I took a whack at it again after upgrading my video card, but it never stuck. My problem with it was that after completing the main quests (which took a lot longer than normal due to a still inexplicable control freezing error), none of the side quests or guild quests generated that much interest. Reminds me a bit of how I pretty much stop playing GTA games after finishing the main portion of it.

Yeah, when I was cruising through different friends' games, you were one of the few that did play the game pretty thoroughly.

I got it for cheap last friday and was all set up for a full weekend of Oblivion goodness. But right after starting the game and following that Emperor into the dungeon I was already fed up: Surprise, surprise the first level is a cellar where you fight huge rats . I am so done with that cliche, I am this -><- close to selling the game again. Is there any way to get around that cellar level altogether?

I played it very intensely, and like Sinatar, I don't ever want to see it again. I finished pretty much everything.

I don't care much for the way the enemies scale with you, because it makes advancement not worth that much. It didn't bother me too much at the time, but when I figured it out, I stopped leveling fairly early, not long after getting a particular spell that was supremely effective. (I won't give it away because I consider it essentially a spoiler; with that one spell, you can just about waltz through the whole game.) So using my Cheapass Spell O Death, I was able to see pretty much everything.

It's a LOT of fun, once. But there just doesn't seem to be much replay there. Dungeons are just ... random monsters in random caverns, scaled to your level. Occasionally you get a moderately interesting underground area, but only on the main quest line... the zillions of lesser dungeons scattered about are just static rooms with no puzzles or anything vaguely interesting. This is fine for awhile, but it wears out pretty fast.

What holds the game together is the awesome storytelling, the bazillions of quests, and the multiple approaches to dealing with most critters. Once you've explored/seen those, the game doesn't hold much residual appeal. But it's FUN ride for the first 60+ hours or so.

I cracked down after I found out about the scaling system. This system made me realize that everything I did actually didn't matter jack's ass because all the enemies around me would rise in experience with me. This fact went to the most inner sanctum of my gaming pride and deemed all work done in the game as unnecessary and a waste of time. Soon after that I started cheating to finish the main quest. After that I made some custom killer sword and a hilarious fireball which threw people countless meter's away. Then I stopped.

Be sure to check out Obscuro's oblivion overhaul. It's only for PC owner's but it improves many aspects of the game, including the levelled lists. I've put about 60 hours into the game, not done by any means, but I've been so very busy with other stuff... Mainly Gears of War.

Having played through as an archer, I was kind of ticked off at how the difficulty ramped up too. There came a point where it took so many arrows to kill things I needed to completely restock after each dungeon. I could afford it, sure, but it's really not fun plinking away at things when you should be Legolasing them in one or two shots.

The reason I stopped is something completely different. I got overwhelmed. I would frequent a mod site that I'd used since Morrowind came out, which would get about 20 new mods per day. A lot of them were stupid character creation settings to re-create celebrities, but most of them were at least worth a look. If I missed a week though, that'd be a ton of entries to sort through and try to install. At some point it became a self-sustaining loop; I dreaded going back to that page because I didn't want to have to face those hundreds of mods I'd missed, yet the longer I waited, the more mods were available. Those of you that know me at all know I'm a total whore for customization, even in single-player games, so you can imagine my frustration.

I figure I'll pick it up again in a year or so and start from scratch, installing only the best, complete mods. I did get kind of pissed seeing 20 different versions of the "sexy clothes" mod.

I played as a thief. I finished the main quest, the theives guild and the brotherhood. I tinkered around with the mages and fighters guild as well though. I found a couple mods that made fighting with arrows a lot of fun. Like if you are undetected you can deal multiplied damage to the creature. And the better at archery (I think, not sure though cause it's been a long while since I've played it) you get, the higher the multiplier. If you have a problem with the game, and your on the computer, then all I have to say is that you need to look at the available mods.

I played Oblivion probably more than any single player game before it, not sure how many hours but certainly well over 120. I have about 20 active mods, some that mitigate the issues brought up here, that really make the game feel custom fit for me. I actually JUST played it again two nights ago to finish up the main quest, which would just leave a few of the Fighters guild and the downloadable stuff.

I've actually got Knights of the Nine for preview, which is what spurned me to action, but the installer ain't working for me. Bah!

I got burned on the Mage Guild bug with the ring in the well. I wanted to finish everything, but even after a patch, I couldn't complete that step. Then I pondered making a new character just for that guild line. Then I got really irritated and stopped playing. I've been debating going back to finish up the main at least. Maybe after Gears.

Yea just get someone to give you a copy of their save right after that level, if they did make a save. The strat guide suggested making a save right there just so you would never have to play that bit of the game again. I did, and I am so glad too.

I didn't finish the main quest with either of my characters (assassin and barbarian). I also was fed up with the leveling monsters, but mostly was annoyed with the lack of MOB and dungeon diversity. It all felt the same after awhile. I also was annoyed that at level ~25 I basically had the best weapons and armor the game had to offer. And they were UGLY.

Anyway, I've been contemplating getting back into it using mods (which I didn't use before). I agree it's very overwhelming.

I'll definitely get the expansion and reroll when I do.

I played it through as a Battle Mage and had a great time. I finished the main quest, the Fighter's Guild story arc, and the Mage's Guild one as well. I ignored all the mods that came out for it and just kept my focus on playing it, not altering the game. I never encountered any game ruining bugs either. Overall, one of the better games I have played in a long time.

I played for over 130 hours and finished every guild as well as the main storyline. I got many, though not all, of the Daedra quests. My character was a thief/mage, which felt like a great combination.

I summed up my thoughts on the game here.

Did they patch up the quest bug in XBox 360 version? Because I would continue playing it but the quest bug pretty much stops me from getting new quests. Plus I don't want to start over with new game considering that my last save clocks 296 hours.