ES4: Oblivion - CRPG of the Year @ GameSpy

Kawika

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GameSpy has just announced Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as their PC RPG of the Year for 2006. Congrats to Bethesda Softworks for bringing us such a wonderful title!
Though it certainly shares the space with an extremely worthy game (i.e., Neverwinter Nights 2), we just had to give Oblivion the nod for a number of reasons. Primarily, it's rare to see a game that is so deep and engrossing that remains so eminently accessible and playable. Whether you're an RPG vet or complete beginner, you're likely to be drawn in by Oblivion's masterfully created world. The attention to detail given to even the most insignificant elements sets a benchmark for the genre, one that, we suspect, won't be surpassed anytime soon.
More information.
 
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Well, Bethesda obviously put the wrong game in the box I got. The Oblivion I played was a shallow, braindead, disjointed, dumbed down game that played more like a shooter than rpg.
 
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I really have no problem with Oblivion being mentioned as RPG of the year on some web sites. When I played the game I had fun and the game is a huge seller. (I think). I know many hardcore players hate the game but with its success, it may allow developers an easier go when they're trying to get funding for their next CRPG.
 
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Every game company will aspire to emulate - everyone will be making rpg-lites. They will become the new shooter/rpg standard....

PB and other rpg developers will get canned by every reviewer for creating frustrating gameplay - what the FPS lover reviewers mean is frustration that they can't just 'go around killing things'.

Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have more rpg-lites on the market from shooter companies, just as long as some continue to make rpg's which require a brain to play - not just mindless combat.
 
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...just as long as some continue to make rpg's which require a brain to play - not just mindless combat.

With all due respect but computer gaming might in general not exactly be the right kind of hobby if you're looking for work for your brain :biggrin: . I'd suggest learning a foreign language or to learn how to program (additional benfit: you'll be able to make your own brainy games after you have worked on your own brain for a while) if you're seriously looking for something that requires a brain.

After a couple of decades of gaming (if we include the C64 era), I have honestly yet to come across a game that truly requires any brain work. The ones that came closest were the (supposedly realistic) flight sims that I used to love in the 90s. Navigation and learning to read those flight charts did require a bit of thinking but elsewise I really can't think of anything that was an intellectual challenge. Ever.

So... what are those brainy games that you are talking about? Or are you just trying to make yourself feel better or look more intelligent by making derogatory remarks about action games? Watch out. That's your pants down there :biggrin: .
 
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Congrats to Bethesda Softworks for bringing us such a wonderful title!


Did anyone else crap their pants laughing after reading that?
 
Well, Bethesda obviously put the wrong game in the box I got. The Oblivion I played was a shallow, braindead, disjointed, dumbed down game that played more like a shooter than rpg.

There's really enough of these statements on Bethesda's official Oblivion forums. At the very least, if you're going to state things like, "... shallow, braindead, disjointed, dumbed down..." at least take a second or two to back up such statements with some actual reasons.

I've been gaming since the original Oddyssey (sp?) released back in the mid 70s. Played most of the 80s and 90s 'big' CRPGs like Ultima, Wizardry, Bard's Tale and the like.

I do agree with many of the criticisms about Oblivion that have been debated to nausiating effects on the official forums. But really, the end result is a fun game that never deserved the cynical reaction demonstrated by the so-called 'hard-core' CRPGers out there.

It's a fun game, and it was polished pretty well. Is it perfect? No. Then again, what game is? To learn that one gaming site has named Oblivion CRPG of the year really doesn't come as any surprise and I'm glad for Bethesda.

Now, hopefully Gothic 3 will get patched a little more so it won't drown into obscurity under its own weight... I really enjoy G3 and with some loving care via patches could still be a power-player among the recently released CRPGs... which I hope happens because I want to play a G4 and G5 and and G100!
 
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hmm youd think a 35-40 year old man would know how to spell "nauseating"

maybe video games ARE bad for you!
 
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I know many hardcore players hate the game but with its success, it may allow developers an easier go when they're trying to get funding for their next CRPG.

Next cRPG? Uh, not to bug you or anything, but Bethesda hasn't actually ever made a game that could fairly be labelled "a cRPG". TES is a hack 'n slash dungeoncrawl series. Was from the beginning.

Moriendor: BookWorm Adventures!

EDIT: also, this is kinda weird, but, uhm, isn't this newspost a duplicate of the one about the Gamespy awards by Dhruin, a few steps back?
 
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EDIT: also, this is kinda weird, but, uhm, isn't this newspost a duplicate of the one about the Gamespy awards by Dhruin, a few steps back?

You're right...sort of. ;) Dhruin made a news post about GameSpy's top ten PC game picks which I hadn't noticed. My news post was about the winner of a specific category.
 
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After a couple of decades of gaming (if we include the C64 era), I have honestly yet to come across a game that truly requires any brain work. [...] I really can't think of anything that was an intellectual challenge. Ever.

So... what are those brainy games that you are talking about?

11th Hour. Enough said. :D
 
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Here's a question: Which is the better GAME (not rpg), NWN2, Oblivion, or G3?
 
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I might have placed Oblivion as my 5th favorite and 4th 'best' RPG of the year, but I don't fault anyone for choosing it as #1 - it is an *amazing* technical achievement, even if hampered by the need to make it appealing as a console action game.

(faves - Avernum 4, Space Rangers 2, NWN2, Gothic 3 ... )
 
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Here's a question: Which is the better GAME (not rpg), NWN2, Oblivion, or G3?

My opinion? In terms of 'best game' (includes quality and polish)
NWN2, Oblivion, Gothic 3

Best RPG?
NWN2, Gothic 3, ...
 
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Gamespot nominated Oblivion for "best story of the year". I wonder if they have any clue how utterly ridiculous that is.
 
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Gamespot nominated Oblivion for "best story of the year". I wonder if they have any clue how utterly ridiculous that is.

I know - I wasn't going to say anything since it didn't win ... but for the many good things I can say about Oblivion, 'great story' is *not* one of them.
 
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It's nominations like that which drive so many people's cynicism and suspicion of the gaming media. I don't consider myself a rabid Gothic fanboy at all, but I can understand where they are coming from in their complaints about media favoritism when Gamespot nominates games like Oblivion for awards like "best story". The story in that game sucked. It's hard to believe that a reasonable and unbiased person would honestly think that out of all the games that came out in 2006, Oblivion had one of the top four or five stories. It reminds me of when Gamespot wrote that Neverwinter Nights had a superb single player campaign that was one of the finest ever made. I sincerely wonder if money had to change hands for that one.
 
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