Cow Guru, I too have been banned.

[dongle]

RPGCodex actually hosted the russian pics..

Umm, you might wanna check out Saint Proverbius' post above re the Russian pics. I'm 99% certain they were on a Russian site and linked to, not hosted here.

Um, no:

News posting from the front page proudly proclaiming; "The screenshots Bethesda didn't want you to see."
http://www.rpgcodex.com/newsarchive.php ... %20gallery
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=10641

Gallery of Oblivion screenshots from ag.ru:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/gallery.php?game=oblivion
Open a large screenshot and you'll see they were, and still are, hosted by the codex.

Further, these shots were briefly on ag.ru, and were pulled down at Bethesda's request. The call went out on these forums until a member was found who'd saved them. They were transferred to the codex admin and hosted here. I'm sure many folks saw them here for the first time, I know I did.

They were not magazine scans. They were screenshots taken from a preliminary build sent to a Russian firm so they could work on localization. The word from the Bethesada devs was that they represented a deep alpha build, were completely un-optimized, and don't reflect the real look of the game. Not surprisingly they represent the final look better than Bethesda's official shots do.

In Bethesda parlance these are "illegal" screenshots. That means any content not manicured by Bethesda and available through hand-picked distribution channels. IANAL, but I think it’s not strictly "illegal" to host these shots, but it certainly is against ESF policy to link to them. The mods there have always been super-strict about linking to content like this from any source.

Now, I applaud the codex for making these available so blatantly. I believe this type of contrary news site has value on today's web. If ya'll want to be a thorn in Bethesda's side, more power to you. Keep it up.

Don't go acting all innocent when they blacklist you from their forums for it though.

 

[Monica21]

Which only emphasises the fact that belonging to the Codex and criticising Oblivion will get you banned. As I was... with no warning... and no explaination. And, since I'm effectively locked out of the ESF unless I make a dummy account -- I cannot protest or get the ban reversed. And, frankly, the retards posting there and the draconian Bethstapo admining the site make the effort of creating a seperate e-mail and new account not worth the effort.

Override, can you check your ESF account again? I was able to send you a PM, so maybe there was a mistake. Maybe if you clear your cookies you'll be able to log back in. I'm not sure, but I've never been able to PM a banned member.

 

[Darkflame]

Combine all of this with the fact that a fair number of trolling had originated from their forums and I think the reasoning is understandable, whether or not you agree with it.

Wait.. What the fuck? Trolls coming from here? What about the monthly invasion of them from that forum we had to put up with for last year of the game's development?

http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic ... oll#270529
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic ... oll#270177

Check my join date. I've trolled ESF long before I joined RPGCodex, and with currently 10 posts to my name on here, I don't exactly fit HD's description of a troll who "originated from their forums". I only joined here recently to post in this topic (or if it wasn't this exact one, it was a topic covering this exact same subject matter).

If my admitting to trolling ESF brings the Codex a bad name, then I'll cease admitting to anything, but I hardly think you can attribute ESF autocensoring this place to a zero-contributing member who joined here less than 4 weeks ago. But then again...

 

[dongle]

http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=10641
Actually got a bit of a snicker from going back and reading that thread. :D

Even most of the codexers were willing to believe those were crappy shots on a crappy comp with all the whiz-bang shineys turned off. In reality the game didn't look much different from that when it shipped. OK, so the hands were improved a bit. The faces and lighting sure as heck weren't. MFSD claimed the LOD system was turned off. All the fanbois were chanting the "un-optimized build" mantra. I don't think anyone was prepared for how much -worse- the middle distance terrain actually looked!

 

[ixg]

Your account has been temporarily suspended. This suspension is due to end on Feb 5 1952, 10:00 AM.

It's been a while. When I got that message, I moved to the Codex, and never touched Oblivion.

 

[Dread]

Override, can you check your ESF account again? I was able to send you a PM, so maybe there was a mistake. Maybe if you clear your cookies you'll be able to log back in. I'm not sure, but I've never been able to PM a banned member.

Override's account hasn't been banned. Clearing his cookies should do the trick.

 

[Texas Red]

So i had the first post in the thread (which they definitely do not like.. Newcomers would read it.. Not sure if this is the case, but it seems like Bethesda has the Mods or someone posting almost instantly in these sort of threads, making some sort of retarded point defending the game.. strange)
Yep

I noticed this as well. All mods praise Oblivion. I have never seen them complaining about some of the design choises.

