RarRar on 4/4/2006 at 19:20
If you've played the game a lot you've probably just completed a quest and then stood there in the middle of town thinking to yourself, "what should I do next?" You might even stand there for several minutes while the townspeople apply eyeshadow, clown lipstick, put your hair in big Phylis Diller curlers, afix a "Kick Me, I'm Stupid" sign to your back and laugh till they pee. I hate when the townspeople do that. You'll flip through your unfinished quests, nothing looks appealing at the moment. You're saving the main quest to savor in small tasty morsels. You know you could just head off into wilderness and find a few dungeons, but that doesn't feel right either. What a great game, right? There's so much to do sometimes you can't even decide!? Er, no. It doesn't really feel good when that happens. It's more of an aimless feeling and less of a kid in a really really huge candy shop feeling.
I don't get that feeling anymore.
In a different thread there was a discussion by RPG diehards who refused to fast travel. Some of the descriptions were quite romantic and I was inspired to do it myself. Now I haven't been able to give it up 100% completely yet. I'm about to buy my first house in Skingrad and I just can't face moving all of my stuff there from Cheydinhal the old fashioned way. Hmm, maybe I will, I can't decide. Anyway, I've given it up about 90% of the time. And it's just as wonderful and marvellous as people say. I don't want to introduce any explicit spoilers, but I don't think I have to.
Some people have complained that Cyrodill seems small. Smaller than Morrowind even and I've never gotten that impression. To me, it all seems so much vaster, wild and unexplored and I think that's because I don't fast travel. I take to the road on my trusted pony Mabel. Now it's not all romance, those roads are definitely not safe. Bandits, wolves, and monsters of all sorts lurk in wait for the unwary traveller. But the Gold Road is patrolled regularly by the Imperial Guard. You'll get to really love those guys. When you see them atop their stallions walking slowly ahead of you you'll breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe even ride beside them for awhile in companionable silence. It's nice when it's dark and scary, or when it's pouring rain sometime after midnight and there they are with their torches, sharing their warm sphere of light with you. If there's danger, they'll NEVER shirk their duty to protect you. Sometimes with their lives...
But it's a long road and you'll often find yourself galloping through lonely stretches with no Guard in sight. Sometimes you can gallop right on past the bandits, sometimes they're too fast and you have to stop and fight them. Sometimes your horse will even fight with you. And there are all kinds of sights to see along the way. Forts and caves, placid glades with waterfalls, flowers and hidden dangers. So many distractions and interesting things to do just fall into your lap. You'll get the urge to stop at an abandoned fort and explore it ... or leave it for another time. And when you finally reach the refuge of that town you had set out for, the journey seems so long and eventful, just as it would in real life.
I find myself nervous when I'm out there after dark. It seems like an entirely different cast of enemies lurk in the shadows, though that's probably just my imagination. And I can't ever seem to make the trip in a single day, even if I set out at 5 AM or some ungodly hour. Man I wish there were more inns out there along the road. Sometimes just a small hamlet will do, sharing a fire with a few strangers.
I love fast travel in Oblivion and I'm glad it's in there, but I now cast a wary eye at it. I try to use it sparingly. I never use it on quests now and I may just give it up altogether. If I am sent to a city on the opposite side of Cyrodill to talk to a person or retrieve an item I do it the old fashioned way. Me and my trusty Mabel together on that long road.
So give it a try. There will always be something out there you'll want to do, something that catches your eye or piques your interest. Oblivion will become a completely different game.
RyushiBlade on 4/4/2006 at 19:50
That's one worthy tribute to old-fashioned walking. I really haven't done much walking, and I think I should stop fast travelling everywhere. Though I don't mind being alone, I do like the companionable feeling of seeing guards on patrol. I wish there were more sometimes.
io organic industrialism on 4/4/2006 at 21:13
that was a beautiful essay mang...
i haven't used fast travel once. it seems really retarded.
to me this game is all about adventure/exploring.
Fig455 on 4/4/2006 at 21:24
I was really disappointed whe I read Ryushi was fast-travelling everywhere. I was about wasnting to shake the shit out of him and say "You are missing all that thrill and danger/wonder of exploring....it's 1/2 the fun of the game!!!!":p
That said, I am also a pedestrian. I walk (well run) EVERYWHERE. I do not even ride my red-eyed stallion. I am quite content breathing in that country air, and taking the scenic route. Often, I find myself getting completely side-tracked doing other shit that comes up. I may find an Ayleid ruin to explore. Caves and mines are there also. Sometimes, I may stumble upon a small hamlet of 5-6 homes and introduce myself. Others, I find myself swell w/ pride as I take down yet another Oblivion gate, saving yet another city from the maw of the Daedra. I have found myself standing on mountaintops, just admiring the sunset, and I have been known to splash around on a hot afternoon in a shady waterfall basin.
t's a big world that can be made incredibly small by fast travel. No thanks. I have just re-soled my Daedric boots, and I am in NO hurry, friend.
RyushiBlade on 4/4/2006 at 22:15
Well, ok, I don't fast travel everywhere. I usually fast travel from city to city, but I also go out on adventures. But Jaegar is a barbarian and he considers roads too civilized to use. He also considers maps too civilized. I usually point my horse in a random direction and go forward. I've found a lot of cool places that way, but I'm probably missing cooler places that are closer to roads.
Tuco on 4/4/2006 at 23:38
Heh. You think you have trouble.
There's not a real quest in my quest log, and there's no where I can get new quests that I'm aware of.
If I want to do any quests I'd have to open up my CS, look at the quest's dialogue, and find one I don't remember. Then I'd have to look at the NPC location and HOPE it's somewhere that I recognize. Then I have to travel there and hope I can find the problem. Then I spend about 5 minutes doing the quest, which is much less cool than the quests I've already done.
Or I could randomly go to dungeons, and kill the same mobs I've been killing for half my playtime.
I'm not really complaining persay, Oblivion had enough content, I'm just saying that I'm awesome and better than everyone.
io organic industrialism on 4/4/2006 at 23:38
the only wilderness i've explored much of so far is the area between chorral and kvatch, since it's a straight line with no roads nearby
Tuco on 4/4/2006 at 23:52
I've explored most of the map (It's really just a big bowl) If I could easily get a SS of my map I would post it, most of the dungeons are 'found' and I've cleared every dungeon I've found.
NeoPendragon on 5/4/2006 at 01:27
Yeah I'm the same as Ryushi. I fast travel during quests. I just want to get on with it. But I also like exploring once in a while too. My favorite places are villages (three house icon). They always seem to have something weird in them.
Aerothorn on 5/4/2006 at 01:37
I never fast-travel my first time to anywhere, so far - when I had to go to Bruma, I walked. Now, when I had to return from Bruma to the imperial city, I fast-traveled - no point walking all the way back on the same route unless I feel like exploring. But I have to travel everywhere by foot/horse before I fast-travel.
