''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion''

Contents

1 ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' 1

1.1 Gameplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3.1 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Marketing and release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Additional content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.6 Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.7 Rating change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.9 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Development 12
2.1 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.1 Rumors and ocial announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.2 Release delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.3 Product showings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.4 Xbox 360 and PC release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.1.5 PlayStation 3 release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2 Production and design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.1 Sta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.2 Publisher relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.3 Design goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.4 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.5 PlayStation 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.6 Mobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Downloadable content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3.1 Background and Horse Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3.2 Later releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

i
ii CONTENTS

2.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3 ESRB re-rating 22
3.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.1 ESRB review process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.2 Oblivion Topless Mod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.1.3 ESRB re-review and rating change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2 Industry impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.1 Retailer response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.2 Publisher response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.3 Rating agency response outside the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3 Public impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.5 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4 ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine'' 26

4.1 Gameplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.2 Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.3 Production, release and availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.4 Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5 ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles' 30

5.1 Gameplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.2 Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.3 Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.4 Concept art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.5 Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.8.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.8.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.8.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 1

''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion''

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an action role-playing try and publication awards. It was praised for its impres-
video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and pub- sive graphics, expansive game world and schedule-driven
lished by Bethesda Softworks and the Take-Two Interac- NPCs. Within a month, the game had shipped over 1.7 mil-
tive subsidiary, 2K Games. It is the fourth installment in lion copies, and by November 2011, sold over 3.5 million.
The Elder Scrolls action fantasy video game series, follow- Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, a market
ing The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and preceding The El- research rm, estimates that the game has sold 9.5 million
der Scrolls V: Skyrim. Oblivion was rst released in March copies worldwide.
2006 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. A mobile
phone version of the game was released in May 2006, and
a PlayStation 3 version was shipped in March 2007. Af- 1.1 Gameplay
ter a number of smaller content releases, a major expan-
sion pack, Shivering Isles, was distributed. The Elder Scrolls
IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition (a package including See also: Gameplay of The Elder Scrolls series
both Shivering Isles and the ocial expansion pack Knights
of the Nine) was released in 2007 for Microsoft Windows, Oblivion is a role-playing game (RPG) that incorporates
Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. A fth-anniversary edition open-ended gameplay.[6] The player can follow side-quests,
was shipped in 2011. interact with NPCs, dispatch monsters, develop their char-
Oblivion 's main story revolves around the player charac- acter, and travel anywhere in the province of Cyrodiil
ter's eorts to thwart a fanatical cult known as the Mythic at any time while playing the game (provided the areas
Dawn that plans to open the gates to a realm called Obliv- are not quest-specic and otherwise inaccessible when not
ion. The game continues the open world tradition of its questing).[6] The game never ends, and the player can con-
predecessors by allowing the player to travel anywhere in tinue playing after completing the main quest.[7] The game-
the game world at any time and to ignore or postpone the play includes a fast travel system, in which an icon ap-
main storyline indenitely. A perpetual objective for play- pears on the game world map every time the player visits
ers is to improve their characters skills, which are numer- a new location. This excludes the game worlds main cities
ical representations of certain abilities. Seven skills are se- which are already unlocked for fast travel from the start of
lected early in the game as major skills, with the remain- the game. The player can arrive at a desired location instan-
der termed minor. Developers opted for tighter pacing in taneously by selecting the icon on the map.[8]
gameplay and greater plot focus than in past titles. Character development is a primary element of Oblivion.
Development for Oblivion began in 2002, directly after the At the beginning of the game, the player selects one of
release of Morrowind. To design the graphics, Bethesda many human or anthropomorphic races, each of which has
used an improved Havok physics engine, high dynamic dierent natural [6][9]
abilities, and customizes their characters
range lighting, procedural content generation tools that al- appearance. A perpetual objective for players is to im-
lowed developers to quickly create detailed terrains, and prove their characters skills, which are numerical represen-
the Radiant A.I. system, which enabled non-player charac- tations of their ability in certain areas. Seven skills are se-
ters (NPCs) to make choices and engage in behaviors more lected early in the game as major skills, with the remainder
[6]
complex than in past titles. The game features fully voiced termed minor. The player levels up each time they im-
NPCsa rst for the seriesand the music of award- prove their major skills by a total of ten points; this pro-
winning composer Jeremy Soule. Overall, Oblivion was vides the opportunity to improve their attributes.[10] At-
well received by critics, and has won a number of indus- tributes are more broad character qualities, such as speed
and endurance, while skills are more specic, such as ar-

1
2 CHAPTER 1. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION''

wolves.[21] Enemies become stronger and weapons and ar-

mor more eective as the player levels up. This game me-
chanic, level-scaling, was incorporated to maintain a con-
stant and moderate aspect of diculty.[22] However, level-
scaling, combined with the leveling system has received
criticism, as it has the potential to unbalance the game;
characters with major skills that increase on an involun-
tary basis, such as athletics or armor, can nd they level too
quickly, making the enemies proportionately harder than
intended.[22]

1.2 Plot
Oblivion is set after the events of The Elder Scrolls III: Mor-
The inventory interface, where the player garbs, armors, and equips
their character rowind, though it is not a direct sequel to it or any other
game.[23] The game is set in Cyrodiila province of Tam-
riel, the continent on which all the games in the series have
[24]
morer or athletics.[11][12] When the player reaches ei- so far taken place.
ther 25, 50, 75 or 100 points in a single skill, they unlock The story begins with the player imprisoned in a cell for an
new abilities related to the skill.[12] The games 21 skills fall unknown crime. Emperor Uriel Septim VII, accompanied
evenly under the categories of combat, magic, and stealth, by Imperial bodyguards known as the Blades, arrive in the
and many skills complement more than one area.[12][13] prison, eeing from assassins who have murdered the em-
Combat skills are used primarily for battle and incorpo- perors three sons and are now targeting him. The emperor
rate armor and heavy weapons like blades, axes, maces, and and the Blades reveal that the players jail cell contains a
hammers.[13][14] Magic skills rely on the use of spells to alter secret entrance to a part of the citys sewer that functions
the physical world, to aect the minds of others, to injure as an escape route. Pardoned by the emperor, the player
and debilitate enemies, to summon monsters to help ght, follows the group into the sewer, where they come under
and to heal wounds.[13][15] Stealth skills allow the player to attack by assassins. All but one of the Blades are cut down
crack locks, haggle for goods, use speech to manipulate in the ghting that ensues. Knowing he is destined to die by
people, and apply cunning in combat (through the use of the hands of the assassins, Uriel Septim entrusts the player
a bow or with a sneak attack).[13][16] The spells, weapons, with the Amulet of Kings, worn by the Septim emperors of
and other tools such as lockpicks that a player needs to em- Tamriel, and orders the player to take it to a man named
ploy and enhance these skills can be purchased in shops, Jaure, the grand master of the Blades, at Weynon Priory.
stolen from NPCs, or found as loot on the bodies of foes or Immediately afterward, one of the assassins kills the em-
in dungeons.[17] peror. The player escapes the sewer and heads out into the
[24]
Oblivion can be played in either a rst- or third-person open world of Cyrodiil.
view,[10] except in the mobile phone version, in which the The lack of an heir for Uriel Septim has broken an old
game can only be played in isometric projection.[3] The covenantthe barrier to Oblivion: a dangerous realm that
player may change the level of diculty at any time, thereby is in another dimension. Multiple gates to Oblivion open,
weakening opponents and increasing the chance of success and an invasion of Tamriel begins by magical creatures
for particular actions.[18] The screen constantly presents known as Daedra, killing and destroying anything in their
a heads-up display, which provides information about the path. Jaure tells the player that the only way to close the
characters health, magicka, and fatigue, all of which can gates permanently is to nd someone of the royal bloodline
be increased by leveling up.[19] Health can be restored by to retake the throne and relight the Dragonreswith the
spells, potions, or resting; the loss of all health results in Amulet of Kingsin the Imperial City. Fortunately, there
death.[20] Magicka allows for and is depleted by the use of is an illegitimate son named Martin, who is a priest in the
spells; it is rejuvenated naturally over time, but it can be re- city of Kvatch. Upon arriving at Kvatch, the player nds
stored similarly to health.[20] Fatigue aects the characters that the Daedra have destroyed the city and very few sur-
eectiveness in combat and general eciency, and can be vivors remain. A massive Oblivion Gate is obstructing the
alleviated by resting, potions and spells.[20] Throughout the main city entrance, and the player must venture through the
world are a variety of enemies, including standard fantasy gate into the Deadlandsone of the planes of Oblivion
monsters like imps and goblins, and animals like bears and in order to close it from the inside and allow access to the
1.3. DEVELOPMENT 3

city. After closing the gate, the player enters Kvatch and light, explaining that while the Amulet of Kings is destroyed
takes it back from the Daedra with the assistance of surviv- and the throne again lies empty, the gates of Oblivion are
ing guardsmen. Fortunately, Martin has survived and the now shut forever and the future of Tamriel now lies in
player persuades him to come to Weynon Priory.[24] the players hands. The Empires high chancellor sincerely
The player, now recognized as the Hero of Kvatch, returns thanks the player for their service during the [24] crisis and elects
to Weynon Priory with Martin, nding that it has come un- them as the seventh Champion of Cyrodiil.
der attack by assassins and that the Amulet of Kings has
been stolen. The player escorts Jaure and Martin to Cloud
Ruler Temple, the stronghold of the Blades. There, Martin 1.3 Development
is recognized as the emperor and is given command of the
Blades. The player is optionally entered into their ranks Main article: Development of The Elder Scrolls IV:
and sets o in search of the amulet. After gathering in- Oblivion
formation, the player learns that the group responsible for
Uriel Septims assassination and the theft of the amulet are
the Mythic Dawn, a cult dedicated to the worshiping of The game was developed by the United States software
Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. The company Bethesda Softworks. Ken Rolston, who was Mor- [25]
cult believes Dagon is the true creator of the world and wish rowind 's lead designer, oversaw the development team.
for him to cleanse it of all impurities. Killing the emperor The PC and Xbox 360 versions of [26] the game were co-
and thus removing the barriers to Oblivion was the rst step published by 2K Games and Bethesda. Work on Oblivion
in realizing this idea. The player attempts to inltrate the began shortly after the release of Morrowind in 2002.[27]
secret meeting place of the cult in the hopes of retrieving the By mid-September 2004, Oblivion had been ocially an-
[27][28]
amulet. When the player does so, the cults leader, Mankar nounced, and its title revealed.
Camoran, escapes through a portal, taking the amulet with During Oblivion 's development, Bethesda concentrated on
him. The player takes the book that had opened the por- creating a system with more realistic storyline, believable
tal to Martin, who deduces a way to reopen the portal. The characters, and meaningful quests than had been done in
player seeks out three key artifacts necessary to recreate the the past. In comparison with previous titles in the series,
portal: a Daedric artifact, the armor of the rst Septim em- the game features improved articial intelligence thanks to
peror, and a Great Welkynd Stone. With all three retrieved, the use of Bethesda proprietary Radiant A.I. software,[29]
Martin reveals that a nal ingredient is needed: a Great Sigil and enhanced physics facilitated by the Havok physics en-
Stone from inside a Great Gate similar to the one that dev- gine.[30] The graphics take advantage of advanced light-
astated Kvatch. Martin and Jaure decide to allow the city ing and shader routines like high dynamic range render-
of Bruma to be attacked by Daedra so that a Great Gate ing (HDR) and specular mapping.[31][32][33] Bethesda devel-
will be opened. Once it is, the player obtains the Stone and oped and implemented procedural content creation tools in
closes the Gate, also saving Bruma.[24] the building of Oblivion 's terrain, leading to the expedited
A portal is created at Cloud Ruler Temple and the player creation of landscapes [34]
that are more complex and realistic
is sent through to Mankar Camorans created realm of Par- than in past titles.
adise. After bypassing Daedra, Mythic Dawn members and While designing Oblivion 's landscape and architecture,
obstacles, the player confronts Camoran and kills him. The developers worked from personal travel photographs, na-
player returns the Amulet of Kings to Martin, and they sub- ture books, texture images, and reference photographs.[33]
sequently travel to the Imperial City with the Blades to re- Procedural content generation tools used in production al-
light the Dragonres and end the Daedric invasion. They lowed for the creation of realistic environments at much
nd the city under attack by Daedra and an enormous avatar faster rates than was the case with Morrowind.[34] Ero-
of Mehrunes Dagon himself. The player and Martin ght sion algorithms incorporated in the landscape generation
their way to the Temple of the One. There, Martin laments tools allowed for the creation of craggy terrain quickly and
that they are powerless against Dagons avatar and explains easily, replacing Morrowind 's articially smoothed-over
that they can only defeat him one way. He bids farewell to terrain.[34]
the player and shatters the Amulet of Kings, merging him-
Oblivion 's view distance is far greater than its predecessors,
self with the spirit of Akatosh, the Dragon-God of Time,
extending player sightlines to the horizon and giving views
thus becoming Akatoshs avatar. After a battle, Akatosh
of distant towns and mountain ranges.[36] According to a
casts Dagon back into Oblivion and lets out a mighty roar
Microsoft press release, Oblivion 's game world is approx-
before turning to stone. Martin, whose soul was consumed
imately 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in size.[37]
by the amulet, enters the afterlife to join his forbears. In a
Wilderness quests, ruins, and dungeons were added to ll
telepathic monologue to the player, he sheds an optimistic
surplus space.[34] Content in the dungeons is more densely
4 CHAPTER 1. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION''
An in-game screenshot showing Oblivion 's user interface, HDR
lighting and long draw distance, improvements made as part of a
goal to create cutting-edge graphics.[35]
packed than in dungeons in Morrowind, with an increase in
the frequency of creature encounters, quest-related NPCs,
and puzzles.[34] The populations represented in Oblivion,
however, do not match the thousands upon thousands de-
scribed in previous in-game literature. The development
team decided to set the NPC populations at a level that
would play well, rather than one that would match game
lore, since the presence of a large number of NPCs on
screen would have caused the game to slow down.[38]
In response to the criticism that NPC behavior had been
too simplistic in Morrowind, Bethesda developed the Ra-
diant A.I. system for Oblivion.[39] NPCs were designed to
make choices, rather than complete scripted routines, to
achieve predetermined goals. The manner in which goals
such as eating, sleeping, reading, and speaking to others are
fullled is dependent upon the environment, the choices of
other NPCs, and programmed personality values. For ex-
ample, an NPC whose goal is to nd food may eventually
resort to stealing from others, if they are given the oppor-
tunity and if it is in their character.[40] These development
mechanics allowed Bethesda to create NPCs who could en-
gage in complex activities.[29]
1.3.1 Audio
Oblivion features the voices of Patrick Stewart, Lynda
Carter, Sean Bean, Terence Stamp, Ralph Cosham, and
Wes Johnson, with celebrity acquisition and voice produc-
tion being handled by Blindlight.[41][42][43] The voice acting
received mixed reviews in the gaming press. While many
publications praised it as excellent,[44][45] others found fault
with its repetitiveness.[46][47][48] The issue has been blamed
on the small number of voice actors and the blandness of
the dialogue itself.[49] Lead designer Ken Rolston found the
plan to fully voice the game less exible, less apt for user
projection of his own tone, more constrained for branching,
and more trouble for production and disk real estate than
Morrowind 's partially recorded dialogue. Rolston tem-
pered his criticism with the suggestion that voice acting can
be a powerful expressive tool and can contribute signi-
cantly to the charm and ambience of the game. He stated
I prefer Morrowind 's partially recorded dialogue, for many
reasons. But I'm told that fully-voiced dialogue is what the
kids want.[50]
Oblivion 's score was composed by series mainstay Jeremy
Soule, a video game composer whose past scores had
earned him a British Academy of Film and Television Arts
(BAFTA) award in the "Game Music Category" and two
nominations for an Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
(AIAS) award for Original Music Composition.[51][52]
The ocial soundtrack to Oblivion, featuring 26 tracks
spanning 58 minutes; it was released in March 2006,
via Soules digital distributor DirectSong.[53][54] Soule had
worked with Bethesda and Todd Howard during the cre-
ation of Morrowind, and, in a press release announcing
his return for Oblivion, Soule repeated the words he had
said during Morrowind 's press release: The stunning, epic
quality of The Elder Scrolls series is particularly compati-
ble with the grand, orchestral style of music I enjoy com-
posing the most.[51][52] As in his compositions for Mor-
rowind, Soule chose to create a soft and minimalist score
so as not to wear out users ears.[55] Soule stated that while
composing the music he did not imagine any specic char-
acters or events; rather, he wanted it to comment on the
human condition and the beauty of life. In a 2006 inter-
view, he related that this desire came as a result of a car
accident that occurred during his composition of the score.
He said, I ended up rolling in my car several times on an
interstate while ying headlong into oncoming trac ... I
felt no fear ... I simply just acknowledged to myself that
I've had a good life and I would soon have to say goodbye
to all of it in a matter of seconds. Soule sustained only
minor injuries, but commented that his feeling during the
crash"that life is indeed preciousremained with him
throughout the rest of the composition.[56]
1.4 Marketing and release
Oblivion 's public debut occurred on May 18, 2005 at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.[57]
The version shown at E3 was substantially nished; most
content was already in the game, lacking only the polish
that the nal months of development would bring.[58] Most
viewers were impressed by Oblivions showing, and the
game won a number of best of awards from a variety
of game journalists: GameSpy's RPG Game of Show,[59]
1.6. RECEPTION
GameSpot's Best Role-Playing Game,[60] IGN's Best PC
RPG,[61] RPGFans Overall Game of E3 2005,[62] and,
most prestigiously, the Best Role Playing Game in the
2005 E3 Game Critics Awards.[63] A near-nal build of
Oblivion was shown at Microsofts Consumer Electronics
Show press tent in January 2006, showcasing the games
exteriors.[64][65] In the months prior to release, anticipation
for the game ran high, with critics describing Oblivion as
the rst next-gen game only heightening attention. Peo-
ple were expecting the game to cure blindness and heal the
sick, said Pete Hines, Vice President of Public Relations
and Marketing for Bethesda.[66]
2K Games had aimed for a late 2005 publication so that
the game could be an Xbox 360 launch title.[67] The ocial
release date for the PC and Xbox 360 versions was origi-
nally November 22, 2005, but developmental delays pushed
it back to March 20, 2006.[68][69][70] A mobile phone ver-
sion of the game, developed by Superscape and published
by Vir2L Studios, was released on May 2, 2006.[3] The
PlayStation 3 version of the game (ported by 4J Studios)
was released on March 20, 2007, in North America[71] and
on April 27, 2007, in Europe.[72][73] This version includes
graphical improvements that had been made since the PC
and Xbox 360 release, and was subsequently praised for its
enhanced visual appeal.[74][75]
At the 2007 E3, the Game of the Year edition for Obliv-
ion was announced.[76] In North America and Europe, the
game was released in September 2007, for the Xbox 360
and PC,[77][78] and in October 2007, for the PS3;[79] in Aus-
tralia, it was released on September 2007, for the Xbox 360
and PC, and in December 2007, for the PS3.[5][77][80] It
was also released on Steam on June 16, 2009.[81] A 5th an-
niversary edition of Oblivion was announced and released
in North America in July 2011 and in Europe two months
later.[82][83] An Xbox 360 version of Fallout 3 and Obliv-
ion double pack was announced for release in North Amer-
ica on April 3, however it was not mentioned whether the
bundled games include any of the downloadable content re-
leased for either game.[84]
1.5 Additional content
Further information: Downloadable content for The Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Starting in April 2006, Bethesda released small packages of
additional downloadable content (DLC) for the game from
their website and over the Xbox Live Marketplace. The rst
update came as a set of specialized armor for Oblivion 's rid-
able horses; released on April 3, 2006.[85][86][87] Although
gamers generally displayed enthusiasm for the concept of
5
micropayments for downloadable in-game content,[85][88]
many expressed their dissatisfaction at the price they had
to pay for the relatively minor horse-armor package on
the Internet and elsewhere.[85] Hines assured the press that
Bethesda was not going to respond rashly to customer
criticism.[88] New releases continued into late 2006, at
lower prices with more substantial content, leading to a
better reception in the gaming press.[89][90][91][92][93] Other
small DLC packs include a set of houses themed after the
games factions, a new dungeon, and new spells that were
absent in the initial release. Oblivion 's nal content pack
was released October 15, 2007.[94][95]
The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine is an ocial ex-
pansion for Oblivion released on November 21, 2006.[96]
Downloadable on the Xbox Live marketplace for the Xbox
360 and available for retail purchase for PC users,[96] the
expansion content was included in the original version of
the PlayStation 3 release.[97] The expansion was developed,
published, and released by Bethesda Softworks.[98] The plot
of Knights of the Nine centers on the rise of the sorcerer-
king Umaril and the players quest to defeat him with the
aid of the lost crusaders relics.[99] Although it made little
change to the basic mechanics of Oblivion, it was judged by
reviewers to be a brief but polished addition to the games
main plot.[100][101][102]
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles,[103] was released on
March 27, 2007, for Windows and Xbox 360. The ex-
pansion oers more than 30 hours of new adventuring, and
features new quests, voice acting, monsters, spells, armor,
and expanded freeform gameplay. It features a new land
that [players] can watch change according to [their] vital
life-or-death decisions.[104][105] Shivering Isles takes place
in the realm of madness ruled over by the Daedric prince
Sheogorath. The player is tasked by Sheogorath with sav-
ing the realm from an approaching cataclysm known as the
Greymarch.[106][107]
1.6 Reception
Oblivion received universal acclaim from critics, and be-
came a commercial success.[111][128] The game had shipped
1.7 million copies by April 10, 2006,[129] sold over 3
million copies by January 2007,[130] and over 3.5 million
by November 2011.[131] Electronic Entertainment Design
and Research, a market research rm, estimates that the
game has sold 9.5 million copies worldwide.[132] Review-
ers praised the game for its impressive graphics, expansive
game world and schedule-driven NPCs. Eurogamer editor
Kristan Reed stated that the game successfully unites some
of the best elements of RPG, adventure and action games
and fuses them into a relentlessly immersive and intoxicat-
ing whole.[133] GameSpots Greg Kasavin wrote that com-
6 CHAPTER 1. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION''

