Preview Truckload of new Oblivion screens at AG.ru

[Trash]

And the play continues, I'll play the part of a grumpy old man bitching about everything, and you'll play the part of a naive youth who doesn't think much and likes his pretty pictures. And.....action!

And again you just took two centences, disregarded the rest of the post and made a nice easy bash. My posts kinda boiled down to the fact that the codex is stale. The gimmick is getting tiresome and it would be a good thing for the codex to start doing some more neat stuff like more articles and reviews. About me thinking not too much, we are talking about games right? I play these things to relax and have some fun. As you might have seen from my preferences in games, I don't give a shit about graphics. I just want to enjoy myself with some good gameplay. Perhaps it's easier to think in stereotypes than to do some introspection?

Thanks for the naive youth part though, as one wise man once told me, "keep enjying life and seeing the wonders of this world. It will keep one young in spirit". :wink:

I can see why they don't appeal to everyone, though, and I certainly would like to see deeper dialogue and quests.

The exploration part was great. The world certainly was huge, something that I loved in all the elder scrolls. I remember leaving a town in arena and actually trying to reach an other one by myself instead of the quick travel option. It's indeed mostly the dialogue, the shallow quests and the feeling of not acomplishing much that I don't like. I love the fallout after game screens that tell how much of an impact you had on the various locales, something like that makes me feel like the game world really reacts to you. Something I kinda missed in the es games.

 

[Goliath]

What, is your character a damn idiot?

Maybe, but Oblivion players surely are. Here's the official IQ scale as published by the UNESCO:

200 - copx
..
150 - Genius
..
130 - Smart Person
..
100 - Average Person
..
80 - Dumb Person
..
70 - Borderline Retard
..
50 - Retard
..
40 - Bunny
..
20 - Fruit Fly
..
10 - Cabbage
..
5 - Oblivion Fanboy
..
0 - Stone

 

[Mech]

BTW, Hayt had this to say on the TESF.

FYI:

Screenshots posted on the Russian site are completely, 100% illegal.

Do not post links to the site in general, or specific screenshots.

So it's quite obvious those weren't authorized.

Anywho's the nice thing about this forum is that everything about these screenshots stays in one thread. Over on the TESF we have topics such as.
"Are argonians ugly"
"You people can't be SERIOUS !"
"Stupid Menu Interface
srry bethes, but ur menu interface suck"

and other fine gems.

 

[Mech]

Oh, and Kathode has this to say.
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... pic=175036

 

[Twinfalls]

Russkies got a pirate beta!

This is the kind of thing that pushes publishers towards console releases.

 

[Whipporowill]

Really stupid of a gaming site to post anything like that in a supposed official way from a pirated beta. Dumbasses... haha.

And I thought the game looked "duller" than it did in the official Beth previews. Me's so smart.

And like console betas can't leak? Duh. The only thing stopping it from being likely to happen for 360 and other next gen consoles is the lack of actual next gen consoles out yet...

 

[pseudo intellectual]

When you do a sequel with the same producers and most of the same designers/writers (with a few additional designers who got their job via nepotism and cronyism) I don't see how you can expect a product any different from MW in respect to game play, story telling and the quality of the dialog and quests lines..

Why are the fonts bigger? Because this game is primarily for viewing on TV sets via consoles. But VD your logic is pretty solid about insubstantial NPC dialog. But are people who liked MW really going to care? They were happy with the Wiki-NPCs.

The problem here is that you VD and others like you are in a higher IQ % and therefore require more substance in order to be entertained. Bethesda realizes (in part by virtue of the blithering idiots who post daily on their forums) that nobody ever went broke going for the lowest common denominator. That they don't have the talent to do NPCs and quests like Troika or BIS is probably by design as these elements of the game have clearly taken a back seat to programming, art and level design.

So if you want a game that looks pretty but has generic, repetitive game play and poor quality quests and NPCs then pre-order your copy today. But if you have some taste and discernment then save your cash.

 

[Vault Dweller]

My posts kinda boiled down to the fact that the codex is stale.

It's called position, son. We believe in certain things, like gameplay is more important than graphics, less options - more graphics sucks, role-playing game should have role-playing options, etc and we criticize/praise games and features based on those criteria. That was our position three years ago, that's our position now. Why do you find it odd, and why do you keep coming back if the site is so stale? Don't tell me you are here for the goatse links.

The gimmick is getting tiresome and it would be a good thing for the codex to start doing some more neat stuff like more articles and reviews.

