I didn't really like the design of the RPG mechanics, but I loved everything else.  Especially screwing with the guards' AI and making them kill townspeople

I don't like sandbox games that really have no consequences. From what i've heard Oblivion is much like Morrowind in that regard.

I mean it's fun to kill random townspeople when your a werewolf or playing an evil character... but it's just weird that you can get away with it if you do it right, and basically nobody notices as their town slowly loses people and there is no reaction etc...

and you can get out of almost anything just by paying a fine.

It was very good. Does it deserve its 90+ out of 100 status? IMHO, no. In my book it's a very good game which if given a good main plot (with drama, twists, intrigue) and character development (with more and better dramatization) it could've been easy to overlook its other numerous flaws.

Slimebeast said it better than anyone.

 That is another major issue. I think both games, but especially Oblivion (for some reason it was far more noticable), would have reaped great benefits from having more consequences for your actions.

Oblivion. Lets make a list (in no particular order).

- quick travel. Made the huge world feel tiny
- removal of past weapons types
- LOTR generic fantasy setting thats boring and predictable
- The oblivion gates (or whatever they were callled). It was fun the first time but they were all the same. I got to hate them very quickly.
- All the strange plant life/creatures were removed (making is generic as said above).
- No choice at all. You either do the quest or you don't. Absolutely no shades of grey.
- Horrible dialogue because it was so simplified (see planescape torment and fallout, they both had lots of richly detailed and well written dialogue that could branch in a number of directions.
- The fact that enemies level with you removes all sense of achievement from the game.
- The radiant AI was nothing special. It didn't live up to the hype.
- Removal of the houses from morrowind. Less politics and less choice from a macro scale.
- Absolutely boring fighters guild quests. (in my opinion).
- Very little racism (see morrowind, the dumner were extremely recist to outlanders, it gave morrowind a really gritty feel.
- Large expanses of the world where you had nothing to do (a problem for all elder scrolls games).
- No children in the game.

Im sure many poeple enjoyed oblivion. I'm not one of them. And that is why I feel bethesda can't make a great fallout game as their games are generic and simplified. Couple this with an inability to make risks or do anything controversial (which really fits in the fallout setting) I just don't think they'll be able to pull it off.

If they can then I'll be extremely surprised.

Thx for all your comments :).

I bought Morrowing today for my pc so I can find out myself.

I know I will NEVER understand why half the site hate oblivion with passion..!!

I've never played Morrowind but I want to share my thoughts anyway.

• Scaling the enemies' level is terrible. They're all about as good as I. Sure, there are a few weaker ones but stronger? Pretty much none, excluding some bosses who ares still always pretty close to my level.
• Static world. Once you realize there's actually not much to do, it gets boring pretty fast. There are just generic places and random enemies. It's always a maximum of two or three enemies. Duels all the time isn't good. Well, some dungeons might have more but still not many. The only actual exception is some quests. Also, dungeons are very generic. Although they are unique, they don't feel so.
• There aren't usually too many ways to do a quest. You do it according to your class and maybe, just maybe you get to choose something but even then it doesn't affect much of anything.
• Personally I don't like the battle system. It works but there's just something wrong with it... It feels a bit clumsy. Also, the enemies' AI sucks. They actually do well in battle but if they have to move... They just run forward/backward and then they try to strike (or not to strike). It's very annoying to have them just run straight to you. Oh, and when they're chasing you. Too hard to get away. Hiding doesn't help a bit. And the wait system? Am I just playing wrong or is it meant to be used all the time? It's so annoying to always have to wait after killing a few enemies.
• There's nothing dynamic except for the enemies' level. Everything feels meaningless.
• The magic system could be good but it's boring and the magics look all the same. No differences in how they feel, only the effect on enemies is different. It's either a colored ball, touch or boring self-cast.

I'm sure that's not all but I guess that's all the major issues.

It's still a good game but its flaws are major. Should there be those problems I mentioned, it could be one of the best RPGs ever. But not the way it is now.

Overall I think it's a good game for those who like the gerne. The world is amazingly large and there's a lot of stuff to do. Good enough for me to spend over 100 hours on the game.

IMO the game does need more emotion, better convincing acting performances and more charismatic characters to make such a game truly great. Technically, the game should have been better optimised for consoles and made to perform rock solid.

The game is huge, but is lacking in varierity in many regards. Hearing the same comments over and over again, too similar cave fights and oblivion gate quests become too samey and boring after a while.