Oblivion talk:Hints

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Persuading[edit]

Simple rules for successful persuading, assuming you have correctly identified the NPC response fields (Positive/Negative), then the following rules should always yield the optimum results.

Check the following in order for each position of the spinning wheel: Pick an optimum move or next optimum move, if there are no optimum moves then rotate.

1) Optimum Moves = -1, +4 where

                        -1 = Select the smallest option in a negative response field, or
                        +4 = Select the biggest option in a positive response field

2) Next Optimum Moves = +3 where

                        +3 = Select the second largest option in a positive response field

3) Least Optimum Move = +2 where

                        +2 = Select the second smallest option in a positive field

4) ROTATE if no optimum moves are found.

Note: There are 144 different possible combinations of initial starting options. You should always be able to click the smallest option (-1) in a negative field. — Unsigned comment by 76.233.218.185 (talk)

Thieving[edit]

There should be a guide for thieves. Although sneak and security are both used by thieves, neither category has any information on good houses or marks to steal from. This would be very useful, as it can be difficult to find good loot without traveling to a cave, which isn't stealing but more adventuring or spelunking. If someone gives me the go ahead and a few suggestions I'll begin drafting a page. Tyguy92 22:44, 15 August 2007 (EDT)Tyguy92

Remove this page?[edit]

I think having a general Hints category is a bad idea. Most of what is in here would have been easier to find if it was a sub-category off of a main page link. Many of these are even on the main page... And some are so small that a single paragraph within another topic would have been enough.

The same goes for the Tips page (why have both hints and tips btw, whats the difference? At one point there were even three, if you include the one that was called best practices). There is a lot of good information on the Tips page, but all of it would have been easier to find if it was included in the section it is related to. In addition, those pages get updated frequently and you avoid overlapping information.

What do you think? Dieter

I agree that the tips page has alot of info that really belongs on more specific pages. I was trying to tackle that a while back, moved a few chunks, then got distracted. I also agree that everything that is on the hints page should also be linked to from other pages as appropriate (which I think is true in most cases). But with the wiki it's easily possible (and should probably be encouraged) to have a page linked to from alot of different places. And there is a blurry line between what goes on the main Oblivion page under 'Gameplay Information' and what goes under Hints. There are some in both places (probably shouldn't happen); there are some that arguably should be promoted to Oblivion; there are some that arguably should be demoted to Hints. I don't know that there really exists any clear dividing line at this point.
But I'm not sure that adds up to removing either hints or tips. At the moment, hints is one of the most-used pages (#9 on PopularPages) which suggests that people are finding it useful. I see hints as a convenient place to list pages that people might not otherwise stumble across or know where to look for them.
With alot of work it would probably be possible to merge hints and tips.... but longterm I'm not sure it would work so well given the nature of the wiki. Tips is useful as a place for people to add info that they don't know where to put otherwise, so it does tend to collect alot of unorganized information. When people are motivated, it can then be cleaned up some, and info that belongs elsewhere moved. But I think tips is a page that is naturally going to deteriorate into messiness and therefore it's good to have it a couple steps removed from the main Oblivion page.
Hints on the other hand does tend to stay fairly clean, since it it just a simple list of links. So it is more appropriate for a page that people look at a lot.
Of course, these are all just my personal thoughts on the subject. Let's see if anyone else chimes in.--Nephele 13:40, 24 July 2006 (EDT)
I agree that we should keep this page per Nephele's comments above. The real question here, which should be on Tips, is what to do with that page. --Aristeo 19:02, 25 July 2006 (EDT)

Yeah, I see your points. My issue is not the information which is found here (there are several good articles linked on the Hints page), its more that they are somewhat hidden. One alternative would be to change what is included on the main menu (or other menus) to make this page unnecessary. That would be a rather difficult and big job though, so I see why that might not happen anytime soon... Alternatively we could remove the links that are also found on the main page to make the articles on Hints that you don't easily find anywhere else stand out more. Articles like Combat, Getting Around or even Dungeon Traps/Damage Inflictors (I wouldn't have a clue where to move that last one...).

