Oblivion...need Fighter's Guild help badly.

[jdc]

Well.....I just found myself screwed over in Oblivion, thanks to what I believe is a huge oversight by the developer.

In Morrowind, if you were to take an item or kill an NPC that was crucial to a quest, a flag would pop up on the screen warning you against such action. Well.....not in Oblivion.

Here I am just about to close in on my Masters rank at the Fighter's Guild. I head off after the "demotion" to talk to Burz. I do the "rescue the daughter from the ogres" quest. No problem. I return and Burz sends me out on his final quest......Harlun's Watch. I kill all of the trolls, get the notification box on screen to find proof.....follow the green map flag to the room with all of the corpses. There's SUPPOSED to be a guy named Edward Denile there among them, but guess what?

Way back when I first got the game I decided to adventure around the entire area of Tamriel before starting any quests. Bad freakin' move. I already went to this cave and looted the bodies in this room. The game somehow removed Edward Denile's body between then and being sent on this quest. I now am in a quest that is most likely unfinishable. I can't for the life of me remember what the hell he had on his body that I would have taken. I may still have it stashed in my house.

I've been up to talk to the woman in Harlun's Watch and she still says "won't you find out what happened to my friends?"

I can't believe that this little mistake is going to cost me my Fighter's Guild completion.

Can anyone recall what this body had on it? Maybe I still have it.

[Daria]

That's the one with the Will-of-the-Wisps right? I didn't pull anything off the guy's body when I did the quest. I just killed all the trolls, and looked at the bodies. Another notice should have popped up when you enter the room with the corpses.

[-hellvin-]

If you're talking about the will o the wisps one, there shouldn't be any proof you need. Just make sure your characters sees the will o the wisps. Then go back and mention them to her. Then go and kill every troll in the cave. Search VERY thoroughly. I searched for one troll in some weird place in that map that showed up as explored, and finally finished that quest. Should be completeable if this is the one from Cheydinhal.

[jdc]

Yep...that's the right quest.

I saw the wisps. I went into the room with the skeleton/ corpses because it was green flagged as I entered the cave. Nothing popped up. I ran the entire cave, killed every troll....and got the notice that the trolls were all dead and that I now needed to find proof that this was the cause of the people's demise. Went back to the corpse room, which was still green flagged. Searched every skeleton a billion times over. Nothing. Gamefaqs mentions a dead guy named Edward Denile as being there....but there is no special corpse there. Just four skeletons flagged as such, and two zombies.

Went up to town, talked to the correct woman. There was a prompt for the wisps. After that, all that she says is "please find my friends". I can run up and down and all over the caves til I'm blue in the face, but the quest won't close out.

I've moved on to the last three missions with Oryen in Chorrol. Hopefully once I do those jobs for him, the game will give me my ranking for closing out the main plot of the Fighter's Guild.

[jdc]

Well, all is good. That quest still won't close out, but it didn't matter since it wasn't part of the central Blackwood plot. I got the Master's rank even with that quest incomplete.

[Trebuken]

I've got a couple of quests I can't complete as well (glitches), not guild quests luckily. It is fairly irritating but I've had so much fun with the game that I can't complain.

I was so happy when I got to kill Maglir...

Later,
Trebuken

[hezeuschrist]

Well, all is good. That quest still won't close out, but it didn't matter since it wasn't part of the central Blackwood plot. I got the Master's rank even with that quest incomplete.

Really? I'm totally screwed on a different level of the Fighters Guild, but at the same level of quests.

In the quest where you have to retrieve some stone from a bunch of ogres in a ruin, I can't get to the stone. I slaughtered all the Ogres and I can see the stone, but the pressure switch that opens the door upstairs doesn't work, so i can't get to the switch that opens the door infront of the stone. I went out and did the other two quests at that level (the troll cave was one of them), still nothing, and now I'm working through the mages guild.

It's the second time it's happened to me too, a switch just not working. It's absolutely infuriating.

[Trebuken]

I got stuck in combat mode once. I could not rest or do any number of other things, ever. Saving, resetting, entering a town; nothing took combat mode off. Had to revert to an earlier save. Almost as bad a vampirism...

We're still playing after the faults though. I'm tackling the main quest...it gets nasty when you get up in levels...

Later,
Trebuken

[jdc]

Funny you should mention..... LOL

I got stuck in combat mode last night in the third to last of the final Mages Guild quests. I see what you mean. Can't fast travel, can't rest, can't do anything....and the silly fight music won't go away.

