Oblivion patch coming next week for PC, 360

by Ross Miller { Jun 2nd 2006 at 7:55PM }

According to 1up, Bethesda will be releasing a patch for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion next week, for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions. PC users will get the patch via normal outlets, while Xbox 360 owners will get their patch via Xbox Live and other, unspecficied means (chief of PR Peter Hines mentioned looking into bundling the update with the Official Xbox Magazine).

I, for one, am extremely happy to get the patch soon, having stopped playing the game entirely due to frustration the "disappearing body" of the Cheydinhal Reccomendation or the "disappearing alchemist" (Melisande) when trying to rid one's self of vampirism. Any other glitches that you hope Bethesda quickly remedies?

See Also:
List of known Oblivion glitches

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Streets @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:23PM

will they also be cleaning up the exploits? Things like duplicating items with the bow and arrows, etc.?

Magnum177 @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:26PM

I really hope that they fix the bugs involving the Vampirism cure. Right now, the Count wont leave his room, and I cant get that Argonian chick to go get him! She keeps saying, "wait here while I go get the count" and then standing there for HOURS!!!

The ZeroCorpse @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:29PM

I've run into few glitches, but when they do hit, they're annoying.

In other news, the newest expansion for Oblivion is on Xbox Live! as we speak. The pirate's life for me! Yaarrrrr!

ac @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:49PM

Its an amazing game just way too buggy, can't blame Bethesda though the game is massive.

PhillyRampage @ Jun 2nd 2006 9:15PM

I hope this is not just a patch for all the glitches, but also a performance patch. Wishful thinking?

brad77 @ Jun 2nd 2006 9:19PM

@ac: Uh, sure you can. They should've spent more time testing.

I'm looking forward to the patch, although I suppose that means I'm going to have to get my gold by more, ahem, legitimate means.

PsyClerk @ Jun 2nd 2006 9:19PM

The biggest bugs that need fixing (from my own experience) are:

-Bug with Umbra sword quest. Every time I turn in that damn sword to the Daedric shrine, my console freezes. There are a number of workarounds to this, some of which are the software equivalent of a Rube Goldberg creation. None of the workarounds have worked for me. It's not game stopping, since those quests aren't required, but for completionists (I totally just made that word up), it's annoying.

-Bug that freezes the console during some loading screens. The longer I played the game, the more likely I was to run into a total console freeze while loading. Just like Morrowind...

The only other bug I've run into involved a missing body in one of the later Fighter's Guild quests, but it's easily worked around. If I just get the Umbra quest fixed, I'll be content.

Blink @ Jun 2nd 2006 9:20PM

Speaking of XBox Live, I find it sad that Microsoft still hasn't told us when the update is coming out. They said one every six months, right? But...they want to do another one this fall? How can that be? It'll be December if they do it exactly 6 months from now, and soon, it'll be going into 2007!

EdensDevil @ Jun 2nd 2006 10:14PM

I've done everything in the game with no glitches except for one which is a bummer. The final Daedric quest to trap souls! After I trap 4 of the needed souls it wouldn't trap anymore for me with the spell you have to use.

Solstice @ Jun 2nd 2006 11:08PM

I quit playing after the very last quest in the Thieves Guild chain got messed up somehow. Minor spoiler, but basically the Grey Fox doesn't hand the cowl over to me... he just takes it off and then walks out the door, leaving me stuck in cinematic mode (no UI, can't move). Argh! After trying to complete that quest a billion times with no success, I shelved the game. Maybe if thats fixed i'd be interested in recovering all my hard work.

TiaMaster @ Jun 2nd 2006 11:15PM

Since I haven't run into any of these glitches, I could care less - unless some content is updated. Like more armor and such.

Matt @ Jun 2nd 2006 11:32PM

Number 5. Clavicus Vile only tries to give you a mask or something for the sword. Completion of the quest is useless because you end up keeping the sword either way (Unless you're a fan of masks).

jaemz @ Jun 2nd 2006 11:43PM

I get a few freezes occasionally, but nothing serious.

The only glitch I have involves a side quest to buy a house in Skingrad. Seems the 'Shum gro-Yarug' character that I need to talk to has either fallen below the ground surface, or has turned into a tree that refuses to talk to me...

Must say, I really like this game. The 122hrs invested (so far) in this game have been a blast.