pared to Morrowind, which was one of the best role-playing 2006 by 1UP.com,[143] G4,[140] IGN,[144] GameSpy,[145]
games he has seen in years, "Oblivion is hands-down bet- GameSpot,[146] Game Revolution,[147] and the Interactive
ter, so much so that even those who'd normally have no in- Achievement Awards.[148] In 2007, PC Gamer magazine
terest in a role-playing game should nd it hard to resist rated Oblivion number one on their list of the top 100 games
getting swept up in this big, beautiful, meticulously crafted of all time.[149] In addition to the awards won by the game
world.[118] X-Play's Jason D'Aprile stated, All the games itself, Patrick Stewarts voice work as Uriel Septim won a
in this series have been known for their sheer vastness and Spike TV award,[141] and the musical score by composer
freedom of choice, but the Elder Scrolls IV takes that con- Jeremy Soule won the inaugural MTV Video Music Award
cept and runs with it.[134] for Best Original Score through an international popular
[150]
GamesTM editors noted that the game is heavily steeped vote.
in RPG tradition, however, its appeal stretches far beyond
the hardcore RPG demographic thanks to its ease of play,
boundless ambition and focused attention to detail.[135] 1.7 Rating change
Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote that the game is
worth playing for the sense of discoveryeach environ- Main article: ESRB re-rating of The Elder Scrolls IV:
ment looks dierent from the last and requires a nuanced Oblivion
reactionmakes the action addictive.[136] GameZone sta
commented on how one can spend a lot of the gameplay
On May 3, 2006, the Entertainment Software Rating Board
time by leveling up his or her character, doing various
(ESRB) in North America changed Oblivion 's rating from
quests, and customizing the character before even starting
T (Teen 13+) to M (Mature 17+), citing game content not
the main quest.[137]
considered in the ESRB review, i.e., the presence in the
Game Revolution's Duke Ferris noted that the voices occa- PC version of the game of a locked-out art le that, if ac-
sionally repeat but was impressed that the developers man- cessed by using an apparently unauthorized third party tool,
aged to t a lot of voiced dialog into the game, where most is allows the user to play the game with topless versions of
high-quality work.[138] IGN editor Charles Onyett praised female characters.[151][152] In response to the new content,
the games storytelling and easy to navigate menus.[123] the ESRB conducted a review of Oblivion, showing to its re-
Despite the praise, Patrick Joynt of 1UP.com criticized viewers the content originally submitted by Bethesda along
[153][154]
the conversations between in-game NPCs and the player: with the newly disclosed content.
When an NPC greets you with a custom piece of dialogue The ESRB reported that Bethesda Softworks would
(such as a guards warning) and then reverts to the stan- promptly notify all retailers of the change, issue stickers
dard options (like a guards cheerful directions just after for retailers and distributors to ax on the product, dis-
that warning) its more jarring than the canned dialogue by play the new rating in all following product shipments and
itself.[115] GameSpys Justin Speer criticized the disrup- marketing, and create a downloadable patch rendering the
tive loading stutters while moving across the game world topless skin inaccessible.[153] Bethesda complied with the
and long loading times. Speer noted several miscellaneous request but disagreed with the ESRBs rationale.[155] Some
bugs, such as unintended oating objects and unsynchro- retailers began to check for ID before selling Oblivion as a
nized lip-synching and speech.[139] Onyett of IGN criticized result,[156] and one California Assemblyman used the event
the disjunction between enemies that scaled up according to criticize the ESRBs ineciency.[157] Escapist later noted
to the players level and not their combat abilities or NPC that journalists failed to cover the fact that the nude con-
allies, the loading times and the imprecision in the com- tent was not actually contained in the game les, but existed
bat system, but stated that none of those minor criticisms solely through a third party modication.[152]
hold back Oblivion from being a thoroughly enjoyable, user-
friendly, gorgeous experience with enough content to keep
you returning time and time again.[123] 1.8 References
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[137] jkdmedia (April 3, 2006). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
360 Review. GameZone. GameZone Online.
[138] Ferris, Duke (March 30, 2006). The Elder Scrolls IV:
Oblivion Review for the Xbox360. Game Revolution.
CraveOnline Media.
[139] Speer, Justin (March 27, 2006). GameSpy: The Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion Page 3. GameSpy. IGN Entertain-
ment. p. 3. Archived from the original on February 23,
2013.
nounced. G4. G4 Media.
[141] Surette, Tim (December 9, 2006). Oblivion nabs Spike TV
top honors. GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
[142] Orry, James (October 30, 2006). Oblivion takes home the
shiniest golden joystick. Videogamer.com. Pro-G Media.
[143] 2006 1UP Awards Winners. 1UP.com. IGN Entertain-
ment. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013.
IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
[145] 2006 Game of the Year PC RPG of the Year The El-
der Scrolls IV: Oblivion. GameSpy. IGN Entertainment.
Archived from the original on February 23, 2013.

[127] Decker, Logan, ed. (May 2006). Oblivion. PC Gamer US [146] 20 Best & Worst of 2006 Genre awards Best Role-
(Future US): 80. playing Game. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved
March 4, 2013.
[128] Bramwell, Tom (September 29, 2006). Oblivion set for
PS3 launch. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. [147] Best of 2006 Awards RPG. Game Revolution. CraveOn-
line Media. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
[129] Thorsen, Tor (April 10, 2006). Oblivion enjoying epic
sales. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. [148] 2007 Interactive Achievement Awards. Academy of In-
teractive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
[130] Groen, Andrew (January 19, 2007). Gears Of War, Obliv-
ion hit 3 Million Sold. Gaming Blend. Cinema Blend. [149] Francis, Tom (January 11, 2007). PC Gamers Best 100
PC Games. ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Future Pub-
[131] Brightman, James (December 9, 2011). Skyrim Already lishing.
Approaching Lifetime Sales of Oblivion. IndustryGamers.
[150] MTV Video Music Awards. MTV. Viacom International.
[132] Kollar, Philip (November 10, 2015). Fallout 4 could be Retrieved January 20, 2013.
a bigger hit than Skyrim. Polygon. Vox Media. Archived
from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved Novem- [151] Remo, Chris (May 3, 2006). Hot Coee Strikes Again,
ber 13, 2015. Oblivion Re-Rated (Updated)". Shacknews.

[133] Reed, Kristan (March 24, 2006). The Elder Scrolls IV: [152] Zenke, Michael (June 12, 2007). The Breasts That Broke
Oblivion Review. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. The Game. The Escapist. Alloy Digital.

[134] D'Aprile, Jason (April 24, 2006). The Elder Scrolls IV: [153] ESRB Changes Rating for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Oblivion Review. G4. G4 Media. Archived from the orig- from Teen to Mature (PDF). Entertainment Software Rat-
inal on October 18, 2006. ing Board. May 3, 2006.
 1.10. EXTERNAL LINKS 11

[154] ESRB Parent Advisory regarding rating change for The El-
der Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PDF). Entertainment Software
Rating Board. May 3, 2006.

[155] Bethesda responds to Oblivion rerating. GameSpot. CBS

Interactive. May 3, 2006.

[156] Carless, Simon (May 3, 2006). IEMA Reacts To Oblivion

Mature Re-Rating. Gamasutra. UBM Tech.

[157] Yee Berates ESRB Over Oblivion Re-Rating. Edge. Fu-

ture Publishing. May 5, 2006.

1.9 Further reading

Burman, Rob (February 16, 2007). Sean Bean Gag-
ging for Oblivion. IGN. IGN Entertainment.
Carless, Simon (January 18, 2007). Bethesda Con-
rms Oblivion Expansion For Xbox Live Distribu-
tion. Gamasutra. UBM Tech.

Joynt, Patrick (March 29, 2006). The Oblivion of

Western RPGs: Is the PC RPG Dead?". 1UP.com.
IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on
February 24, 2013.

Miller, Ross (October 7, 2006). How modders saved

Oblivion. Joystiq. AOL.

Miller, Ross (July 26, 2007). Oblivion producer pre-

dicts breakout hit in Japan. Joystiq. AOL.