It seems that the longer your playtime in this game, the more the glitches pile up. It IS a real Elderscrolls game!!! LOL

BTW...it seems that I am indeed fucked for the last Fighter's Guild rank above Master. That quest still won't close out....because there was a pop-up box that I should have recieved when I initially went into the dead body room....but didn't get (checked the verbatim walkthru on the official Oblivion website). I wonder how many more quests I'm going to be screwed over in...because I decided to do some random adventuring and looting. I doubt whether a 100% completion is possible the first time through. Next time I will do ZERO adventuring and random looting of places just so that I don't mess up any quests. Thanks for not adding the notification pop-ups this time around, Bethesda. Real smooth move. x_x

[Trebuken]

They have announced patches...did not make mention of any bug fixes though...

They are going to be providing downloadable quests, I imagine they may contain to support patches and such if this proves profitable.

It seems more peopl than expected paid $2.50 for horse armor....

Later,
Trebuken

[jdc]

LOL

I stole a horse...once. Borrowed it from a guy that I watched a bandit chase and murder. I rode it for the equivalent of about 20 feet, hopped off and vowed never to bother with the stupid things again. Reminds me of the stupid Warthog in Halo.

Coolest thing that I've seen in Oblivion so far......last night I heard yelling outside of Bruma's walls. I've seen bandits and monsters murder travellers, and guards hunting deer but last night I saw.....I kid you not....two Imperial Guards shouting at each other and having at it with bows! The freakin' AI in this game is incredible at times. Over 100 hours into this game and I'm still blown away by the AI engine.

[Daria]

The horses take some getting used to. At first I hated the damn things, couldn't turn got stuck on rocks. Then I learned how to steer, if you look down so you can see the horses head you can manuever much more easily. Riding becomes second nature after a bit.

And I've had one quest fuck up for me. I took a contract to do an assasian quest and immediately the "you've completed the quest" box popped up. I've never met the guy so the only thing I can figure is that he got himself killed.

[Ed Oscuro]

[I saw] two Imperial Guards shouting at each other and having at it with bows! The freakin' AI in this game is incredible at times. Over 100 hours into this game and I'm still blown away by the AI engine.
Strange! Did they battle to the death? I saw a pub fight yesterday which was simply one guy standing there and getting punched in the face repeatedly (without flinching) while two people looked on. They walked away after a while. Hillarious.

[Daria]

[I saw] two Imperial Guards shouting at each other and having at it with bows! The freakin' AI in this game is incredible at times. Over 100 hours into this game and I'm still blown away by the AI engine.
Strange! Did they battle to the death? I saw a pub fight yesterday which was simply one guy standing there and getting punched in the face repeatedly (without flinching) while two people looked on. They walked away after a while. Hillarious.

I was walking through a field when I saw a guy sneaking through the bushes after me. He came up close and apparently tried to pick my pocket as the guards started screaming thief, chased him down, and slaughtered him.

Was amusing.

My Fence tried this too in a pub, the waitress screamed theif and moments later the guard ran in, looked at my fence said " Oh it's just you." and walked back out.

[Ed Oscuro]

Haha, lovely.

I love Oblivion, and the AI is great, but I do see people walking into walls often, and there's a lot of logic breaks when the game decides to do something according to a script and not by what you've done or what the AI should be able to know. For example, I recently slaughtered a whole contingent of undead Akaviri and looted them all (ruined Akaviri sabers and sheilds, mmm), but when I finished up with the head ghost they all had weapons again - though they were dead. The idea was that the game would replace all the animated skeletons with crumpled ones to signify their spirits had finally left (there actually was a different number of skeletons after the replacement).

Another thing: I tried pretty much everything possible with Glarthir (too bad I didn't finish up with the possibility where Davide goes after him - there may have been a nice reward), including murdering Davide. After our meeting, the guards attacked both of us simultaneously, but there wasn't really a reason for the guards to suspect Glarthir right away (well, aside for our proximity, I guess, but they would've attacked him no matter where he was).

Blame it on those spying beggars, etc.

[hezeuschrist]

LOL

I stole a horse...once. Borrowed it from a guy that I watched a bandit chase and murder. I rode it for the equivalent of about 20 feet, hopped off and vowed never to bother with the stupid things again. Reminds me of the stupid Warthog in Halo.

Coolest thing that I've seen in Oblivion so far......last night I heard yelling outside of Bruma's walls. I've seen bandits and monsters murder travellers, and guards hunting deer but last night I saw.....I kid you not....two Imperial Guards shouting at each other and having at it with bows! The freakin' AI in this game is incredible at times. Over 100 hours into this game and I'm still blown away by the AI engine.

Oh man, theres all kinds of fun AI in this game.

