Painful Moments in Gaming: TES: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

 

Oblivion was one of my first experiences on a 'next gen' platform and looking back I was a far more innocent gamer. I wasn't bothered by achievements, or consulting any guides to make sure I didn't miss out on any weapons or plot developments. I was just happy exploring the world and seeing what happened. I remember the first time i was afflicted by Vampirism and having to abandon the main plot while I dealt with this truly surprising plot twist, I miss that innocence and it was only a couple of years ago.
Anyway I digress.
Oblivion for me was a return to the days of Diablo, which lent itself to multiple playthroughs where you could share equipment across save files and over time I had amassed a huge collection of equipment. This hoarding nature was quickly appearing in Oblivion too.

As I ventured innocently across the world of Cyrodill I started to acquire a lot of cool shit, Unique Weapons, Daedric artifacts, rare gems etc etc. It was all mounting up.
I decided I needed a base camp, so I set up shop in one of the Mages Guild's, in a room that was rarely used.
I initially just littered my stuff around the room and carefully monitored save files regularly, which worked well, however as the collection grew, it became less practical. Eventually I decided to use the chest in the room which was far better to organise and view the items.
Again at first i monitored save files carefully making sure everything was safe, and it was , for a long long time.


Then one day I decided to return to the Guild to bask in the glory of my collection and add a couple of new items I had acquired when the unthinkable (to an innocent  stupid gamer) happened.
My gear was gone, it was all gone, replaced with a shovel and some calipers and tongs! For a moment I tried to rationalise it, Have i loaded the correct save file? Am I in the correct Guild? Is it the correct room? What is the Matrix?
Then I started to load save files, quickly working out how much I had 'done' since that save. I load it and run back to the guild in that timeline.
Same deal, it's gone.
I try another, then another and then another, eventually finding a save file that still contains my treasure trove, however this save file is so far back that 28 hours of gaming have passed since then, with many many quests completed and so much land explored.
It was too late, there was no way I was going back to that time.
I did linger a while in that save file, equipping some random gear, going 3rd Person to appreciate the look and generally rummaging around in the sheer awesome. However eventually I knew I had to move on.

This was my first lesson about containers in games and the end of my innocence as a gamer, I quickly discovered Wiki style sites and from then on sidestepped such perils.


I think the sign of a good game is when you forget you are playing a game and become a character in the world. This experience however burst that bubble, as, unlike when you lose your keys or your wallet in real life, I knew these items weren't 'around somewhere' They were mercilessly deleted from existence by a random loot generator for game containers.
No apologies, just code.


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