Hamson @ Jun 3rd 2006 12:17AM

The glitch with the theives guild mission where you have to steal a ring from the countess of Leyawin. When I went to steal the ring, there were 2, and I took both. Apparantly now though, the theive that I'm supposed to give the ring to doesn't recognize me as having any, and I can't drop any of the rings because they are quest items.

cap-n-crunch @ Jun 3rd 2006 2:40AM

I also having a problem with the thieves guild Hamson, I abadoned the initation the part when your supposed to steal the diary out of the house in the temple district that women has it on here now(I know cause I tryed to pick pocket her) but the arrow still shows the diary still being in the guys house.

stev0 @ Jun 3rd 2006 5:08AM

I really want to get the vampire cure but Melisande wont take the garlic from me...i hope this issue is fixed!

Kinmar @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:03AM

@ brad77

Then we would be complaining about the huge delays is shipping the product. If i have learned anything from the gaming community its that we cannot be 100% pleased. So pick your poison: Long delays in shipping the game or Patches to fix the stuff you didnt have time to sort out but needed to put something in the hands of the consumer.

GL @ Jun 3rd 2006 11:25AM

This game is great, but the only thing that really bothers me is the slight hiccups when you are walking thru a forest. Surely they can fix that.

Aram @ Jun 3rd 2006 11:35AM

The only problem I've had with the game (after about 40 hours) is occasional crashing... it happened twice after closing the Oblivion gates. but a great game nonetheless!!!

Scott @ Jun 3rd 2006 12:22PM

The only glitch I've run into is the one where you kill the guy in his house and he drops an endless supply of gold.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;)

Jeremy Wright @ Jun 3rd 2006 12:50PM

I ran into the Argonian glitch in the vampire path as well. So I just went and found the count, and that always worked out.

The only other bad glitches for me were one time I managed to leave a city before a guard came and talked to me. I just went invisible and walked away. But he was "after me" for hours. Couldn't sleep, couldn't fast travel. Eventually I went back into the city, he threatened me, I went invis and kept walking.

Also had an issue with the king of the Aeylied city not appearing. That sucked. Arrow was just pointed at the ceiling forever. Had to reload and it was fine though.

Tony @ Jun 3rd 2006 1:19PM

Are you still going to be able to dupelicate items thats realy fun.

Tony @ Jun 3rd 2006 1:29PM

On the knights of the white stalion mission im suposed to ask mazoga whare black brugo is but shes dead.

kayen @ Jun 3rd 2006 2:17PM

I hope they fix the bug that made me have to delete my 50+ hour game save.

I was in a Fighter's Guild quest. Got expelled mid-quest but it allowed me to finish the quest (it was to get a ring off of some named something like Azani Blackheart). I finished it, got back to the guild, they said I was expelled. Had to get 10 bear pelts, got them, went back with the pelts, but then I couldn't do anything else with the quest with the ring. PWNED!! w00t!

brad77 @ Jun 3rd 2006 4:09PM

@Kinmar

I don't have a problem with the release of patches to fix minor problems or add features, but it's evident that 2K has some quality control issues. I was commenting on the fact that you can't just dismiss the fact that we've got a buggy game on the grounds that it's "massive."

I'm a programmer. I understand that mistakes are made, bugs make it through to the final product, but it's your job (or someone's job) to make sure that they are minimal. If problems come up during testing that merit delay, then the game should be delayed. Releasing an incomplete or buggy game to make a launch window is just lame. Telling the consumer that "we'll fix it later" is also lame.

MLB 2K was so buggy that it was almost unplayable (for some, it was a $60 coaster). Oblivion, though buggy, has made the cut. Just because it's a great game doesn't mean that the developer/publisher deserves a pass for those bugs. A means to deliver patches to fix these problems doesn't mean that your end-user should be the one doing your testing.

Max @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:12PM

Fix the bug with the Vampirism cure quest. The lady that you turn the ingredients in to won't take the Bloodgrass for the potion if the main quest is already finished, at least for the 360 version. I think there is a work-around with the PC version.

roadzy @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:40PM

haha i quit playing this for the same reason...

Lauren @ Jun 4th 2006 10:08AM

Has anyone else had trouble with a Dark Brotherhood quest titled "The Assassinated Man"? You have to return to the Chorrol Chapel Undercroft after a day to revive the man. We steal the key from an orc downstairs return upstairs to open the door & says "You need the Chorrol Chapel Undercroft key. You cannot pick this lock." Very frustrating. LOVE the game, love the dark brotherhood missions. Want to continue.

