So I finally picked up my copy of Oblivion and started playing it. There are a lot of great things about it and everything good that you’ve heard about is mostly true. The rules system is mostly inherited from Morrowind, but a lot of the mundane aspects such as lockpicking and pursuasion are improved by the addition of mini-games. The graphics are gorgeous – best I’ve ever seen – and it is the first that brought my computer down to its knees. But there’s one thing they didn’t change that absolutely breaks my heart…
The leveling system of the Elder Scrolls game is still hands down, the WORST leveling system ever concieved in the history of mankind. And to make it worst, that brutal reminder didn’t come until I’m about a good 15-20 hours into the game. The same thing happened in Morrowind – I didn’t mind as much back then because I have time to waste and replaying the game is still fun if a bit tedious (plus Morrowind glitches easily so there’s ways to weasel out of problems). But now that I’m working full time and actively trying to maintain a life on World of Warcraft, 20 hours of wasted time is just plain unacceptable. All this because I played the game naturally, picked the intuitive path of skill advancement, and the end result is wherever I go I get picked on and bashed to death by some goblin off the road.
I’m debating hard whether to sink another 20 hours in hope that 2nd time works out better, or just give it up for now and come back to it when my life cools down. Did anyone else pick up this game (or Morrowind) and remember experiences like this?