Oblivion (and Skyrim!)

[Matt]

Diablo II is pretty fucking fun. We had some nice LAN games going on on my floor. I had a Paladin that owned PvP and monsters: Vengeance + Conviction. He had maxed resists on nightmare, 50+ resist all on Hell difficulty, and dealt a shit-ton of damage with a mid-range damage weapon. I was almost to the point where I could solo Baal runs in NM. I can only imagine what he would be like if I had kept playing him up and finally started to get the best kickass equipment for him.

[nacho]

God, everything you said was alien to me.  This is bad.  I'll go get it, then.  That plus Oblivion.  And an upgrade.  And...

[Matt]

Playing online is so much fun though. You get so much better equipment than solo play, you get to team up with people, the monsters are bigger and badder, everything's more intense, and you get the opportunity to be a total douche to people you will never meet. Online play was made with Nacho Sasha in mind.

[nacho]

What's that supposed to mean?  I'm a nice guy!  Animals love me.

[Matt]

C'mon, you've never gotten your jollies after PKing someone on a random server on some game? It's a forbidden fruit that, once tasted, you'll never abandon. It's so pleasurable to know that on the other end of the Internet connection, some other person is going "FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!" and getting pissed off at you, but can't really do anything about it.

[nacho]

Matt, I'm the guy who spent months just wandering around Morrowind looking at the landscape and collecting books and stuff.  I'm even a shut-in when I play video games.

[Nubbins]

Matt, I'm the guy who spent months just wandering around Morrowind looking at the landscape and collecting books and stuff.  I'm even a shut-in when I play video games.

hahahahahahaha...  This is one of the funniest things I've read in a long time.

[nacho]

Main Quest Storyline
 You are a prisoner who is freed by The Emperor during his attempt to escape assasins. When the Emperor is killed, it opens the doors to the Hell-like dimension of Oblivion at random spots around the game world. Your mission is to close the doors to Oblivion by finding the Emperor's Heir and placing him on the throne. 

As with previous games in the series Oblivion's main quest is a crucial to your experience as you want it to be: hammer away at it, dab at it or completely ignore it at your leisure; no one is holding a stopwatch. The gameworld is huge and filled with hundreds of hours of side quests, as well as a number of factions you can join. Once the main quest is complete, you can continue to play in the game world pretty much forever.

Oblivion also features a clever new system called Radiant AI which sets NPCs goals and routines and allows them latitude to achieve those goals and routines as they see fit. Apparently this AI will be scaleable in modifications, though in the actual game itself it has been somewhat limited to avoid outright chaos breaking out in the real world.

[nacho]

Special Collector's DVD Edition
The Collector's Edition will contain a DVD featuring a Septim coin, 112-page "History of Tamriel", exclusive artwork, screenshots and a "Making Of" documentary created by ThinkFilm, chronicling the lengths to which Bethesda went when it came to capturing the movement of a horse and the various voice-recording sessions.

Okay, I need an intervention.  When I get home tonight, I want people sitting there saying, Nacho, we need you to stop.  Just start playing Mount & Blade again if you feel the need to acheive that inner soul-crushing mindlessness.

[nacho]

Computer upgrade:  Check

Countdown to Oblivion begins.

[nacho]

Tipped off by the 492nd thread on Oblivion at SA, I called Best Buy and Gamestop to see if it would be around on Monday.  They said preorders were through the roof and it might be a couple of weeks before they've got it available.  So -- Amazon! 

[nacho]

Well, Amazon's out of stock until the 26th, as are most of the retailers aroud me.  Word online is that the situation is showing up in many places. 

They should have launched this around Christmas so housewives could get in fistfights on the floor of Best Buy.

[nacho]

Reports coming in...  Here you go, Nubbins:

So far on 360 this is flawless. It looks much better than any game I've played and i'm on a shitty 20 inch Magnavox television. The interface is really well done for the 360 much better than the interface for Morrowind on the Xbox.

This game made killing rats fun again for me.

I'm really impressed how well integrated the physics are thus far.

I am a bit worried I'm going to be incredibly sick of the first area after a few play throughs.

[nacho]

I'm thrilled that all the feedback so far is wildly positive.  Following the thread in SA where people have it and are playing it. 

Ah...but I have to wait. 

[Cassander]

nach, do you have this yet?  I'm...."getting it" as we speak.  do i really need this?  apparently all the hype flew by me until the other day when a friend and i were in the store and the top of his head blew off just from looking at the promotional poster. 

momma says not to trust them sords 'n sorsurry types though.  the devil's innit.