I'm past the "Bruma Gate" quest in the main story, so there are Mythic Dawn people coming at me in the towns now, and usually people just gang up on them and I don't have to do anything about it.

But in Bravil, for no reason, the guards were cutting down City-Swimmer. She wasn't dping anything but bleeding.

My favorite so far though is the Mages Guild quest where you've got to find out whos murdering traveling merchants on the road. She came out to assault me, the backup came out, and then the guards got involved AND there was a Flame Atronach in there for good measure. The killer died, the guards and my backup started fighting, my backup died, and then the guards started fighting eachother. Well, kinda. One guard just hacked at the other while he just stood there and took it. And a horse died in there somewhere too.

Also in the Ambush quest of the mages guild, we get everyone in position, assault the necros, and then everyone else starts killing eachother after all the necros are dead.

Too bad I'm stuck in the game now and can't keep playing until they patch it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh man, that is hillarious.

On another note, has anybody else gotten their sneak skill high (over 75 should guarantee it'll work), and just snuck up behind an enemy and been able to repeatedly sneak-stab them for 6x damage without the enemy turning around? I can kill all sorts of stuff that way; it's awesome. Some enemies only get hit for 1x damage and then they'll turn around, though. Not sure what triggers that, maybe being outdoors in the light, or maybe the enemy type.

Also, I pickpocketed a key used in a quest from a guy, and then later got the dialogue where he says he's giving it to you. Didn't even realize that he'd been pickpocketed. Maybe 'cuz I charmed him for 30 points into cooperating with me.

[Daria]

On another note, has anybody else gotten their sneak skill high (over 75 should guarantee it'll work), and just snuck up behind an enemy and been able to repeatedly sneak-stab them for 6x damage without the enemy turning around? I can kill all sorts of stuff that way; it's awesome.

I love doing that. Today I was in a cave watching two NPCs talk to one another. I sneak up and backstab one of them mid sentence and he goes flying across the room. His friends staring at his body but never notices I'm there. Like it's a completely normal thing to have happened.

[Ed Oscuro]

I think that'd be taken care of if they had reactions to being startled, like a Splinter Cell or Thief game. Would up the RAM requirements a bit, though.

Also, awesome story from GameSpy Forums:

In related news:

I drew my bow and fired at a Dremora archer.

He drew his bow and fired at me.

Our arrows collided in mid air.

They hit, ricocheted to the ground and rolled down the hill into one Oblivion's many lava rivers. The Dremora had already sent another arrow my way before what I'd just seen finally registered. Damn that was cool.

[hezeuschrist]

Ugh, I was on Bethesdas side with the issues in the game until I tried to actually tell them about the problem. Now I'm just angry.

Here's what I sent:


I've come to the point where I can't continue to play through any of the games main quests or Fighters Guild quests because the gates in these ruins simply won't work.

The first issue I ran into was in the Fighters Guild, during the Azani Blackheart quest. You know, where you head down one ruin with Oryen, decide he isn't there, then head to Atatar, find him, kill him, and thats it.

In the second floor of Atatar, I encountered a gate, with a door directly to the right of it with a push block behind it. In this layout, pictured below, this is exactly what I did.

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/2735/nr13pf.jpg

When I came in, I instantly went left, and "activated" the iron gate in the Northeast corner of the room. It gave me the "This gate is opened elsewhere" line, so I went around, cleared the room, and eventually found my way to the block. I tried to activate the iron gate near the block, and I did NOT get that message. In fact, that was the last time I ever got that message for the Iron Gates in the Aelyid ruins.

So I pushed the block a dozen times, and nothing happened, it didn't openthat gate. I didn't have a save anywhere near there, so I scoured the net and the official boards and eventually found an account of someone who had closed the door to the cubby where the push block is, and that got the block to work. Amazingly, it did. I opened the gate, went down, shivved the guy, and came back up... but the exit block didn't work. No worries, I had a plenty high acrobatics skills and could get out the way I came in
even though the bridge collapsed.

Gravy, Oryen isn't following me. Moving on to the Stone of St. Alessia quest, I head out, find Sedor. My sneak is ultra high and I didn't feel like dealing with Savage Ogres (I think was lvl 18 at the time), so I went sneaking around until I decided to kill them anyways. During my sneaking around, I hit the pressure plate that opens the gate upstairs that lets you get to the push block that opens the gate infront of the stone.

After killing one and realizing they were Grand souls, I went out, found a bunch of empty grand soul gems, and came back to clear the place. I kill all the ogres, then realized what happened. I hit the pressure switch, and now itcan't be pushed again, and I can't open the door to finish the quest. And I still can't.