We've discussed that a few times already, but there is no need to make an article where a short rant will do. As for reviews, there is no need to review Arcanum or even Darklands, and, quite frankly, I don't care enough about Dungeon Lords or Dungeon Siege 2 to write a review. One sucks, one's mediocre if you want to know my opinion. I'll review Oblivion, so you have something to look forward to

About me thinking not too much, we are talking about games right? I play these things to relax and have some fun.

We take those things more seriously, that's all. Take books, for example. Some people will read anything, some people are more picky and expect a certain quality. Some people read Salvatore, some people read [insert a fantasy author that doesn't suck here]. Some people read pseudo-historic fiction, some people read Edward Gibbon. To each his own.

As you might have seen from my preferences in games, I don't give a shit about graphics. I just want to enjoy myself with some good gameplay.

And what's a good gameplay? Does making a unique character count? Well, it aint there. Does playing the way you see fit count? Well, it aint there. What's left is exploring pretty landscapes and dungeons. If that's a good gameplay, you've got the wrong site.

Thanks for the naive youth part though, as one wise man once told me, "keep enjying life and seeing the wonders of this world. It will keep one young in spirit". :wink:

Does Oblivion qualify to be one of "the wonders of this world" though? Or you are just easily excited?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Really stupid of a gaming site to post anything like that in a supposed official way from a pirated beta. Dumbasses... haha.

Stupid? Thank God they did it. At least now we have a better "picture" of the final product.

 

[Atrokkus]

I never really liked AG.ru, despite it being the best Russian game news-site. I thought they had more dignity to actually have exclusive material, not pirated one.

 

[Proweler]

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.

How long have they been telling us that we would see legit screens real soon?

 

[Vault Dweller]

I never really liked AG.ru, despite it being the best Russian game news-site. I thought they had more dignity to actually have exclusive material, not pirated one.

Isn't that what journalism should be all about though? Giving readers a true picture of something instead of feeding them hand-picked screens and carefully worded "trust us, it's awesome!" interviews. Fuck that, and big thanks to AG.

 

[Vault Dweller]

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.

How long have they been telling us that we would see legit screens real soon?

Don't worry, they will post many screens when the game is released.

 

[Chefe]

Russkies got a pirate beta!

That's hilarious!

I wonder if the beta leaked any further. I might just get my demo after all...

 

[Chefe]

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

What? More previews of the same fucking shit? Fuck Bethesda. A big thanks to AG for showing us a real picture of the game. Some real screenshots of how things looked, instead of more forest pictures and "trust us, it'll be cool" bullshit. Those were true gameplay pictures.

We've seen how the game will look. Plain and simple. Sure, it's a little unoptimized, but that's the package. Big-ass Reader Rabbit fonts and all.

 

[Atrokkus]

Isn't that what journalism should be all about though? Giving readers a true picture of something instead of feeding them hand-picked screens and carefully worded "trust us, it's awesome!" interviews. Fuck that, and big thanks to AG.

True picture? Do you truly believe that this leaked beta reflects the real thing that is due to be released in a month? Kathode said that AG had a messed-up game configuration, and i have no reason to doubt that.

It's not even about Oblivion, it's about the fact that the biggest, most popular Russian game-site used *leaked* beta and told everyone that it is "exclusive". It's a disgrace for a site, especially when people get to know that and make a fuss.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Isn't that what journalism should be all about though? Giving readers a true picture of something instead of feeding them hand-picked screens and carefully worded "trust us, it's awesome!" interviews. Fuck that, and big thanks to AG.

True picture? Do you truly believe that this leaked beta reflects the real thing that is due to be released in a month? Kathode said that AG had a messed-up game configuration, and i have no reason to doubt that.

What would you say in his place, considering all the negativity? That's the only logical answer at this point.

It's not even about Oblivion, it's about the fact that the biggest, most popular Russian game-site used *leaked* beta and told everyone that it is "exclusive".

I didn't know that, however, what kinda moron would think that this was an exclusive info? No, really? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Bethesda guards the info and the screens, releasing 1-2 non-descriptive shots a month, and then suddenly a Russian site gets an exclusive and posts 20+ new screens that show fucking everything and not all of that is pretty? Come on.

 

[Whipporowill]

Really stupid of a gaming site to post anything like that in a supposed official way from a pirated beta. Dumbasses... haha.

Stupid? Thank God they did it. At least now we have a better "picture" of the final product.

