So after this patch was released earlier today, I eagerly restarted with a new character hoping that all the intro dungeon lag might be fixed only to be disappointing once more. I know it is only the first twenty minutes of game play or so, but it is in those moments that the game should really shine the most. I have another save file with around fifteen hours on it or so, and it does "acceptable" but not nearly enjoyable when it comes to the frame rate. I'm not even talking about the slideshow effect that happens after 11 MB or so, this is just normal frame rate on a relatively normal sized save file.

This is now going on three weeks that the PS3 version has been plagued with these frame rate issues. It would not tick me off nearly as much if Bethesda actually acknowledged that the PS3 version is royally borked up. Instead they hide behind comments like "Some users are experiencing..." and "Rare instances of...". Their public relations department deliberately and willfully downplays the issues that this $60 game has on the PS3.

Seriously Bethesda, get your act together. You are supposed to be professionals in the Video Game industry. This is exactly why games are supposed to go through proper Alpha testing and Beta testing cycles. You have been doing this now for around ten years, seven of which have been with the PS3. You even stated pre-launch that "The PS3 version is getting a ton of attention", and that you knew how to program for the PS3's "unique hardware." This is unacceptable Bethesda. There is absolutely no way in Oblivion that you did not know these issues existed prior to release. And yet you still kept your mouth shut and let players and buyers fall into a $60 money sink trap. I expected much more from you.

If by chance you are reading this post, I will give you one last chance to fix this game to an enjoyable level of performance. If patch 1.03 does not significantly improve these performance issues on the PS3, then you will lose another fan. I love the Elder Scrolls games to Oblivion and back, but if I cannot enjoy playing them on my preferred system, then I might as well just read Wiki lore articles instead.

-Trojan Rabbit-

Likewise I'm still experiencing lag even with this new patch installed, however the fps drops are not as severe as they use to be.

I started playing (13 mb file level 54 or so) again after patch. I think I got nearly 3 hours before the same lag started again. This patch did nothing really...

To that entire thing you wrote, I agree 11324132432190%

pay close attention to ground texture detail, and NPC final texture load versus your old pre patch . they removed NPC final/close quarters resolution and ground/world final texture res. and mayeb added dragon corpse cleanup.. haven't seen proof of this yet though..although i dont' see dead dragon bodies everywhere.. on 77 hours of play at a click over lvl 30.

all they did was port the game over form the 360 and said "oh we gave it attnetion" there attention was " LADIES AND GENTLEMEN start your PS3's and let us know how it goes in a couple hours.. by the way, we added some dev tools so you can just spawn your character at quest points as necessary, have fun" rather then actually optimizing the engine for the console, integratign the game software to it, and thuroughly testign it out, WITHOTU limitations of where to go, how to go to it, ect ect. we foudn these issues out in the first week, yoru tellign me a motnh of preplay couldn't find this in a QA department? SERIOSULY!? BS.

this smiley pretty much sums my opinion with bethesda right now.

It might also be worth adding that the only way I can attain enjoyable frame rates, is when I run the game in 480p.

To OP I agree with what your saying I started a new game and I was getting lag just in the first dungeon bit (you know after choosing to either follow the imperial dude or the stormcloak guy) I mean it wasn't all that bad, but it was still enough to make me annoyed you know? I played my other character and I played for over 4 hours and it started lagging just after the 4 hour mark, to be perfectly honest I didn't play much longer than that because as soon as the lag started I just turned the PS3 off and went to bed.