Game News Latest Oblivion official mod released

[Spazmo]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Bethesda Softworks have released their third <a href=http://obliviondownloads.com/StoreCatalog_ProductView.aspx?ProductId=4>official content module downloadable thingamajigger</a>: The Wizard's Tower. For only $1.89 (or 150 Xbox market points, whatever the hell those are) you get:<blockquote> * A fully detailed tower for you to explore
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* A breathtaking view of Cyrodiil from the highest point in the land
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* Simple furnishings including a bed for leveling up
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* An indoor botanical garden with over 130 specimens... including Oblivion-native herbs!
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* Summon Atronach Familiars that obey your commands
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* Instant teleports to every Mages Guild in Cyrodiil
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* New Spell and Recharge vendor in the Imperial City
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* Fully upgrade the furnishings in your lair to suit your needs
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* Upgrade to a fully functional Enchanting and Spellmaking station with no need to join Mages Guild
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* Upgrade to a laboratory that buffs your Alchemy skill</blockquote>Gosh! Although, given the complaints the <a href=http://rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12501>previous mod generated</a> and the fact that the mod before that was basically a <a href=http://obliviondownloads.com/StoreCatalog_ProductView.aspx?ProductId=2>reskin of the game's useless horses</a>, this mod looks kind of dubious.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</A>

 

[Nicolai]

* A breathtaking view of Cyrodiil from the highest point in the land
* Simple furnishings including a bed for leveling up
* An indoor botanical garden with over 130 specimens... including Oblivion-native herbs!
* Instant teleports to every Mages Guild in Cyrodiil

I'm totally getting this one.

 

[Sovy Kurosei]

Why do you need instant teleportation when you have instant fast travel in Oblivion?

 

[Kraszu]

Why do you need instant teleportation when you have instant fast travel in Oblivion?

When you rp a knight you walk by fast travel and when you rp a magican you use teleport n00b.

 

[Lumpy]

Gosh! Although, given the complaints the <a href=http://rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12501>previous mod generated</a> and the fact that the mod before that was basically a <a href=http://obliviondownloads.com/StoreCatalog_ProductView.aspx?ProductId=2>reskin of the game's useless horses</a>, this mod looks kind of dubious.
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</A>

Actually, it seems that people who hated the first two mods like this one. The worst part of it is that it's free, but you have to buy equipment for it, and it seems to be a preety good mod.

 

[WouldBeCreator]

http://obliviondownloads.com/Images/Pro ... rmor01.jpg

I love that even the horses have crazy eyes.

 

[Vault Dweller]

* A breathtaking view of Cyrodiil from the highest point in the land

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... pic=401534

I didn't purchase the wizards tower just for the view pormised, but why can't the developers amend thier preview. Hey guys, sorry, with the technical issues we couldn't offer that incredible view, so we replaced it with endless fog and rainstorms. Just be honest with your fans who are paying the money to you for making the mods available.

The 360 users cannot edit the game like the PC gamers can.

What scares me now is that when more mods become available, can we really trust Bethesda to deliver on what they say will be included?

BTW, if you look at that link to the preview of the wizards tower, you see "an excerpt from the diary of the former creator of frostspire crag", well, that is the enitre diary, no excerpt, so there again you see something as if there will be this huge diary to read. Just another little quirk from our boys at Bethesda.

I will try my best to not say I told you so.... Ooops

lol... good luck with that email thing.... Not sure they know what that is, I had a few ideas, and a few problems and such Emailed three weeks back no reply... sent another to check up on it last week.... no reply.

it doesn't. I provided the link for the one line which reads "a breathtaking view of cyrodill" or something like that. The rainstorms and fog are cover-ups for bethesda's failed attempt at delivering on that one part of the whole that makes up The wizards tower mod.


No, I am not saying that it is not worth paying for. There are many cool features about it that I will enjoy, but I am just pointing out some dishonesty on the part of the developers. They are really hurting themselves by saying a mod will do this, but then once it is out, it doesn't, but they make no mention of why or the fact that it could not be done at this time.

