Game News Oblivion mage quests (highly intricate stuff)

[Antiphon]

<snip>
Q1: Isn't there a "Detect Invis" effect in TES? Why do these childish mages reveal their prank to the player of all people?*
Q2: In Ultima VII, I'd have used Seance to talk to the ghosts. Anyway, why is the amulet in her father's cask? Why didn't this shady mage hide it somewhere inconspicuous?
Q3: Indeed, there doesn't seem any room for for hoping that it's not complete bullshit.



PS:
*I can't just let this pass. Why not let the player find out there's an invisible mage running around? The possibilities are endless. There could be clues from talking to people (rather than solving the quest automatically), reading diaries, observing an invisible mage running around. How? Well, there IS the much-hyped physics system, for one.
Allright, maybe there is a slight possibility that the player character happened to be a smooth talker, totally winning the prankster over and solving the quest in the easiest way. I'll believe it when I see it.

Could it be that these are just the first few quests of the mages guild and are supposed to be easier than the rest?

 

[Claw]

So, easy = stupid? Nevermind then.

 

[merry andrew]

Look.

They were invisible because they wanted to play a prank on their leader; that's pretty funny. Their leader can't detect invisibility because he's not really qualified to be their leader, he just has the position because of lineage... it's part of the storyline for that particular guild.

The lady is going crazy seeing ghosts and spirits because even though she's a mage she's never practiced the kind of magic that deals with those things because of her childhood. She lost her amulet because the crazy guy who is also insane and wanting her to be that way too took it from her when she wasn't looking because they're friends and also fellow mages. He put the amulet in her father's casket because he was wanting her to go there and find it so she could get over her fear of ghosts and spirits so then she would be comfortable practicing that kind of magic because that's what the crazy guy practiced and he wants to marry her and they have to have something in common other than their undying love for one another. When the player finds the amulet the crazy guy goes insane because he wasn't expecting that and he loses control (because he's nuts) so the player is forced to kill him to prevent him from unleashing his low-mental-health rage on everyone.

The other crazy scared loose lady wants you to find the murderer so she can seek revenge on him while he's attacking you because he killed her whole family because he's also insane and ends lives on a whim with ice because he's crazy.

 

[Stella Brando]

 

[Section8]

Okay, so it all sounds a bit silly, and even though I take that preview fairly lightly, I'm fairly confident all the interesting back story stuff, logic behind the quests, etc. wasn't just missed because the guys "previewing" the game don't care about that sort of thing.

It's really sounding very much like a rehash of Morrowind, and any of the major "advancements" are all being systematically nerfed. What's the bet that when the enemy mages "aggro" you, they do that goofy "mantis pose" shit and prance about like Morrowind's robots?

 

[Atrokkus]

= The Mages guild in Legawiin was also in some deep [censored], n tha heezee mage girl was going crazy fo yo bitch ass. Legawiin is described as a woodsy type esque tizzown, vizzle pleasant . Holla!. So it turns out, tha reason tha Heezee mage girl is going crazy n thugz thizzay she is on crack is coz she lost her dead nigga amulet n she was see'n visions of spirits n ghosts droppin hits.

Now that's some intricate shiz.

 

[Elwro]

Well, at least the quests seem to be better than Morrowind's "collect 5 flowers". Nothing impressive...

 

[elander_]

Compare these quests to something like this:

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... 223113&hl=

Ramara was an ex dev writer author of some Daggerfall books who posted this in the Morrowind General forum to stimulate modders imaginations. She's currently not being hired by Bethesda for any game.

Oblivions mages guild quests don't have much logic. Why would someone hide from his guild master assuming this will piss him off more than it will hurt his own reputation in the guild. It looks like children stuff.

Second quest an "evil" wizard has hiden an amulet belonging to a mages guild master that prevents her from having bad dreams. He hides it in her fathers grave and waits for an hero to get it back? Nice he could have destroyed it and wait for the girl to become mad but he just took all that trouble for no reason. Its just a cliche story that doesn't even try to make any sense.

Third quest i can't make any sense of all this mess. Maybe the objective is to suprise the player by not being able to make any sense of the quest is doing. The only logical explanation is that they are both lunatics and you just have to get rid of them to get those N whatever and gain access to mages guild services.

For what i know Emil quests for the assassins and thieves guild aren't as bad as these ones.

 

[HardCode]

Those three "quests" sound just as shitty and mundane as the Morrowind Mages' Guild quests. Plus, these are written MUCH more poorly. Idiot Guildmasters. Cliche quests. One tier in involvement. Every new item of information shows just how full of shit Bethsoft is.

 

[elander_]

Another thing in Fallout 1/2 we had characters telling us their life stories. Dialogs were closer to dialogs with full sentences for questions and answers. We could roleplay and explore more options trough dialog. Some excess of curiosity or a risky dialog option could sometimes end in a fight or open new possibilities. I don't think Beth will ever admit this but that improved wiki dialog system is creepling the quality of any quests they do with that shit however the lack of quest writer talents also counts of lot.

 

[hiciacit]

Microsoft LARP Simulator

Haha, funny shit!

About the quests: pathetic, but what did you seriously expect, ey?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Well I dont think mages in TES can just conjure anything...

"Conjuration: Cast spells to summon otherworldly creatures...."

Well depends,I dont think "Mage Uni" sould not be a rank thing since acomplished members of the Guild sould not need to enrole... why it needs to be tied to rank is beyond me

To make sure that only the qualified ones can access "ze knowledge".

 

[Vault Dweller]

Re: idiots.

You guys are idiotic.

