Oblivion New Expansion - Shivering Isles

[Socio]

Originally posted by: apoppin
well, i did that for the first almost thousand hours ...
[no fast travel, no console or cheats, nor any mods .. 'till i got the message at Level 92 "you cannot level up any further ... you have maxed all of your abilities"
:Q

No one has come up with a mod that removes the level barrier so you can level past that yet?

It has been a long time but if memory serves someone was able to to that for Morrowind.

 

[apoppin]

yes, you *can* go beyond level 92 using the console

mine used 'jail' ... so technically it was not cheating

and SI is a *blast*

who is the voice of the 'Mad god' ?

that is a thick brogue, laddie

 

[imported_Imp]

Ok, this is bad. Really bad.

Just found the time to install the expansions, but before doing so, I went in to clear my saddlebags. Suddenly, I don't remember how to play the damn game, what to do and what the controls are. That and the lack of screen bouncing was weird to me. If anyone remembers my initial bitching of Stalkers very bouncy screen, the head wobble was making me sick. Now theres virtually none, and it's very odd... Also, I forgot about the level scaling. It stinks. Loaded up my level 55 or so character and took a minute to take down a lowly bandit. Looks like I'm going mod hunting.

And finally, did the 1.1 patch from last year improve performance? I stopped playing by the time it came out, but still applied the patch last year for fun. Suddenly, I can run at max view distance, 1680x1050 as opposed to 1024x768, and have no stuttering. Even managed to increase some sliders to past half-way. Bizzaro world... Stalker..where are you...

 

[40sTheme]

Just finished every side quest and finished exploring every dungeon in SI. Some of the dungeons are pretty sweet, but the side quests seem to always start out small and spread into a much larger scale. The town of Split's quests were especially cool.

 

[fierydemise]

Is OOO compatible with SI yet?

I can't play Oblivion without OOO.

 

[40sTheme]

I've run it the whole time with OOO on. :s

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: 40sTheme
I've run it the whole time with OOO on. :s

I know but my question is whether all the new content has fixed levels, I absolutely can't stand leveled enemies.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: fierydemise

Originally posted by: 40sTheme
I've run it the whole time with OOO on. :s

I know but my question is whether all the new content has fixed levels, I absolutely can't stand leveled enemies.

SI *is* Oblivion

and

don't ever level up
:Q

that *solves* it completely

Xan is already mostly Apprentice/Journeyman in everything ... i started him 'brand new' in the Sewers - -20 something hours ago and headed him right to SI ... he is in the final part of it [having to chose "who" to replace for the final battle with what'shisname] ...
and he is Level TWO [2] and Kicking Ass ... he is much more powerful then his enemies
[otoh, he isn't too literate and/or forgets names]

i wanted to finish this expansion relatively quickly [in view of the twelve-hundred fifty hours i spent in Oblivion ... last time ]

it just like cheating
:shocked:

and you will always be stronger than your enemies ... just get 'feather' or you will have to make trips back and forth to the 'store' cause you can't carry much ... and have lots of health and magica potions

piece o' cake


laddie

love the story ...
:heart:

 

[40sTheme]

The only beef I had with this is that the final fight with Jyggalag/Sheogorath was pretty lame. Even with OOO on, it felt WAY too easy...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: 40sTheme
The only beef I had with this is that the final fight with Jyggalag/Sheogorath was pretty lame. Even with OOO on, it felt WAY too easy...

all OOO does is introduce "randomness" in the Leveling .. you might have actually had it easier with it

i finished SI in a marathon ten-hour session - till 6AM this AM
:Q


36 hours total and i *ran* thru the ending ... i had *already* explored 90% of SI before i started the MQ in earnest ... so it was fast-travel back and forth for the 'goodies'

i beat the End Boss on the FIRST try ... just hit and run

*don't* follow my advice - in NOT leveling up - unless you want it really

really

i mean, really

easy



done at level 2 ... Xan is gonna take a long nap - level up to 7 where he should be and head for the Knight of the Nine ...

after RE4 ...