I'm having the same issues. I've waited about 30 days now and it's always cloudy and raining. It's clear that the draw distance is too much to handle and therefore rain and clouds is their answer in return. I bought this mod solely for the view and now I'm not even getting it.

 

[WouldBeCreator]

Just in the interest of honesty, here's another two posts from the same thread:

Hate to break it to you, but I've been there without rain and fog. My guess is that it's a glitch in the weather system that makes it very frequently rainy. It's not permanent though. You can't sleep it off, or wait. If you go there and its raining, just walk away from the tower and spiral out in a circle until the weather clears up. Run up to the tower (no fast-travel), and you'll catch the magnificent view you say isn't there. It's great.

I've gone up top numerous times and its been clear for me. And I'm not using any mods that alter the weather.

Sounds like there's a glitch in the weather system. Selectively quoting some posts but not others seems a little iffy to me. Oblivion is a crappy game, sure, this mod sounds shitty, but there's no need to mislead. Hurts the credilbity of criticisms of the game.

 

[Lumpy]

Some people said that they bypassed the eternal rain on top of the tower, and that there is a nice view of Cyrodiil from up there.

 

[Drakron]

If I want sightseeing I just turn clipping off and move up.

In fact there is a plugin that gives access to the top of White Gold Tower for free, not that I need since I been up there with the clipping cheat.

What kind of IDIOT pays to see the landscape of a damm game, I can do EXACTLY THE SAME THING but turning on the TV.

 

[Lumpy]

If I want sightseeing I just turn clipping off and move up.

In fact there is a plugin that gives access to the top of White Gold Tower for free, not that I need since I been up there with the clipping cheat.

What kind of IDIOT pays to see the landscape of a damm game, I can do EXACTLY THE SAME THING but turning on the TV.

Yes, because that's all the mod adds...

 

[Vault Dweller]

Just in the interest of honesty, here's another two posts from the same thread

For every negative point there are always people claiming that their game functions as advertised, etc. I've seen plenty of posts stating that the view is blocked, and even if it's not the case for some people, that DOES represent a concern.

Take ToEE, for example. The game crashed a lot, but it crashed only twice on my computer. Does the fact that I had a wonderful experience matter for those who couldn't play it? Or take KOTOR for another example. The sound was fucked, so I had to disable to play the game without crashing. That was not a single problem. Now, tell me, in the interest of honesty, would a KOTOR player who has problems with the game give a flying fuck that someone doesn't have a problem with it?

See my point?

 

[Drakron]

Yes, because that's all the mod adds...

When people wait a month because they just want to see the view ...

Get real Lumpy, someone here called this mod a "big cheat" and lest see:

a)You get the Mage Guild perks for free (enchanting and spellmaking).
b)You get all the reagents in a central location.
c)A bluff to alchemy.

Heck I dont even know if the house is offered for free but I will not be suprised if we get another invisible note shoved down from nothing so we can start the quest and we get it for free.

Money sink you say? not with glass wearing bandits demanding for 100 septims ...

 

[WouldBeCreator]

Just in the interest of honesty, here's another two posts from the same thread

For every negative point there are always people claiming that their game functions as advertised, etc. I've seen plenty of posts stating that the view is blocked, and even if it's not the case for some people, that DOES represent a concern.

Take ToEE, for example. The game crashed a lot, but it crashed only twice on my computer. Does the fact that I had a wonderful experience matter for those who couldn't play it? Or take KOTOR for another example. The sound was fucked, so I had to disable to play the game without crashing. That was not a single problem. Now, tell me, in the interest of honesty, would a KOTOR player who has problems with the game give a flying fuck that someone doesn't have a problem with it?

See my point?

Sure, I see your point, but I don't think that you were quoting those posts to indicate that a sizable number of people aren't getting the promised view. You quoted them in a way that indicated that despite advertising a view, Bethesda had implemented rain / fog to prevent the player from seeing anything. You quoted exclusively the complaints, which all suggest that it is never possible to see the view. There were an equal number of responses saying that it rained often but that the rain sometimes cleared and when it did the view was great. There were also a number of posts saying that the rain cleared and when it did the view was lame.