1.10 External links

Ocial website

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at DMOZ

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at the Internet Movie
Database
Chapter 2

Development

tures improved AI (courtesy of Bethesdas proprietary Ra-

diant AI),[11][12] improved physics (courtesy of the Havok
physics engine),[13] and impressive graphics, taking advan-
tage of advanced lighting and shader routines like high dy-
namic range rendering (HDR) and specular mapping.[14][15]
Bethesda developed and implemented procedural content
creation tools in the creation of Oblivion's terrain, leading
to landscapes that are more complex and realistic than those
of past titles, with less of a drain on Bethesdas sta.[16][17]
A PlayStation 3 version of Oblivion was released on March
20, 2007 in North America,[18] and April 27, 2007 in
Europe,[19] following delays similar to those for the Xbox
360 release.[20][21][22] The PlayStation 3 release was touted
for its improvement over the graphics of the PC and Xbox
[23][24]
An in-game screenshot showing Oblivion's user interface, HDR 360 versions, although some of the improved shader
lighting and long draw distance, improvements made as part of a routines optimized for the PlayStation 3 release were set
goal to create advanced graphics. to be ported over to the other releases through patches.[25]
A plan to distribute content through downloads paid by
The development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion be- micropayment was initially met with criticism by customers
[26][27]
gan in 2002, immediately after its predecessor, The Elder due to its alleged low value, but later releasesat
Scrolls III: Morrowind, was published.[1] Rumors of a se- a reduced price, and with more contentproved more
[28][29][30]
quel to Morrowind began circulating in June 2004; the se- popular.
quels title was identied on September 10, 2004, the date
of its ocial announcement.[2][1][3] Oblivion was devel-
oped by Bethesda Game Studios, and the initial Xbox 360 2.1 Business
and Personal computer (PC) releases were co-published
by Bethesda and Take-Two Interactive's subsidiary, 2K
2.1.1 Rumors and ocial announcements
Games.[4] According to interviews with Bethesda sta, the
publisher-developer relationshipone of the few indepen- The rst rumors of another Elder Scrolls release after The
dent relations in the industryworked well, and Bethesda Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind began to circulate in June 2004,
was not subject to excessive corporate guidance.[5][6] Orig- following Bethesdas posting of an e-mail searching for new
inally scheduled for a November 22, 2005 release, in tan- sta. The new sta members were to participate on a team
dem with the Xbox 360s launch,[7] Oblivion was delayed to that would push the bleeding-edge of RPG development
a March 21, 2006 release for Windows PCs and the Xbox for the PC and future-generation consoles". For those con-
360.[8] sidering the job, the e-mail suggested that knowledge of
Developers working on Oblivion focused on providing a ... The Elder Scrolls [is] a plus. At the time, a member
tighter storyline, with fewer ller quests and more devel- of Bethesdas sta played down the importance of the last
oped characters.[9][10] The developers sought to make in- comment, noting that Bethesda would obviously prefer
formation in the game world more accessible to players, applicants familiar with the companys products.[2] Rumors
making the game easier to pick up and play. Oblivion fea- were conrmed on July 12, 2004, when it was announced

12
2.1. BUSINESS 13

that Fallout 3 and the next Elder Scrolls title would be pub-
lished by Bethesda and produced by Todd Howard.[31] The
title of the release was listed on September 10, 2004, when
Bethesda ocially announced the identity of the game in
question: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, followed by a fea-
ture in the October 2004 issue of Game Informer.[1][3] At
the time of the announcement, Bethesda had been working
on Oblivion for two years (since 2002[1] ), just as Bethesda
was completing work on Morrowind.[32][33]

2.1.2 Release delays

Although preliminary reports from Reuters suggested an

Oblivion release in tandem with the launch of the Xbox 360
The Los Angeles Convention Center, where the Electronic Enter-
on November 22, 2005,[7] and the original announcement
tainment Expo (E3) was held.
of the game set a release date of Winter 2005,[34] Take-
Two Interactive announced, during a conference call with
analysts on October 31, 2005, that Oblivion's release was
games public debut would come at the Electronic Enter-
to be delayed until the second quarter of Take-Twos s-
tainment Expo in Los Angeles on May 18, 2005.[34] The
cal year. The new schedule would put the release between
version shown at E3 was substantially nished; most content
February and April 2006. The delay surprised many, espe-
was already in the game, lacking only the polish that the nal
cially online retailers, who had begun accepting pre-orders
months of development would bring. The games world, for
for consoles bundled with Oblivion.[8] News of the delay
example, had already been fully constructed but still needed
came at a time following a burst of bad news from the com-
to undergo a clutter pass, wherein minor game items
pany, including a 60% drop in expected earnings per share,
"books, weapons, and thousands of forks and platesare
the ongoing Hot Coee minigame controversy, worse than
dropped into the game world.[39]
average sales for the companys agship Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas, sudden drops in share prices, and delays for Howard himself never took to the show. Its like a beauty
other company products.[35] pageant, he told one reporter. I have 20 minutes to give
you a presentation on our games that by their nature are hard
Most commentators blamed Take-Twos corporate gover-
to demo in that time period, and then the person is going to
nance; one analyst stated that the companys troubles were
check their watch and walk out and go see someoneomfort-
more company-specic than market-driven,[36] and an-
able seating, and dim lightingwhere attendees could com-
other declared company CEO Paul Eibeler to be the worst
fortably watch.[40] Howard agreed with the choice: We've
CEO of 2005, pointing to setbacks on the rollouts of
always taken sort of the meeting room approach. We don't
newer games as evidence of his failure.[37] Pete Hines, Vice
have loud crazy booths.[41]
President of PR and Marketing for Bethesda, and Todd
Howard, Executive Producer for the game, gave an update During Microsofts E3 pre-show conference, a ten-second
about the delay on the weekend of November 6, 2005. They preview of Oblivion was shown amid demo reels for other
games. The preview consisted of a series of brief second-
planned to give updates every subsequent weekend until the
games release. A commentator from Joystiq complained of long shots of the game.[42] Later on, during E3 proper,
Bethesda showed a longer 25-minute demo that showcased
the vagueness of the updates: they don't get any more spe-
further clipped scenes: the opening dungeon, a procedu-
cic than to say, 'There is work that still needs to be done'.
rally rendered forest, one of the games towns, and other
In fact, they say this three times just to make sure we know
locales.[32][43] Most viewers were impressed by Oblivion's
how hard they are working.... While its nice to see the de-
showing. In the words of one reporter, "The Elder Scrolls
velopment team taking time out to update the fans, if the an-
IV: Oblivion isn't just one of the brightest gems in the Xbox
nouncements continue to be as vague as this one, I'd rather
just see them spend the extra time on the actual game.[38]
360s upcoming launch lineup, but its also perhaps a per-
fect example of a next-generation role-playing game.[44]
Oblivion won a number of best of awards from a variety
2.1.3 Product showings of game journalists: GameSpy's RPG Game of Show[45]
GameSpot's Best RPG,[46] IGN's Best PC RPG,[47]
On May 16, 2005, Bethesda announced that they would be RPGFans Best Overall Game of E3 2005,[48] and, most
releasing Oblivion on Microsoft's Xbox 360, and that the prestigiously, the Best Role Playing Game in the 2005 E3
14 CHAPTER 2. DEVELOPMENT

Game Critics Awards.[49] 2.1.5 PlayStation 3 release

A near-nal build of Oblivion would later be shown at Mi-
crosofts Consumer Electronics Show press tentbut not at The PS3 version of the game was ported/developed by 4J
its public Xbox 360 booth[50] in January 2006, showcas- Studios who have worked with Bethesda in other projects.
ing the games exteriors. A Joystiq reporter at the scene In April 2006, an inadvertently mailed version of Bethesdas
was not entirely impressed, nding the demo marred by supposed forthcoming game release list began a series of
long load times and slowdowns during combat. An Xbox unconrmed rumors of Oblivion releases for the PlayStation
representative reassured the reporter that all such issues 3 and the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The list suggested
would be worked out before the games retail release.[51] In that Oblivion would be a PlayStation 3 launch title, and
the months prior to release, anticipation for the game ran that the PSP version would be released in November.[64]
high, with critics describing Oblivion as the rst next-gen These rumors were conrmed on September 28, 2006,
game only heightening attention. People were expecting when Bethesda ocially announced the titles, setting the
the game to cure blindness and heal the sick, said Hines.[52] PlayStation 3 versions North American release date for
November 2006, European release date for March 2007,
and the PSP version for Spring 2007. The two titles were
set to be published by Bethesda alone in North America,
2.1.4 Xbox 360 and PC release and with Ubisoft as a co-publisher in Europe.[65][66] Hines
was mum regarding the change in publishers: Too much
After an almost four-month delay, Oblivion went gold on backroom stu.[52] Ubisoft saw their rst quarter sales for
March 2, 2006[53] and was released for Microsoft Win- 2007 rise 90.5%, to 134 million Euros, exceeding previous
dows and Xbox 360 on March 21, 2006.[54] Early rumors forecasts by 14 million Euros. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guille-
notwithstanding, Oblivion shipped on a single DVD-DL mot attributed the rise to new-generation consoles and the
disc.[55] One journalist voiced concern for the games re- impact of PlayStation 3 game sales, including Rainbow Six
lease date, as it was set in the same week as that of EA's Vegas and Oblivion".[67]
The Godfather. Hines dismissed the suggestion, saying, Despite the title being included in Sonys announced
We tend to focus on what we can control and not worry PlayStation 3 launch lineup at its annual Gamers Day
about what we can't control. Given the level of interest event in San Francisco, online retailers EBgames.com
and the number of pre-orders and so forth, we had a pretty and Gamestop.comtwo sites with a history of reveal-
good idea we'd be just ne no matter what else was hap- ing the release dates of games before their publishers
pening that week.[56] Oblivion was the rst RPG title to announcementswere found on November 8, 2006 to have
be released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.[53] In addi- set Oblivion's release date as January 1, 2007.[20] Some
tion to the standard release version, a Collectors Edition wasfew hours later, the delay was conrmed, as Pete Hines is-
released for both Windows and Xbox 360 which includes sued the statement that Oblivion PS3 is now a Q1 2007
the 112-page Pocket Guide to the Empire, a bonus DVD title. Hines gave no reason for the delay, but the news
containing concept art, renders, and an approximately 45- stirred suspicions of development diculties working with
minute long documentary on the making of Oblivion, and the PlayStation 3, and that Bethesda was discouraged by the
a coin replica of the in-game currency of Tamriel.[57] Its scarcity of PlayStation 3 consoles at launch.[21] The North
suggested release price of US$69.99 brought back memo- American PS3 release was later conrmed to be March 20,
ries of game prices circa the Nintendo 64" for one Kotaku 2007, near the end of the rst quarter window,[18] with the
commentator.[58] Some suggested that the included coin be European PS3 release set at April 27, 2007.[19] Some re-
used to create a garish piece of jewelry.[59] porters commented on a perceived parallelism between the
[22][68]
Oblivion was well received in the gaming press; there was Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 delays and releases.
no critical disappointment, no bump in popular expecta- United Kingdom video games retailer GAME encountered
tions, that might have been expected for such a highly antic- distribution problems on release day in Europe. A branch
ipated game.[52] Metacritic, an aggregate review site, gave on Oxford Street reported to Computer and Video Games
the game a 94% score;[60] IGN, GameSpot and GameSpy (CVG), a video games magazine, that no units were in stock
each gave the game their own individual RPG of the Year on the afternoon of April 27, 2007, and that other stores
award.[61] Oblivion also sold well, selling 1.7 million copies were in the same predicament.[69] Other reports suggested
by April 10, 2006.[62] Additionally, 3 million copies were that the game was not available in any of GAMEs 400 UK
sold by January 18, 2007.[63] Pete Hines was satised with and Ireland stores.[70] GAME sta nonetheless told CVG
the release: I feel like we delivered on what people ex- reporters that copies would be available by next week, pos-
pected.... I think the scores and awards reect that we de- sibly Monday. An Ubisoft representative attributed the
livered on peoples expectations.[52] shortage to high demand for the product, and stated that
2.2. PRODUCTION AND DESIGN
copies were available online and at other High Street retail- 2.2.3
ers. Other retailers, such as HMV and Virgin Megastore,
reported no shortages.[69]
2.2 Production and design
2.2.1 Sta
In 2002, Bethesdas Elder Scrolls team was split in two:
half, mostly designers and artists, were sent to work on
Morrowind's expansions; and the rest, mostly programmers,
were sent to work on technology for Oblivion.[9] Ken Rol-
ston, a former designer for Morrowind, was signed on as the
games Lead Designer.[71] Code for the PC and Xbox 360
were somewhat interchangeable, owing to the similarity in
system architecture between the consoles,[52] but the team
still had to divide its programming sta between the two.[5]
A number of sta with experience in developing for Sony
platforms like the PlayStation 2 worked on optimizing the
code for the subsequent PlayStation 3 release.[52] The art
and design sta were largely unaected by the need to de-
velop for multiple consoles.[5]
2.2.2 Publisher relations
On February 3, 2005, Bethesda entered into an agreement
with Take-Two Interactive regarding the publication and re-
lease of Oblivion. Under the agreement, Bethesda would re-
tain full control over Oblivion's development and the rights
to any possible sequels, and Take-Two would agree to pub-
lish the game under its recently formed 2K Games sub
brand.[4] According to Producer Gavin Carter, the teams
experience was a rarity in the industry; few independent
developer-publisher relationships still exist, and it was a sur-
prise that Bethesdas experience worked out as well as it
did. Carter described Take-Twos role as one of minimal
interference, and the company mostly left Bethesdas de-
velopment teams alone, trusting them to produce a fan-
tastic product with minimal interference or red tape.
The relationship was a rarity in the industry, according
to Carter, where most developers are beholden to their
publishers.[5] Ashley Cheng, Oblivion's senior producer,
concurred. There was complete freedom at Bethesda to
decide their own path, whatever market trends might say.[6]
Of the legal proceedings aecting Bethesdas parent com-
pany ZeniMax during the initial stages of game develop-
ment, when Bethesda founder Christopher Weaver sued the
company for severance pay,[72][73] Todd Howard said that
he, as a producer, wasn't involved with corporate aairs. I
just focus on the games.[72]
15
Design goals
Martin Septim, the chosen one of Oblivion's main quest, was not
the player character, but a non-player character.
The teams goal then was, in the words of Todd Howard,
to create the quintessential RPG of the next generation,
with a focus on a combination of freeform gameplay and
cutting-edge graphics.[74] Producing for next generation
machines, rather than a cheap upgrade, gave Bethesda an
additional four years of development.[72] Howard describes
this as an aspect of Bethesdas greater goal of Reinven-
tion, where the teams goal is to make a new game that
stands on its own, that has its own identity.[9] Howard
spoke of the need to avoid repetition, to avoid merely adding
some new features and content, and keep doing that, de-
scribing that path as a good way to drive your games into
the ground. Bethesda, Howard stated, would focus instead
on recapturing what made its past titles exciting in the rst
place.[72]
Keeping with the spirit of past games, Howard promised
to keep with the spirit of big-world, do-anything"-style
games, feeling that a certain size and number of choices
were needed to make role-playing feel meaningful";[74]
but now there was to be greater emphasis on keeping the
game focused.[9] Pete Hines saw the developments between
games as less an issue of design focus and more as a natural
side eect of improving and rening how the game works.
If smart decisions were made, ease of play would naturally
follow.[75] Oblivion would include fewer NPCs and quests
than Morrowind, and mindless ller, which Howard felt the
team had been guilty of in the past, would be avoided.[9]
In exchange, Producer Gavin Carter later explained, there
would be greater focus on length and depth in the quests,
adding more alternate paths, more characters to connect
with, who actually have personalities. Carter cast negative
aspersions on aspects of gameplay too far removed from the
games central plot. Carter stated that such material was not
needed, preferring instead that the focus be on the plot, on
16 CHAPTER 2. DEVELOPMENT

ghting these demon lords, and that further material is in Morrowind included full facial animations, lip synching,
tertiary and takes away.[10] and full speech for all dialogue.[80] Oblivion uses Havok as
The role of the player character in the main quest was to its physics engine, following in the footsteps of Half-Life 2.
be changed as well. In contrast to past games, where the Havok is involved in modeling the games [13]
representations of
player character would play a type of chosen one, Oblivion telekinesis, theft, traps, tumbling, paralysis, area eect
[78]
would have the player character nd him, protect him, and reball explosions, and the contact between arrows and
help him. [76][77]
Aside from that, in the opinion of Hines, their targets. Arrows, in Oblivion, may lodge themselves in
[13]
the main quest has similar themes and tones as in past El- objects and thereby increase their mass.
der Scrolls games, and should still feel epic, simply be- The inclusion of procedural content tools allowed for the
cause of the way the gamespace is designed: with openness creation of realistic environments at much faster rates than
in mind.[77] Improving that aspect of the experience, said was the case with Morrowind.[16] Using Interactive Data Vi-
Hines, came mostly in the form of improved information sualization, Inc. (IDV)'s SpeedTree technology, for exam-
presentation. The system would not intrude on the expe- ple, Bethesda artists were able to quickly generate complex
rience when the player merely wishes to walk around and and organic tree shapes with relative ease. With its par-
explore the world and do whatever he/she wants, but given ent/child hierarchies and iterative branch levels comprised
the scenario where the player asks "'OK, I'm ready to do of highly modiable cylinder primitives", Bethesdas Noah
the next part of the main quest, where do I go?'", the game Berry attests that an entire tree shape can be created in a
would provide a ready answer, so as to avoid confusion manner of minutes, just by adjusting numerical values and
and downtime.[76] tweaking spline curve handles.[17] Instead of Morrowind's
articially smoothed-over terrain, erosion algorithms incor-
porated in the landscape generation tools allowed for the
creation of craggy mountain vistas quickly and easily.[16]
2.2.4 Technology

