OK. I'm going to be That Guy!!!

[milehigh026]

So I have left a similar response on a couple different topics regarding power leveling and using cheese tactics or exploits to quickly raise your level.

*INCOMING RANT*

So I got no problem admitting that I am a 46yr old guy who has loved playing rpg type games for years. It's the story of the games, it's the adventure, and it's about becoming invested in your character and watching them grow and progress as you play the game. This is what I loved so much about Oblivion is that it checked all of those boxes.

Oblivion has a unique leveling system, in that your skills increase the more you use them. Ok...that's great.

So here's my problem with this. I see all of these posts and videos about how you can max out your skills in just a couple hours by spamming the same spells or running around in circles and jumping at the same time. Doesn't anyone just play the game anymore and actually level up your skills by using them naturally? This is the whole appeal of a game like this for me is to start from nothing and watch as your character grow. Where is the enjoyment of being 100 in nearly every skill before you have even gotten out of the Imperial City, just my spamming the same button for hours.

The other downside of power leveling your character this way is that you are not going to be prepared to fight the enemy. Since the enemy scales to your level you won't have the equipment or learned spells yet to do much damage. It's great that you have 100 in every stat but as soon as you walk out of the city a simple bear will kill you cause you can't hurt it enough with your crappy iron sword.

[Coldhands]

I imagine most players do just play normally, since you level up plenty quick that way.
But also, it’s a single player game, so who cares how anybody else levels.

[Empukris]

This is created in era where training your skill is literally part of the gameplay. The original took even longer to max out those skill and way harder.

Let me explained. Your stats growth in the OG affected by what skill you level up in that level.

For example you are level 7. Your major skill is destruction. It govern willpower if im not wrong so when you level those up 10 level you will get 1 level. During the level up if you choose willpower it will level up by 5 points because 10/2. You have three attribute you can select to level up and its value depends on how many level you levelled up it correspond skill during that level progress.

When you progress "naturally" you will barely have 70str by level 25 in the og probably with crappy endurance also. You need to literally PLAN your level up progress EACH level in the OG to even come close to the amount of stats that we get now each level up in remaster.

The remaster is already dumbed down by a lot compare to the OG.

So for people that have played the original and know what to do. Of course we will train those skill to 100. Probably in the original you have to and it already become a habit.

[Lahgtah]

I'm sure most people just level by playing the game. Doing power-leveling strats like that is something that was more applicable to the original. Instead of major skills all getting a leveling speed buff, the leveling speed buff was determined by class specialization. For example, if you chose a magic specialization, combat and stealth skills would level slower than magic. Most classes tend to mix magic, stealth, and combat in some form, so power-leveling strategies would be useful to catch up, say, a magic skill for a combat class.

Fortunately, this isn't an MMO, so there's no external pressure to follow a meta or speed-leveling strategy.

[Lahgtah]

Originally posted by Empukris:

The remaster is already dumbed down by a lot compare to the OG.

You say dumbed-down, I say vastly improved. You can just play normally now and not feel punished for it. The leveling system redesign is probably the best part about the remaster, and is what really won me over from the original.

[ntl69]

I am 55 and have played video games since the 70s - pinball, arcade, console, pc, etc. I have power levelled in Oblivion to level 25 in a few hours but it wasn't much fun after that as the game is designed not to be played like that, but if that is what someone wants, who cares.
The best game experience for me is use minor skills as major skills and use stuff like athletics, acrobatics, speechcraft etc for major skills to control levelling and spend more time at lower levels because the game is designed to be played like that some quests are best done at a level range, not at max level or level 25

[milehigh026]

Originally posted by Lahgtah:

I'm sure most people just level by playing the game. Doing power-leveling strats like that is something that was more applicable to the original. Instead of major skills all getting a leveling speed buff, the leveling speed buff was determined by class specialization. For example, if you chose a magic specialization, combat and stealth skills would level slower than magic. Most classes tend to mix magic, stealth, and combat in some form, so power-leveling strategies would be useful to catch up, say, a magic skill for a combat class.

Fortunately, this isn't an MMO, so there's no external pressure to follow a meta or speed-leveling strategy.

I'm well aware of how the leveling works. This is what most of my complaint is about. It's because of the way that your skills level up with use that allows for these exploits to happen.

I played the original oblivion so much before and found it so easy to level up that I would intentionally gimp myself. What I mean by that is during character creation I would choose all of my major skills for the ones that I was not likely to use very often. For example if I was playing a melee type character then I would choose all of the magic skills as my majors and then never use them. That way I'm only increasing my minors by playing or using trainers for my majors.

