Why Oblivion Sucks
Part 8 - Premium Downloadable Content
Bethesda decided that the millions of dollars they are making off of Oblivion itself is not enough to fill their wallets. So meet the newest Bethesda cash cow, Premium Downloadable Content. The basic premise is that Bethesda releases plug-ins that add content and you pay anywhere from $0.90 to $12.99 per plug-in. There are numerous problems with this system :
1.Bethesda has been so busy making premium downloadable content that they haven't been focused on fixing the core game. There are still more bugs in Oblivion than an Amazon Rainforest. Yet, Oblivion hasn't seen a patch since last summer. There is an unofficial patch that literally fixes hundreds of bugs, but where is Bethesda? It has been claimed that there are separate teams for making new content and maintaining the core game itself. But in practice, this does not appear to be the case. While Bethesda has been churning out premium module after premium module, there are no patches.
2.The DLC installers do not work on Windows XP 64-bit and Windows Vista. This is due to the half-assed digital restrictions management scheme that Bethesda implemented on the installers. Nevermind the fact that it is ludicrous to employ such a heavy-handed scheme on a plug-in that only costs at most $12.99 and on average only costs a few dollars. Nevermind the fact that all one has to do is copy the actual plug-in files once it's installed to completely bypass the so-called security system.
The reason the installers do not work on Windows XP 64-bit and Windows Vista is incompetence and slipshod programming practices. The installers attempt to bypass Windows security and to preform actions that are normally associated with a trojan horse or worm. Things such as installing hidden registry keys and rootkits. Since Windows XP 64-bit and Windows Vista both have beefed up security, is it any wonder the installers don't work under those operating systems?
3.The premium content frequently unbalances the game? Chests that duplicate ingredients, an altar that cures vampirism, an NPC for unlimited vampire feeding with no consequences, and a personal fence that requires very little effort to obtain are just a few examples.