If we were to remove some links I also don't see why 3 skills are includede here, but none of the others. Are Sneak and Security more important than Mercantile or Speechcraft for instance? - Dieter 08:36, 26 July 2006 (EDT)

I'd be all for cleaning up duplicate listings, that are found both on Oblivion:Hints and Oblivion:Oblivion. Arguably, "Magic" could be moved a couple lines on Oblivion:Oblivion, make it clear that Oblivion:Magic includes all hints about magic, and delete all the magic-related links here.
As for the skills, I think the ones that are listed here are those that have substantial amounts of info; arguably Speechcraft could also be listed here since it discusses the whole speechcraft minigame. But alot of the skill pages don't have much more than just a few tips (i.e., Conjuration). So the skill isn't necessarily less important, just needs less explaining. But perhaps the list should be reorganized: create a subsection at the bottom of the page for skills? --Nephele 11:38, 26 July 2006 (EDT)

The Mercantile page has seen some significant improvements over the past couple of days. Perhaps we will see the same thing with other skills? --Dieter 18:12, 31 July 2006 (EDT)

Alchemy[edit]

Noticed the alchemy link was removed but couldn't find any other page under Oblivion that it was moved to. Hints seems like the best place for it anyways? -- DaveH 18:31, 3 April 2006 (EDT)

magic[edit]

there are currently eight articles concerning the magic system in the hints section. i think there should be a magic portal in the gameplay section instead. time to get these things a bit sorted. — Unsigned comment by Bluephoenix (talkcontribs)

Stealth[edit]

i noticed that there was two seperate topics: Security (lockpicking) and Stealth. shouldnt these two things be joined because security is part of stealth. — Unsigned comment by Someone (talkcontribs)

Security and Stealth are two seperate items. In theory you could have one complete unused, and be a Master in the other. An Assassin type character would tend to have very high Stealth, but Security is not necessarily needed. Endareth 01:22, 11 April 2006 (EDT)
I'm questioning the Stealth page, too. It's actually just a discussion of Sneak, which has it's own page under Skills (Sneak). Stealth is supposedly the umbrella term covering the "thievery" skills (sneak, security, marksman, acrobatics, light armor, mercantile, speechcraft), but the existing stealth page doesn't cover any of those other skills. I'd be willing to take a stab at transferring all the info into a comprehensive sneak page, but then I'm not sure what should happen to the stealth page: should the link on the hints page just be renamed sneak?--Nephele 00:06, 17 June 2006 (EDT)

Water[edit]

There isn't really a place for this question, but where on Earth/Nirn do people get water from in Oblivion? Whilst there are a few wells in cities, not one house has a tap or drainage system of any sort! Food is plentiful in houses, but any liquid at all isn't. And please don't reply by saying that the people of Cyrodiil survive on liquor and alcohol. — Unsigned comment by Merco (talkcontribs)

Obviously some things are implied, often for practical reasons. You shouldn't take things so literally. For example, there must be children in Cyrodiil, even if they aren't depicted in the game. There must be toilets or latrines in Cyrodiil, but they too are not depicted in the game. They don't have pigs either, but they still have ham. Obviously it is implied that there are pigs in Cyrodiil. You also don't see people actually working or getting paid. Money just magically appears in their inventory, but we all know that that simply isn't the case. You'd think people would be a little more pious too and actually try praying and attending services for once. But no, they just sit in the pews and stare at the stained glass windows, thinking that they're worshiping the gods. Besides, having a tap in a home would be rather anachronistic, considering that the contemporary design of faucet was only invented in the late 1930s. --Saruuk 07:33, 16 August 2007 (EDT)
The one (or maybe one of) many things you can find in the game is that they do have different types of buckets, and so they may go to the wells and get their water that way. I probably may be saying something that all of you guys know already, but it's a thought!(Cookies... lots and lots of cookies!!! 19:10, 3 November 2009 (UTC))

Treasure Hunting[edit]

Treasure Hunting is a massive part of Oblivion life for many players, and is only covered sporadically around UESP. Perhaps a page devoted to Treasure Hunting would provide further help to players and also serve as a organize and a lot of the scattered information pertaining to this subject. I would happily contribute to this page as i spend a lot of my time treasure hunting, and i have already prepared a link to the possible page in my recent updates to the Money Making guide.

