Why isn't Oblivion a RPG?

[z3r'0']

I found Oblivion soulless. It is that simple.

Still, let me try to explain why I dislike this game so.

Broken and redundant gameplay mechanics ala auto-scaling. :ROFL:
Theres no character - You are basically a card-board warrior zombie.
The "immersion" is laughable and actually
was a constant reminder of its own contrivance.
Zer0 consequence whatever. No-one cares.
And the final nail in the coffin: mini-games from the demented mind of Todd Howard and co. Those were the worst.

So I guess I am not a fan.
Too bad Betshita have the Fallout license.

 

[Anaglyph]

Zer0 consequence whatever. No-one cares.

I never really expected much to start with and played it for a while and got a reasonable amount of shallow hack 'n' slash enjoyment out of it until nearing the end of the Fighters' Guild quest line. You get rail-roaded into taking a drug (think the results of the drug were supposed to be a real surprising twist but it was glaringly obvious what was going on quite a while before the "big reveal", but I digress); cue "cut" to village with yourself and your Evil Fighters' Guild cohorts tripping your nads off where you're supposed to kill a bunch of goblins. Oh ho! What's this? The goblins seem strangely passive; just wandering around harmlessly and ignoring you. Hang on! Could it be that they're actually the villagers and only appear to be goblins because of the mysterious potion you had to drink to proceed? Hmmm... well I'm a good guy undercover, but I'd rather blow my cover than hack down a bunch of innocent villagers, so I'll try and sit it out and let the bad guys do the dirty work (I'm not naive enough to believe that you can actually make an attempt to stop the slaughter). So they kill them all and I wait for the drug to wear off. Waiting... waiting... *sigh* this quest design just gets better and better. Obviously the PC is also railroaded into killing the last villager. Enter a few buildings and eventually find the last pathetic "goblin" and kill it. Oh what a surprise! The drug wears off. Oh teh horrar! I've just unkowingly helped in the massacre of a bunch of innocent villagers, and even their sheep!

I was already becoming a bit tired of Oblivion's shallowness by this point anyway, but this was just ridiculous. It might have saved a bit of face if only there had been some consequence to arise out of this slaughter. I mean, I wasn't expecting anything deep, but at least someone at the Good Fighters' Guild telling you they had to pull a few strings to keep your part in the sorry afair quiet. But no. Not one single fucking consequence for drugging up with a bunch of thugs and going on a rampage of wanton slaughter. In a world where you can't step on someone's toes without a horde of guards and demented citizens descending on you no less. I think it's the one and only time I've ever truly felt disgust while playing a game. How this shit ever got written I don't know. The sad thing is, it could have been one of the more interesting moments of the game if a little effort had been spent.

 

[dongle]

What, no consequence? You go back to the village right after and there is the father of the girl you helped earlier, then killed, grieving over his loss and planning to bury her. <sniff> Go back to the village months and months later, and there he still fucking is, grieving, and there she is, still laying dead on the ground. If that's not consequence I don't know what is. :D

The sad thing is, it could have been one of the more interesting moments of the game if a little effort had been spent.

Really that's what pissed me off about the game the most. So much of it could have been good so easily, yet fell so far short. Like, there is a good game in there just screaming to be let out.

 

[Anaglyph]

What, no consequence? You go back to the village right after and there is the father of the girl you helped earlier...

lol How could I forget that?

Really that's what pissed me off about the game the most. So much of it could have been good so easily, yet fell so far short. Like, there is a good game in there just screaming to be let out.

Yeah, it's like they they just gave up halfway through making the game and said "Ah fuck it! This'll do. I can't be bothered with it anymore. Let's go and get drunk instead. Yay!"

 

[Nog Robbin]

What, no consequence? You go back to the village right after and there is the father of the girl you helped earlier...

lol How could I forget that?

Really that's what pissed me off about the game the most. So much of it could have been good so easily, yet fell so far short. Like, there is a good game in there just screaming to be let out.

Yeah, it's like they they just gave up halfway through making the game and said "Ah fuck it! This'll do. I can't be bothered with it anymore. Let's go and get drunk instead. Yay!"

I guess the develolpers view is that most players won't go back to the same place to see what's happened, and therefore it's perfectly acceptable after the quest for nothing related to it to happen... ever. For an RPG though, that's crap.

 

[IV Flavia]

...

The Fighters' Guild questline was laughable. I rank it as the second worst in the game (the MQ being last), only because there was at least a decent fight in the end, unlike the final climactic battle of the MQ, which was a joke.

Martin: "Oh shit, Mehrunes Dagon is here! How will we ever defeat him?"

Player: " Let's just run around him and into the temple, since his feet are apparently bolted to the ground."

 

[dongle]

I guess the develolpers view is that most players won't go back to the same place to see what's happened, and therefore it's perfectly acceptable after the quest for nothing related to it to happen... ever. For an RPG though, that's crap.

In a sandbox type environment I would think you'd assume there is a good chance they will be back. The village we're talking about lies directly on a main road. Fair percentage of players will pass by again.

Here's another example of how Oblivion fucks it up; You need to save Kvatch, OK fine. Most players will do that early on, I mean it's in all the previews, and I think even on the box art. A huge burning city is kinda hard to miss. Now, when the main quest goes into its final faze you need to gather support from the leader of each city before the big-bad-assed gate opens. This includes, you guessed it, Kvatch. The designers knew you be going back, they send you there, significantly later too, as this is the end of the main quest vs early in the game.

The guy you need to talk to, that silly smiley captain of the guard, is still standing in the same exact spot - in the middle of a burning building, months later.

 

[Nog Robbin]

...The guy you need to talk to, that silly smiley captain of the guard, is still standing in the same exact spot - in the middle of a burning building, months later.

Heh, yeah. Savius Mateon or whatever his name was. I remember seeing my daughter playing and going back to Kvatch some time later and there he was, still standing there doing nothing, but willing to say how they will come back and build a better Kvatch. Not by doing nothing you won't Savius my old mucker. At least he wouldn't get too cold what with the fires still burning around him...

Looks like the Kvatch captain is as lazy as the Bethesda developers.

 

[Limorkil]

One more vote for "Oblivion is a RPG, just not a good one."

It has all the hallmarks of a RPG, none of them done particularly well.

 

[Vidken]

It has all the hallmarks of a RPG, none of them done particularly well.

Swords, stats, tits, and loot?

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

It doesn't even have an atmosphere, just ShYnIe GrAFyiCks. It sickens me that my nord "barbarian" looks like a 6' tall 12 year old boy that was molested as a child. I do think it technically IS an rpg, but one that was made for 12 year old ADHD kids and people who put their professional lives before games (casual gamers). Morons.

 

[Lord Chambers]

Yeah, it's like they they just gave up halfway through making the game and said "Ah fuck it! This'll do. I can't be bothered with it anymore. Let's go and get drunk instead. Yay!"

That could at least be understood if not condoned. No, the developers intended to create GTA: Tamriel. They sat and considered, and met, and discussed over meetings what features to implement and which to discard. That means they actively designed a lack of consequence into the game in favor of instead having many many caves in which to wander around. I submit this was not an oversight, a mistake made due to tight schedules and budgets. No, this was a cold-blooded crime of a much more heinous nature.