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: fierydemise
I know but my question is whether all the new content has fixed levels, I absolutely can't stand leveled enemies.

don't ever level up
:Q

that *solves* it completely

But that really won't fix it, though, since everything will remain level 1... no decent armor/weapon drops, no interesting enemies, and, as you mention, no challenge either. But I understand what you're getting at... just want to make sure others don't mistake you for being serious.

I just can't, for the life of me, figure out why the decision was made to have the world scale around your level. The fact that you can beat the game at level 1 is silly. The fact that what determines which enemy I'll see in a ruin is dependent on my level just doesn't make any sense to me. Don't even get me started on level 25 highwaymen wearing daedric armor and demanding I pay a 100 gold toll...

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
I just can't, for the life of me, figure out why the decision was made to have the world scale around your level. The fact that you can beat the game at level 1 is silly. The fact that what determines which enemy I'll see in a ruin is dependent on my level just doesn't make any sense to me. Don't even get me started on level 25 highwaymen wearing daedric armor and demanding I pay a 100 gold toll...

Asked and answered many times. Some of it is probably to let the 'casual' Xbox/console gamer paly with ease. The other, you had to be there for the release of Morrowind to know. Essentially, when Morrowind came out, a bunch of VERY vocal people were spamming the official forums, bitching about how after level 20 or so, you became a god. There were hundreds of pages of posts with people complaining about how easy it got, then there were accusations of power gaming from fanboys. The end product is a level scaler where you will never have it that hard and never run out of 'challenge'. Amazingly, they seemed to have addressed two huge issues. And now, people are bitching about not getting to feel like god. I'm with you on the scaler being lame though...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: fierydemise
I know but my question is whether all the new content has fixed levels, I absolutely can't stand leveled enemies.

don't ever level up
:Q

that *solves* it completely

But that really won't fix it, though, since everything will remain level 1... no decent armor/weapon drops, no interesting enemies, and, as you mention, no challenge either. But I understand what you're getting at... just want to make sure others don't mistake you for being serious.

I just can't, for the life of me, figure out why the decision was made to have the world scale around your level. The fact that you can beat the game at level 1 is silly. The fact that what determines which enemy I'll see in a ruin is dependent on my level just doesn't make any sense to me. Don't even get me started on level 25 highwaymen wearing daedric armor and demanding I pay a 100 gold toll...

not in the SI expansion ... i had *glass* and all the "special" armor and named weapons your guys got at level 30

same interesting enemies and identical patterns of attack and defense ... identical AI
:gift:

All of my attributes ranged from the low30s to almost 70 ... not 'bad' for a Level 2
--if i need to, i could have pushed them way higher

the *only* difference was that they were weaker and had weaker weapons than Xan

[period]

after 1250 hours playing Oblivion, believe me ... i didn't miss a damn thing in SI ...
except have a relatively easy time of it

and i didn;t even to have to tape down the 'C'-Key or have my guy 'run' or 'sneak' in a corner to level up

it's genuine shortcut
:gift:



there are two easy ways to be a 'god' in Oblivion ... don't level your majors and use chameleon

i *hate* games [like Morrowind and NWN] where the DEVS suddenly decide it should be a walkthru for you
:thumbsdown:

at least in Oblivion you have *choice* to be god or not
{not in SI ... i got *stuck* with being god}

:roll:

before i depart ... i think RE4 or Armed and Dangerous ... after a NAP ... 2 hours sleep is *rough*

i would like to say, this SI "world" does react to your changing status much better ...

--you could be the Hero in Oblivion and a guard will still address you like you are dirt
-- in SI - [most of the ] NPCs address you with increasing respect as you progress in Fame.


i am looking forward to the next Oblivion expansion ... and especially tES:FIVE !

