Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

I have to admit that this video made me goosebumps all over - I just wanted to know if others are waiting as much as I am for this promising pearl of a game?

Apparently we will get: Dual wielding, finishing moves, new and vastly improved HUD and more professions to choose from.
Questing will also be allocated by the game engine by the choices you make - i.e. if you drop a sword to fee inventory a boy make pick it up to deliver it to its original owner thus starting a quest for you - or if you are a mage - then mage-specific quests will open.

Oh and forget about "the being mage-part" cause you don't pick a class - you just choos the skills you wanna use as you level up so I s´pose you could end up as a sword wielding mage using a bow...though it probably wouldn't be a good combo.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Seems to be a Viking/Norse theme to it as oppoed to Oblivion with its kinda Greece/Rome elements. Looks interesting, but I have long since learned that these games are not worth the hardware upgrades. Most likely will play it on console, if even. Hope the combat engine is totally ravamped and not 1st person although I doubt this will happen.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

It will....they say in the reviews so far from IGN and Gamespot that the 3rd person is being altered to something far better - and the 1st person should be improved immensely to include shock from being hit, staggering from heavy blows and it should be like a live cam.

ofc I will need to see more before making any final judgments - but I am sold so far.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Well, Skyrim is the native land of the Nords race, where Oblivion took place in the homeland of the Imperials. Now, I need to go get a job that pays well enough to buy a new up to date computer system. I'm working on a 7 year old HP pavilion with Vista right now. It can barely handle Oblivion.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Get a 2nd-hand Xbox imo. Way cheaper than upgrading for the kind of system you'd need to run this fluidly, on a PC. Very few RPG's are PC-exclusive nowadays and since PC-gaming in general has essentially dried up in the wake of innovative consoles, you'd basically be getting a brand new rig for one game.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

I was considering the possibility of a 360. I've always felt more in control on FPS games with a mouse and keyboard though. Still... A console also means I don't have to always be sitting up to play.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Also looking forward to this. Only problem is you have to kill the dragons...

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Oh I hear you, i'm the same way. I held out against the reality for a time, waited as the games I wanted to play (such as Fable 2/3 or Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions) skipped the PC platform entirely and went directly to consoles. My thinking was, "What good is a monster rig when I got no games to play on it?". Is it really feasible to keep upgrading to the latest and greatest when consoles don't need to be "upgraded" for years, and cost less in the first place? No. In fact, nowadays, it's almost insane.

I also note that everything I have recently played on my PC (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Bioshock 2) is also available on console already, but minus the hassle of worrying about keeping my SLI video setup current, how many cores I have, or how much ram, do I have a PSU to support it all, will it work on this OS etc - not to mention updating drivers and firmware and getting ample cooling. Alas, things are just easier on consoles now. And whether I like it or not, that's the way the wind is blowing. Almost everything is released there first and ported to PC later. I can replay my old favourites on a mid-range or low-end rig.

Don't get me wrong. I haven't thrown out my PC in favor of consoles only. I just have both now and wholly advocate them, whereis beforehand I did not. The difference now is, I usually build a mid-range PC and use it for games that are exclusive to PC. The only ones that I have played this year are WoW and Civ 5. And both of these are not hardware intensive and can be run on low-end PC's with no problems. So basically, once you keep a mid range system around you'll be fine. I could play both WoW and Civ on my laptop if I wanted. My current rig can still run most games save for the very newest and demanding titles - but because I am done investing into it now and just pick up the game for my console instead. If and when I check out Skyrim, I will be doing so on an Xbox, rather than wrestling with FPS and quad core optimization on my PC.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Hooray Skyrim, The land of the nords. Which means I be playing with land filled with snow and winter...

While I'm happy with the news. It also means I will have to upgrade my pc as I always upgrade my pc whenever a new TES title hit the market. However the thought of having to drag my sorry arse into computer shops and looking for the best pc deals is feeling me with dread. I just feel too old to do those kind of stuff...

Either that or I can play the game with min/lowest setting with my 3 year old computer. Oh joy!

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

I got myself a quad core 3.0 ghz with 8 GB ram 3 years ago - it should still be able to do the work with Skyrim though I may have to swap the graph.card to a new one using a Nvidia 260 at the moment with 1 gb ram - everything is running smoothly though DA2 could not use the texture pack as the card did not support it.

on a related note:
For TES gamers...

I am starting a playthrough of Oblivion now ( never finished it as I am an avid restarter ) but being sick at home is boring so now it has to be done. Thus...a few questions

1. Do I need to be a specific level to enter the Nibbern door to do shivering Isles?
2. I am playing stealth mode on this run ( so sneaking and taking out mobs with a bow from a distance - is a dagger preferred to close up sneak kills or does the game not react between sword and dagger ?
3. What is the secret of lockpicking manually? ( normally I just use auto pick but it sure does wreck havoc on my stash of lockpicks )
4. Varlastone and weyd stones --> it says you can use them to recharge magical weapons - but how do I do this?

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Assuming it is on pc...