I dont understand how somebody can like that retarded scaling system. Well, obviously those people who never before played previous ESF or any other RPG for that matter. But mods like it.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Wait.. What the fuck? Trolls coming from here? What about the monthly invasion of them from that forum we had to put up with for last year of the game's development?

http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic ... oll#270529
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic ... oll#270177

Both of those two guys came here from the ESF forums originally, were disappointed in Oblivion, said as much, got banned, came here. If anything, it stems more from their banning policy at their own forums than anything this site has done.

Now, be a good lumpy and do a search for all the "HOW CAN U NOT LEIK OBILIVEON? ITZ NOT EBEN OUT YET!" threads that we used to get at least once a month. We pointed out something bad about the way they're designing the game before it was released, they'd flood here, ask the same question, call us stupid and stuff, etc.. There's dozens and dozens of those.

Oblivion General is full of criticism threads - which DON'T get locked and whose creators DON'T get banned.

Must all be coming from HERE!

Think I already said that.

News posting from the front page proudly proclaiming; "The screenshots Bethesda didn't want you to see."
http://www.rpgcodex.com/newsarchive.php ... %20gallery
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=10641

Gallery of Oblivion screenshots from ag.ru:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/gallery.php?game=oblivion
Open a large screenshot and you'll see they were, and still are, hosted by the codex.

I stand corrected. Then again, I never recieved any email from Bethesda about them, but I doubt I would have pulled those anyway.

 

[Dread]

I noticed this as well. All mods praise Oblivion. I have never seen them complaining about some of the design choises.

I dont understand how somebody can like that retarded scaling system. Well, obviously those people who never before played previous ESF or any other RPG for that matter. But mods like it.

Now lets not put words into my mouth. I could care less whether anyone likes Oblivion or not. Everyone has their own opinion, so why would I waste my time rushing around trying to contradict people who aren't praising the game.

There are a lot of things I don't like about Oblivion (as it is with any game I have played), and frankely I wouldn't be playing it for to long if it weren't for the great fan mods out there. Which I can say the same for when i played Morrowind. I just don't feel the need to go around praising or posting my dislikes of the game.

 

[Blahblah Talks]

Override's account hasn't been banned. Clearing his cookies should do the trick.

We're being watched.
Welcome, and join in the fun. They can't fire you, right?

 

[Sentenza]

I noticed this as well. All mods praise Oblivion. I have never seen them complaining about some of the design choises.

Believe it or not, I once even see a mod defending fast travel AGAINST A DEV!
That was fucking hilarious, really...

 

[Blahblah Talks]

Which dev? Does he still work there?

 

[Dread]

Welcome, and join in the fun. They can't fire you, right?

Does one normally fire volunteers?

Thanks for the Welcome.

 

[stargelman]

I noticed this as well. All mods praise Oblivion. I have never seen them complaining about some of the design choises.

Believe it or not, I once even see a mod defending fast travel AGAINST A DEV!
That was fucking hilarious, really...

That was probably Ted. I remember him ranting about how Oblivion was something very different from what he wanted. For reference, that was before the game was released. That, or it was MK. He made a thread a few months ago called "Living in Oblivion - why I don't".

 

[Sentenza]

Which dev? Does he still work there?

Dunno, yes I hope

BTW the tread should still be active, here it is:
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=559633&st=20

 

[Blahblah Talks]

Does one normally fire volunteers?

The current theory is that devs are not allowed to post here, presumably under threat from their bosses. That being said, I think kathode made a post not too long ago, so it could be that they just didn't want to (couldn't?) defend Oblivion post-release.

Thanks for the Welcome.

No problem.

Quick question. What quests were you referring to exactly in this thread (post 7):
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=558325&hl=

 

[Sovy Kurosei]

@Blahblah Talks

Haha! Your attempt to Vaan has backfired!

 

[Dread]

Does one normally fire volunteers?

The current theory is that devs are not allowed to post here, presumably under threat from their bosses. That being said, I think kathode made a post not too long ago, so it could be that they just didn't want to (couldn't?) defend Oblivion post-release.

Thanks for the Welcome.

No problem.

Quick question. What quests were you referring to exactly in this thread (post 7):
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=558325&hl=

Well, in regard to posting here. I am merely a volunteer and am allowed to enjoy myself on other forums if I so choose.

As for your question, see post 8 and 9 in that thread.

 

[Slith]

Talk to one NPC, pick up a quest, run to x, find suchandsuch widget, and then report back to the npc using FT. Without FT I would have to run alllllll the way back to the NPC, and if the NPC was in Chorrol and the widget was in Bravil, I wouldn't be a happy camper.