Why? Because we actually expect decent quests that make sense?

its sad to even read this site anymore...

Then don't. Spend that time learning something cool, like capital letters and syntax, for example.

vault dweller you have issues with oblivion enough already we get it...numerous posts from you tell us this...you think maybe you can make a vault dwellers I hate oblivion thread? keep it centralized?

I have issues with poorly designed games. I don't make Oblivion threads, but I post news, in case you didn't notice, what's with being stupid and all, and Oblivion is what the media is currently excited about.

this site has become a joke in the rpg community.

Really? I guess I didn't get the memo. Oh, well...

 

[Vault Dweller]

Quest 1: VD, so what if he's heard of an invisibility spell? Do you suppose he should start throwing dispel spells everywhere, just because the missing mage might be invisible?

I would expect a head mage to be able to detect something as silly as an invisible guy walking around the guild.

Although this quest is quite silly, I can't really find any flaws.

Isn't silly a flaw too? Looks like the quest is designed for children: "Look, kids, the wizards are being silly and playing funny games with each other. Isn't that funny? Look, one guy is invisible, and the other guy can't see him. OMG! It's soo funny, look at his face"

Quest 2: Conjuring? Nobody was conjuring anything. The ghosts appeared because she had lost her amulet. As long as the game gives a good explanation about what was going on, and about how the amulet got in the skull, it could be a nice quest.

The other guy put it there, obviously.

Quest 3: Probably a piece of crap. Unless there was a big misunderstanding, which there probably wasn't.

Probably.

Overall, even the biggest problem with all those quests is that you have to do exactly the same crap every time you replay the game. You can't even pick one mage guild and get a recommendation from there, no, you have to do all 6 or 8 if them, and suffer the stupidity every time. That's what killed replaying MW for me. It would have been nice to have multiple solutions, no matter how minor, or some randomization.

 

[Elwro]

If there's no "Detect Invisibility" spell, invisiblity would become one of the most powerful spells. But maybe they kept the "you're invisible until you do something" bit which I always thought was a bit silly, while effectively diminishing the spell's strength.

 

[Claw]

I'd also like to add that there shouldn't really be any recommedation quests. It should depend entirely on your standing in your guild, or maybe your personal standing with the guild master, or - I'm visiting the land of dreams and delusions now - a combination of both, where either a high standing in the guild or with the guild master can suffice.

 

[Cloud Ruler]

I rely on you guys to keep me informed about what's good and what's not in the computer RPG front. Thanks for the heads up on the idiotic Oblivion quests. I'll be sure to avoid that game now!

Can you give me any ideas of games that have really GOOD role-playing quests? Examples of it done right, unlike this shite Bethesda is peddling?

 

[LlamaGod]

Can you give me any ideas of games that have really GOOD role-playing quests? Examples of it done right, unlike this shite Bethesda is peddling?

Ultima 4's main quest.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Can you give me any ideas of games that have really GOOD role-playing quests? Examples of it done right, unlike this shite Bethesda is peddling?

Fallout, Arcanum, Bloodlines, KOTOR 2, etc.

 

[Cloud Ruler]

I guess I was looking for more specifically WHAT is better about the quests in those games -- the ones that did true role-playing quests instead of the tired old Fed-Ex quests we all hate. Examples are good.

 

[LlamaGod]

I guess I was looking for more specifically WHAT is better about the quests in those games -- the ones that did true role-playing quests instead of the tired old Fed-Ex quests we all hate. Examples are good.

In Ultima 4, your goal is to become the Avatar. A spiritual rolemodel to inspire people, basically.

To do that, you have to master the 8 virtues. This is done by roleplaying, since the game does not guide you into accomplishing them. People's gold is free to steal from their homes, and its your decision to take it or not.

Also telling the truth when NPC ask you questions is part of the Honest virtue, not boating to others raises Humility (also note these all have multiple ways to improve yourself, not just the ways im mentioning).

Stuff like that.


Also, the game has no guided path for you, you simply start off in the big giant world and go about becoming the avatar in any way you wish, going by clues the NPCs will drop to you.

 

[Antiphon]

Are you suggesting that I buy these games just to be able to make a point here? In all fairness, an example of a quest like what was done with the mages' guild quests would be appropriate.

 

[merry andrew]

You should aquire the games just so you can realize where a lot of people here are coming from.

 

[Antiphon]

Look.

They were invisible because they wanted to play a prank on their leader; that's pretty funny. Their leader can't detect invisibility because he's not really qualified to be their leader, he just has the position because of lineage... it's part of the storyline for that particular guild.

The lady is going crazy seeing ghosts and spirits because even though she's a mage she's never practiced the kind of magic that deals with those things because of her childhood. She lost her amulet because the crazy guy who is also insane and wanting her to be that way too took it from her when she wasn't looking because they're friends and also fellow mages. He put the amulet in her father's casket because he was wanting her to go there and find it so she could get over her fear of ghosts and spirits so then she would be comfortable practicing that kind of magic because that's what the crazy guy practiced and he wants to marry her and they have to have something in common other than their undying love for one another. When the player finds the amulet the crazy guy goes insane because he wasn't expecting that and he loses control (because he's nuts) so the player is forced to kill him to prevent him from unleashing his low-mental-health rage on everyone.

The other crazy scared loose lady wants you to find the murderer so she can seek revenge on him while he's attacking you because he killed her whole family because he's also insane and ends lives on a whim with ice because he's crazy.

I'm not sure if you are being facetious or not because this is the Codex, but I appreciate your imagination. I suspect you are an excellent role player.

 

[LlamaGod]

because acting like a 5 year old on Halloween is roleplaying