i mentioned the bit about mages recharging for you in exchange for money, however with all i posted no surprise it got passed over.

and yeah soul trap is the best for recharging things with minimal cost, and there is more then one form of the spell, the more expensive ones last longer making it easier to catch the soul.

and as you go up in level you have tougher threats, however they also have better armor and weapons, use what you want and sell the rest, another way to get money, take everything you can from every corpse untill you can't carry anymore.

also when you look at your inventory, inside corpses and containers you have like 4 symbols above each item [sometimes 3, pending on the type of item].
the gold symbol is the value of the item [pay attention to that early on], a dagger which i believe is the attack value of the item [weapons mostly], a shield [the defense value i believe.], and a heart. the heart isn't always present as it is the percentage of damage of the item. 100 is perfect condition, 0 it breaks [but can be repaired]. however at a certain point if you invest enough in the armorer skill you can repair items so they are higher then 100.

but back to my point, the value of the item is what you pay attention to. if you haven't finished a quest or such and you have too much stuff so you can't move anymore, then look at the values and drop the stuff of no value or lower value, so the higher the number under value, keep it. or if you are trying to loot a corpse but are weighed down too much [over-encumbered] then take the higher value items and get rid of the lower value stuff.

either way the moment you are able [especially if you've gone awhile without doing so] go to shops and sell off the extra stuff you don't use, have no use for, have no intent to use, or the like. it will help you get extra money early on. after money stops being an issue you can continue that tactic or not, as by then it doesn't matter much.
and if you are the type to worry over morals remember this. historically you think common soldiers on the battlefield would pass up taking a piece of armor that fit them or a weapon that was better then their own?

also historically battlefield looting was common practice pretty much world wide, so take what you want, they dead, not like they can use it anymore. and on games if they do come back they get new equipment. [evil grin]

but jokes aside it is a great way to get money early on, especially at higher levels when the better weapons and armor comes along and you can get hundreds or thousands for each piece.
also remember the more a shop keeper likes you the better deals you get.

also of note, when selling armor and such only those things that particular shop keeper will buy will show up on your sell list. get used to smiths they will be those you will visit most often with this method as you'll mostly sell weapons and armor. but what they won't buy use common sense and think who'd most likely buy that item. smiths, general traders, alchemists... then simply go to them and sell.

and a note that took me forever to realize [yes i was slow on this one] on potions you click on them you drink them, poisons however you don't drink, click on them and it asks which weapon you want to put it on. place the curser over the poison without clicking to see what spell effect it has, you can check the manual or guess what that effect does, or use the simpler method of using it and see.

poisons and potions pop up a lot, and some you can get a fair bit of money for so decide which suit you best and sell the rest.

simple rule to get extra gold early on though, take everything you can and what you don't use, sell.

Sorry Robert, Oblivion is the second game that I have been unable to play on my computer! It won't install - just installs acrobat reader or whatever, and no option to install the game...If that was something fixed with a patch, I have dial-up so I don't.

i didn't have a problem downloading mine, just the drive clicks for like 5 mins when you put it in or boot up the comp [from sleep mode or reboot/boot if i forget to take the disc out] but after that it works fine.

however without system details can't comment too much on the possible probs with it. but it is either hardware, software problems, or simply a bad disc.

but yeah a pain, is a fun game, hence all the babbling fro m those of who have played it.

Not an uncommon problem Nickie. There are a few possible reasons. Here is a couple things to check...

Does your computer meet the requirements of the game? Not sure, but there might be a fail safe check on the disk that would not bring up the install selection if your system does not meet the minimum req's.

If you have Roxio installed, uninstall it, restart and then try loading Oblivion. Plays havoc with some DVD check routines... Similar burning tools could also cause an issue.

Do you have any games loaded that use the Starforce copy protection tool? If you do then you'll have to uninstall them and get the tool that uninstalls Starforce. See link below...(scroll to the bottom of the page to find the download link).

Starforce removal tool

Oh, and if you do install it you will NEED the latest patches. Oblivion was released in true "hack-and-slash-code-without-testing-cause we-have-a-really-cool-graphics-engine-and-people will-buy-it-anyways" style and had terrible bugs. One reason I really have issues with Bethesda (I will hold back my thoughts about their methods ) So, get the game, get the patch(s).

Thanks much TM - I know those things aren't the problem, but they're very good advice! But what you said about the patches - after fighting NWN2 without them, guess I will just wait and see if a gold version comes out (bound to) that is already patched before I play it. Love your hyphenated description - so true

No...I didn't miss it PDL. I was just saying I could use the soul trap instead, since I don't have a lot of money. It wouldn't cost me anything but a few cuts and bruises.

I don't have a problem with that. I've played Grand Theft Auto

Nickie, here's something I found on another forum that may help you:

....or maybe you could try booting in safe mode and see if it'll install that way.

that comment was more to trail mystic, who mostly repeated that quote. but as long as ya saw at least one of us use it, it is fine.

hey what do you know, i've posted a short post.

Being a software and business systems analyst, reiteration is in my blood. That's one of the reasons I have such issues with companies that release games with a ton of bugs.... And now back to our regularly scheduled topic...

i mostly just copy myself, partly due to having speech problems early on, and also likely a bit due to my asbergers too.

but hey call it reiteration, makes me sounds more official.

Hi,

The Oblivion gates will keep popping up until you take care of the Big Siege Machine in Bruma with all of the help you got from other towns.

The more you do on the main quest the more Oblivion gates show up.

Besides....it is fun trying to figure out which way to go to get to the Sigil Stone and every Oblivion gate is different.

The Sigil Stone is always located in the tower with the fire shooting up but the path to get to it is different.

The Oblivion gates that you close will NOT reopen again. New ones will however pop up somewhere else.

You can close them anytime you feel like it...or not at all.

You will have to close the ones that are near the towns before they come to help however.

Yeah, I've noticed that some of the gates are a lot easier to close than others. The one near Chorrol for example, was very hard to get to the Sigil Stone. There were three of those very powerful "wizard" looking guys in the room with the stone. I just had to run from them and get to the stone and close the gate. There was NO WAY I could defeat them all. That was before I learned how to enchant my weapons. I probably could have taken them all down had I known about using the Stones to charge my weapons.

Anyway, my fighting skills have improved a whole lot since I've figured out more about how to use items and spells to increase my powers.

I still have a lot to learn, but the more I play, the more I get the hang of it. The tips you all have given me have helped tremendously also.

**edit**

It's just occured to me that I've totally hijacked Nipomo's thread . I'm sorry about that Nipomo. If I have anymore questions, I suppose I should just start another topic.

as long as your quests are related to the topic ya fine as far as i'm aware.

i never really had trouble with killing creatures unless there are more then half a dozen, and even then i often beat them.

and yeah the guys in the armor are types of daedra, both the fighters and the mystics. there is also a book 'varieties of daedra' i believe it is called, it lists the types and how powerful they are relative to each other. though some don't come along till you become more powerful, but by then you can still hold your own at least one-on-one.

Go for it Robert. (Seems like no one maxed out thier Atributes so they can't tell me if you have less than 3 atributes left to raise "its all over baby" (not the game, but raising atributes) or can you raise say just luck until you run out of major skills for leveling.)

I just like a little chat about oblivion so please take the thread and run with it.

By the by, save before you pick up those sigil stones in the Oblilvion Gates. As you level up, they get better and better, and if you don't get one you like, just reload and see what pops up next. Very useful for enchantments.

Good tip Hagatha. I hadn't thought of that. Though I have noticed when I die and reload a save, the chests and those Daedra Heart thingys etc. have different items in them than before.

yeah those are randomly placed based on your level. higher the level the better the stuff.

and seems i'm the only other one close to maxing all attributes nipper. but i've been taking a break past few days, and you seem closer then me. but one us us bound to hit it at some point. can see who makes it first then figure what is the case.

i might go back for those last 2-3 side quests i never did as they unrelated to anyone. gives me something to built up levels with. my problem though is that in the main char's case it'll only go up like a point per level, and he set with all the most used skills, which level ups happen too often to really level properly. might have to start gaining influence with people for the heck of it, if i can find some i haven't already got too much influence with.

I am playing slow too...taxes (!) and work (!).

I'm working my way through the fighters guild. Its fun--they are very cranky and want to hang out with you alot, either you are baby sitting them on a mission or they are baby sitting you.

I keep telling them, what is it about "SNEAK" that you don't understand.
Me: OK there's a big one, lets try to get some 3X damage on it first.
Fighters Guild mohawk guy: Blank stare, pulls out his sword and runs pell mell to attack, I swear, the biggest Ogre in the known world.
Me: Running lamely behind.."all right, all right we'll try plan B".
Plan B always causes me a lot of grief trying to save that mohawk guys bacon.