However, imagine if FT did not exist. Then it would be up to us devs to make sure that the player was still entertained on his/her trip back to Chorrol (using the example above), by either placing some kind of unique encounter along the way or something that the player did not expect, like a side quest. Many players would lose interest in either the quest or the game if nothing exciting happened on the way back to Chorrol. That's where FT acts as a blessing. Not many people enjoy running for 30 minutes to report back to an NPC if nothing entertaining happens along the way.

I like how he doesn't even think of making an entertaining non-fedex quest.

 

[Blahblah Talks]

@Blahblah Talks

Haha! Your attempt to Vaan has backfired!

Dammit, don't tell him! :evil:

 

[Monica21]

All mods praise Oblivion. I have never seen them complaining about some of the design choises.

I dont understand how somebody can like that retarded scaling system. Well, obviously those people who never before played previous ESF or any other RPG for that matter. But mods like it.

They don't all praise Oblivion. I've seen several moderators point out things they dislike or wish would have been done differently. And I personally know that several mods play heavily modded games, using mods like Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. Generalizing like that is unfair.

And welcome to the codex, Dreadlord. Since you're a member here, does this mean you have to ban yourself from the ESF? :wink:

 

[Sovy Kurosei]

@Blahblah Talks

Haha! Your attempt to Vaan has backfired!

Dammit, don't tell him! :evil:

Click the link. It sends you to http://www.creativeuncut.com/

 

[OverrideB1]

Override's account hasn't been banned. Clearing his cookies should do the trick.

Hmmm -- and the very 1st thing I did when I couldn't access my account? Like to hazard a guess? Yep, the very same thing I do whenever I can't access someplace... clear down my cookies

So, clearing my cookies didn't help last week, and it hasn't helped today. Care to hazard another guess as to why I can't access my account?

Not that I'm overly bothered: the noise to signal ratio at the ESF is way too high for any sane person. And, even if my account... magically.. became reactivated, I won't be bothering with the ESF until the asinine autocensor decision vis-a-vis the Codex is reversed.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

If I recall correctly, linking to the Codex was "illegal" well-before we uploaded the screens. I thought it happened just because we linked to them originally in October '05, Kathode threw a fit and the line was "you can't link to those screens, the Codex has linked to those screens therefore Codex = bad". I'm pretty sure by the time I created the gallery of them in January '06 the Codex was already well on the blacklist.

I don't think Bethesda folk were banned from coming here after that either. While MrSmileyFaceDude's last post is January 12 (a day after the screenshots went up), Kathode was still posting here until June. Vault Dweller probably knows more about that then I do though. The short answer is, the Codex doesn't cow-tow to developers and we're being punished for that.

 

[Darkflame]

Why do you think the devs don't visit here anymore? Maybe because they knew all along that what they were saying was total crap? Thanks for doing the research DarkUnderlord, I never knew just how low Bethesda did stoop.

KATHODE: In the past couple days, an unfinished build of Oblivion was leaked to a Russian gaming site. You may have seen screenshots and information about this build online. The site in question was not authorized in any way to post the information that it did. The build in question was not in any way intended to be used for the purposes of demoing the game.

The screenshots that got posted clearly show that the game was not properly configured by whoever was playing. The ini file alone contains over 300 settings that can be used to customize the visuals and performance of the game, and we tweak and test and change these settings daily. Because the build they are using was not one that we locked away for the specific purposes of demonstration, the likelihood that any number of those options are incorrectly configured is very high. This can result in any manner of aberrant behavior from the game including improper visuals and reduced performance.

The upshot is that we feel the quality of the screenshots released is very far from the final game. This combined with the fact that the they are completely unauthorized by anyone representing Bethesda to publish screenshots or info means that we have to shut down threads relating to this leak.

Hopefully soon, as we get closer to release, you will see legit sites posting previews based on actual preview builds of the final game.

So just because the screens weren't "doctored up" like the demo video, they are illegal? It seems to me that these illegal links give a much more accurate representation of the game than any of the official screenshots released.

I love how the guy also begins by saying "the screenshots clearly show that the game was not properly configured" before covering his ass with "the likelihood of [misconfiguration] is very high".

"The upshot is that we feel the quality of the screenshots released is very far from the final game." ... sure... very far indeed...

Obviously someone who says this crap isn't going to open his mouth once he's made his money on BSing people.