V

 

[imported_Imp]

Man, 1250 hours? Who supplied the gun, firm grip and bucket. Either I forgot my play hours or they got changed, but apparently I'm only at 152 hours. Swear I was higher.

Anyways, just started Knights, and was bored as hell with it initially. However, once I got past the pilgrimage and was wow'd by the view, the thing sucked me back in. The story telling is pretty good, and feeds you enough info to keep you going. Too bad I got 3 exams in next for days, gotta shelf it.

One more thing, to those who played Knights. Is the pilgrimage quest bugged? I only visited 6 of 9 shrines, and it said I completed the quest. Also, some of the shrines don't correspond to the 'god' that's marked on the map you're given.

 

[apoppin]

it was a little 'tiring'

but then it it was due to the most unusual set of personal circumstance i had - so far

and it *killed* Oblivion for me
... i just wanted to "get through" SI without caring for the little 'details' or that i had Daedric instead of glass equipment
[it is the dev's fault they made it so damn easy ... in Oblivion there were "minimum level" requirements to to complete or take certains SQs] :|

i totally enjoyed it also ... but am not so sure i care to play Kot9 at all ... SI is *so different* than Oblivion and has a MUCH better story
--thank the Nine ... [Bethesda Devs]

[yeah, the quest DID seem bugged when i originally started it]

 

[apoppin]

curious ...


does it *matter* which side you choose ? ... 'who' you replace ... other than going about it very different ways ....

does it also matter to the story if the one remaining or the other one works against you?
--Xan took out the Druggie pretty easily.

i *might* play the last few hours of the Ending from that big 'choice' - but use the console to take it "all" to Level 50 or so ... just to compare the battles
- i really don't want to put another 50 hours into it
:Q

finally why Mania and Dementia?
:frown:

"demented" can be manic or depressive or neither.

Shouldn't it rather be Mania and Depressia?
--which certainly matched the unhappy citizens of Dementia

and ...

oh yeah ... i NEVER could complete the SQ in Split by getting rid of Dementia .....
Mania was easy ... what difference?
--i think i even killed myself once trying
:shocked:

pretty fun game ... only the 'mazes' got *tedious*
... long for the sake of long

minor complaints ... the SI "world" reacts to your changing status much better than in vanilla Oblivion ... prettier and with better enemies ...
i don't miss the oblivion gates ... otoh i DO miss chameleon from the Sigil stones ... otoh.




ok really *finally*

How good is Knights of the Nine?
--how many hours?
-should i play the MQ 'till it triggers the "gates"?

i might stay Level 2 or 3 ... i am pretty sick of Oblivion
:brokenheart:

 

[apoppin]

what no one knows?

did anybody actually *finish* it?

One of the best expansions - EVAR - and it's not worth talking about?



you guys suck
:|




well ... not really


Don't "Make Me" visit the TeS Forums

. . . please

 

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by: Imp

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
I just can't, for the life of me, figure out why the decision was made to have the world scale around your level. The fact that you can beat the game at level 1 is silly. The fact that what determines which enemy I'll see in a ruin is dependent on my level just doesn't make any sense to me. Don't even get me started on level 25 highwaymen wearing daedric armor and demanding I pay a 100 gold toll...

Asked and answered many times. Some of it is probably to let the 'casual' Xbox/console gamer paly with ease. The other, you had to be there for the release of Morrowind to know. Essentially, when Morrowind came out, a bunch of VERY vocal people were spamming the official forums, bitching about how after level 20 or so, you became a god. There were hundreds of pages of posts with people complaining about how easy it got, then there were accusations of power gaming from fanboys. The end product is a level scaler where you will never have it that hard and never run out of 'challenge'. Amazingly, they seemed to have addressed two huge issues. And now, people are bitching about not getting to feel like god. I'm with you on the scaler being lame though...

