I agree with every word of this. It seems to me that gamers are particularly prone (moreso than other groups, I believe) to think in primitive "either/or" categories. This svcks, that rocks. This game is better than that game. This combat is better than that combat. And let's not forget the prime signifier of a near-complete inability to express an original thought: the term "dumbed down." If I ran Bethesda's forums I would lock every one of these "Morrowind vs Oblivion," "Oblivion vs Skyrim," Skyrim vs Morrowind" threads on sight. I need a vacation.

*trying desperately to retain some semblance of sanity after spending ten years on this forum*

What irks me is when a person creates a thread along the lines of "Why you prefer X to Y," and somebody comes along to insist Y is a much better game than X. Who cares? The thread's not meant for them. Other threads are. The point is that some people prefer X to Y, and they're expressing their preference in that thread, for others of similar mind to join in.

Example: I personally like Morrowind better than its two successors (though I think they're both great, each in their own ways, and even mod for Oblivion). Somebody creates a thread, "Why Oblivion is the best ES game." I might read the thread to gain insight into why people have a different opinion than mine, but the thread wasn't aimed at me. My little world isn't the center of the universe. I won't post to argue.

I play Oblivion because I like it. I held my nose and bought the Skyrim disk to save until I get old and senile, so maybe by then Steam will have gone away. I did install it, played a bit, removed the disc, deleted the game, delegated my steam account, and went back to my game computer which isn’t connected to the internet. I bought two discs of MW GOTY, Oblivion GOTY, FO3 GOTY and I’ve played them all to death. Didn’t buy FONV because of Steam.

this post reminded me of all the combat dialogue in oblivion, which in my opinion were more hilarious than that of skyrim. And the guards were fiercer too.
"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!!" Compared to skyrim's guards, something about "you have committed crimes against skyrim and her people, what say you to blahblah?"

What I'm really trying to say is... after playing Skyrim for so long, I'd forgotten that the combat AI, especially for melee NPCs, is waaaaay more aggressive in Oblivion than in Skyrim.

In Skyrim, I can stand there and just keep blocking and the fight will last a long time because the Bandit seems kind of relaxed. In a similar situation in Oblivion, it's like the Bandit NPC has infinite Stami- er I mean Fatigue... he'll keep swinging and swinging and you'll die in 60 seconds if you're Level 1.

(Not to mention the chance of you staggering and getting unresponsive controls for like 3 seconds is much higher)

It's funny, someone mentioned it's a better setting for complex role-playing.. and I don`t like to admit it but it may be true. I find myself working hard to imagine my story in V and in IV I just stumbled upon it, it just flowed so well and with depth that made for a welcome dig. It's not as seamless in terms of writing and narrative in Skyrim. In Oblivion I'd just encounter the nicest situations and play through them curiously, lured through the story... and I hope for VI Beth really learns to incorporate the best of all they've done - the depth and involvement of Oblivion and its narratives and even Morrowind's, the creativity of III, certainly, the visual fidelity, innovation and compatibility of Skyrim, the immersion and magic of all of them. And get rid of the many frustrating problems with patch testing, too. And although I have little beside praise for Oblivion, I can't play it because my friend kidnapped itt D=