So I’ve been playing Elder Scrolls Online. Something I said I wouldn’t do. I played the beta a few times when they offered it on the weekends. I didn’t care for it at that time. But I guess I’m so desperate for a new mmo that I bought this when I had money to blow. Here are some very boring shots of the Character select screen:
Overall it’s a kinda bland mmo. It has no soul really. It sometimes feels like a Elder Scrolls game with the way the quests are done. But then it blows it with the whole way the classes are handled. It’s not at all like the single player game. In the mmo each class is limited to what they can ultimaley can do. Sure they all have access to the same weapons and armor. That in it’s self is petty cools and very Elder Scrolls. But then each of the named classes Dragonknight, Sorcerer, Nightblade, and Templar all each have their own set of three class specific skill lines. So a Sorcerer can’t take skills from a Dragonknight. That right there is were it totally loses the Elder Scrolls feeling.
Right now though it will do. Wildstar is comes out June 3rd. Which hopefully will be pretty fun. I mean I know it’s fun since I have played it in one of the betas. But I hope it’s become more fun since then. I know they just updated the ui recently. So it’s good to see changes happen this close to release.
I’m playing Oblivion again. This time on the 360. With my newer computer dead I’ve got to get my fix on the 360 for rpg and such. The old computer can play EverQuest 2, I’m just really broke right now. So in a pinch Oblivion is a good choice. Well it’s the only choice for rpg’s on the 360.
Since it’s on the 360 I can’t use any unofficial plugins. I’m stuck with the official stuff only. And this time believe me I’ve skipped the goddamn horse armor. What I am playing with is listed below:
Which in the end I spent about 45 bucks to purchase these on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Not including the 60 bucks for the actual game. All of which I hand the hindsight to purchase before my car died on me. Te last three in the list was just purchased for shits and giggles.
Knights of the Nine I’ve played before on the pc. In general it’s a fun little quest. Not sure it’s worth 800 MS Points. Shivering Isles on the other hand is an honest to god Expansion Pack and is well worth the money. It adds an almost Morrowind like landscape to the game. It’s quests so far are fun. I even got to push a guy off a ledge so he plummeted to his death. Until another real rpg comes out for the 360 Oblivion will have to do.
So I’ve totally lost interest in Oblivion. Here is another $1.89 plugin to get called the Thieves Den (4.5 MB).
The Thieves Den provides you with everything you need to outfit your stealth-based character for missions. Rediscover the legendary Dunbarrow Cove and the ancient pirate ship The Red Sabre. Dunbarrow Cove not only provides a home base to operate out of, you can purchase new vendors, trainers, and even an upgrade to your sleeping quarters with the loot from your heists.
A fully detailed environment for your character to own and explore
Free sleeping space: never pay for an inn again!
Five upgrades for your lair
Hire vendors designed especially for thieves, rogues, and assassins
As you upgrade your lair new pirates will join your crew and provide you with income
Over 45 new items
15 new spells
I’m disappointed in Bethesda. How many months has it been since Oblivion came out? All they can do is issue one beta patch? Yet they have no problem charging for content that many argue should be in the game already.
The third official Oblivion plugin called the Wizard’s Tower has been released for PC users. This one is 17.6 MB and costs 1.89 just like the last one. Here is the info:
Located high in the Jeral Mountains of Cyrodiil away from prying eyes, this add-on makes the Wizard’s Tower, Frostcrag Spire, become available. Packed with numerous useful enhancements, this structure will prove invaluable to magic-oriented characters.
Features:
A fully detailed tower for you to explore
A breathtaking view of Cyrodiil from the highest point
in the land
Simple furnishings including a bed for leveling up
An indoor botanical garden with over 130 specimens…
including Oblivion-native herbs!
Summon Atronach Familiars that obey your commands
Instant teleports to every Mages Guild in Cyrodiil
New Spell and Recharge vendor in the Imperial City
Fully upgrade the furnishings in your lair to suit your needs
Upgrade to a fully functional Enchanting and Spellmaking station with no need to join Mages Guild
Upgrade to a laboratory that buffs your Alchemy skill
I’m still waiting for some shit that adds more stuff for melee characters.
The second official plugin for Oblivion is out now for PC users. It’s called The Orrery and its description is:
Harness the power of the stars. Rebuild the defiled Orrery and unlock the secrets of this Mages Guild Inner Sanctum.
It weighs in at 18 mb and costs $1.89. It’s about a 15 minute quest (spoiler type screen shot) that gets you access to the Orrery in the Mages Guild. This can be used by melee guys not yet a full member of the Mages Guild.
Content wise it’s more than the Horse Armor plugin. The question is that is this enough to justify the 1.89 price tag? It depends on your point of view. A less scrupulous sort of person would goto illegal means to acquire this plugin.
The first official Oblivion plugin is out. Horse Armor which for pc users is only $1.99. The official description says:
Tamriel is a dangerous place. Protect your horse from danger with this beautiful handcrafted armor.
There are two sets of armor you can buy for 500 gold per horse. Only one set of armor can be used on any given horse. You can not change the horses armor after you pick it. Here are the screen shots showing both armor types Steel and Elven:
For those wondering you get a “Oblivion Product Activation Key” that you have to enter in to get the plugin to install. Two other plugins are advertised on the official plugin site with a release date of coming soon.
Orrery
Harness the power of the stars. Rebuild the defiled Orrery and unlock the secrets of this Mages Guild Inner Sanctum.
Wizard’s Tower
In the frozen mountains of Cyrodiil stands Frostcrag Spire, a tower of wonders for your magic-oriented character to call home.
Orrery should be mentioned because it is in the game now. Except it’s a closed door thats locked and goes no where. So it’s sorta like your paying to finish off the game as it was released. Some may scream foul play on this. Personally I don’t care. What’s a dollar ninety nine?
So been playing Oblivion a little. It’s easy to see that the game is the same (more or less) on the pc and the 360. Which is good and bad. The bad is pc users are stuck with this very console like interface. The inventory being the biggest thing to suffer from console design. Only letting you see 6 items at one time. Very annoying.
The good of course is being able to make and use plugins. So to break in my Oblivion Plugins section let’s go right for the good stuff, the UI Mods v1.2. You can get it from that link and register first to do so. Or grab it from me here. Either way you will need WinRar to unzip it. Below you can see what it does in the following two screenshots, before and after:
Just extract the rar to:
C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data
And load the game. It’s more of a hack than an actual addon. You won’t need to activate it in the data file menu of the game launcher.
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