I don't know why people think Oblivion is that hard. Not once did I touch the scaler. I always level my major skills and choose the max level bonuses (+5 or +4). The enemies do get challenging from time to time, but never difficult. The standard block and attack seems to work real well. The fact that you can pause and have unlimited time to change weapons and use any potions at your leisure really makes the game quite easy IMO.

I'm on level 28 now and I feel like my character is too powerful. I can sneak while running and my marksman doesn't affect my fatique. I can get a few shots off at enemies with arrows + potions. By the time they're near, they've already sustained enough damage where a few swing of the sword will bring them down. Add to the fact that I have the Axe of Damnation which absorbs souls and the Azura item to contain the souls, I pretty much don't have to spend any money to keep my magic weapons charged. Since Oblivion is pretty generous with money anyway, you can buy some pretty good equipment.

I played KotN when my character was around the mid-20s. After completion of that quest I came away with some powerful weapons and armors. Also you get KotN comrades to quest with you to make things easier.

Perhaps I shouldn't play a warrior type character with a warrior sign.

 

[imported_Imp]

It's not that the scaler makes it hard, but for me, it just makes things more annoying. I just finished Knights of the Nine and killed legions of undead. My character is invincible except when being pounded by 3 guys who take hours to die. Lots of enemies who should tip over take hours of bashing with the best weapons in the game, at max skill levels and high strength, to take down. Other than that, I would have no complaints. I'm guessing they developers thought everyone (target audience: casual Xbox-ers) would get to a max level of 10 or something by the look of the low level requirements of quests.

As for Shivering Isles. I haven't started it yet, still waiting for patch (I like official things), but just mananged to finish up Knights of the Nine. It was ok, no Tribunal, but I guess it was never marketted as a full fledged expansion like SI. The new equipment was meh, it was pretty much just a mage/fighters/etc. guild quest line; not as good as Dark Brotherhood. I'm a tad unsatisfied with the other add-ons though. The horse armor is nice, but not worth the $2/$3 asking price online, all the other lairs/class-specific hideouts are cool for a whole 10 minutes. Maybe they would be better used with a new character, but I don't feel like making one. Tell you the truth, I'm having second thoughts about SI, and wondering whether I should just return it (didn't break shrink wrap yet).

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Imp
It's not that the scaler makes it hard, but for me, it just makes things more annoying. I just finished Knights of the Nine and killed legions of undead. My character is invincible except when being pounded by 3 guys who take hours to die. Lots of enemies who should tip over take hours of bashing with the best weapons in the game, at max skill levels and high strength, to take down. Other than that, I would have no complaints. I'm guessing they developers thought everyone (target audience: casual Xbox-ers) would get to a max level of 10 or something by the look of the low level requirements of quests.

As for Shivering Isles. I haven't started it yet, still waiting for patch (I like official things), but just mananged to finish up Knights of the Nine. It was ok, no Tribunal, but I guess it was never marketted as a full fledged expansion like SI. The new equipment was meh, it was pretty much just a mage/fighters/etc. guild quest line; not as good as Dark Brotherhood. I'm a tad unsatisfied with the other add-ons though. The horse armor is nice, but not worth the $2/$3 asking price online, all the other lairs/class-specific hideouts are cool for a whole 10 minutes. Maybe they would be better used with a new character, but I don't feel like making one. Tell you the truth, I'm having second thoughts about SI, and wondering whether I should just return it (didn't break shrink wrap yet).

SI is really really good ... i like it better than oblivion's MQ

and i liked Oblivion's MQ

it is just ... after nearly 1300 hours with the game i am about to just put it away and wait for ES:V

i guess i will play Knight and just stay a level2 .... Level2 is *god* when REFUSE to go to sleep ... the Enemy NPCs are simply overwhelmed ... an "apprentice" destruction spell sends them flying just as though a Level 92 character hit a level 50 one

they really screwed up on Not leveling by failing to address it outside vanilla Oblivion [where you *had* to be a certain level to take a SQ]

Mehrunes Razor was more than a couple of hours

and i got ALL the plugins including Knights for $19 ... on sale at CC a long time ago

