So, I just started playing Oblivion....

[Vuljatar]

PC is the way to go. There is literally no downside (since the PC supports mouse/keyboard OR gamepad).

Also, once you tire of Oblivion (which for me didn't really take that long), get the GotY edition of Morrowind. It is superior to Oblivion in every way that matters, and can be modded to have near-equal graphics.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Don't give up Azura's Star or Skeleton Key. Here are some tips for new players. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:First_Time_Players
Also join the arena early to get money and grab umbra as soon as you can.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Ignore everyone's suggestions.

Pick a direction and run in it. Get distracted by whatever comes in your path. Explore. Get lost in the wilderness. Get a bounty on your head. Do whatever the hell you want.

Do this.

Get lost in the world for a while. The main quests are decent yet a little boring at times.

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

>Talk to everyone
>Keep your ears open for potential sidequests
>Pick a method of fighting ans stick with it vs trying to level everything up as you go
>Invest in good armor
>Do Dark Brotherhood. The quests are a hell of a lot of fun and you'll get some pretty good items right off the bat plus a killer horse
>Join the Blades for some pretty good heavy armor and samurai swords
>Always carry repair hammers. Nothing's worse than breaking the shiny new sword you just got
>Learn an Alteration spell to increase the amount of items you can hold
>Save before you remove an Oblivion Gate Sigil Stone so you can pick the enchantment you want
>Store Keys in a chest when you're done with them. Seriously, the key inventory is fucked and you will pick up hundreds of keys on your journey
>If you're doing the Thieves Guild quest, invest in enchanted invisibility items
>Do Daedric quests to get unique items
>Become a vampire just to see what it's like. You can always get cured if you find it to be a hassle.
>Steer clear of mudcrabs. Disgusting creatures...

 

[Irridium]

some creatures disappear(which actually breaks a few quests)

Woah really? I didn't know the leveling system breaks quests... never experienced that myself, anyway.

They might've patched that, but yeah. The one that broke for me was the fighter's guild quest where you had to get the imp-gall. Get to a high enough level, and imps stop spawning.

Again, pretty sure they patched that though. But still, I was rather angry.

...

You know, it JUST occurred to me hat I could have just bought the Imp Gall from the alchemy places in the Imperial City. God damn I feel like an idiot now...

But still, that'd be annoying and it would be because the leveling system is ass.

 

[Derek_the_Dodo]

My first run through of oblivion I wasn't expecting anything at all. I picked imperial default race and called him "dicks" because I wasn't expecting to play it for longer than half an hour.

how wrong i was.

Clocked hundreds of hours of play time on vanilla Xbox 360 version. My first run did go disastrously if you're considering the long game. Chose the worst class and race, gave up the wrong item, levelled stupidly, but I had a fantastic time.

Do whatever the hell you want in oblivion, I haven't finished the main quest because it's just as good as all the rest and one of the later quests is basically repeating the same quest 7 times over, (although it may be optional) anyway its much more fun to roleplay "Barry the drunk" my nord character who goes on pub crawls of Cyrodiil drinking all the ale in the pub then collapsing on the floor (custom drain fatigue on self spell).

Go play!

 

[SextusMaximus]

Oh, the best thing for Oblivion is mo- oh, you got the console version?

Spoiler: Here you go, buddy!

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=oblivion+pc&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a#q=oblivion+pc&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=cLr&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=_x2sTq_jGIqa8QPEkdiWCw&ved=0CHsQrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=d453dbdce74d4545&biw=1600&bih=722

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

Go to Pells gate and then go over the bridge west of it until you find a white ruin (Aylied ruin) GO in it and find a gal named Umbra.

Aggro her and swim across the lake into the imperial city (try not to lose her). When the guards kill her, take all of her stuff.

Congrats, you have the best sword in the game and some wicked Armour to boot.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

get the PC version. the mods add so freaking much. one mod (Nehrim) adds an entirely new GAMEWORLD in (doesnt seem to work too well with the Steam version, i just get yellow diamonds... am i doing it wrong?)

also, do as many quests as possible. talk to everyfucker. do all the quests. join all the factions. fuck all the whores! stab a ***** in a barfight over a poorly-made souffle!
and buy the houses, dey iz well pimp. also you can make DIY spells and cure vampirism.

 

[faspxina]

Ignore the main quest and try to create your own story.