The Xbox 360 was set as Oblivion's base platform, being the
easiest to develop for, in the words of Pete Hines; the PC, 2.2.5 PlayStation 3
being more like a random amalgamation of graphics cards
and RAM and processors, and poorly dened.[52] As The PS3 release featured a number of technical improve-
they had done with previous games in the series, Bethesda ments over the Xbox 360 release; load times were re-
threw out their old content and technology and began work duced, fewer framerate drops were experienced and sev-
anew. A new engine was envisioned, one which would take eral bugs were xed. Draw distance was increased, and new
advantage of advanced lighting and shader routines, like shaders were included to render the foreground cleanly and
high dynamic range rendering and specular mapping.[32] sharply, leading to rocky landscapes with craggy appear-
The nal product was shipped with an engine formed of ances rather than smooth, non-distinct surfaces.[23] The
a mixture of in-house tech and Numerical Design Lim- new shader sets blended near detail and far detail on-
iteds Gamebryo engine,[14] tricked out in collaboration screen, removing the harsh line that cut between them in
with Bethesdas graphics programmers and NDL.[15] Cheng previous releases.[24] Bethesda decided against implement-
has described the game as "pixel-shader heavy, taking ad- ing SIXAXIS motion support for the game, considering
vantage of the feature in rendering metal, wood, stone, Oblivion not to be of a type well-suited to such a feature.[81]
blood, skin, in addition to water, which was the only use The Knights of the Nine content pack was included with
Morrowind made of the technology. In particular, Obliv- the game, but other downloadable content releases were
ion uses normal maps, diuse maps, specular maps, and not.[23] The latter release spawned a host of rumors across
parallax maps,[78] which Howard described as kind of like the Internet:[25] a 1UP piece stated that the content was re-
displacement mapping".[79] Oblivion makes use of Radiant moved due to its negative eect on console performance,[82]
AI, a new articial intelligence system that allows non- and other websites repeated the claim.[25] Limitations of the
player characters to dynamically react and interact with the PS3s system memory were suspected as the potential cause
world around them.[11] General goals, such as Eat at this of the performance drop.[82]
city at 2pm are given to NPCs, and NPCs are left to de- In an article for IGN, Pete Hines challenged the statements,
termine how to achieve them.[12] The absence of individual providing an alternate rationale for the content packages
scripting for each character allowed for the construction of absence. Firstly, he stated, the expansions were removed
a world on a much larger scale than other games had de- to avoid giving a PS3 player an early advantage over other
veloped, and aided in the creation of what Todd Howard consoles players. Secondly, he stated, the game design-
described as an organic feel for the game.[11] ers were unfamiliar with the PlayStation Network Store and
Features introduced for the new release that had been absent Sonys online content distribution systems, and had not yet
2.3. DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
determined the best method of releasing the packages. The
suggestion that the PS3s technical makeup determined the
move could not be farther from the truth. Hines con-
rmed that the shader improvements for the PS3 would
eventually migrate to the PC and Xbox 360 through fur-
ther patches, but noted that some optimizations would re-
main exclusive to the PS3.[25] In the end, the Xbox 360 and
the PS3 would be very much on a par in their graphical
performance.[52]
2.2.6 Mobile
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Mobile is a mobile phone role-
playing video game developed and published by Vir2L Stu-
dios. It was released May 2, 2006 It is an adaptation of
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and as such it is set within
Cyrodiil, the main province of Tamriel. It also features sev-
eral monsters and dungeons from Oblivion. Players are free
to choose out of the classes of Monk, Nightblade, Barbar-
ian, Archer, Knight, Spellsword, Sorcerer and Battlemage.
Some of the classes are found in earlier installments of the
Elder Scrolls series. Unlike Oblivion, however, the player
gains experience points to increase their level, instead of
using their major skills.
2.3 Downloadable content
2.3.1 Background and Horse Armor
The content of the Horse Armor package was generally seen as
meager, inspiring some to complain of its US$2.50 price.
From April 2006 onwards, Bethesda began releasing small,
downloadable packages of content from their website and
over the Xbox Live Marketplace, for prices equivalent to
between one and three US dollars.[83] The rst package, a
set of horse armor for Oblivion 's steeds, was released on
April 3, 2006, costing 200 Marketplace points, equivalent
to US$2.50[26] or 1.50;[84] the corresponding PC release
cost was US$1.99.[28] Bethesda oered no rationale for
17
the price discrepancy.[85] These were not the rst Oblivion-
related Marketplace releases (the rst was a series of dash-
board themes and picture packs released prior to Oblivion's
publication, in February 2006, for a nominal fee[86] ) nor
were they entirely unexpected: Bethesda had previously an-
nounced their desire to support the Xbox release with down-
loadable Marketplace content,[87] and other publishers had
already begun to release similar packages for their games,
at similar prices. A November 2005-release of a Win-
ter Warrior Pack for Kameo: Elements of Power was also
priced at 200 Marketplace points,[88] and similar content
additions had been scheduled for Project Gotham Racing 3
and Perfect Dark Zero.[89] Indeed, Marketplace content ad-
ditions formed a signicant part of a March 2006 Microsoft
announcement regarding the future of Xbox Live. Down-
loadable in-game content is a main focus of Microsofts
strategy heading into the next-gen console war, stated one
GameSpot reporter.[26] With more consoles on their way
to retail, 80 games available by June, and new content and
experiences coming to Xbox Live all the time, there has
never been a better time to own an Xbox 360, announced
Peter Moore.[90] Nonetheless, although Xbox Live Arcade
games, picture packs, dashboards and prole themes con-
tinued to be a Marketplace success for Microsoft, the afore-
mentioned in-game content remained sparse.[26] Pete Hines
asserted, We were the rst ones to do downloadable con-
tent like thatsome people had done similar things, but no
one had really done additions where you add new stu to
your existing game. There was no pressure from Microsoft
to make the move.[52]
2.3.2 Later releases
April 4 also saw the announcement of two new download-
able content packs for the coming weeks: an Orrery quest
that would see gamers setting out to repair a Dwarven Or-
rery; and a Wizards Tower that would oer a new home
for player characters, complete with the capacity to grow
herbs, summon atronachs, and make spells.[91][92] 1UP pre-
dicted that, given Bethesdas response to customer crit-
icism, those releases would be somewhat more substan-
tial than the Horse Armor release was.[27] On April 7,
Bethesda priced the Orrery. Oering what GameSpot
called more bang for less buck, Bethesda set the PC re-
lease price at US$1.89, and the Xbox 360 release price at
150 Marketplace points, equivalent to US$1.88.[28] Joystiq
oered their support"'Big ups"to the company for the
new price. Although we passed on the $2.50 horse armor
this week, we'll denitely be messin' with that Orrery de-
vice when it hits the Marketplace.[29] The pack was even-
tually released on April 17.[93] Also on April 7, EB Games
and GameStop began oering a coupon promising one free
download of the Horse Armor pack with every purchase
18
of the PC edition of Oblivion.[94] The Wizards Tower,
called the Frostcrag Spire in-game, was released on April
24 for the same price as the Orrery.[95]
New releases continued into late 2006. The Thieves Den,
a 2.27MB download oering the chance to Uncover a fa-
mous pirates lost ship and claim it for your own, was re-
leased on May 22 for the Xbox 360, priced at 150 Mar-
ketplace points, roughly equivalent to US$1.89.[96] Ex-
plaining the add-on, Ashley Cheng stated Basically, its
Goonies.[97] Mehrunes Razor, a quest revolving around
a mage in search of the deadly Daedric artifact known as
Mehrunes Razor, was released on June 14. It became the
most expensive download yet, at US$2.99 for PC users
and 250 Marketplace points, equivalent to US$3.13, for
Xbox 360 owners.[98] One 1UP reporter took the occa-
sion to reect on the increasing price of owning the com-
plete Oblivion. With all the add-ons included, he calcu-
lated, Thats over $80 in game for the complete version of
Oblivion, thus far. Foreseeing eventual problems with the
upcoming PS3 release, and a potential bundling of all the
software for a cheaper price, he wondered: will Xbox 360
and PC users feel slighted? ... Microtransactions are sticky
business.[99] Joystiq continued to comment on the Horse
Armor add-on in their notice of the quests release. With
a weapon like that, who needs horse armor?"[100] On July
13, The Vile Lair, sporting a hidden crypt called Deep-
scorn Hollow for players bitten with Oblivion's vampirism
bug, was released. Like the Orrery and the Wizards
Tower, Bethesda set The Vile Lair"'s PC release price at
US$1.89, and the Xbox 360 release price at 150 Market-
place points, equivalent to US$1.88.[101] Joystiq responded
positively to the new price point. What a bargain! ... Its
good to see the folks at Oblivion have learned their lesson
and aren't oering relatively super expensive content not t
to see the light of day.[30] On August 31, Spell Tomes,
adding books with wondrous and powerful magic spells,
to the random loot of fallen foes, was released, for the price
of US$1.00 on both the Xbox 360 and the PC.[102] Begin-
ning on December 22 and continuing on until the end of
the year, Bethesda oered their Mehrunes Razor pack-
age free of charge, as a sort of holiday gift.[103] Oblivion's
nal content pack, named Fighters Stronghold, was re-
leased October 15, 2007. It was free to download in the
rst week after its release.[104]
2.4 References
[1] Thorsen, Tor (2004-09-10). Elder Scrolls IV coming to
PC, next-gen. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[2] New Job Openings. News 20042003. Bethesda Soft-
works. 2004-06-16. Archived from the original on 2007-
05-19. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
CHAPTER 2. DEVELOPMENT
Thorsen, Tor (2004-06-16). Development of next-gen El-
der Scrolls under way?". GameSpot. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
Obviously, we like candidates who understand RPGs and are
familiar with the games we've made in the past.
[3] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion announced. News 2004
2003. Bethesda Softworks. 2004-09-10. Archived from the
original on 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[4] Bethesda Softworks Signs Co-Publishing Agreement with
Take-Two Interactive for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Bethesda Softworks. 2005-02-03. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
Thorsen, Tor (2005-02-03). Take-Two to copublish Elder
Scrolls IV, Cthulhu. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[5] Interview: Oblivion Game Producer Gavin Carter. Game
Producer.net. 2006-05-25. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
[6] Malygris (2005-03-02). Q&A With Ashley Cheng of
Bethesda. WarCry Network. Archived from the original
on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
[7] Surette, Tim (2005-10-06). Nine more games target 360
launch. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[8] Thorsen, Tor (2005-10-31). Elder Scrolls IV missing Xbox
360 launch. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
Valerias (2005-12-10). Oblivion: Release Date Dramas.
GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
[9] Howard, Todd. The RPG for the Next Generation.
Bethesda Softworks. Archived from the original on 2007-
03-20. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
[10] Stargleman (2005-05-29). E3 2005 Coverage: Gavin
Carter. GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
[11] Houghton, Mat. Developers Corner: The Elder Scrolls IV:
Oblivion. Game Chronicles. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
[12] Husemann, Charles (2005-06-02). Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
ion Interview. Gaming Nexus. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
[13] Shuman, Sid (2006-05-23). Living in Oblivion.
games.net. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
[14] Oblivion interview - Gavin Carter of Bethesda. Elite Bas-
tards. 2005-10-20. Archived from the original on 2007-08-
25. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
[15] dela Fuente, Derek (2005-07-20). Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
ion - Q&A. TVG. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
[16] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Interview with Gavin
Carter. RPGamer. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
[17] Berry, Noah. A Brief History of Cyrodiil. Bethesda Soft-
works. Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. Re-
trieved 2007-06-02.
[18] Sta (2007-03-19). Bethesda Conrms Oblivion PS3
Shipping. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
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launch. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2007-08-
03.
Boyes, Emma (2007-03-20). Top titles to miss Euro PS3
launch. GameSpot UK. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
[20] Thorsen, Tor (2006-11-08). Retail Radar: PS3 F.E.A.R
and Oblivion pushed to 2007. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-
08-03.
[21] Thorsen, Tor (2006-11-09). Conrmed: PS3 Oblivion now
Q1 2007 title"". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
[22] Sinclair, Brendan (2007-03-06). PS3 embraces Oblivion
March 20. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
[23] Haynes, Je (2007-02-06). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Hands-on. IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
[24] Sanders, Kathleen (2006-08-11). Oblivion: The PS3 Inter-
view. IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
[25] Haynes, Je (2007-02-08). Oblivion Rumors Explained.
IGN UK. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
[26] Surette, Tim (2006-04-03). Oblivion horse armor now
available. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
[27] Klepek, Patrick (2006-04-04). Bethesda Responds To
Oblivion Issues. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
[28] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-04-07). Next Oblivion add-on
priced. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
[29] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-04-07). Bethesda patching
Oblivion, lowers cost of future content download. Joystiq.
Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[30] Summa, Robert (2006-07-11). Next Oblivion download
available Thursday. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[31] Bethesda Softworks to Develop and Publish Fallout 3.
Bethesda Softworks. 2004-07-12. Archived from the origi-
nal on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
[32] Park, Andrew (2005-05-18). The Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
ion E3 2005 Impressions. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-
26.
[33] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Interview. GameBanshee.
UGO. 2004-12-09. Retrieved 2007-06-01. No rest for the
weary here!
[34] Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games announce The Elder
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2007-05-26.
[35] Thorsen, Tor (2005-10-20). Street does double-take over
Take-Two stock. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
Thorsen, Tor (2005-10-31). Take-Two lowers guidance,
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[36] Thorsen, Tor (2005-11-01). Take-Two clobbered on Wall
Street. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[37] Greenberg, Herb (2005-12-08). Worst CEO: Paul Eibeler
of Take-Two. MarketWatch. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[38] Rose, Alan (2005-11-06). Oblivion update on Bethesda fo-
rums. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[39] Sta (2005-05-17). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Q&A -
Oblivion at E3 2005. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[40] Hines, Pete. E3 - Fear and Loathing in LA. Bethesda
Softworks. Archived from the original on 2007-05-22. Re-
trieved 2007-05-27.
[41] Pitts, Russ (2006-08-18). Five Minutes with Bethesdas
Todd Howard. The Escapist. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
[42] Rorie, Matthew (2005-05-17). Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
E3 2005 Preshow Report. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-
26.
[43] Stargelman (2005-05-19). E3 2005 Coverage: Demo Sum-
mary. GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
[44] Sta (2005-07-08). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Q&A -
After E3. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
[45] GameSpy Sta (2005-05-24). The Annual E3 Awards:
2005. GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
[46] GameSpot Sta (2005-05-31). E3 2005 Editors Choice
Awards: Best Role-Playing Game: The Elder Scrolls IV:
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[47] IGNPC Sta (2005-05-31). Best Role-Playing Game: The
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)". IGN. Retrieved 2007-06-
03.
[48] Games of E3 2005. RPGFan. 2005-05-23. Retrieved
2007-06-03.
[49] Jenkins, David (2005-06-08). 2005 E3 Game Critics
Awards Winners Announced. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-
06-03.
[50] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-01-05). CES: Xbox 360
booth. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[51] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-01-06). CES: Oblivion read-
ies for March release. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[52] Gibson, Ellie (2007-03-20). Scrolling Up.
GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
[53] Surette, Tim (2006-03-02). Elder Scrolls unrolls this
month. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
[54] Surette, Tim (2006-03-20). Oblivion ships to stores.
GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
[55] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-01-08). Bethesda squeezes
Oblivion onto one disc. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
20
[56] Callaham, John (2006-05-31). Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Interview. Firing Squad. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
[57] Hines, Pete (2006-01-24). Bethesda Softworks Newslet-
ter. Bethesda Softworks. Archived from the original on
2006-06-27. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
[58] Seventy Bucks for Oblivion Collectors Edition. Kotaku.
Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[59] Kotaku (2006-04-25). Hang Oblivion Around Your Neck.
Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[60] Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The (PC: 2006)". PC Reviews.
Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
[61] Oblivion Awards. Bethesda Softworks. Archived from the
original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
[62] Thorsen, Tor (2006-04-10). Oblivion enjoying epic sales.
GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
[63] Bethesda Softworks Announces The Elder Scrolls IV: Shiv-
ering Isles Ocial Expansion for Oblivion. Bethesda
Softworks. 2007-01-18. Archived from the original on
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[64] Carless, Simon (2006-04-25). Report: Oblivion To Debut
On PS3, PSP. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[65] Bethesda Softworks Announces Oblivion for PLAYSTA-
TION3 and PSPSystem. Bethesda Softworks. 2006-09-
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[66] Dobson, Jason (2006-09-28). Oblivion Conrmed For PS3
Launch, PSP in Spring. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-06-
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[67] Androvich, Mark (2007-07-24). Ubisoft rst quarter sales
up 90.5 per cent. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2007-08-
03.
[68] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-09-11). Oblivion slips from
PS3 launch, expansion for PC, 360 late Nov. Joystiq. Re-
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[69] Bishop, Stuart (2007-04-27). GAME says Oblivion PS3 on
its way. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2007-08-
03.
[70] Martin, Matt (2007-04-27). GAME refuses to stock Obliv-
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[71] Surette, Tim (2007-02-20). Big Huge Games grabs big
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[73] Christopher S. Weaver v. ZeniMax Media, 2368 (Maryland
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[75] Remo, Chris (2006-02-24). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
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[76] Callaham, John (2005-09-26). Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
ion Interview. Gamecloud. Archived from the original on
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[77] Cook, Matt (2005-10-20). The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion -
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[79] Butts, Steve (2004-11-22). The Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
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[81] Burman, Rob (2007-02-16). Bethesda Enters PS3 Obliv-
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[82] Rea, Jared (2007-02-10). Oblivion: Downgraded for PS3,
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[83] Oblivion Downloads. Bethesda Softworks. Archived from
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[84] Loughrey, Paul (2006-04-05). Bethesda announces new
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[85] Klepek, Patrick (2006-04-03). Oblivion 360 Downloads
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[88] Surette, Tim (2005-11-29). Kameo konkokts kool kos-
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[89] Surette, Tim (2006-03-21). Marketplace hits 10 million
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[90] Carless, Simon (2006-03-21). Microsoft Conrms Xbox
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[91] Surette, Tim (2006-04-04). More Oblivion content com-
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loads promise more than horse getups. Joystiq. Retrieved
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 2.4. REFERENCES 21