[Varanus]

Originally posted by milehigh026:

So here's my problem with this. I see all of these posts and videos about how you can max out your skills in just a couple hours by spamming the same spells or running around in circles and jumping at the same time. Doesn't anyone just play the game anymore and actually level up your skills by using them naturally? This is the whole appeal of a game like this for me is to start from nothing and watch as your character grow. Where is the enjoyment of being 100 in nearly every skill before you have even gotten out of the Imperial City, just my spamming the same button for hours.

Meh, I think you're focusing too much on the min/max, power leveling videos, and get OP super quick videos. It probably doesnt represent the majority of the play base. But its easy content for some quick views. People watch them out of curiosity. But I can see why their popularity would give off the impression that everyone wants to power level and just blitz through the game with no effort. But maybe that is the truth. All I know, is that I dont play like that. And apparently neither do you. XD

[Darkblade755]

The only skill I spam is acrobatics while travelling. It's the perfect skill to spam. I almost cheesed sneaking but I figured its simply a waste of time and not fun. Acrobatics is always fun and sometimes I kill myself doing it lol

[SpidersInABirthdayCake]

Originally posted by Darkblade755:

The only skill I spam is acrobatics while travelling. It's the perfect skill to spam. I almost cheesed sneaking but I figured its simply a waste of time and not fun. Acrobatics is always fun and sometimes I kill myself doing it lol

When you finish an arena fight, stand on top of the fountain, underneath the lamp thing and spam jump. After your stamina is out, use the fountain and do it again.

[Darkblade755]

Originally posted by SpidersInABirthdayCake:

Originally posted by Darkblade755:

The only skill I spam is acrobatics while travelling. It's the perfect skill to spam. I almost cheesed sneaking but I figured its simply a waste of time and not fun. Acrobatics is always fun and sometimes I kill myself doing it lol

When you finish an arena fight, stand on top of the fountain, underneath the lamp thing and spam jump. After your stamina is out, use the fountain and do it again.

That is the exact thing I am trying to avoid doing. that is definition cheesing the game lol. I prefer to just climb things and then try to jump back down safely.
for example I was climbing the towers in the Kavatch oblivion gate and jumping off into the lava to prevent fall damage but then I had to get out the lava without melting and dying. more fun than jumping on a fountain for however long that takes

[desaix]

It's simple -- some people like playing in different ways.

Some guys like pure role-play, leveling up skills and levels "naturally" as they play. That sounds like what you (OP) think is the best way to play, but it isn't the only way.

Others like to be challenged, and deliberately make it hard for themselves (which might actually be achieved by power leveling up skills they figure are "less useful" for presenting themselves a challenge -- lockpicking, for example, which has no combat application whatsoever -- so, with level-scaling, they face off against more powerful enemies relative to their more "naturally" built skills).

Some players like the power-fantasy of just being able to maul anything the game puts in front of them, so will power-level their combat skills so that they can do that.

Other players may, later in the game, have maxed out the skills they actually USE, but still want to level up their character for one reason or another, so look into power-leveling those skills they don't regularly use so that they can push over into that next level.

It all depends on what you're trying to do, and what you want to get out of the game.

[Daqhegh]

Originally posted by milehigh026:

So here's my problem with this. I see all of these posts and videos about how you can max out your skills in just a couple hours by spamming the same spells or running around in circles and jumping at the same time. Doesn't anyone just play the game anymore and actually level up your skills by using them naturally? This is the whole appeal of a game like this for me is to start from nothing and watch as your character grow. Where is the enjoyment of being 100 in nearly every skill before you have even gotten out of the Imperial City, just my spamming the same button for hours.

It's called min/maxing. It's a great way to OP the fun out of a game.

[Booglies]

Spoken like a true milk-drinker.
What is your 100 speechcraft going to do against the bear, huh?

[Daqhegh]

Originally posted by Booglies:

Spoken like a true milk-drinker.
What is your 100 speechcraft going to do against the bear, huh?

Sounds like someone stole your sweetroll.

[Varanus]

Originally posted by Daqhegh:

Originally posted by Booglies:

Spoken like a true milk-drinker.
What is your 100 speechcraft going to do against the bear, huh?

Sounds like someone stole your sweetroll.

Based on context clues, it was likely a bear. And he couldnt convince said bear to give it back. Now he holds a grudge against bears and his useless degree in speechcraft.
Though somewhat ironically, if you have a high enough speechcraft, you can get his affinity up to a point where he will give you a quest to kill the bear and retrieve his sweetroll.