 

[apoppin]

ooh ... SI has bugged SQs

you can have an item for the museum and she won't recognize it ... same with calipers and tongs ... other little irritations

i decided to check thru SI to see if there was anything i missed [there was ] ... so i am finishing them and then heading over to Knights of the nine

by then it'll ... it'll be well over 1300 hours ... over a year ... and then

and then ...

and then to burn my copy of oblivion
:Q





j/k'ing

there might be another good expansion

 

[imported_Imp]

Dang it, still waiting for the official SI patch (yes, I am a non-beta, user-mod whore).

Got the entire set of KotN expansion/downloads/plug-ins finished up. Most of them are definately trash and seem like things the developers did for fun. However, the 'real' plug-ins like Mehrunes and KotN were pretty good. Finished Mehrunes in about 3 hours. Was fun actually getting to fight people again. Blocking and fighting moves worked, too bad I used my B weapon to take everyone on. Something about hitting people with a big hammer that's more satisfying than slashing with a sword. Still, the dungeon was pretty standard and not all that eventful.

Also, the Orrery quest ws a waste of time, but turning the thing on for the first time was pretty cool on a 24" screen. The other dens were pretty craptastic; beautiful, but useless. In the end, managed to log in an extra 12 hours-ish. Not TOO bad for $25...

 

[apoppin]

the Orrey was crap ... the Tower was OK - just for alchemists ... ... 'pirates' kinda missed it -but a great place to store stuff . . . and the 'Vile' for Vampires who couldn't figure the cure quest

How long was Kot9? SI was 35 hours and i have a couple of caves & c. i missed ... probably a little RePlay value from your *choice* [i'll check that ... a "room" is Locked in one of the palaces]

i am *still* Level2 and am FINALLY going to level up for the neat weapons ... then do knights ...

SI is [waay] too easy if you don't level
--Devs fault

and the "patch" just *stops* a bugged routine that doesn't affect ANYTHING else [period]!
[--for oblivion's sake]
:roll:

 

[LintMan]

I don't think Kot9 took me more than 6-8 hours, if that. And that was with my machine having random freeze-ups that forced me to replay hunks at a time. It's not as long as the fighter-mage-thief-assassin quest lines. Fun enough, I guess, and it did get me to learn up on some of the in-game backstory I'd largely ignored before.

Worth $10 as a standalone? No. Worth $20 in the pack with the rest? Not really, unless maybe you're playing from scratch, and even then, probably not. If the full Oblivion game cost the same dollars per amount of content as the downloadable stuff, it would have cost $250+, so in other words, the Kot9 stuff is a much, much worse deal.

Theoretically, Bethseda should be able to offer extra content like the dens and Kot9 at least at a competitive rate with the base game (if not better), since there's relatively little new stuff in them. But as long as suckers like me pay what they're asking, I guess they'll keep doing it that way.

 

[apoppin]

the *cool thing* is you don't have to pay ANYTHING for fan-made mods


some of them are as good as the SQs in Oblivion .... some are even better than the Plugins - for really high-level players

Kumiko Manor comes to mind ... it is dozens of hours long and HARD as hell - even at Level 92 ... think invisible assassins with reflect damage
Also the Quests by the author of "Tower of the Lich King" are standouts ... or were, 6 months ago

i found a LOT more play in SI than is documented in ANY walkthru .. named keys to locks i haven't found and locked doors missing named keys

i expect at least a couple of SI plugins ... and another full expansion
and a patch or two ... there ARE bugged mini-quests


but if you want *content* for Oblivion ... it is FREE and almost unlimited
:thumbsup:


as soon as i am done with SI, i will tackle Kot9 ... i finally leveled up to Level 7 - at once - ... finally ... to get the "cooler" stuff

--and it is a LOT more challenging

a *flaw* with SI is that you can play and complete it on Level One
--too easy
:gift: