http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2005/120205_oblivion_1.x

This was 1st posted at Blood and Shadows. I waited an hour and then posted it here.
Apparently you can steal other peoples horses and you will have to pay for mods if your an X-Box 360 owner.

Shack News seems to have some issues with numbers.



Six years, hundreds of years... it's all the same, right?



Yup, six tiers alright.


At least there was something interesting as well.





So, it sounds like at least the console users have to pay for the official mods. I wonder if this will be the case for the PC version as well. If so, then I just have to say that if the quality/price balance is poor I will just stick to the fan-made mods.

Thats all fine but this disturbs me...
If you can start with a thief and then morph into a wizard or warrior with repeated use of a non-class skill what the hamster is the point of specialized classes. Remember Morrowind? You could start as a mage and in no time become Conan the fukn Barbarian. I was afraid of this when MFSD posted about this at RPG Codex and was defending a post by himself I think that mirrored what Pete said in this interview. His defense fell apart and he grew quiet.

Whats to stop people from becoming Uber powerfull Fighter/thief/ Wizard gods like in Morrowind? If this is true as I suspect, shame on you Bethesda.

A thief should not be able to cast a level 30 fireball or an assassin should not be able to have a 100 in warhammer or heavy armor.

well. paying for mods? that is retarded. i think they contradicted themselves when they said that they wanted to keep both versions equal right after they said you will have to pay for mods for 360.

in addition, i will be enraged if you have to pay for patches. . . . yeah.

Well this time Bethesda has supposedly implemented other variables into the system. like casting a spell while using heavy armor reduces it's damage etc.

Bethesda is all about options, were you can become what you want even if it is a hybrid between two 'types'. they don't want to restrict you into forcibly being one of the three.

"A thief should not be able to cast a level 30 fireball or an assassin should not be able to have a 100 in warhammer or heavy armor."

Why not. These are people we are playing not cookie cutter charecters. If you are a skinny weakling who spent his school days reading books and learning spells whos to say you can't start working out in a gym taking a few fencing classes and become pretty darn good with a sword and better able to carry those heavy tomes around.

I think the idea is that you only advance in a area if you use that area so why shouldn't you be able to spend 20hrs relearning a set of new skills. It wont just happen.
In morrowind I did the whole warrior thing but friends enjoyed making potions, I then spent days doing minor mage quests and using those skills to get good enough to be able to use this feature as well.

Also remember you most likely will not have chosen them as major skills therefor it will be all the more difficult to atain ie more rewarding.

If you play long enough that you get to master level in more than your chosen starting profession that will probally equate to hundreds of hours of play, you should be a demi-god. People should quake in there boots at your presence, in nothing else for fame stat will probally be through the roof

Choice and freedom seems to be what Bethesda are on about and I think they are spot on

I don't think it's a bad thing to be able to have properties of all three.
It's about Character Development, and to actually Master all three would take dedication to your character. I have never really used magic much. I had Conjuration as a Major on my best Character and that was level 40 for the majority of the time.
In Oblivion I hope to use all three as I want a dagger and an axe, some strength and some speed, and some stealth with some fire.
Sneaking through the woodland with the new "Detect Life" and "Chameleon" spells, ready to ambush your quarry with a claymore is what I'm aiming for and I guess that's a bit of everything.

I remember reading a quote by MrSmileyFaceDude (can't find a link, sorry) about the formula used to calculate the number of usages of a skill required to have it advance one point. As well as requiring more uses as the skill's value increases, skills that are of your class' chosen specialty (combat, stealth or magic) will require fewer uses to advance, as will your major skills. Major skills that are also in your class' speciality will take the least of all.

So, a pure mage can choose to pick up a sword and practice it up, but it'll take him longer to learn to be really effective with it than a more martial character, even putting aside the lower starting value. But he can do it, if he likes.

My initial reaction was exactly the same as yours.

Then I started thinking about this in a different light.

I won't be able to play Oblivion on my current PC (2Ghz) and I'm not upgrading for a while. (Heck... Morrowind seems to want more than I have)


I'd love to be able to play mods on the Xbox360 I'll purchase at some point post-Oblivion release.

Since money talks, I'll state honestly that I will be buying extra content.

I went out and purchased the Morrowind expansion packs, as well as the bonus material gameguide. I bought Morrowind three times.

Xbox - PC - Xbox GotY

I'd be telling a bold-faced lie if I even hinted that I'm unwilling to pay for content.

Sell me an annual subscription to new quest, or sell me a map to some hidden treasure.

Sell me an enchanted whistle that can call for help from (summon?) a town guard.

Sell me a tattoo that when shown allows passage into a well hidden cave.

I'd also like the ability to make and sell mods, using Bethesda as a middleman, but I'm not too concerned if end-user created content has to remain free of charge. I'll probably buy the PC version of Oblivion if I can somehow port mods to the 360.