1) you do not need to be a specific level to enter the door. It should pop up as a quest after a few days.
2) as long as it says stealth kill x2 damage or whatever, it doesn't matter what weapon you are using.
3) when lockpicking manually, do not press the mouse button when the thing goes up quickly. Press when it reaches the top slowly...
4) if you press on the varla or welkynd stones in your inventory, they should come up with the option of recharging a weapon, or will automatically recharge your magicka.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Ooooooh....I see...well that will definably make my life easier by recharging mana with Weyd stones...using Atronach birth sign removes the passive regeneration so I was a bit distraught in early levels ( since my alchemy was too low to make any restore mana pots )

Edit: And it will MOST CERTAINLY force me to take on all the alyied ruins that i normally bypass.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Yes... And there are quite a lot of Welkynd stones in every set of ruins, but the Varla stones are far rarer. But a stockpile of said Welkynd stones is probably a very good idea :)

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

I don't really use rechargable weapons at this level ( my mage is level 3 atm ) - been playing for about 9 hours so you can see that leveling is not my main concern.

I always start by doing the mage question before doing the amulet - jauffre - martin part ... as I like to be somewhat prepped for my first foray into oblivion ( dremora's hit hard ).

Currently playing Altmer elf with astronach sign ( maxed out base mana 450 but no regen ) thats when the stones come in handy - I am fighthing to get my alchemy up so I can identify 3 parts - that should make my magicka regen more smooth as I can use pots too then.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Well, for recharging mana, I highly recomend getting alchemy skills up and making potions of restore mana. Once your skills get up their, they are both lighter and far more effective than the stones. Especially if you make intelligence boosting potions first, I mean around 10 of them, drink them all, and then make magicka restore potions. I once ended up with something that restored around 150 mana for 120seconds. So, I could cast spells non-stop for 2 minutes. (it was overkill at the time, seeing as I was playing a bosmer assassin)

Enter Oblivion gates early to get a feel for them. Once I waited til I was level 30 to enter and it's denizen's slaughtered me. Oblivion gates level with you, and high level daedra are dangerous.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Hehe, I remember the high level Oblivion Gates... So much fun... Especially when they bring in new monsters...

But another thing to bear in mind is that you can only drink a certain amount of potions at one time, so having potions that last for long durations is better.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Oohh I am getting wiser by each post now...

I am as a mage ( sort of roleplaying ) I see many people going for light armor - but I keep to being a clothie - and then just enchants the stuff myself - normally when playing its been feather stuff to carry more - but this time around it will be fortify INT WILL MAGICKA and possibly some shielding. - any advice?

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Definitely shielding. If a close encounter battle becomes unavoidable, you're going to need something to protect you.

As you progress in levels and spellcasting ability, continue to upgrade the enchantments on your clothing. Time consuming, but worth it.

Which school of magic are you specialising in?

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Destro/alchemy - I kinda like to go nuts in destruction and alchemy is mainly to keep up with the mana consumption.

The build is like this so far.
Altmer elf
Astronach sign
Custom class - Destruction, Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Mysticism, Mercantile and Restoration with Int and Wis as the 2 main attributes.
Since this build has no passive mana regeneration I have been battling a bit in the beginning with mana - but having the weyrd stones helped a lot - though I can see that in the higher levels it will be better with mana pots over time regen.

Currently just finished my mage recommendations ( and swearing like a bull over that freaking door being locked all the time at the Mystic emporium...GRRRR!!!! ) can't fix it even with OBMM and changing the load order...ah well will have to wait till I hit 75 alteration and then spell-open the door.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Not sure if you've already got something like it, Sparhawk, or for that matter if you're even interested in something like it, but here it is. It's a projectile speed modifier. You can use it to increase the flight speed of arrows and/or 'on target' spells by 4 different increments. The catch being that it works for the hostile's as well. So your spells become more dangerous, but so do their's.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Destruction school is awesome :D. That's my main magic school.

Sucks about the door...

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

It's a bug introduced by one of the official plugins, changing your load order won't help. I assume that if you're talking about load order you are playing on PC - in which case open the command console, click on the door, and type unlock then exit the console - head into the store, and unlock the much easier door to the private quarters at the top of the stairs with a lockpick (you might get a small bounty if you are seen unlocking it though) - doing this seems to fix the issue for the rest of the game.

I believe this is also fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch (or the Unofficial Patch for the plugins, can't recall off the top of my head).

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Oooooh thnx Epona - I will do this straight away ( its been bugging me like hell not being able to get in :o)

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Haven't been able to see the preview yet, on reduced speeds till billing period turns over. But, in Skyrim are they going to make the beast races more beastlike as in Morrowind, or are they going to maintain the more humanoid appearances of Oblivion?

