Oblivion has been and continues to be a fascinating game for me.  I know full well that some people claim to have completed the main quest in as little as a couple of days, but I’m now up to over 70 hours of play time…and I’m still not finished. 

The main quest isn’t hard and, in fact, it’s arguable that its easier to complete if you do it quickly.  Oblivion “scales” your foes as your character goes up in level- so if you work on a quest when you are level 5 your opponents will all be around the same level as you.  If you wait until you are 20th level, your opponents will have “kept up”…and although this may sound like the challenge is the same, the powers (spells, items, and so forth) at higher levels are (in my opinion) more challenging
to deal with. 

So how is the game keeping me busy?  Well, I’ll give a few examples, including my most significant accomplishment to date…

***** WARNING *** SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW *** WARNING *****

I’ve battled through the cure for vampirism quest, which probably consumed a day or so of my time.  I’ve also acquired a nice house in Anvil, which involved evicting the ghosts who lived there initially.  Arguably, the house I picked up in Anvil is one of the nicest available in the game- a veritable mansion, with two main floors, numerous rooms, and a basement
with a secret evil summoning chamber complete with altar.  Here’s a picture of my character standing inside in the bedroom: 

I’ve also completed a lengthy series of “close the oblivion gate” quests to get allies for the town of Bruma.  That’s part of the main quest, though- but I spent some extra time completing a few side quests during that process…probably 15 hours of puttering around for all that.  Along the way I took in some impressive scenery…

 

And I’ve been working my way up the ladder in the Mage’s guild…culminating with killing the Worm King- Mannimarco

Yes, I stole the guys robes after I killed him and left him with nothing but a loincloth to wear.  He’s dead- why does he need to be dressed?

So…now I am leader of the entire Mage’s guild- archmage!  Huzzah and so forth, bowing is optional.  Now, in addition to my mansion in Anvil, I also have my Archmage’s quarters in the Imperial capital…plus I can pick and choose amongst the students at the University for an apprentice: handy when I need someone to iron my Archmage’s robes and so forth.  I’m living large.

Have I “won” the game?  No, hardly- I’m still not finished the main quest, and even then the game apparently doesn’t end- you can keep on playing and working through quests.  By the standards of the folks who finished the main quest by level five in under 15 hours, I’m a loser…I feel so inadequate.  Really.  Right…