The difference between what your post suggests (that Bethesda promised a feature and then deliberately removed it because they couldn't produce on it) and what reading the entire thread on the Oblivion boards suggests (that Betheda promised a feature but is so incompetent that they prevented most players from being able to enjoy it) is a pretty substantial one. The first suggests bad faith; the second bad programming / scripting.

 

[[Jez]]

Well if Beth are making the munchkin mods themselfs maybe the modders wont bother witch could shorten the time for the quality mods to be releasted.... so I guess this is a good thing... I think

 

[Sovy Kurosei]

Looks like it is a bug that people should see a good view.

The weather for FrostCrag's exterior cell is defined as Thunderstorm ... 100% of the time.

I feel kind of sorry for this guy though, who posted a bit earlier in that thread.

I hate to say it, but maybe they'll remove the silly rain script with the tower once they get the other performance issues sorted with the patch

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sure, I see your point, but I don't think that you were quoting those posts to indicate that a sizable number of people aren't getting the promised view.

I quoted them to indicate a problem with what Bethesda promised, to show people that when you buy the mod, you may or may not get everything that was promised.

The difference between what your post suggests (that Bethesda promised a feature and then deliberately removed it ...

My post doesn't suggest that. As you know, if I wanted to say something, I would have. I simply posted a few quotes indicating a problem (which usually comes with conspiracy theories of all kinds).

Edit:

The weather for FrostCrag's exterior cell is defined as Thunderstorm ... 100% of the time.

What do you know? Sure sounds like a deliberate attempt to block the crappy view.

 

[WouldBeCreator]

My post doesn't suggest that.

Oh, come on! Take a little responsibility. You knew exactly what your post was suggesting when you put it up.

I raise this only because your review of the game was surprisingly evenhanded and fair, which made it a far more damning criticism of the game than the selective quoting you routinely engage in on the boards here.

Anyway, the argument isn't worth belaboring. If in fact Bethesda put in the storm = 100% line to block the view, I'd say there's a pretty good case for breach of warranty against them (although no one is going to bother fighting that much over it). Reading the threads, though, it sounded more like their weather code was sloppy all around. I had assumed that FrostCrag existed before the mod, so that any storm = 100% predated the mod. My impression was that Bethesda had incompetently placed the tower on FrostCrag (it's so tall, put it there!) and then, I assumed, had turned off the weather to check out the view and never bothered to make sure it ran properly in game.

It's quite possible that they deliberately blocked it, but I have trouble believing that given that they advertised the view and that, apparently, the view isn't that bad when the rain isn't there.

 

[User was nabbed fit]

Bethesda make me keekle. I wonder how long they'll be able to milk their cash cows, AKA the parents of their young fans.

Ah yes, targetting the young, the naive... always a favorite in the business world. "$2 is nothing, daddy'll just buy it for me!".

I wonder if there are any ESF fanboys (not to confuse with rational ESF posters) reading? I'm thinking that a bit of clarification might be in order here for you. Before we begin, let's first try removing your heads from your asses so that you'll be sure to not miss the overly-obvious points that many of us try to make. Done? Alright, ESF kiddos, let's begin!

First, when Mom and/or Dad no longer purchase your toys/games/et al for you, you'll find that you're far more likely to be sure that you're provided with something of value when you make a purchase. I understand that you're not entirely familiar with the concept, and that's OK. The real world will come to you in due time and deliver it's trademark kick in the cojones, have no fear.