[93] Miller, Ross (2006-04-17). Oblivion Orrery pack now

available on Xbox Live [Update]". Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-
07-09.

[94] Grant, Christopher. Free Oblivion horse armor coupon.

Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.

[95] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-04-24). Wizards Tower add-on

available for Oblivion. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-09.

[96] Thorsen, Tor (2006-05-22). Den of Xbox 360 Oblivion

thieves uncovered. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-09.

[97] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-05-17). New Oblivion add-

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[98] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-06-01). Next Oblivion add-on de-

tailed. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
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[99] Smith, Luke (2006-06-01). Yes, Even More Oblivion Con-

tent Coming. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-07-09.

[100] Rose, Alan (2006-06-16). New Oblivion plug-in avail-

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[101] Thorsen, Tor (2006-07-11). Oblivion getting $2 evil add-

on July 13. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-09.

[102] Surette, Tim (2006-08-31). New $1 Oblivion DL casts

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[103] Surette, Tim (2006-12-21). Bethesda giftwraps Oblivions

Mehrunes Razor. GameSpot.

[104] Polybren (2007-10-11). Bethesda preps last Oblivion

download. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
Chapter 3

ESRB re-rating

3 and the Xbox 360, from Teen (13+) to Mature (17+). The
ESRB cited the presence of content not considered in their
original review in the published edition of Oblivion. This
included detailed depictions of blood and gore and sexually
explicit content. The sexually explicit content was an art
le, made accessible by a third-party modication called the
Oblivion Topless Mod, that rendered the game with topless
female characters.[2][3]
In response to the new content, the ESRB conducted a new
review of Oblivion, showing to its reviewers the content
originally submitted by the games publisher along with the
newly disclosed content. The new review resulted in an
M rating. The ESRB reported that Bethesda Softworks,
the games developer and publisher, would promptly no-
tify all retailers of the change, issue stickers for retail-
ers and distributors to ax on the product, display the
new rating in all following product shipments and market-
ing, and create a downloadable patch rendering the top-
less skin inaccessible.[3] Bethesda complied with the re-
quest, but issued a press release declaring their disagree-
ment with the ESRBs rationale.[4] Although certain retail-
ers began to check for ID before selling Oblivion as a re-
sult of the change,[5][6] and the change elicited criticism
for the ESRB,[7][8] the events passed by with little notice
from the public at large.[2] Other commentators remarked
on the injustice of punishing a company for the actions of
its clients,[2][9] and one called the event a pseudo-sequel
to the Hot Coee minigame controversy.[10]

3.1 Background

3.1.1 ESRB review process

The corpse of Lucien Lachance, identied by Patricia Vance as
The ESRB's review process involves the submission, by the
being a very dierent depiction, far more intense, far more extreme
than what had been disclosed to us.[1] games publisher, of a video which captures all pertinent
content in the game, where pertinent content is dened as
On May 3, 2006, the North American Entertainment Soft- any content that accurately reects both the most extreme
ware Rating Board (ESRB) changed the rating of The Elder content of the nal product and the nal product as a
Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a video game for PCs, the PlayStation whole. That is to say, it must depict the relative frequency

22
3.2. INDUSTRY IMPACT
of said content.[11] As ESRB President Patricia Vance ex-
plains it, the ESRB would not just want a tape of one ex-
treme cut to another, but rather context for the storyline,
the missions, the features and functionality of a game, so
that the raters really can get exposed to a pretty reasonable
sense of what they'd experience playing the game.[1] The
fact that the content of Oblivion under investigation was in-
accessible during normal play made no dierence in the
decision. ESRB policy had been absolutely clear since
the Hot Coee controversy, Patricia Vance told a reporter.
Publishers were told that they could not leave unnished
or other pertinent content on a disc.[1] If locked-out con-
tent was pertinent to a rating, ESRB policy stated that it
needed to be disclosed, and Bethesda had not done so.[10]
3.1.2 Oblivion Topless Mod
Released in March 2006 and reported on game news sites
as a curiosity in April of the same year, the Oblivion
Topless Mod had been created by a woman calling her-
self Maeyanie. Maeyanie created the mod in protest
against what she called government/society/whatever forc-
ing companies to 'protect our innocent population from see-
ing those evil dirty things 50% of them possess personally
anyways.'"[2] The gaming website Joystiq reported on the
mod on April 6, 2006: Modders are already hard at work
on bending the code of the recently released PC version of
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to their will. Early success: top-
less mod FTW!"[12] Kotaku, another gaming site, reporting
on the mod on April 5, 2006, didn't consider the mod any-
thing new and said, As usual in the world of computer gam-
ing, one of the very rst mods released for a popular game
allows you to see the breasts of the main character.[13] The
content of the mod, wrote commentator Michael Zenke,
Editor of Slashdot games, was fairly tame. Without nudity
of the lower torso, and without self-consciousness on the
part of the nude NPCs, Zenke wrote, the Oblivion Topless
Mod was as erotic as a doctors visit.[2] Pete Hines had games at roughly the same rate as was needed for R-rated
discussed the mod with GameSpot sta before the game
was re-rated, saying that he did not consider it a concern.
We can't control and don't condone the actions of anyone
who alters the game so that it displays material that may be
considered oensive. We haven't received any complaints
on the issue from anyone.[10]
3.1.3 ESRB re-review and rating change
During these investigations ESRB sta also found more
blood and gore than the review tape had portrayed:
What Bethesda had originally disclosed to us,
as an example: In that section of the game, there
23
is a hanging corpse. What they disclosed to us
was a hanging corpse in the dark, pretty far away
and without much detail. And yet, when you
bring a torch up to the hanging corpse in the ac-
tual game, you can see that its very mutilated
with lots of blood and bones. That was a very
dierent depiction, far more intense, far more
extreme than what had been disclosed to us.[1]
In response to the new content, the ESRB hastily conducted
a new review of Oblivion, showing to its reviewers the con-
tent originally submitted by Bethesda along with the newly
disclosed content. The new review resulted in a Mature
rating. The ESRB reported that Bethesda, to correct for
the discrepancy, would promptly notify all retailers of the
change, issue stickers for retailers and distributors to af-
x on the product, display the new rating in all follow-
ing product shipments and marketing, and create a patch
for download rendering the topless skin inaccessible.[3] In
line with its stated mission of informing consumers regard-
ing the age-suitability of its marked games, the ESRB also
released an ESRB Parent Advisory, ensuring that parents
would be immediately notied of the change.[14]
3.2 Industry impact
3.2.1 Retailer response
Following news of the rating change on May 3, 2006, the
Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA),
an organization of game retailers, which had pre-
viously eased the adoption of industry-wide ratings
enforcement,[15] issued its own statement, lauding its own
retailers for the speed with which they reacted to the rat-
ing change. The IEMA release further stated that identi-
cation was needed to secure the purchase of Mature-rated
lm admission. In compliance with the ESRBs further de-
mand that Bethesda request retailers to adhere to their re-
spective store policies not to sell the newly rated M (Ma-
ture) game to those under the age of 17,[3] several retail-
ers had begun to include cash register prompts tied to the
games bar code, instructing the cashier to ask for ID.[5] A
report by Gamasutra observed that some retailersCircuit
City specicallywere even pulling the game from their
shelves entirely, presumably until rating modications can
be made.[16]
3.2.2 Publisher response
Following the announcement of the rating change, Bethesda
issued their own press release. Bethesda announced that
24
it was their organization, not Take-Two Interactive, that
had handled the ratings application, and that they stood be-
hind it. Bethesda would not contest the change, and would
promptly seek to implement the ESRBs demands, without
demanding a product recall. Nonetheless, Bethesda stated
that Oblivion was not typical of Mature rated titles, and did
not contain central themes of violence common to such
titles. The response asserted that Bethesdas submission to
the ESRB was full, accurate, and comprehensive, follow-
ing the forms and requirements published by the ESRB,
and that nothing was withheld. Bethesda stressed that there
was no nudity in their game without a modication, that the
company didn't create a game with nudity and did not in-
tend for nudity to appear in their game. Bethesda can not
control tampering with Oblivion by third parties, the press
release concluded.[4]
3.2.3 Rating agency response outside the Game designer John Romero, lead designer of Doom,
United States posted a statement in his blog criticizing the modders re-
The British Board of Film Classication (BBFC), the
ESRBs counterpart in the United Kingdom, did not change
its rating of 15. Were it the case that the developer them-
selves had included and failed to disclose certain modi-
cations of content, a recall may be required, but not as a
result of a patch that has been placed on the Internet by a
third party, a BBFC spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz
reporters on May 4, 2006. Any modications made af-
ter release fall outside the powers of the Video Recordings
Act.[17]
In July 2007, the Pan European Game Information (PEGI)
announced that it was extending its purview to cover games
playable online via consoles, PCs and mobiles. Websites or
online retail games participating in the program would be
granted a PEGI Online logo, specifying whether the par-
ticular game or site is under the control of an operator that
cares about protecting young people. An article by gam-
ing website Shacknews noted at the time that PEGIs ini-
tiative would address the concerns US publishers had with
user-created mods for San Andreas and Oblivion: respon-
sibility for such mods would be placed on the participating
publishers.[18]
3.3 Public impact
The events passed by with little concern from either the pub-
lic or gaming journalists in particular. Zenke attributed the
draw in attention to bigger stories that came later in May.
The news, for example, came just a week before E3 2006,
the last E3 before the show changed from a grand spec- The Escapist, thinking the issues of a year past long since
tacle to a reserved industry-only aair.[2][19] The story did died down, especially since they hadn't aroused much con-
CHAPTER 3. ESRB RE-RATING
not pass completely unnoticed, as certain commentators is-
sued statements regarding the issue in the days following the
re-rating. On May 4, 2006, then-California Assemblyman
Leland Yee used the rating change to criticize the ESRB.
Yee, who had previously called on the ESRB to change their
rating of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to AO (Adults
Only 18+),[20] issued a statement criticizing the ESRB for
deceiving parents. Yee chastised the ESRB for failing par-
ents again, and demonstrating their inability to police them-
selves. Yee called the ESRBs rating system drastically
awed, and called for further legislation to assist parents
and protect children.[7] Attorney and activist Jack Thomp-
son sought talk show appearances over the issue, planning to
explain to prospective interviewers why the re-rating issue
was an even worse disaster than the Hot Coee scandal,
as children of all ages had already bought the game. The
ESRB, Thompson said, had learned nothing from its past
mistakes.[8]
sponsible:
Now whats going to happen? You'll probably
start seeing game data les becoming encrypted
and the open door on assets getting slammed shut
just to keep modders from nancially screwing
the company they should be helping. And the
day a game companys le encryption is hacked
to add porn and the case goes to the ESRB for re-
view thats when we'll see how well game com-
panies are protected from these antics and what
the courts will rule. Hopefully it'll be on the de-
velopers side.[9]
When the ratings change came, Zenke saw political caution
in the move, rather than an intelligent response to new con-
tent. Previous scandals had forced the Boards hand, and
the ratings change was an act of self-preservation. Zenke,
writing in June 2007 for online gaming magazine The Es-
capist, criticized the public for its failure to respond to the
rating change, and emphasized what the change would mean
to moddable games.[2] At the core of Zenkes article was
concern that a developer or publisher could be punished for
content they neither produced nor distributed.[21] Echoing
Romeros concerns, Zenke saw the rating change as a threat,
not only to modders, but to developers as well. Zenke asked
what the ESRB would do in response to Game 3.0 con-
cepts, where community involvement is key. Referring to
Sony's LittleBigPlanet, Zenke asked, Will Sony provide
personnel to review every fan-made level for oensive con-
tent? Will the ESRB?"[2]
3.5. EXTERNAL LINKS
cern on rst coming to light, did not expect the discord that
ensued;[1][22] response on their forums was heated, and the
ESRB took vigorous exception to the piece. Zenke con-
ducted a follow-up interview with ESRB President Patri-
cia Vance. In regard to what is considered by the ESRB
for rating a game, Vance stated, Our policies are quite
clear: its whats created by the publisher and included on
the disc, not whats created or introduced by a mod. The
mod may unlock it, the mod may make it accessible, but
again, going back to the publishers burden; putting the ac-
countability on the publisher to fully account for the content
that they create and they ship - thats all we care about.
A question was raised in the same article about a then up-
coming game, Sonys LittleBigPlanet. Zenke asked, To
clarify, then, user-created content in a game more like Lit-
tleBigPlanet or Sonys Home; that is outside the purview of
the ESRB?" Vance responded by saying, Yes. We actu-
ally have an online rating notice that covers content that is
user-generated, that falls outside the boundaries of ESRB
ratings. Any game that enables players to download con-
tent from other people or communicate with other people
while they're playing carries the notice 'Game Experience
May Change During Online Play.'" This claried that the
ESRB will not review 3rd-party mods, but only the actual
game content that the publisher releases.
3.4 References
[1] Zenke, Michael (2007-06-19). ""Boobies Did Not Break
the Game": The ESRB Clears the Air On Oblivion. The
Escapist. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
[2] Zenke, Michael (2007-06-12). The Breasts That Broke The
Game. The Escapist (101): 1921. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[3] ESRB Changes Rating for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
from Teen to Mature (PDF). Entertainment Software Rat-
ing Board. 2006-05-03. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[4] Sta (2006-05-03). Bethesda responds to Oblivion rerat-
ing. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[5] Brightman, James (2006-05-03). Breaking: ESRB
Changes Oblivions Rating to M"". GameDaily BIZ.
Archived from the original on 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2007-
06-26.
[6] Carless, Simon (2006-05-03). IEMA Reacts To Oblivion
Mature Re-Rating. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[7] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-05-04). Yee chastises ESRB over
Oblivion rerating. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[8] Stanton, Aaron (2006-05-05). Jack Thompson Seeks New
Limelight Over Oblivion. GamesFirst!. Retrieved 2007-
07-09.
25
[9] Kotaku (2006-05-05). Romero to Modders: You Suck.
Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[10] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-05-03). Oblivion rerated M for
Mature. GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
[11] Frequently Asked Questions. Entertainment Software
Rating Board. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[12] Grant, Christopher (2006-04-06). The ladies of Oblivion
drop their tops. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[13] Kotaku (2006-04-05). Oblivion Topless Mod Released.
Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[14] ESRB Parent Advisory regarding rating change for The El-
der Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PDF). Entertainment Software
Rating Board. 2006-05-03. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
[15] About EMA. Entertainment Merchants Association. Re-
trieved 2007-06-26.
[16] Carless, Simon (2006-05-03). Breaking: ESRB Pulls, Re-
Rates Oblivion To Mature. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-
06-26.
[17] Loughrey, Paul (2006-05-04). Oblivion mod prompts
ESRB ratings change. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved
2007-06-27.
[18] Bergfeld, Carlos (2007-07-05). European Ratings Initiative
Expands to Online Gaming. Shacknews. Retrieved 2007-
07-16.
[19] Sta (2006-07-31). ESA conrms much smaller E3 in '07.
GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
[20] Feldman, Curt; Thorsen, Tor (2005-07-05). Politician
wants San Andreas rated Adults Only. GameSpot. Re-
trieved 2007-07-02.
[21] Greene, Maggie (2007-06-17). "'The Breasts That Broke
The Game'". Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
[22] Pitts, Russ (2007-06-18). Millions of Voices Suddenly
Cried Out. The Escapist. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
3.5 External links
GamePolitics Interview with Modder behind Oblivion
Controversy
Chapter 4