Again, I scoured the net and these boards, and theres an account of someone who said screw it, went out and did some other quests and tried here and there, and eventually it worked. So I went out and started the mages guild quests, trying now and again to get the stone. Eventually the dungeon "reset" it self to the point where all the ogre corpses were gone and the pressure switch was usable again, but no matter how many times Itried, reloaded, waited, and whatever, it never worked. I still haven't
finished that quest.

So I went thorugh the entire Mages guild, now I'm just down to the end of the fighters guild and the end of the main quest. Since Sedor still didn't work, I decided to go for the end of the Main quest, in which point I'm at Miscarcand. And still am. After being in there for about 5 minutes and realizing that it's the same crap all over again, I just gave up. Never did any of the Iron Gates give me the "This gate is opened elsewhere" trigger, and all the other triggered gates (sewers, other dungeons and caves with 'prison-like' bars) still work fine. But not the Aelyid ruins.


A thoroughly detailed account of my misfortunes which have prevented me from even continuing on in the game now.

And what do I get? 100% pure Corporate Schlock(tm)


Hello,



Due to the high volume of requests, technical support is unable to provide gameplay tips or advice.

The Oblivion Official Game Guide is by Prima and is available for purchase. The ISBN number is 0761552855 and it can be purchased at most computer game stores or through Amazon.

You may also wish to visit the Oblivion Message Boards at http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/ . Here you can find many others who may have information on the quest you are on and help others with quests you have already completed.

Enjoy the game!

Your customer number is 1389918 Please refer to case #:: 2124854 if you have any further questions.

If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at http://support.bethsoft.com or our technical support staff at (410)-568-3685. Please include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.

Best Regards,
Daniel T at Bethesda Softworks Technical Support
support04@bethsoft.com


I give them a legitimate bug, and they tell me to buy the guide. Fuck Bethesda.


Did you even read what I wrote? You want me to buy the guide and enjoy the game because I'm looking for "gameplay tips?" The game is BROKEN. It DOES NOT WORK. I can't enjoy this game (at this point) anymore than I can enjoy a dead pet. I didn't put nearly 100 hours into the game so I can not have any idea how it concludes.

The Iron Gates in every single aelyid ruin in the game are broken. They do not open, preventing me from either getting into or getting out of these dungeons, which is a fatal flaw for the main quest and fighters guild quests, in the Stone of St. Alessia quest and the Miscarcand quest. I'd love to continue enjoying it, but these buttons do not work. All I want to know is if it's a known issue and is being worked on, and if so, is it going in this patch.

In the future, you may want to implement a more worthwhile way to report bugs, because you've given me no faith whatsoever that the people who need to know about this know about it.


So I responded, we'll see what happens.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ugh, I was on Bethesdas side with the issues in the game until I tried to actually tell them about the problem. Now I'm just angry.
It's very possible you missed something (I was on "key within a key" quest that took me to the most remote reaches of the Internet to find a map; Oblivion coverage is still pretty sparse). I'm sure you know about walking over blocks.

I'm sure they're getting TONS of emails from clueless folks who aren't able to fix very simple puzzles, hence the solicitation. Doesn't mean that's not crappy (nor that there aren't bugs), but I know I wouldn't be able to answer that volume of mail either.

Anyway, I'll check out that quest and see how I do.

[jdc]

I can see where hezeuschrist is coming from about broken, because I know what went wrong for me. I didn't get a dialog box when I should have and I'll bet that it was because of my "looting the joint when I shouldn't have been there yet". I triggered something that I shouldn't have. Like I said, I got this info from the official walkthrough on Bethesda's site. I should have gotten two pop-ups, but only received the second one. I can't find proof that the trolls killed the people in the cave, and that is what I'm being asked for.

Oh well...I'm into the Brotherhood quests now, and they kick ass and are supremely fun.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ho, wait, I should have read that better. Yeah, that's definitely causing problems for other people. Would be like real life, except this holds up your guild progression.

[hezeuschrist]

After reading elsewhere that someone with a few dirty disc errors checked their disc to find it was damaged, I checked my disc and it was spotless... so I tried Sedor one last time, and it worked.

double u tee eff.

[jdc]

Cool.

I'm going to dick around in the game some more and then go back to the cave and see if it doesn't "fix" itself over time. Maybe a trigger spot isn't triggering. Other than that I'll end up with a complete game with the exception of the Fighter's top level. No big deal.....I now know enough that playing my second time with a new character will be cake.

Know what else I like? That they finally gave Khajits and Argonians normal feet. You can equip footwear and they walk more normally. LOL I always hated the way they loped along in Morrowind.