What does everyone think? --Harry howarth 13:53, 3 March 2008 (EST)

Even though everyone that plays Oblivion do treasure hunt (I doubt you'd survive on playing the game without doing so), it would be pointless having a whole page about it. Simply because most loot is randomly placed in chests and containers, and any non random loot is described on its page. To have a section about making money, well, it's a good thought, but everyone will tell you, "just sell things you don't need or want" ErnieZer0 14:47, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
If I werw you I will focus on things to take like from ayleid places(welkie and verkie stones forgot how to wright them).— Unsigned comment by 67.164.48.93 (talk) at 09:19 on 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Killing guards, bounty: 25 gold![edit]

If anyone have heard this one before or if it allready is on the page... stop me. otherwise this is a good way to get loot from skingrads guards:

• If you pickpocket a guard in skingrad and he notices, he will stop you and you will have 25 gold in bounty on your head, then resist arrest and run up the hill through the gate in the northwest corner of the city. Just before the bridge to castle skingrad on the left, there is a steep slope with a few outstanding "platforms". just jump out over the edge and the guard will follow, (make shure you just run out over the edge and land on a "platform"). The guard will follow, but he won't turn around and stop in the air, he will, hopefully, fall down all the way to the ground, and die, this won't be clissified as murder so you will keep the bounty on your head at 25, the guards won't hunt you as long as you do not talk to them. The following times you do it you won't need to pickpocket the guards, that will just rise your bounty... just talk to them and they will chase you (if you didn't know).

If you liked it and it don't exist on the pages, Where should I add it?-Goblin lair 16:14, 5 August 2008 (EDT)

Take many items into wilderness.[edit]

I don't know if this tip already exists but if you have shadowmere you have to bash it down then loot the body give her the items en when she stands up again she will be carrying the stuff.

Yes, that tip already exists. I've seen it mentioned several times in different places. Officially, a player would be expected to look under Containers, which has a section about using animals' bodies for storage: Oblivion:Containers#Using NPCs and Creatures as Containers--Amsuko 04:16, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Heavy and Light armour Traning[edit]

This is only if you start the game.At The start when the rat crashed the wall well you first kill the rats in that area then take the leather from skeleton.Go get the key from the dead shamen.Go to the next room and only kill the zombie dont kill the rats get the iron and put it on now gather the rats and let em hit you if you run low on Hp go back to dead shaman and sleep for 1hr it will take 2-3hrs or less(From:Black Wolf Knight aka:Josenightmare[xbox360]

when you select your skills with the emperor your skills are reset im pretty sure (Eddie the head 08:09, 10 June 2011 (UTC))
I have done this many times before im sure it wont,it will be a good idea if you try it.(From:Black Wolf Knight) — Unsigned comment by 67.164.48.93 (talk) at 09:05 on 12 June 2011

Almost infinite Oblivion[edit]

A little thought I have to alter/change/improve the Oblivion experience and I was wondering if I could get some feedback. I have played a character now for 16 months. She has achieved level 5. I have used what I consider to be the ultimate hard core rules. In essence, I am not playing Oblivion as a game but as a pastime where I periodically run it and do some wandering and meandering. I established a set of rules which I rigidly follow so that, even after all this time, I am still making the occasional discovery. Essentially, I don't use the map or journal. I play it exactly like a somewhat airhead person actually living in Tamriel. No teleporting of course, and naturally I forget some of the things, quests and objectives, I am supposed to do. After a year of playing this way the game took on a scope far beyond what the designers could possibly have intended. Anyway, I compiled a general set of rules I follow and was thinking this could be posted as one of the 'hints'. Comments and ideas? Sniffles 11:03, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

Why isn't the "100%Completion" page listed?[edit]

When you go to the page 100% Completion, it says it is listed under Oblivion:Hints. Yet clicking on Oblivion:Hints shows a list of links - with the 100% Completion page left out! Shouldn't it be listed there? No wonder no one knows about that page! Am I misunderstanding the links at the top of each page? I thought they were "parent links" or "super-categories" (as opposed to sub-categories). --Amsuko 04:06, 24 August 2011 (UTC)