''The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine''

The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine is an ocial like Bethesdas prior content packs for Oblivion, begins with
expansion pack for the role-playing video game The El- no explicit prodding towards the newly introduced content;
der Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Announced on October 17, 2006 players must seek out and nd the games quest without ex-
for release on November 21, 2006, the expansion was ternal aid.[6]
developed, published, and released in North America by
Bethesda Softworks; in Europe, the game was co-published
with Ubisoft.[4] The Windows version is available either as a
downloadable plug-in from the company website or as part
4.2 Plot
of the retail-released Oblivion Downloadable Content Col-
lection CDa release that also includes all previously re-
leased ocial downloadable content available for Oblivion.
The Xbox 360 version is available via Xbox Live Market-
place, and the PlayStation 3 version of Oblivion includes
Knights of the Nine in its packaged release.
Knights of the Nine centers on a faction of the same name,
devoted to locating and preserving a set of Crusaders
Relics. Once found, these relics must be used to defeat
the sorcerer-king Umaril, who seeks revenge on the Nine
Divines.[5] Knights of the Nine was generally well received in
the gaming press. Although it made little change to the ba-
sic mechanics of Oblivion, it was judged by reviewers to be An in-game screenshot displaying the Knights of the Nine's titular
a brief but polished addition to the games main plot.[6][7][8] Crusader sporting the helmet, cuirass, shield, gauntlets, greaves
and mace relics of the Crusader.

Knights of the Nine's quest begins as the player approaches

4.1 Gameplay
Main article: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Gameplay
Knights of the Nine changes none of the basic gameplay of
Oblivion; the basic design, maneuvers, and interfaces re-
main unchanged.[6][7] As such, it is a fantasy-based role-
playing adventure game. Players begin Oblivion by dening
their character; deciding on its skill set, specialization, phys-
ical features, and race. Knights of the Nine is an example of
open-ended or sandbox-style gameplay: the main quest may
be delayed or completely ignored as the player explores the
game world, follows side quests, interacts with NPCs, and
develops a character according to their taste.[9] Furthering
the goal of open-ended gameplay, Knights of the Nine, un-
the Chapel of Dibella in Anvil. The Chapel was recently
abused; everyone there has been killed in a dark ritual. The
player proceeds to consult a prophet near the scene of the
attack, who is preaching about it. The prophet reveals to
the player that the one responsible for the attacks is Umaril,
an ancient revenge-seeking Ayleid sorcerer-king, who has
escaped from his prison in Oblivion to destroy Cyrodiil.
Umaril can only be defeated by the prophesized Crusader,
favoured by the gods, bearing the relics of Pelinal Whites-
trake, the man who originally slew Umaril, and banished his
spirit to Oblivion.
The player then makes a pilgrimage (because the character
may not use any artifacts of the Nine unless they have an in-
famy of 0), and receives a vision from Pelinal Whitestrake,
who reveals the location of his tomb, which is beneath the

26
4.4. RECEPTION
lake surrounding the Imperial City.[10] Inside this tomb, the
player discovers the Helm of Pelinals armor, as well as the
corpse of Sir Amiel, one of the old Knights of the Nine.
His diary reveals the location of their priory, which houses
the Cuirass of Pelinal. Before the player can claim it though,
he/she confronts eight spirits of the old Knights of the Nine,
including Amiel, who had all given into corruption and been
killed. They assist the player, who soon gathers all of Peli-
nal Whitestrakes relics. During each leg of the quest to re-
trieve the relics, the player meets a priest, knight, or pilgrim
of faith, each of whom pledge to aid the player, each rep-
resenting one of the original eight divines.[11] After a nal
blessing from the prophet, to represent the ninth divine, Ta-
los, the player leads the knights against Umarils stronghold,
defeating the Ayleid King, and then pursues Umarils spirit,
destroying him utterly. The player then wakes up in the Pri-
ory, with the knights believing him/her dead. After realiz-
ing that the powers of the gods resurrected him, the player
rejoins the knights.[12]
4.3 Production, release and avail-
ability
Prior to any announcement regarding Knights of the Nine,
Bethesda had pursued a somewhat novel plan to distribute
downloadable content through micropayments, priced from
US$0.99 to US$2.99, instead of the more common prac-
tice of releasing expansion packs. The program was ini-
tially met with criticism by customers due to its alleged low
value,[13] but later releasesat a reduced price, and with
more contentproved more popular.[14] The releases, in
addition to stirring controversy, raised questions regarding
Bethesdas future content release plans, and as to whether
expansion pack releases were necessary at all.[15][16] In
August 2006, one Bethesda employee wrote in a post to
Bethesdas Elder Scrolls forums that the company had no
plans to make an expansion for Oblivion".[16] Further ques-
tions were raised by a product listing found on game retailer
GameStop's website September 11, 2006, listing a Knights
of the White Stallion Expansion Pack for Oblivion. The
game had a listed shipping date of November 21, 2006 and
a US$19.99 asking price. The title was kept on the website
only brieyremoved after gaming news site GameSpot
sent Bethesda a request for comment on the product.[15]
Knights of the Nine began its life as a supposedly exclu-
sive quest for the PlayStation 3 release of The Elder Scrolls
IV: Oblivion. Along with the conrmation of the PlaySta-
tion 3 release on October 9, 2006, some gaming news web- 4.4 Reception
sites reported that the release would contain a huge, ex-
clusive quest focusing on a new faction, The Knights of Knights of the Nine was generally well received in the gam-
the Nine".[17] Some reports prexed allegedly onto state- ing press. Metacritic, an aggregate review site, scored the
ments that the release would be exclusive.[18] Suggestions PC version of the game with an 81 out of 100,[31] and the
27
of exclusivity, in any case, did not last long: an October
17, 2006 Bethesda press release announced that Knights of
the Nine content was also scheduled for PC and Xbox 360
releases,[4] eliciting commentary from Joystiq remarking on
how nicky the word 'exclusive' had come to be,[19] and
Kotaku remarking on how "Oblivion PS3 content didn't stay
exclusive for long... or at all.[20] Other sites saw no in-
congruence in the announcement: GameSpot assumed that
Knights of the Nine was simply the earlier Knights of the
White Stallion by a dierent name,[21] and 1UP.com had an-
ticipated the move ever since an IGN interview with Obliv-
ion's Executive Producer Todd Howard,[22] where Howard
had described Bethesdas general aim to have all our con-
tent available across all platforms";[23] the nal announce-
ment served only to conrm their suspicions.[24]
The October 17 press release set November 21, 2006 as the
North American distribution date for the Xbox 360 and PC
versions of Knights.[4] The European release for the Xbox
360 and PC was set two days later, on November 23.[25]
The European release was co-published by Bethesda and
Ubisoft.[4] On November 9, 2006, Bethesda claried earlier
statements regarding PC releases, declaring that, although
the boxed retail PC edition of Knights of the Nine was set
for release on November 21, the PC release downloadable
from the company website wouldn't be available until De-
cember 4.[3] This caused some consumer complaints, for al-
though the Xbox 360 release was available on the Xbox Live
Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points (the equivalent of
US$10.00, or GB6.80[8] ), for the time being, PC owners
had only the US$19.99 boxed retail edition of the game.[26]
The increased price of the PCs boxed retail release (The
Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of Nine Oblivion Downloadable
Content Collection) resulted from its inclusion of Oblivion's
other previously released downloadable content: Horse Ar-
mor, The Orrery, Wizards Tower, Vile Lair, Thieves Den,
Mehrunes Razor, Spell Tomes & a series of dashboard
themes and picture packs. Such content was not included
in either the downloadable PC release, the Xbox Market-
place download, or the PlayStation 3 edition of Oblivion.[27]
The downloadable release was ultimately issued on Decem-
ber 6 at the price of US$9.99.[28] According to IGN Enter-
tainments GamerMetrics, a service based on compiled vis-
itor activity information on IGNs website, the pack was the
fourth most anticipated release of its release week, follow-
ing Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Vegas, Superman Returns
and College Hoops 2K7.[29]
28 CHAPTER 4. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: KNIGHTS OF THE NINE''

Xbox 360 version of the game with an 86 out of 100.[32]
GameSpot recommended the game for its value; although
it made few improvements over the basic Oblivion expe-
[12] The Blessing of Talos. The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of
rience, Knights of the Nine provides a good day or twos
[6]
worth of questing for a low price. Similar comments fol-
lowed from GamePro, who found that the polish and af-
fordable price of the pack excused the fact that the packs
content doesn't really change [Oblivion 's] gameplay.[7]
Eurogamer praised the game for its memorable plot and [13] Surette, Tim (2006-04-03). Oblivion horse armor now
new, unique content. They concluded that if more of the
same is what you're after, you can't really argue with what
Bethesdas served up for its hardcore fans. The review en-
couraged caution nonetheless: for if consumers were to
fully accept individually priced content releases, Bethesda [14] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-04-07). Next Oblivion add-on
might just begin charging for all its quests.[8]
4.5 References
[1] "The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine Release Sum-
mary. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[2] Rose, Alan (2006-11-22). Knights of the Nine screens,
availability update. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[3] Smith, Luke (2006-11-09). PS3 Oblivion Shelved Till Next
Year. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[4] Bethesda Softworks Announces Knights of the Nine for
Xbox 360 and Windows. Bethesda Softworks. 2006-10-
17. Archived from the original on 2007-06-23. Retrieved
2007-07-06.
[5] The story of Knights of the Nine". The Elder Scrolls IV:
Knights of the Nine. Bethesda Softworks. Reprinted in The
Imperial Library. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
[6] Kasavin, Greg (2006-12-04). The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights
of the Nine for PC Review. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-
08-31.
the Nine. Bethesda Softworks. Reprinted in The Imperial
Library (2006-11-21). Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
the Nine. Bethesda Softworks. Reprinted in The Imperial
Library. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
Umaril the Unfeathered. The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of
the Nine. Bethesda Softworks. Reprinted in The Imperial
Library. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
available. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
Klepek, Patrick (2006-04-04). Bethesda Responds To
Oblivion Issues. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
priced. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-04-07). Bethesda patching
Oblivion, lowers cost of future content download. Joystiq.
Retrieved 2007-07-09.
Summa, Robert (2006-07-11). Next Oblivion download
available Thursday. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
[15] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-09-11). Retail Radar: Obliv-
ion expansion, Bully and Splinter Cell collectors editions.
GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[16] Rose, Alan (2006-07-09). No ocial Oblivion expansions
planned. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[17] Richardson, Ben (2006-10-09). Exclusive Oblivion quest
for PS3. Games Radar. Archived from the original on
2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[18] Ransom-Wiley, James (2006-10-10). PS3 Oblivions ex-
clusive quest explained. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[19] Miller, Ross (2006-10-17). Oblivion gets Nine Knights,
expansion set on Nov 21 [update 1 ]". Joystiq. Retrieved
2007-08-31.
[20] Eckhardt, Florian (2006-10-18). PS3 Oblivion Content
Goes To PC and 360. Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-11-22.

[7] Newton (2007-01-08). Review: The Elder Scrolls IV: [21] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-10-17). Knights of the Nine ride
Knights of the Nine. GamePro. Archived from the orig- on 360, PC next month. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-
inal on 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2007-08-31. 31.

[8] Purchese, Rob (2006-11-27). Review - The Elder Scrolls
IV: Oblivion - Knights of the Nine. Eurogamer. Retrieved
2007-08-31.
[9] Kasavin, Greg (2006-04-25). The Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
ion for PC Review. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
[10] Attack on Chapel of Anvil. The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights
of the Nine. Bethesda Softworks. Reprinted in The Imperial
Library. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
[11] The Pilgrimage, Run the Gauntlet, Natures Fury, The Path
of the Righteous, Wisdom of the Ages, Gauntlets of the Cru-
sader, The Faithful Squire. The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of
[22] 1UP Sta (2006-10-11). Oblivion PS3 Content Not Ex-
clusive. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[23] Sanders, Kathleen (2006-10-11). Oblivion: The PS3 Inter-
view. IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[24] Klepek, Patrick (2006-10-17). PS3s Oblivion Content
Coming to 360, PC. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[25] Boyes, Emma (2006-10-18). Nights of the Nine out in Eu-
rope November 23. GameSpot UK. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
[26] De Marco, Flynn (2006-11-04). New Oblivion Expansion:
Only $10 on Xbox Live. Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
4.6. EXTERNAL LINKS 29

[27] Dobson, Jason (2006-10-17). Round Up: New Oblivion

Content, Entropia Grows, Lumines Lives. Gamasutra. Re-
trieved 2007-08-31.

[28] Sinclair, Brendan (2006-12-06). Knights of the Nine PC

DL saddled up. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-31.

[29] Dobson, Jason (2006-11-22). Round Up: PS3/Wii Units,

IGN GamerMetrics, Exent/Portugal. Gamasutra. Re-
trieved 2007-08-31.

[30] "The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine Reviews. Game
Rankings. Retrieved 2007-08-31.

[31] "Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine, The (PC) Reviews.
Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-08-31.

[32] "Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine, The (Xbox 360) Re-
views. Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-08-31.

