Oblivion theft, breaking & entering

[whooleytoo]

I finally picked up Oblivion over the weekend and (apart from the occasional freeze, constant stutters when moving around, naff accents and odd character animations) it's a great game, I can see it sucking up a lot of my time.

But I can't lockpick to save my life - I know the skill is bound to improve as I practice, but that's not much use when I'm constantly running out of lockpicks! Even a lock with two pins takes me up to 20 lockpicks to open.

Which is exacerbated by the fact that I'm useless at pickpocketing (for keys) as well. It's simple sneaking up on someone and seeing what they have, but as soon as I leave their inventory screen I get nabbed. I've only once successfully stolen keys, only to lose them a few minutes later when I accidentally pickpocketed someone when I was trying to talk to them! (Can you keep stolen items by dropping them, trying something illegal, and if you get caught you can pick them up again when you get out of jail?)

Anyone any good at this?

[sb58]

well if you have a problem with the amount of lockpicks you have, you could duplicate them with a glitch if you want...
and when it comes to stealing stuff, you need to increase your sneak skill. just walk around while crouching and it should increase. personally, i prefer just killing people. if i get caught (there's too many guards for me to handle) i kill my way outta jail.

[whooleytoo]

Ah. I've obviously been *****-footing around too much - the only Guard I've killed is one which was part of the mission. Unfortunately, I'm not much good at killing either! After trying and failing to steal it, I tried killing the thief woman in Bruma with the amulet only for her to call out for help and I got caught again.

At least I can still kill rats. Woohoo!

[sb58]

you could always lower the difficulty if need be. mad it more fun imo :P

[risc]

I'm lazy I just did the unbreakable locking pick quest once I hit level 10... mmm so easy now!

[EvilDoc]

Yea once you get the unbreakable lock its no longer an issue

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by sb58

you could always lower the difficulty if need be. mad it more fun imo :P

I didn't even realise there was a difficulty slider until you mentioned it! I'll leave it for now, it'd spoil it a bit for me if I just breezed through difficult sections because of sliding that down to easy. I may (be forced to) use it later..

Some things I've realised: you never get away with pickpocketing a guard (at least not at level 7!) Also, if you steal an item from a guard and get caught the item is taken off you; even if it's much, much later in the game. If you kill a guard and take his items, you can keep them, even if you're caught almost immediately. Odd.

Next thing to try: pick someone's pocket, then resist arrest, and drop the stolen items. Let yourself be caught again, go to jail. When you've served your time, you have no bounty on your head and can (I'm guessing) go back and pick up the dropped, stolen items.

[mattscott306]

Originally Posted by whooleytoo

Some things I've realised: you never get away with pickpocketing a guard (at least not at level 7!) Also, if you steal an item from a guard and get caught the item is taken off you; even if it's much, much later in the game. If you kill a guard and take his items, you can keep them, even if you're caught almost immediately. Odd.

Any item that you steal will be taken away from you, even much farther down the game. Not just items you steal from gaurds, if you pocket something with the red hand logo over it in a house it'll be taken from you if you go to jail.
If you kill someone their possesions are considered loot, and they will not be taken from you.

[twistedlegato]

We should not speak of stealing on these forums you know

[MacRumorUser]

whooleytoo what version of Oblivion are you playing ? PC, 360, PS3 ?

If your playing the 360 version, have you patched / updated it. If not there are some great 'loopholes' you can make use of at the beggining of the game to get a huge wad of money - that you can then use to buy a spell that opens higher level doors

If the game is patched or on PS3 you cant though.

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by MacRumorUser

whooleytoo what version of Oblivion are you playing ? PC, 360, PS3 ?

If your playing the 360 version, have you patched / updated it. If not there are some great 'loopholes' you can make use of at the beggining of the game to get a huge wad of money - that you can then use to buy a spell that opens higher level doors

If the game is patched or on PS3 you cant though.

The 360 version, but I've updated already. Pity! I like money.

I updated as I thought it might help with the stability of the game, how wrong was I? Already had one freeze up, one time where everything (bar the HUD) went black, innumerable temporary lock ups (for about 10 seconds or so), and there's one spot near Skingrad which slows the game to a slideshow, but doesn't stop when I leave so I have to leave the area, save, quit and load again.

[mattscott306]

You people and your cheats

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by twistedlegato

We should not speak of stealing on these forums you know

Nah! This thread is proof that the judicial system works - after all of my crimes I haven't been found innocent even once yet!

...I have re-offended though..

[mattscott306]

Originally Posted by whooleytoo

Nah! This thread is proof that the judicial system works - after all of my crimes I haven't been found innocent even once yet!

...I have re-offended though..

Sounds like we need to work on the prison system some more then. But my question is, have you killed and been able to get away with it?

[sb58]

Originally Posted by MacRumorUser

whooleytoo what version of Oblivion are you playing ? PC, 360, PS3 ?

If your playing the 360 version, have you patched / updated it. If not there are some great 'loopholes' you can make use of at the beggining of the game to get a huge wad of money - that you can then use to buy a spell that opens higher level doors

If the game is patched or on PS3 you cant though.

i've had mine patched, and i even have the Wizard's Tower and Thieves Den (courtesy of OXM) but yet the item duplicating trick with the bow and arrows still works for me

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by mattscott306

Sounds like we need to work on the prison system some more then. But my question is, have you killed and been able to get away with it?

For a while... but they got me at the end. Sooner or later they ALWAYS get you...

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by sb58

i've had mine patched, and i even have the Wizard's Tower and Thieves Den (courtesy of OXM) but yet the item duplicating trick with the bow and arrows still works for me

I don't know what that trick is, but I'm sure I'll find it.

I'm just realising what an RPG newbie I am - reading one review of the game where they pointed out if you choose all the combat skills as minor skills, they can increase without you levelling up. If you don't level up, neither do your opponents so (with patience) the game becomes a lot easier.

[magicjames92]

1. It's easy...
2. Join the theives guild, then you can buy them for like 1,2 gold a peice

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by magicjames92

1. It's easy...
2. Join the theives guild, then you can buy them for like 1,2 gold a peice

Ah, but the problem is, to join the thieves guild, you have to be able to open locks! Catch 22.. I am getting the knack of it though. I don't know if it's practice on my part, or the game has increased my skill level after going through 1,000 lockpicks, but now I can crack most locks first time - finally. Once I realised you can't be interrupted while opening a lock (if no-one can see you when you start, then you can't get caught), it made it a lot easier.

I am in an entirely different pickle now (spoilers!!!! -> )

I've turned vampire, but am stuck in the witch's house in the early morning. I can't make a run for it as I'll burn and even a wolf will kill me before I reach cover. I can't warp elsewhere from inside. I can't "wait" as it won't let me since I'm trespassing. I can't go outside and warp as I can't warp while losing health.

My only option is to leave the console on for 20 minutes (or whatever) so the day lapses normally, but since I don't know where exactly to find the stones this will take a while and I might have to go through this over and over..

So while I like the idea of playing as a vampire but I decided to go back to a (very) old save before I turned vampire and play through that section again.

One (very) last issue - has anyone else noticed as you ride about, the music starts skipping? It plays perhaps 10 seconds of one song then skips to the next. Last time I saw something like that it was in Crackdown, the next day my console died. Oh noes.