Stupid - in the way of negating any chances of them ever getting any legit preview builds in the future. It's not like illegal betas are regularly easy to come by - even for Sasha Piratsky (Joe Pirate for you dull americans) there. Also, the chance of being sued et c, albeit I bet that's not much of a threat in Russia when it comes to copyright issues?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Somehow I don't think that a Russian site was high on the Bethesda's info distribution list.

 

[MrSmileyFaceDude]

Technically it's not a "leaked" build. Russian publisher 1C had the build for localization purposes, and they provided the website access to the build so they could write the article. There's not an early build of Oblivion circulating around. It's all looking like it's a misunderstanding. The website has already removed the new screenshots.

 

[Fintilgin]

Good for you, dear. Now, it's true that dialogues aren't TES games thing, although the dialogues in DF and even in MW were of much better quality than what we've seen on those screens.

Well, sweetie, we've seen so little dialogue it's hard to make a fair comparisson. If I remember correctly, I think there were only maybe one or two Morrowind dialogue screens before release, so it's not that different a situation. I don't really think we know enough to make a judgement of Oblivion's dialogue. Morrowinds dialogue (and DFs for that matter) was so dull that it would be hard NOT to improve on it with a minimum of effort in giving characters more personality, as Bethesda says its done. We just haven't seen many dialgoue shots because they ain't as 'sexy' as swords and orcs and stuff. But that's a 'annyoing PR' issue, not a 'bad dialogue' issue.

It's also true that playing in the sandbox was the core of the gameplay. However, the difference between DF, MW, and OB is the number of different ways to play and interact with the environment. I'm playing DF now and the number of options is amazing. Dungeons had walls one could climb, giant halls to levitate, open pits to jump over, underwater areas, etc. The variety of characters was great. Sadly, that no longer applies to OB, and that's my point.

Yeah, but come on now. Let's be real. Daggerfall had way more features then the later Elder Scrolls, but many of them were buggy, half-assed, poorly implemented features. Daggerfall wasn't just an 'everything and the ktichen sink' design. It was an 'everything and the kitchen sink, and the rest of the kitchen, and Julia Child, and half of downtown Detroit' design. It was an overambitious design and I don't think any design team or budget could have really done it justice.

Don't get me wrong, Daggerfall was a great game, but I think Oblivion is more about implementing a smaller number of features well rather then a huge number of features poorly. Sure it would be great to have a huge number of features really well implimented, but it's just not realisitc. The Daggerfall team certainly didn't accomplish it. They wound up with one of the buggiest games in CPRG history.

Now many of the things that were in Daggerfall but cut in Morrowind are making thier way back into Oblivion. We can own horses again and buy houses again, for example. The little we've seen of the dungeons (the DVD demo) make them look larger, much better designed, and more interactive.

Is it going to be perfect? Nope. But I suspect it will be better and closer in a lot of ways to Daggerfall then Morrowind was.

 

[Trash]

Well, last post and reply. Got to finish that work today. But frankly, this is starting to grow old. The little insults, the know all attitude and expecially the inability to see abything from a different viewpoint. No, I'm not here for goatse, I like the news parts and the occasional good thread. No, a short rant does not equell an article. Working to keep a site fresh is not breaking the tradition, but posting something positive for a change just might. Trying to make the codex sound as something more than a silly niche game site is ridiculous, though the little literature comparisons made me grin. Good gameplay can be many things, I just like to try a game before making up my mind about it. Finally, I'm not easily excited, I just like to enjoy life a little. Bark on little doggie.

 

[Chefe]

Stupid - in the way of negating any chances of them ever getting any legit preview builds in the future.

Legit preview builds? That's really funny. Have you read the previews? It's the same thing over and over again. In fact, it's the stuff we don't care about - the starting dungeon.

No, I think pirating is the only way to get good information out of Bethesda. The ruskies got a real look at the game. Not a tutorial dungeon and promises of "coolness". A real, hard, look at the final product.

 

[Fintilgin]

Hrm. Apparently my thread about the interface at the offical forums was deleted outright. I guess it did have links to the evil pictures in them, but those could have been deleated without killing the discussion. I think maybe I'll remake it with legal screenshots, as we have some legal interface shots and I think it's a valid point.

 

[Whipporowill]

No, I think pirating is the only way to get good information out of Bethesda. The ruskies got a real look at the game. Not a tutorial dungeon and promises of "coolness". A real, hard, look at the final product.

Considering it wasn't apparenlty a pirate beta, but an actual legit preview build - according to Steve - the onlything they weren't allowed to where to post screenies. Oh, and how can an unoptimized preview build be considered to be the "final product"? I agree about uninteresting previews though, Oblivion is winning that one, hands down.