[33] http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/
936112-the-elder-scrolls-iv-knights-of-the-nine/articles.
html

4.6 External links

The Elder Scrolls ocial site
Chapter 5

''The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles'

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles is the largest o- to their taste.[6] Once the game is updated the player can
cial expansion pack for the role-playing game The Elder access the extra content at any time with any character.[4]
Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Announced on January 18, 2007, the
expansion was developed, published, and released over the
Xbox Live Marketplace by Bethesda Softworks; its retail 5.2 Plot
release was co-published with 2K Games.[2] It was released
for Microsoft Windows in a boxed retail edition on March
26, 2007, while the Xbox 360 version was released digi-
tally on the Xbox Live Marketplace.[3] Shivering Isles takes
place on the eponymous isles ruled by the Daedric Prince
of Madness, Sheogorath. The player becomes Sheogoraths
protg, and together they try to defeat the Daedric Lord
of Order, Jyggalag, thus preventing the isles from being de-
stroyed; this main quest can be ignored as long as the player
wishes to interact with the new world.[4]

5.1 Gameplay
The Gate to Shivering Isles from Cyrodiil
Main article: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Gameplay
The expansion pack takes place on the Shivering Isles,
Shivering Isles changes none of the basic gameplay of ruled by the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath.[7] The
Oblivion; the basic design, maneuvers, and interfaces re- realm is divided into two sections, Mania and Dementia,
main unchanged.[4][5] As such, it is a fantasy-based role- both of which have dierent characteristics in the art and
playing adventure game. Players begin Oblivion by den- design. The player enters the realm as an event called the
ing their character, deciding on its skill set, specialization,
Greymarch is about to occur - in which the Daedric Prince
physical features, and race. The player gains experience of Order, Jyggalag, completely destroys the Shivering Isles.
Upon entering the realm, the player has access to only one
points through the practice of specic skills, such as gaining
archery experience by practicing archery. This goes against area of the Shivering Isles, called the Fringe. To gain access
standard role-playing game form, where any skill use gar- to the other areas, the player must defeat a creature called
ners generic experience points that may be put towards any the Gatekeeper. Before entering the other areas, the player
type of specialization.[6] Enemies increase in diculty as is summoned for an audience with the mad god Sheogo-
players strengthen their skills, scaling the games challengerath. Sheogorath explains to the player that the Greymarch
to the players strength.[5] will destroy the realm, and Sheogorath needs a champion
As with the original game, The Shivering Isles is an exam- to stop the event from occurring. Sheogorath decides to
ple of open-ended or sandbox-style gameplay. The main choose the player as his protg, whom he sends o on var-
[8][9]
quest may be delayed or completely ignored as the player ious quests in an attempt to stop the Greymarch.
explores the game world, follows side quests, interacts with Sheogoraths and the players attempts to stop the Grey-
non-player characters, and develops a character according march ultimately fail. Sheogorath then transforms into Jyg-

30
5.4. CONCEPT ART 31

galag, by then revealed to be his alter-ego, and disappears.
As the player defends the Court of Madness from the en-
suing invasion of the forces of Order, Jyggalag himself
appears and attacks the player. The player defeats Jyg-
galag, and the Greymarch stops. Jyggalag then explains
to the player that, when the Daedric Princes were creating
their own lands, his power and the rapid expansion of his
realm caused the other princes to become fearful and jeal-
ous, prompting them to curse him with madness, changing
him into Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness. Since Daedra
are subject to a reincarnation cycle, Jyggalag/Sheogorath
was doomed to relive the Greymarch at the end of each
era, after which Jyggalag would once again be transformed
into Sheogorath. After explaining this history, Jyggalag
thanks the player for breaking the cycle and dubs him/her
the new Sheogorath, Prince of Madness and ruler of the
Shivering Isles.[9]
5.4 Concept art
Much of the distinctive look of Shivering Isles can be cred-
ited to the late concept artist Adam Adamowicz (1968-
2012). The landscape of the Isles is divided into two main
areas: Mania and Dementia. The land of Mania is char-
acterized by vivid colour and fantastical ora, while De-
mentia is lled with bogs and agonistically twisted trees and
roots. Adamowicz also had a major inuence on the style of
other Bethesda Softworks game titles such as Fallout 3 and
Skyrim.[22] The portal to the Shivering Isles (located within
the main Oblivion game in Niben Bay) was also designed by
Adamowicz, and bears his signature style.

5.5 Reception

5.3 Development The Shivering Isles was generally well received in the gam-
ing press. Aggregate sites Metacritic and Game Rankings
scored both the PC version and the Xbox 360 version of the
[23][24][25][26]
The earliest news about Shivering Isles surfaced on Jan- game at 86 out of 100.
uary 4, 2007 when an issue of PC Zone revealed the ex- Greg Mueller from GameSpot recommends the game for
pansion. The issue revealed details about the plot and set- its value but sees it as not an absolutely essential expan-
ting of the expansion, published its rst screenshots and sion and rates some of the later quests as repetitive and
announced its expected arrival in the second quarter of uninspired.[5] Similar comments followed from GamePro
2007.[10] Bethesda did not announce the expansion until reviewer Newton, who found that it is an impressive expan-
January 18, 2007.[11][12] The announcement came after the sion which delivers more of what made Oblivion great:
expansion had already been featured in both PC Zone and creative quests, a huge land to explore, and tons of things
PC Gamer, after it had been scheduled for a February 6, to do there, [therefore] making this expansion is a solid
2007 appearance in Games for Windows,[13] and after it purchase for anyone who was a fan of the core game.[4]
had been reported in several online publications.[14] The of- Jim Rossignol from Eurogamer initially rated the game as
cial announcement also conrmed an eventual release for equally memorable to Oblivion but later saying that it is the
the Xbox 360, something the magazines, being PC publi- same game as it ever was, only this time with a slightly
cations, had not previously mentioned.[15] weirder backdrop, and less interesting questing.[27] Charles
Further clarication came in early March when Executive Onyett from IGN rates it as an entirely worthy addition to
Producer Todd Howard revealed the specic release date of Bethesdas stellar fourth entry in The Elder Scrolls series
March 27, 2007,[3] but due to unscheduled maintenance, it and as a great excuse to jump back in [the series]".[8]
was released on Xbox Live a day early.[16] A disc version of The expansion received accolades from several media pub-
Shivering Isles was announced on September 6, 2007 with a lishers, including Best RPG at the 2008 Game of the
previously disallowed hard drive requirement.[17] The ex- Year Awards oered by Game Industry News,[29] the
pansion was released as a standalone for the PlayStation Best Expansion at the 2007 Game of the Year Awards
3 version of the game on November 20, 2007 and as oered by Vodoo Extreme,[30] as well as those oered
a download from the PlayStation Network on November by Primotech,[31] and Best Downloadable Content at
29, 2007.[18][19] The expansion was made available for the G-Phoria 2007 Awards.[32] It also received the Ed-
download to Australian customers only on November 23, itors Choice Award from Team Xbox,[33] Game Pro,[4]
2007.[20] Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expan- and IGN,[34] as well as the Top Pick Award by Game
sions shipped together in the packaged release of Oblivions Vortex,[35] and the Silver Award from Advanced Media
Game of the Year edition.[21] Network.[36]
32
5.6 References
[1] "The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Release Summary.
GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
[2] Bethesda Softworks Announces The Elder Scrolls IV: Shiv-
ering Isles Ocial Expansion for Oblivion. Bethesda
Softworks. 2006-01-18. Archived from the original on
2009-12-31. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
[3] Sinclair, Brendan (2007-03-07). Oblivion gets Shivering
Isles this month. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
[4] Newton. The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. Game-
Pro Media. Archived from the original on 2008-09-27. Re-
trieved 2009-07-14.
[5] Mueller, Greg (2007-03-26). The Elder Scrolls IV: Shiv-
ering Isles Review for Xbox 360. GameSpot. Retrieved
2009-07-14.
[6] Kasavin, Greg (2006-04-25). The Elder Scrolls IV: Obliv-
ion for PC Review. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
[7] Bethesda Softworks. 2007-01-18. Archived from the
original on 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
[8] Onyett, Charles. IGN: The Elder Scrolls IV: The Shivering
Isles Review. Pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[9] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Game Guide - Game
Guides at GameSpot
[10] Bishop, Stuart (2007-01-04). Oblivion expansion: First
concrete details. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved
2007-09-02.
[11] Ransom-Wiley, James (2007-01-04). Shivering Isles: rst
full-length Oblivion expansion. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-
09-02.
[12] Ransom-Wiley, James (2007-01-18). Bethesda (nally)
conrms Shivering Isles Oblivion expansion. Joystiq. Re-
trieved 2007-09-02.
[13] Ransom-Wiley, James (2007-01-09). Bethesda mum about
Oblivion expansion. Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
[14] Klepek, Patrick (2007-01-09). Bethesda Won't Conrm
Oblivion Expansion. 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
[15] Sinclair, Brendan (2007-01-18). Shivering Isles conrmed
for 360. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
[16] Miller, Ross (2006-03-26). Shivering Isles now on Xbox
Live grab it before the downtime. Joystiq. Retrieved
2007-09-02.
[17] Magrino, Tom (2007-09-06). GameSpot news item.
Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[18] Hateld, Daemon. Shivering Isles comes to the PS3.
Ps3.ign.com. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
CHAPTER 5. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: SHIVERING ISLES'
[19] Shivering Isles to hit U.S. PlayStation Store next week.
Ps3.qj.net. 2007-11-22. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[20] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for Xbox 360 - The
Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Xbox 360 Game - The
Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Xbox 360 Video Game.
Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
[21] The Elder Scrolls. The Elder Scrolls. Archived from the
original on 2009-12-30. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
[22] https://fallout.bethsoft.com/adam/ Accessed March 22,
2014
[23] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for PC. GameRank-
ings. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[24] Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, The (Xbox360: 2007):
Reviews. Metacritic.com. 2007-03-26. Retrieved 2009-
07-14.
[25] Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, The (pc: 2007): Reviews.
Metacritic.com. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[26] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for Xbox 360. Gam-
eRankings. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[27] Jim Rossignol (2007-04-05). The Elder Scrolls IV: Shiver-
ing Isles Review. Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
[28] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for PC. GameRank-
ings. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
[29] "www.gameindustry.com". www.gameindustry.com. Re-
trieved 2009-08-08.
[30] 2007 Game of the Year Awards - Voodoo Extreme.
Ve3d.ign.com. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
[31] Primotech : Primotech Game of the Year Awards 2007:
Day One. Primotechnology.com. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
[32] G4 - X-Play - Gphoria 2008. G4tv.com. Retrieved 2009-
08-08.
[33] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Review (Xbox 360)".
Reviews.teamxbox.com. 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2009-08-
08.
[34] Onyett, Charles. IGN: The Elder Scrolls IV: The Shivering
Isles Review. Pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
[35] The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. Gamevortex.com.
Retrieved 2009-08-08.
[36] Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. Gamezone. 2007-04-01.
5.7 External links
UESP Wiki: Shivering Isles
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles at DMOZ
5.8. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 33

5.8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.8.1 Text
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV%3A_Oblivion?oldid=699639318 Contributors:
Bryan Derksen, Taw, William Avery, Frecklefoot, Booyabazooka, Voidvector, Wwwwolf, Ahoerstemeier, Darkwind, K1Bond007, Stormie,
TowerDragon, Francs2000, Rossumcapek, Jaredwf, Fredrik, Modulatum, Umlautbob, Mushroom, Xanzzibar, Connelly, Centrx, Jacoplane,
Nifboy, Lupin, Ausir, Alison, BigBen212, Mboverload, Zoney, Golbez, Gonnas, Comrade-HW, Chowbok, Mike R, Andux, Jossi, Oneiros,
Borameer, Drelin, Sam Hocevar, Shadowlink1014, Aknorals, Heliocentric, Cun, Mike Rosoft, Timothy Campbell, Martschink, Freakofnurture,
Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Amot, Mhoenig, Pixel8, Will2k, Ivan Bajlo, Xezbeth, CABAL, Rjo, Indrian, Lachatdelarue, ESkog, Kbh3rd,
Scumbag, Danieljackson, RJHall, PhilHibbs, Spearhead, RoyBoy, Thunderbrand, Adambro, Peter Greenwell, Bobo192, Lusheeta~enwiki,
Pikawil, Guiltyspark, IDX, LykkeLamaen, VBGFscJUn3, Apostrophe, Helix84, Ultra megatron, NickCatal, Alansohn, JYolkowski, Arthena,
CyberSkull, Jeltz, Istara, Andrewpmk, Ricky81682, Yamla, Celzrro, Hu, SeanDuggan, Bart133, Snowolf, Stargelman, BanyanTree, ReyBrujo,
Shogun~enwiki, Runtime, Drat, Mgillespie, Frasermoo, LFaraone, Kusma, BDD, Netkinetic, Btornado, Saxifrage, RyanGerbil10, Simetrical,
Mindmatrix, RHaworth, Brazil4Linux, Ylem, Daniel Case, Lone~enwiki, Poiuyt Man, Nick Drake, Exxolon, Jleon, Bbatsell, Damicatz, Op-
tichan, GregorB, Psi edit, G.W., Combination, Mirddes, Sin-man, Mrbartjens, Yoghurt, Niweed17, Otherails, Xxpor, JIP, GrundyCamellia,
Jclemens, Canderson7, Tykell, Demian12358, Koavf, Rogerd, MordredKLB, Hack-Man, Sdornan, MitchellTF, Pabix, Mentality, Nneonneo,
Rebelgecko, DoubleBlue, Nandesuka, Ucucha, Fred Bradstadt, Sango123, Lor772, Yamamoto Ichiro, Fish and karate, Teddythetank, Wack-
elpudding, Harcalion, Musical Linguist, Master Thief Garrett, Sean WI, Klosterdev, Gurch, TheDJ, JegaPRIME, Barnolde, Snailwalker, Li-
ontamer, Lucky Adrastus, Stormscape, Chobot, Visor, Scoo, Digitalme, Hahnchen, Corky842, Rebochan, The Rambling Man, Rmbyoung,
YurikBot, Personman, Koveras, Sceptre, Falmarin, Jetheji, Phantomsteve, Eliteje123, CrystallinEntity, John Quincy Adding Machine,
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Cornelius, XX55XX, CambridgeBayWeather, Kyorosuke, NateDan, Theelf29, Wimt, Brian Sisco, MilitantRabbit, Ornilnas, NawlinWiki, Sen-
shi, The Merciful, Synergy (usurped), Therover007, D-Katana, PatCheng, Cypherrange, Seegoon, Irishguy, Ragesoss, Jodyw1, Anetode, Bran-
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Defkkon, Haemo, PyroGamer, Dv82matt, N. Harmonik, Slicing, Wknight94, BazookaJoe, Georgewilliamherbert, GreekWarrior, Sandstein,
Zero1328, Itake, Theodolite, Zzuuzz, Chipmunkchewer, TheKoG, Imaninjapirate, Wilzo, Nacimota, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, Theda,
Closedmouth, El cid the hero, Besselfunctions, Pb30, Kixy, Junkmonkey, 404notfound, Shawnc, DaltinWentsworth, Cjwright79, Shyam, Smur-
rayinchester, TITROTU, Who-is-me, SorryGuy, Ben kenobi 00, Nothings, Meegs, Carlosguitar, Shadowman17, Samuel Blanning, Groyolo,
CIreland, Eenu, Seracrux, Aenimiac, Chris Chittleborough, Generaleskimo, DK, BlueMech, SmackBot, MattieTK, $CyBeRwIz$, Evilgrug,
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eled~enwiki, Sysrpl, Xaosux, Ian Rose, Dylnuge, Monstrous m, King Bob324, Gilliam, Portillo, Finduilas 09, Jupix, Ohnoitsjamie, Oscarthe-
cat, Skizzik, Brokenscope, Kindragon, Chris the speller, Whitesanjuro, Ulsterman~enwiki, Bluebot, Keegan, NCurse, Theone256, Tghe-retford,
Mikethegreen, Lone Guardian, TheSpectator, Miquonranger03, SchftyThree, Sangrolu, Deleted1231, Kreydon, Darth Panda, Gracenotes,
Chtit draco, Mythoughts, Onceler, Tsca.bot, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Duncancumming, Mulder416, Flea110, DRahier, Adam Bryzak,
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glasses, Axem Titanium, Jpagel, Funkycaveman, Sambot, Kuru, Shot and Botched, Auxfusion, Monucg, Ong elvin, JovBlackheart, Mmounties,
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Kroppie, DouglasCalvert, NightsirK, Nehrams2020, HelloAnnyong, White Ash, Iridescent, MFago, Judgesurreal777, Vazzaroth, Adcro, Some-
thingsin, Mastershake329, JoeBot, Babrook, ChaoticLlama, J Di, Dippimunch, CP\M, Lord ignus, Auron xp, Sprayee, Kocur, Aghostinthema-
chine, WikiScholarChad, Courcelles, Oromisthewise, Audiosmurf, Tawkerbot2, Nekulor, Nobleeagle, Martinw93, Jacks Revenge, Lahiru k,
Alexander DeRoest, SkyWalker, Ratwar, J Milburn, Nbryant, JForget, NulNul, Hetzer, Sirstrahd, Urutapu, Tedeh, Vohod, Phenom~enwiki,
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34 CHAPTER 5. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: SHIVERING ISLES'