Cheers to all playing Oblivion

Nipomo, you are so funny! I can just picture that!

Yea, that is one of the draw backs of the Oblivion AI. None of the characters that accompany you emulate your current mode. They just go running head long into battle. Seems to be a common theme in a couple other RPG's.

I think the funniest incidents happen with the knights you come across inside one of the Oblivion gates. The first time I came across them and we encountered Daedra the lead guy yelled "You'll never take me down!!!" and they all proceeded to do a great impression of lemmings into a river of molten lava. I just sat there laughing and thinking "World's-shortest-military-career-ever!"

Can you not tell the mohawk guy to "stay here"? That's what I do in other games that have dumb AI like that. If the character I'm supposed to be protecting keeps doing something to get themseleves killed, just make them wait with their nose stuck in a corner somewhere until you need them.

**edit**

I had to do that with the Rainbow Six games and SWAT. The "morons" I liked to call them... would just charge in full steam ahead and get themselves killed most of the time.

laughs another hour at the 'shortest career ever' before speaking.

mostly i say they dumb enough to charge em, stay in sneak mode and just follow them at your own pace.

however i did notice once that in the shivering isles at least one guy went sneak when i did. but that was only at the first real quest to get past the gates.

Hey Nipomo,

Well, all your talk about attributes and such inspired me to spark up a new game of Oblivion. I'm playing this one a bit different to see how I can mess with the attributes and character leveling. I've started with an Imperial, used the sign of the Warrior (strength and Endurance increase)and selected Battlemage as class.

In the Battlemage class all but I think two (Blade and Blunt) of the major skills that lead to leveling are magic based. During game play I'm almost exclusively concentrating on developing my Minor Skills to prevent quick level increase. The only exception to this is Alchemy, which is just a requirement as far as I'm concerned since it's such an easy way to make quick money and buff your character.

So far it's been interesting. The game AI seems to perceive the attempt at level suppression, because shortly after significant level increases in my minor skills I was attacked by a literal barrage of enemies as follows:

6 Wolves - one pair and then four at once.
6 Bandits - One single, one pair and then a group of three.
3 Imps - one single then a pair from either side.
2 Goblin Berserkers. I usually don't come across those on the road until level 2 or 3.

These happened one right after the other down a short stretch of road on the way to Leyawin(sp) about 3/4's the way from the Imperial City. I have never encountered that much resistance at Level 1. Also, the Kajitts with their battle axes HAD to have strength levels at least in the high 60's because each swipe knocked my health points down by at least 10-15 points!

It was a ton of fun, but very intense. I get the feeling it's the developers way of saying "Level-Up or else!!" Either that or the A/I program has developed a personality

It's given the game a bit of a new life, because even though my skill stats are getting higher my health, magicaka and fatigue are still quite low adding a new challenge to the game.

that or the game is trying to tell you that you are playing the game too much.

It's interesting. I'll have to check the Elder Scrolls forums, but I think the bandits Main levels increase as your skill levels increase not just your main character levels. I just turned level two, but my skill levels for combat are right around high Apprentice level or so or about 25-35+ points. All the bandits I'm coming across hit much harder than I remember. I also noticed that the weapons and armor are starting to change over just like they do as your character levels... I was in the iron phase for some time, but the switch from steel to silver to fine steel seem to happen much quicker this time around... I really have to stop applying my analytical skills to game playing!!!

I just loaded up Oblivion again, too. I meant to play Shivering Isles but I am enjoying myself so much in Oblivion that Shvering Isles is put on the back burner for a while. I'm also not trying to level up fast. I have decided not to go to Kvatch to further the main quest. I don't want to deal with the Oblivion gates opening and it seems to me that the other critters aren't leveling as much because of that. I've decided to do all the thieves quests so I don't get overburdened with my stolen items. I'm having fun just walking everywhere and the caves and ruins don't seem as hard as the first time I played. The only time I'm using fast travel is to unload my loot at the market place then I fast travel back to the last cave or ruin I was at and continue walking on my merry way. I'm taking training lessons only in my minor skills and also in armorer (so I can eventually repair my enchanted stuff) and in mercantile since noone likes me too much yet.