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Mehahahahaha....just bought an awesome cowl - Alchemy+5 Marksmanshop+5 Detect life 20 and Blade-10

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Marksmanshop ---> me gunning down merchants for discounts - should have been a marksmanship ofc.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

But if you kill the merchants doesn't that kinda stop them from renewing their inventory? I still think its terrible that stolen items are somehow marked for all merchants eyes. I could understand selling a merchants own stolen items back to him being an issue, ala Morrowind. But that they could ID something as being stolen when you got it from the other end of the Empire let alone another district of the IC? That's just bizarre. Consequently, I am now searching page by page, category by category, through PES for mods. Still playing Morrowind myself, but prepping for when I jump into Oblivion.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Hehe It was a joke mate - I just misspelled the word :)

I got the cowl from a merchant for the lithe price of 6500 gold *ouch*

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Things like that are always so expensive... And a lot of the time not worth it. I like the free stuff ;)

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Agreed - but I didn't know what else to buy - the houses are sucky and I cannot enchant stuff yet on my rogue...


My mage on the other hand is another matter - lots of stuff to make my self hehee

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

I agree with you completely on the houses. Even the really expensive ones are pretty pathetic.

Get the 'free stuff' from the Dark Brotherhood. Those rewards certainly make the questionable deeds worthwhile ;)

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Aye I am gonna do that questline for sure - just waiting for the right moment to off some civilian with my sniperbow. - with my mage I actually got into it by mistake - met an adventurerer in a dungeon and killed him cause I thought him to be evil - he was not :-s

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

:D it happens.

I've never tried this, and I'm not sure if it would work, but... If you kill the Adoring Fan, would that give you entry into the Dark Brotherhood?

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Yeah I used my secret CIA training to off all the witnesses in the dungeon ( mostly zombies and a few skeletons that kinda explode when hit with arrows ). Zombies are bad-ass though - they just ignore arrows untill I have them looking like a porcupine and then drop from the heavy burden off arrows sticking out in all directions.

Any advice on quick killing zombies - getting tired of running around shooting them up?

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Ummm, arrow damage mod? Or a well placed fireball spell. A bow enchanted with fire attack?

On a sidenote, I just tried installing Oblivion last night and it wouldn't run at all. It installs no problem, but when I run it, I get the splashscreen, hit play and it just craps out on me. I get that irritating non-specific pop-up "This program has stopped working, Windows is collecting information and will inform you if a solution is found." or something to that effect. And of course once it finishes doing whatever it's doing it just closes and tells me nothing. You might have guessed that this does not please me.

I'm running an out of the box HP Pavilion
I'm presuming it's a dual core with 1.8GHz per core. (This is what I see when I look at the properties under processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4300 @ 1.80GHz 1.80GHz)
1 GB
Vista Home (fully updated)

As of now I have no graphics card or sound card installed. I have a video card sitting in a box, but it's the one that stopped working last time. I don't know if the card itself died or if a driver became corrupted.

I think I'm running with enough power to operate Oblivion on low settings, but I'm not even getting it to start up. So I'm really at a loss.

Now then, I'm going to pout for five minutes and then play some Morrowind.

One thing I love about playing Elder Scrolls games on PC over a console? The user created Mods.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Uhm I need an explanation on the following idea?

I use a steel bow ( dmg 4 ) and arrows that vary in dmg from 4-5 ( steel and silver )
does that mean that I hit 4+4 or 4+5 dmg ( with sneak 4+4*3 ) or what? cause then using that would be much better than sneak attacking with my conjured dagger.


Oh...on the PC issue you have I am clueless - the same happened to me so I ended up buying Oblivion via steam instead of my retail pack and it works perfect for me.

I am on a small break on oblivion while playing Empire Total War again - its time to take over those 13 colonies and make them SWEDISH....muhahahahahhaha

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Regarding your damage question I found this: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Th...Damage_Formula

update: just tried installing Oblivion on two other machines both of them laptops. One Vista and one Windows 7 and they worked ok. A little slow on the Vista, but it's bogged down with my dad's music writing programs. So it's either something on this computer blocking it, or this computer is missing something that the other computers have. There are other possibilities I suppose, but nothing comes to mind.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

I agree with FSA about enchanting the bow. Enchanted weapons can be amazingly helpful, especially if you get into a tight spot and need to do that extra little bit of damage. Fire is almost always good.

Sucks about the computer issues you guys are having... I have problems with mine too. Freezes at some points, then the computer does a physical memory dump or something. At least I get to play it for a while, though...

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Only critter I think you don't want to use fire on is a flame atronach, and I can't remember if you encounter them in Oblivion. I know they have clanfear's and Dremora, but I'm not sure about the atronachs.

As for computer issues, while it does indeed stink, that I can't oblivion running on mine, I can honestly say I have never been able to play Morrowind without a CTD before this install. I'm so used to watching in paranoia wondering if I've saved recently enough, and now it feels like I'm saving too often (no such thing I know, unless you hit the quicksave when you meant to hit quickload just as you're about to die)

I think for Oblivion, since I've removed blame from the disc, I'll either have to learn to play on a laptop, or save up for a new computer. Maybe I'll do the build my own from scratch thing one last time.

Re: Bethesda doing it again on Nov.11th?
 

Yes, there are flame atronachs in Oblivion. Fire is quite useless against them, funnily enough. And fire doesn't work well against dark elves either, because of their natural immunity thing...

And computers can be incredibly frustrating when it comes to large games such as Oblivion.