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KTFCdan, Beyond silence, Leslie222, Melsaran, Alecr, Luksuh, Broadbot, Ledgo, Sanfranman59, 4oblivion, AlissaWoodward, Christopher
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ness2005, Shostexe, Naufana2, Sirusblack16, Rapturous, Adamdesautel, Chamal N, CarsracBot, UncannyGarlic, Blade Kassan, ChenzwBot, 5
albert square, Aktsu, Munchrazz, Tsange, Johnnysmith117, Handsome elite, Tide rolls, Lightbot, Krano, Gail, L'homme qui rit 78, Loolool2,
SaintHammett, Tazzrox, Theman987, Yobot, Faschwaa, Jetsiol, Tohd8BohaithuGh1, Quas23, TrevianVarthius, Ddcarpio, Nirvana888, Jabber-
wockgee, Tenho Karite, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, The Only One, JDC808, Levillius, Sissyburr, Gollymollyzot, Eric-Wester, Kevindrosario,
Joeboxer555, Stephanieinwonderland, Tonyrex, AnomieBOT, Andrewrp, Archon 2488, Floquenbeam, Rubinbot, Commander Shepard, Yachts-
man1, Law, Eljefe84, Game expert111111, Spreadtoothin, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Maxis ftw, MrSpam77, Monkeylip444, Neurolysis,
JohnFromPinckney, Snowbrdr464, Ethanthecaveman, LilHelpa, Paddyboy315, Kkllnn, Capricorn42, AarnKrry, CoolingGibbon, Lone Wolf50,
Tad Lincoln, Angrycoot69, Locos epraix, Flashash;, Kapsco, Makeswell, Rorydent, GrouchoBot, GameHazard, Gregorytheviking, Shak 10,
Bahahs, Nytestryke24, N419BH, Apbiologyrocks, Kukanani2, Thejadefalcon, Bonejangles4419, Gumaerd, TerraHikaru, Drasill, Rpmcrazy-
foool, Sock, Pepper, OverlordFT, Ndboy, Cyberalien18, Luminite2, Kwiki, Drew R. Smith, Biker Biker, Gongiar, Sprangledwarf, Abani79,
Forerunner93, Hazzerd3, Ben1239randy, PrincessofLlyr, Mrkou4, IOblivionIV, Durbin911, Shadowdancer2, Hellknowz, Toukashi, Tomcat7,
Solvebreaky, Thepebble3, Elvis Thong, RedBot, Jabberjawjapan, Ongar the World-Weary, Meaghan, Hpilliner, Fussie12, Full-date unlinking
bot, Banej, Turian, Imakesoap, Phailyur, Lightlowemon, Mehrunes Dagon, Yawaraey, Scythre, Yunshui, Falkybassist, Drskahaggus, Warrior-
tiger84, Aut disce aut discede, Aoidh, Dusty777, Phobia2504, Diannaa, Chrisvatter, Suusion of Yellow, XJDHDR, Caperplipj, Spreadthechaos,
Tbhotch, Maxmancoop, Minimac, I am not a neologism, you are., DARTH SIDIOUS 2, Olwen29, RjwilmsiBot, Pistolwhip66, Buggie111,
Spiytoasterboy, Aircorn, Darkboy0712, Skamecrazy123, DASHBot, CR4ZE, DeBoisbaudran, Tondris, WikitanvirBot, Gfoley4, Sypheria, Ze-
rotonin, Wachagonnadowhentheycome4u, RenamedUser01302013, NotAnonymous0, Skyllz77, Hounder4, Wikipelli, Kclimer13, Jaymo121,
C2Talon, TheGGoose, Daonguyen95, Lthornsb, Trottlyert, AIRWaLkersiLLysmile, Yodogs, Sigilion, Mhults7791, Nightraider911, Everard
Proudfoot, Access Denied, Bilbo571, H3llBot, SporkBot, Kalquemex, Chubba080, Emerald94, Fearman77, StingerP32, Starhero77, Oblivion
User, Bluebarron, Arawn V, Satanic Lord of Metal, BloodRaven21, KroSha, Kranix, MonoAV, Spadra99, ElderJoe1, H4RR7H, Victorian-
Mutant, Holdenmcrutch, Outblood, LikeLakers2, Sven Manguard, DASHBotAV, Rigas Papadopoulos, Contactjake, Killkill401, ClueBot NG,
Jake Command Wolf, Michaelmas1957, Gareth Grith-Jones, Rand111, Aidan309, Girlalamodem, Bped1985, Wikiolo, SJE06, Doubledose 2,
DHKANY, Jwp45698, Jrm ColdFox, Flyingnarb, The BATTY MAN, ScottSteiner, DarkJak495, Guywhoedits, Blaise170, WikiPuppies, Tmur-
phy101, Ultixer, Helpful Pixie Bot, M0ment0m, Welsh Lobster, Urban Soldier 9, Omg1204244555, Analcreep10101444, Filerapist10104344,
FJ 1, BG19bot, IiLeGiT101, Vagobot, CraigSteve, GordonRichmeier, The Elder Scrolls 11, Claptonish, Rjfmoulton, Gamer7545, Future-
Trillionaire, Nwbuf, Ryspeed, B34stm0d3upinhere, Byerman1, Metroid505, Andpet47, Brownie1988, Tango16, Oblivionman21, LAWhead21,
Timorite, ArcLightning, Gprobins, Wrath X, Astraeus IV, Bobfordsgun, Johnny 3 Tears, Zukchbsialunvcviludbv, The1337gamer, Horizonstorm,
Cyberbot II, Arkius, SNAAAAKE!!, Monkey650, Dovahkiineditor, C0lus, Dissident93, Webclient101, Korentop, RedBullWarrior, Poopys-
noopy123, Ekips39, Treeroy, Collinschwab, VoxelBot, Jdcsc300, Jack Matthewman, Trihlav, Storkyl, Isaiahbiker, Popcorntrailer, Useless1234,
DTGMANG, ExtremeWubWubs, Nuclear.Octopus, RealSkythekidRS, Swaggy987654, Monkbot, Happy Attack Dog, Craftyminoralex, Adri-
anGamer, The CorrecterInWigan, ToopaLoopa, MDFinley, BBPetMark, GeneralizationsAreBad, Fur0.99, TheelderscrollsLogan, Crazzsharkk,
InFAMOUS Gamer and Anonymous: 2106
Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_The_Elder_Scrolls_IV%3A_
Oblivion?oldid=689597869 Contributors: Selket, Wereon, DoubleCross, Chowbok, Bender235, Giraedata, Gary, New Age Retro Hippie,
RyanGerbil10, G.W., Melesse, Rjwilmsi, Rogerd, Sdornan, Brighterorange, Czar, RussBot, Rmky87, Tony1, EEMIV, David Fuchs, Chris
the speller, Axem Titanium, SandyGeorgia, DouglasCalvert, Jackbergin, Mika1h, Daniel J. Leivick, Krator, Hervegirod, Headbomb, John254,
Haha169, Dreaded Walrus, MER-C, JaGa, R'n'B, DrKay, SharkD, Dispenser, Dorftrottel, Anonymous Dissident, Andrew22k, JohnnyMrNinja,
ImageRemovalBot, Bardin, Sun Creator, NuclearWarfare, Addbot, Megata Sanshiro, Tide rolls, AnomieBOT, Xqbot, Locos epraix, Erik9bot,
Smuckola, Jabberjawjapan, Full-date unlinking bot, Typhoon966, Mehrunes Dagon, Koriyen, Diannaa, DASHBot, John of Reading, Going-
Batty, H3llBot, ClueBot NG, TGilmour, Steeldragon7, BattyBot, The Millionth One, SalmanAlsharif, Landingdude13, Nyyankees2015 and
5.8. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 35

Anonymous: 33
ESRB re-rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESRB_re-rating_of_The_Elder_Scrolls_IV%3A_
Oblivion?oldid=698646110 Contributors: Christopher Parham, Ran, Xezbeth, Alansohn, Drat, RyanGerbil10, Simetrical, Woohookitty, Breath-
ingMeat, LOL, WadeSimMiser, Btyner, G.W., Rjwilmsi, Panoptical, Sdornan, Reinis, Mrschimpf, Melodia, Sceptre, Brandmeister (old), Kim-
chi.sg, Tony1, DeadEyeArrow, BorgQueen, David Fuchs, Kika chuck, Lenin and McCarthy, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Ment al, Bejnar,
Axem Titanium, InsaneZeroG, SandyGeorgia, TJ Spyke, Nydas, Dycedarg, The ed17, Mika1h, Jesse Viviano, Krator, Kozuch, Headbomb,
X201, Michael A. White, SusanLesch, Dreaded Walrus, QuagmireDog, VoABot II, AuburnPilot, Midgrid, Giggy, Threedots dead, RockMFR,
R. Baley, Dispenser, Cometstyles, Izno, Maximillion Pegasus, Enigmaman, Brianga, Pjoef, EJF, Burningclean, Tiddly Tom, Mangostar, Tip-
toety, Arbor to SJ, Antonio Lopez, Steven Crossin, LAX, Trivialist, Forelyn~enwiki, SpikeToronto, Ember of Light, GrahamDo, Tezero, Luwilt,
Andrewcapone, Byuusetsu, Thereaper14, Typicalwater, Yurityger, Awareshiftjk, ?tasteyard$Q, Moocowsrule, GamerPro64, AnomieBOT, Lo-
cos epraix, Zmaster92, Kyrios320, Jabberjawjapan, Full-date unlinking bot, H3llBot, ClueBot NG, Mark Arsten, BattyBot, TheREDFortyScout,
Monkbot, SSTyer and Anonymous: 73
The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV%3A_Knights_of_the_Nine?oldid=
683919019 Contributors: Voidvector, Greenrd, Stormie, David Gerard, Chowbok, Thunderbrand, Arthena, Yamla, RyanGerbil10, Mindma-
trix, WadeSimMiser, Prashanthns, G.W., Koavf, FlaBot, TnS, Rambutaan, NateDan, Pagrashtak, Oberst, Tony1, OutRider2003, Closedmouth,
Chris Chittleborough, SmackBot, Hydrogen Iodide, Sillygostly, Portillo, Chris the speller, JONJONAUG, Ramas Arrow, Alphathon, Ultraex-
actzz, JovBlackheart, Boky, SkyWalker, Amalas, Zarex, Lloegr-Cymru, Mika1h, Drinibot, Green451, Cydebot, Soetermans, Betacommand-
Bot, Thijs!bot, Hervegirod, Tachikoma22, Gamer007, Headbomb, X201, Silver Edge, Hukt own fonikz, AntiVandalBot, Kariteh, Instinct,
Ashileedo, VoABot II, Ecksemmess, Cal42, Ding Chavez, 28421u2232nfenfcenc, Johannes H.-Larsen, Stephenchou0722, RaptorRex35, Vic-
cce~enwiki, R'n'B, Galahaut, Torres penjamo, Devillunatic, Vulian, KylieTastic, TheSeventhSage, Spellcast, Irishguy42, TXiKiBoT, Luksuh,
RisingSunn, Michaeldsuarez, Mallerd, Brianga, Miremare, Pigzrock, Ferret, Oxymoron83, Redsandisk, Imreallyboreded, JohnnyMrNinja, Ap-
pleseed1234, Nergaal, ClueBot, NuclearWarfare, Thingg, Dude527, Kite45, Addbot, Kman543210, UncannyGarlic, SpBot, Spencermustbeking,
AnomieBOT, RoclorD, Locos epraix, Jabberjawjapan, Full-date unlinking bot, Domesticenginerd, ZroBot, H3llBot, Rapperman124, ClueBot
NG, Rossbranch1234, KhanTheDestroyer, IxOwNs, AdrianGamer, Boky90, Dohvahkiin and Anonymous: 89
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV%3A_Shivering_Isles?oldid=673285672
Contributors: Stormie, Nufy8, David Gerard, Jacoplane, Chowbok, Thunderbrand, Guiltyspark, Arthena, CyberSkull, Dachannien, Tony Sid-
away, Drat, RyanGerbil10, Mindmatrix, Damicatz, G.W., Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Rogerd, Sdornan, Fish and karate, FlaBot, Nivix, General Bison,
Chensiyuan, NateDan, NawlinWiki, Falcon9x5, Wknight94, D'Agosta, Katieh5584, Neilgravir, Rehevkor, SmackBot, Praetor alpha, Sillygostly,
SonoftheMorning, Simulato, Wolfcp11, Portillo, Master of Puppets, TheSpectator, JONJONAUG, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Thomas
Connor, Dreadstar, Interrupt feed, Optimus Sledge, JovBlackheart, Joelo, Xbox360~enwiki, Iridescent, SkyWalker, Ratwar, J Milburn, Cm-
drObot, Amalas, Zarex, Lloegr-Cymru, Killik Twilight, CBM, Mika1h, Drinibot, Darthbob100, Ouijalover, Cydebot, Reywas92, Aristeo, Daniel
J. Leivick, Soetermans, Jamesr66a, BetacommandBot, Thijs!bot, JAF1970, Hervegirod, Gamer007, RobotEater, Headbomb, X201, Aerican-
wizard, The Hybrid, Orfen, Silver Edge, Gasheaduk, Hmrox, AntiVandalBot, Quintote, MECU, Jimeree, H20h0us391, MER-C, ITZKooPA,
Runerock322, 808, Magioladitis, Parsecboy, VoABot II, Careless hx, Bwanaunsignedhype, Ecksemmess, Fabrictramp, Panser Born, Ding
Chavez, Animum, Rhymingisfun, Mooshimanx, Licensedrummer, Smokesoul, MartinBot, WIKI-GUY-16, Galahaut, Devillunatic, Extransit,
Johntan007, SharkD, SmilesALot, Akhel, Guyzero, Khargas, Idioma-bot, 28bytes, ScruggsyW, Nicolegetomyleg, CORBETT312, Crevox,
Kenada53, Anonymous Dissident, Queo, Beyond silence, Luksuh, Damien Russell, Tripleg28, EonOmega, Benikipedia, S-Plode, Michaeld-
suarez, Tenthkarma, Sylent, Mallerd, Flamehearted, HiDrNick, Bobo The Ninja, Tyleray, Arenaross, SieBot, Oh16, NATO.Caliber, VVVBot,
LordHo, Dawnfang, Cooldude589, Pigzrock, Ferret, Hobartimus, Gandark, Nergaal, ImageRemovalBot, Sfan00 IMG, ClueBot, Kl4m, Robert-
Michael, MrKIA11, Methrunes, Paulcmnt, Lartoven, SytheMaster, Devin Esparza, Dude527, Addbot, Jan Hofmann, Rapturous, LaaknorBot,
UncannyGarlic, Imperial Scum, Blade Kassan, MuZemike, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Rubinbot, Commander Shepard, Law, Grim23, Locos epraix,
Flashash;, Kukanani2, ASOTMKX, Kobrabones, Jabberjawjapan, Full-date unlinking bot, Laephis, CR4ZE, John of Reading, C2Talon, Sus-
fele, Uberfuzzy the big fat poo, Afatatlot, Bilbo571, H3llBot, SporkBot, L Kensington, RaspberryRush, Rapperman124, ClueBot NG, Jake
Command Wolf, FJ 1, DarkCorrectioner, Cky2250, This is also Sven Manguard, Dexbot, Rossbranch1234, RobDuch, Landingdude13, The
serene republic, AdrianGamer, Dohvahkiin and Anonymous: 220

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36 CHAPTER 5. ''THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: SHIVERING ISLES'

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