Every game since Daggerfall has dumbed down the gameplay a bit. I expect no better from the next game. In fact, the only thing I can rely on is that it will be buggier than the previous game.

Hey, people are allowed to have their own opinion, even if it seems like bat-shit crazy hyperbole.  I personally would take a Bethesda, Bioware, or Obsidian game over just about any other developer, including Stardock.  I don't even know who did the Witcher, I've been meaning to pick it up, it looks good and all, when it gets really cheap, I might pick it up.

I was just pointing out that you can get around scaling if you wanted to.  I personally played it "vanila" the first time thru with no mods other then graphical ones and the BTMod for a better UI and had a blast, even with scaling.  Last couple times I played it with the fantastic OOO mod which kept the scaling in to a point but made things a lot harder and slower level ups and such so scaling has less of an effect.  Until level 6 or so you get your butt kicked if you go in the wrong dungeon and even at level 18-20 there were still some areas where I'd get slaughtered.

If anyone out there actually bought the game and hated it and never played it again, get the essential mods and enjoy what is a fantastic game, even without mods it's still great.

The Important thing to take from this is that there will be a new RPG engine out there for the next fallout to be a new game, rather than a Stardock sized expansion.

I do aplaud them for following SD's model of quality expansion though.

Yeah, other than the boss fights, and the beginning of the game, the Witcher is excellent. But the Beast fight in particular was rage worthy. I beat it by slamming the slow time potions and running circles around the fight to try and regain health. Was terrible. On the plus side, those time slowing potions pretty much give you the edge in all situations.

So you conclude they are using the same design notes as Firaxis?

on topic. I really didn't think oblivion was that great. First time i started playing it , it seemed to have much potential. However probably.. 20ish hours into it i was rather disappointed with the game as a whole tbh. My biggest complaint was the bleh magic system that made any pure mage build kind of pointless.

I didn't invest into Sigils until well after that fight, I went into with more melee skills.

So you barely scratched the surface of that game playing through the tutorial and yet you are speaking. Impressive.
I played the entire opening two chapters, taking some 3 Hours to do so.  At which point during the game, I was greeted with a situation that requires me to induce a 20 Minute Strategy which involves running around in circles while my Health Regenerates for 45 seconds, attacking for two hits, before repeating until the Boss dies.  I had to actually look this up after failing to defeat the Boss each and every try; some 20 in total.  I assumed I was doing something wrong, or had failed to do something; no, I was simply playing the game - rather than running around in circles, abusing the Health Regen mechanic.

In my post, did you see me speak of the game?  No, I spoke of this situation within the game and the fact that it left me with such negative feelings I've yet to return to it.  Did you see me speak of the impressive and mature world that was crafted? No.  Did you see me speak of the interesting lore contained within that world and the dark stories eminating from every corner of it?  No.  Did you see me speak of the combat mechanics, UI, potion crafting system or 'card game' collection mechanic, where you earn a new card for every woman you sleep with? No.  Hell, did you see me tell someone I didn't like the game or that they shouldn't purchase it?  No.  I told them to look into the situation I was trapped in so that they could avoid it and enjoy the game themselves.

After failing to realise any of this, you are speaking to me.  Actually, you are speaking down to me.  Please refrain from addressing me until your intelligence surpasses your arrogance, at which time I'll be happy to speak with you.

By the way I really don't care about TES V. I haven't really liked any Bethesda game since Morrowind. They really need to hire a decent game designer.
Your opinion is your own, as long as you realise you are in the minority, and every gaming publication of warrant enjoyed all of their titles.  Their DLC is questionable (although the Shivering Isles for Oblivion was impressive) however their games are generally considered to be some of the best of the current generation.  What games have you designed?

Gothic 1 and 2 beat Oblivion anytime.

Interesting, I actually avoided Oblivion because of some of the things I read about it (particularly level scaling) but your almost making me want to pick it up to try the mods. Is there like one big cohesive mod that you'd recomend?

I actually hated dagerfall, the game had so much potential but I felt that even if you slogged past the crippling bugs there just wasn't much actual gameplay. But I do agree that it would have been nice to have seen some of the potential carried over to other games.

The Elder Scrolls is one of those game series which I've never played. But scaling alone make me hostile to it. If you've played Puzzle Quest then you know what I mean. Lvl 21 rats with 120hp (though it's not horrible since you can avoid monsters that are lower lvl than your mount).

I'm definetly gonna try Oblivion though. My local gamemagazine gave it over 90% so it can't be THAT bad

Just hope my computer can max it since I've read that it taxes PCs like Crysis!

You will find fisstech on some enemies and even in some containers. The investigation does have four different outcomes but it is a good one. I have never completed the game always get bored of it in the 4th chapter.

It is a good idea to to lvl up all skills a little but to concentrate on a select few that you like.

The Witcher 2 is gonna be awesome.

Deep deep down I kinda wish I could design my own witcher and how he looks than play him but Geralt is still pretty kickass. The books are also good.

I'm neck deep in Chapter 3 (I think) or 4....just had the first real fight with the Salamandra Wizard

And the amount of stuff you can do just kind of made me go "Ok...time for a break." I've already put probably 20 to 30 hours into the game. I should really finish it by the time Witcher 2 is on sale. Witcher was like, my biggest surprise of this year. I panned that game so hard based on the tutorial and, the admittedly hammy writing up until then. But it really delivered afterward in almost every area. As I said, other than some really irritating boss/super monster encounters (like Archaepspores before you know how to deal with them), it's an RPG that I think any RPG fan would like. It's certainly got more soul and character than Oblivion.