Continuing along, some people are, in fact, ready to pay $2 for mods. Many bought Bethesda's ones, didn't like them, but they'll live with that. By no means, however, must they do so silently. True, it was only $2. How regularly, though, do you freely throw away your hard-earned money? Wait, nevermind. It's a moot point, as you're clearly still trudging merrily through the "weekly allowance" years. Chances are, the $2 mod didn't "break the bank", as any PC gamer with an Oblivion-capable rig really won't miss the $2 in the long run. The problem at hand lies in the fact that an overwhelmingly large number of (extremely vocal) customers have found that they don't believe they've received a product that was worth the price they've paid (and if something's not worth even a paltry $2, that's really saying something, isn't it?). I think it's fairly safe to assume that many people won't be purchasing any new "official" mods, at this point.

I'm not entirely certain how the ironical statement that ESF fanboys try to make: "OMG THE WORLD JUST ENDED BECAUSE BETHESDA TOOK MY $2 FOR THIS MOD" ends up so often in these discussions. I'll just chalk that up to ADD on their part, and leave it at that.

 

[Oarfish]

had turned off the weather to check out the view and never bothered to make sure it ran properly in game

Then their QA department needs to be taken outside and shot. They should be testing the actual release build, not something the devs thought they were releasing.

 

[WouldBeCreator]

Oarfish,

I agree with you 100%. But I've played innumerable games that were entirely linear and nevertheless had blatant glitches (from clipping issues, to missing dialogue, etc.) in the cinematics, or that had missions that didn't work, or whatever. Part of the problem is that some of the glitches don't emerge unless you play all the way through, and on a really big game, you may simply not be able to have your QA team play all the way through at the end of the dev cycle. The games that I worked on frequently had such issues. By far the best was that they took the script (as in, dialogue) I wrote, added typos, implemented it, and then sent it to localization. They then sent the game back for me to test. When I identified the new typos, they responded, "Well, it's off to localization, so there's nothing we can do." (I'm still not sure why they couldn't be fixed in the English version . . . .)

On games I've developed solo, I've definitely occasionally created weird glitches like that, especially when things aren't totally linear. Routinely I'll put in hacks to let me check a feature, then just take out the hack and assume that it works fine. Usually I remember to double check it, but I've definitely sent testers games that just didn't even run b/c of workarounds that were poorly removed.

Anyway, it's pretty reprehensible, but strikes me as more plausible than putting in the rain to hide the view.

 

[Blahblah Talks]

My post doesn't suggest that.

Yes it does. After reading it, I was under the impression that Beth deliberately altered the weather. The fact that you chose to ignore and/or failed to mention posts in the same thread to the contrary is irresponsible and smacks of the misinformation you are so happy to acuse others of.

You, sir, are a *gasp* hypocrit. Yes, I said it. The most vile accusation a liberal hippy can sling has been slung.

 

[Drakron]

I am pretty sure Vault Dweller is a conservative so you dont get pistols at dawn but a hunting trip with a "accident".

 

[kingcomrade]

If he <s>were</s> was a liberal it wouldn't be pistols at dawn either. It would probably be a class action lawsuit or something.

edit- nope, subjunctive is inappropriate in this context! /nazi

 

[dongle]

Heck I dont even know if the house is offered for free but I will not be suprised if we get another invisible note shoved down from nothing so we can start the quest and we get it for free.

Yes, exactly.

Here's a complete rundown of the "gameplay", from what I've heard. :D

Start game and instantly find the deed and key to the tower in your inventory, as noted by a popup.
"Quest" added.
Fast travel is already activated to the tower, no need to walk there. No fights, puzzles, FedExes, or -anything- required to move in.
Find tower, enter, read journal. Get popup telling you to go to a new NPC vendor in the IC to purchase house features. No need to actually -read- silly book, everything explained in popup.
Visit IC, talk to the ugliest NPC in all the Empire. No dialog options or greetings specific to the tower at all. Just click barter icon, and purchase the usual furnishings, storage, etc. Option to add alchemy, spellmaking, and enchanting cheats too. Pay Ms. Ugly.
Move in to fully activated Tower of Overpowered Goodness.
Yes, it's raining.
"Quest" completed.

That's about it. Just a freebe tower sitting there for you in the wilderness. No gameplay or dialogue at ALL. Nada. Not even walking.