One of the interesting data points we receive from our Xbox Live reports is how many players have earned each achievement. This, in turn, helps us figure out how are most people playing the game. So now that we’ve had several million people play Oblivion (while logged onto Xbox Live), this gives us a good pool of data to look at.
What did they play? Here are the quest lines in Oblivion, ranked by percentages of players who finished them.
1. Arena
2. Dark Brotherhood
3. Main Quest
4. Mages Guild
5. Fighters Guild
6. Thieves Guild*
7. Shivering Isles
*Note – Fighters and Thieves were 1 percentage point apart, very close.
For over a year, Thorlak Island Team have been working on a pretty expansive Oblivion project, entitled Thorlak Island: Blood in the Snow. This mod offers a new (snow covered) island to explore, all new NPCs and towns, nine new quests, and more.
Here’s one last round of Hall of Fame mod entries for the year 2008 at Planet Elder Scrolls.
For December, four mods met the criteria necessary to be honored.
Morrowind Mods:
Vality’s Bitter Coast Mod: Now in Version 4.0, according to Vality, this mod, “replaces all the ‘leafy’ Bitter Coast trees with my own ‘speedtree’ like trees, a similar technique to what was used in Oblivion.”
Oblivion Mods:
tda’s Scythe Mod: Adds an impressive scythe (shown above) to the game.
This week we’re checking in with Sam Mangham, otherwise known as TheTalkieToaster within our forums. Sam is a 21-year-old student at the University of Bath in, where else, Bath, England. When he’s not modding or studying Physics and Chemistry, he spends his time walking, seeing movies, and baking cakes.
Last time around for Community Scrapbook, we requested that you send along your best scenic landscape screens you’ve taken. The shot above, taken by Ghostwise, is currently my desktop wallpaper.
Rather than coming up with criteria for the next scrapbook, how about you guys make some suggestions by commenting below. I’ll pick one of the suggestions and let you guys know.
Tonight on X-Play, Morgan and Adam will be announcing their Best of 2008 winners. Fallout 3 is nominated in a few categories, including Best RPG, Best Art Direction, and Game of the Year. To find out who the winners are, tune in at 8 p.m. eastern time.
Speaking of winners, Hooked Gamers announced Fallout 3 as their #1 Game of the Year. Additionally, the game was their #1 PC Game and #4 Xbox 360 title. Here’s a sample of what they had to say:
“The ongoing background story is absorbing, the action is frequently frenetic without being overwhelming, and the graphics are spot on for making you feel like you are actually wandering a Post-Apocalypse world. Fallout 3 has got us completely hooked and we are certain most of you as well. There was only one spot suitable for Fallout 3 and that is #1.”
In other news, the editors at Game Daily have put together a list of the Top 25 Addictive Games of All Time. Both Oblivion (#17)and Fallout 3 (#12) made their list
It’s been a while since we posted something about Tamriel Rebuilt — an extensive Elder Scrolls mod project that has community members rebuilding the whole continent of Tamriel one province at a time.
The TR team recently celebrated the the beta release of Map 2: The Antediluvian Secrets. According to their site, Map 2 is a continuation of the Telvannis region. The map is massive; containing over 580 exterior cells and more than 420 interior cells.
We tip our cap to the Tamriel Rebuilt team for their continued work on this project. For details on Map 2 and more, be sure to check out their blog.
Yesterday Planet Elder Scrolls announced its November Hall of Fame mods for both Oblivion and Morrowind. Congrats to all the modders — including Vality7, who was inducted for two Morrowind mods. Here’s a quick look at the newest inductees:
Morrowind Mods:
The Neverhalls by Vality7 and Midgetalien: A dungeon mod inspired by Oblivion’s Ayleid Ruins.
Vality’s Bitter Coast Mod by Vality 7: The plugin adds many more trees to the Bitter Coast to give the region a more dense atmosphere.
Oblivion Mods
Castle Almgard by Mr. Siika and Centurion: A new buyable castle Southwest of Anvil.
Elegant Vests by Kafei (shown above): Divine Elegance in the Imperial Market District gets new threads — including new vests, gloves, and leather pants (yes!).
RealSwords — Khajiit by waalx: RealSwords adds 100 new swords, sabers, daggers and knifes into Oblivion.
Jason Paul, producer of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, gave me a head’s up this week about a an upcoming concert on January 9 in Edmonton. In addition to a spectacular night of listening to classic videogame themes performed by a full orchestra, he let me know Morrowind and Oblivion composer Jeremy Soule will be attending the concert. Even better, 150 lucky patrons will be randomly chosen at the concert for a chance to meet the famous composer.
While I’ve missed out on attending previous concerts, fans I’ve spoke with have said it’s a fantastic show. For ticket ordering information to the concert, head here.
Here’s the latest briefing on Fallout 3 news found around the web.
As 2008 wraps up, we’re starting to see sites pulling together their GOTY lists. Fallout 3 is included in preliminary lists at The New York Times, Gamespot, and CNBC.
Wanna know Todd’s ritual on release day? Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft got answers from Todd, as well as other notable developers for a post titled “What Game Developers Do When Their Games Launch.” You can check it out here.
Finally, of all the Fallout 3 coverage I’ve sifted through, this has got to be the weirdest. At GameGrep, I found this clip where a guy is discussing his dreams on a radio station. Give it a listen, and within a few seconds, you’ll realize he’s pulling the DJ’s leg. I bet Three Dog is having a good laugh about this somewhere.
