but I don't know about it yet. I want to budget 10-15 hours a week to play rpg's.

Here's my stance...
I only want to beat rpg's that I love enough to beat them to 100% completion.

If I have that stance, it narrows down the field enormously. I highly recommend everybody research these games: Final Fantasy XII, Alundra 1, Lost Odyssey, and Mass Effect.

By the way, do you guys think FF XIII will be out in Usa in Fall 2008(assuming that 13% completion statement by Square Enix was a joke earlier)? What about FF V XIII?

!!!

[fantasyjunkie]

You're really missing out if you are counting number of hours needed to play and skipping quests and such.
There's a lot more in the game than quests and objectives. For example I've spent hours looking at the landscape, looking at sunsets, talking to people, hunting deer, following one of the King's hunters, listening to people talk.
I'm well over a hundred hours and still have a long way to go.
Part of the games charm is stopping to smell the roses

[Dragonsoul]

These are pretty good ideas. I also heard that you can buy a house, is that true? How do you do that?

Fallout 3 is the next big project by Bethesda Softworks, seems kinda cool.

Do you like Mmorpgs? If so, which do you play? I played FF XI for a little bit, maybe 30 hours. It was kinda good, I mainly explored and was at level 10.

[o_O]

You can buy houses in Oblivion by talking to certain people in certain towns. They're expensive though, you won't be able to afford them without a respectable amount of hours in the game.

I like Morrowind a lot better than Oblivion. I found it to be a lot more engrossing. This is in spite of the fact that Morrowind has Cliff Racers.