Oblivion expansion announced!

[kalimeeri]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6163775.html?...estnews;title;0

 

:D

 

Spring 2007!

[Xard]

That actually sounds cool

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Not terribly fresh news, and not terribly interesting theme either.

[Dark_Raven]

Theres already an expansion out.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Well, this is another one.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I doubt I'll buy it, especially if it's just more of the same. Oblivion itself was quite enough of the same if you found the same satisfying. It would be great to let someone capable of telling a decent story loose with the Oblivion engine to produce an expansion pack, but is that really going to happen any time soon?

[metadigital]

No.

[Slowtrain]

Is that accurate? The lands of Mania and Dementia? wtf? That sounds like somebody's idea of a joke.

[Slowtrain]

Ah ok. I get it now. Here's a bit more explanation:

 

 

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=615911

 

The Daedric realm of Sheogorath the Mad.

[Gorgon]

mmm. the deadric realms were pretty disapointing in Oblivion.

[astr0creep]

mmm. the deadric realms were pretty disapointing in Oblivion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I totally agree. Way too repetitive.

 

There are supposed to be like 16 Daedra Lords each with their own realm and I was expecting each realm to be different, reflecting the Lord that rules over them.

The Trickster could've had a bunch of illusions for example.

 

But they were all the same, hell-like levels. meh.

[Shadowstrider]

mmm. the deadric realms were pretty disapointing in Oblivion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I totally agree. Way too repetitive.

 

There are supposed to be like 16 Daedra Lords each with their own realm and I was expecting each realm to be different, reflecting the Lord that rules over them.

The Trickster could've had a bunch of illusions for example.

 

But they were all the same, hell-like levels. meh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

There is a good reason they all seemed to be similar. They were all part of Mehrunes Dagon's Oblivion realm. The exception being Peryite's realm, the developer explained that to me as Peryite willing it to be the way it was to comply with the current concept of Oblivion. I'd have to ask again to be sure, but the Daedric lords will their realms to be, and what they should be.

[Pop]

I was pretty sure the name Sheogorath was a direct Lovecraft reference, but I'm not finding it on Wikipedia. Could've been a hoax.

 

Anyway, hopefully Bethesda will eschew "zany" in favor of "sinister" when it comes to their plane of madness, but there's bound to be a wood elf or two in there.

[Gromnir]

"The exception being Peryite's realm, the developer explained that to me as Peryite willing it to be the way it was to comply with the current concept of Oblivion."

 

'course the more likely explanation were simply that the developers took an understandable shortcut and then came up for a 'possedley plausible rationale. in a fantasy universe you can always come up for reasons to explain away developer shortcuts.

 

bethesda went more in direction o' diablo for their crpgs, which is maybe the smart thing to be doing given how popular diablo were. oblivion has lots o' repetitive locations that provide many opportunities to kill & 1007. heck, as multiplayer ain't an issue in oblivion the developers not had to worry overmuch 'bout balance concerns (and it is obvious that they did not worry at all.) also, story and quests is kinda secondary concerns.

 

make a diablo in a sandbox world w/o multiplayer... throw in some handful of very simple quests and 1-dimensional characters and you ends up with oblivion.

 

*chuckle*

 

we will note once again that in spite of fact that oblivion ain't our cup 'o tea, we is glad that it were made. all those candy-arse developers at obsidian and bioware and other places who liked to tell us that 80 hour games were no longer possible and that 40 hour games were soon gonna be out of reach were looking kinda silly after oblivion were released. oblivion helped slow the increasingly disturbing trend o' developers and publishers making ever smaller crpgs.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Slowtrain]

I think its a pretty good idea for an expansion. An interesting way to create a stand-alone story-arc amdst the huge world of Oblivion proper. Sheogorath is the most interesting of the Daedra, in ES lore Sheogorath is always considered sort of "apart" from the other Daedra. There's some potential there for an interesting adventure.

 

Also, dealing with the realm of Sheogorath, gives the developers a chance to pursue some non-conventional quests and happenings. The trick, I think, is to make sure it doesn't devolve into some sort of three-stooges meets Alice in Wonderland sort of shtick. As Pop accurately puts it: sinister rather than zany. My biggest concern is that its just going to be some kind of zany comic-releif farce. No thanks, if it is.

[Darque]

Wow, this could be interesting.

[Hurlshort]

How do expansions work on consoles?

[Pop]

How do expansions work on consoles?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It'll be too big for d/l (I'm guessing) so they'll pack it up with the main campaign / all the other extra content and put it on a new special edition. That's what they did when they released the expansions for Morrowind on the original Xbox. For the PS3, it'll be the first edition. They might sell the 360 version at a cut rate, seeing how everything but the new material will have already been out for several years.

[Lilandra]

Good, this will give me another reason to start a new game, when it's released.

[kalimeeri]

I doubt I'll buy it, especially if it's just more of the same.  Oblivion itself was quite enough of the same if you found the same satisfying.  It would be great to let someone capable of telling a decent story loose with the Oblivion engine to produce an expansion pack, but is that really going to happen any time soon?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oblivion's game world is a fun sandbox to poke around in, nothing wrong with that. It's recreational at its simplest level; Bethesda seems to have opted more for a 'short story' approach for anything else. Sometimes that's enough, in the context of a real life day. Sometimes it isn't. Especially considering the potential of marrying a feature-length story with that engine.

 

I suppose Bethesda's decision boils down to target audience, more than anything else; a little bit o' this, a little bit o' that equals something for everybody, whereas a full well-thought-out-and-executed story often goes unappreciated. It doesn't lend itself well to the console market, which is rife with the ADD-afflicted. Not to mention that few enough in the game industry even understand what makes a good story, let alone can write one of novel-length and make it work. And most of those are in hiding.

 

But yeah, I'd love to see it too. And if they're talking about branching plotlines and affecting outcomes, it's at least possible that Bethesda's inching toward it. I've gotta see, at any rate, although I'm a little concerned about the 'madness' premise. Humor is a tricky thing.

[astr0creep]

Good, this will give me another reason to start a new game, when it's released.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That was my plan at first. But now I'll wait for a game of the year edition that includes everything.

A cloth map of Cyrodiil would be nice too.

Edited January 9, 2007 by astr0creep

[Tale]

I feel a bit of frustration over:

1) Loving Morrowind to death

2) Seeing so many people love Oblivion

3) Thinking this expansion sounds absolutely awesome

 

but, being unable to like Oblivion no matter how hard I try and using mods.

 

*shrug*

Edited January 9, 2007 by Tale

[astr0creep]

I feel a bit of frustration over:

1) Loving Morrowind to death

2) Seeing so many people love Oblivion

3) Thinking this expansion sounds absolutely awesome

 

but, being unable to like Oblivion no matter how hard I try and using mods.

 

*shrug*

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I love Oblivion too but for some reason, after my hard drive crashed and I lost all my data, I just don,t feel like starting a new game. Maybe it's all those generic, repetitive quests from all the guilds that get me bummed.

Maybe it's crappy rewards for completing quests at low level.

 

Meh. I'll start a new game when GotY Edition comes out.

[Dark_Raven]

I'll wait for it to be package with Oblivion and that other mod, just like NWN and its official mods.

[Slowtrain]

Humor is a tricky thing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Agree totally. And Humor and madness together is even trickier. Given Bethesda's writers are limited at the best of times, this is my biggest concern. I have no interest in playing a crpg that's filled with stupid humor.