Moogle @ Jun 4th 2006 11:44AM

Why is it every time I see that wiki page format I assume that I'm on wikipedia? Someone's going to prank me hard one day if they ever found out.... *shifty eyes*

The only bug I remember other than crashing when I quit (Yeah, not gonna cry about that. :) ), was when I fell into the spiral ramp in an oblivion tower. Had fun with it for a while, to get out I just had to work a bit to reach a door. Oh, I guess there was one time in talos district where everything other than the height map was passable. Did you know the streets and building are objects? Funny. Nothing's stopped me from enjoying the game.

Duke nukem 3d had problems with people getting stuck in walls too. Their answer was to gib the player, which was damned annoying in multiplayer. *walk walk walk SPLODE* "Wha? Who? How?"

As for releasing buggy software - You have to set a cutoff for what level of severity you're willing to take the time to fix. By no means does this mean they should be forgiven, but I don't think they made the wrong choice. Complaints get addressed by severity and frequency. I expect a lot of accumulated fixes in this patch.

Tukka @ Jun 4th 2006 11:52AM

I've run into a few very frustrating glitches. One where triggers do not properly open doors in elven ruins. That one had me running around for an hour trying to figure out what it was that I was missing and is a showstopper for completion of the main quest.

A lot of the mage's guild quests are irritating due to bugs as well. I didn't have any problems with Cheydinhal recommendation, but there was one later on involving a observing a necromancer during one of his rites that was bugged, as the guy would never spawn. Either the quest right before or right after that one for the Mage's Guild also was glitchy for me, but I forget what it was.

Performance wise, I would love to see some improvement. I've had some very annoying crash/freeze problems, though I suspect some of them may be resulting from the graphics drivers and/or mods.

It's a shame, but maybe games like Oblivion just can't be done anymore, they are just too hard to make right. They scaled back the scope of the game from Morrowind in many regards and still launched with just as many, if not more technical and game content issues.

I stopped playing Oblivion after about a month. It bugs me that the game is getting perfect and near perfect reviews all over the place, because while the game is great, there is a LOT that can be improved on.

One thing that I think they should definitely add in a patch ASAP is MORE ACTION BUTTONS FOR PC USERS. Seriously, a game where there dozens of TYPES of spell, and a virtually unlimited number of possible variations on those spells, plus numerable skills and items that you might want to invoke in a moment's notice, on a regular basis ... With only EIGHT hot keys? Absolutely and utterly ridiculous. This, along with the bugs is what has killed my interested in exploring the supposed hundreds of hours of game content.

Note to Bethesda, your "next gen" Game of the Year contender should not have a user interface from 1993.

TalonKarrde125 @ Jun 4th 2006 1:10PM

My complaint is the Ring of the Vipereye. Why is it a quest item? When something causes items to be taken from me, like being arrested, or doing Sanguine's quest, the ring doesn't go anywhere, and it can never again be equipped. This is preventing me from doing a few quests, like Two Sides of a Coin.

dubbfoolio @ Jun 4th 2006 2:44PM

I hope they fix the letterboxing for the 1280x1024 resolution!!! Also I got Master of the Fighter Guild but not Champion because the "Mystery at Harlun's Watch" quest was broken. there goes my hope of all achievments with one character! please, please, please fix these Bethesda!!

Chad @ Jun 5th 2006 11:51AM

Most of you people don't need bug fixes, you need to pay attention to the clues you're given.

#13, Hamson:

That's not a bug. At all times there will be two rings in the box, neither of which is the one you need. You have to wait unti she's asleep, before which she will remove the ring you need and place it in the box.

waxc3 @ Jun 5th 2006 12:00PM

the only that ever bothers me is the locking up glitch.
ive had quests that i couldnt finish properly as well due to there are 2 of an item.

i never curse outloud at those, but the locking up on load screens or randomly in conversations or just running in the forest...

i now save everytime i am about to touch a door or just completed any piece of a quest. i am well over 1000 saves (199 hours in)

Mike @ Jun 5th 2006 7:41PM

It's been so long since I stopped playing the game I can't really remember what pisse...oh yeah. I was trying to get the guy with the house full of ghosts to sell me the house and the game froze. It didn't matter if I reloaded and didn't talk to the guy, no matter what I did, the game shut down.

I finally deleted my game (over 24 hours of gameplay!) and tried starting over, but then got pissed and disinterested in quests that I had already done and haven't played it since.

dougo @ Jul 14th 2006 5:56PM

my main problem was with the final quest of the mages guild. i go to the place and kill all the necromancers, but then i get to mannimarco and he just doesn't die. im level 26 so i should be able to take him......... but when i swing my sword it just goes straight through him and doesn't do any damage. Ive heard he's supposed to be relatively easy but I just can't kill him. tried reloading etc just doesn't work.