I’d be lying if I said we had started RPS for any other reason than funding secret cabal designed to rule the world by manipulating heads of state and undermining morality across the globe. Part of that plan would involve procuring a suitable headquarters where our sinister agents could be trained, briefed and deployed on complex espionage missions. We’ve got Castle Bran in mind, but apparently the electrics are out and the roof needs some work. It’s going to take us 15,000 years to save up enough money.
In the meantime I guess we could satisfy our castle-owning lusts by downloading the free stuff that Betheseda are knocking out for Oblivion next week. Yep, the Fighter’s Stronghold will be free for one week from tomorrow. If you’re a goblin-swatter you’ll be able to set up virtual residence in this beauty and marvel at the knights who patrol its grounds for you.
All this property porn does make me wonder how many people actually actually bought into the life and lordship aspect of Oblivion. I have to admit that it appeals to me at some absurdly geeky level, but I can’t see myself ever actually putting aside the time to “hire a taxidermist to craft lifelike trophies for your great hall”, as much I want to see what that entails. It’s a similar kind of impulse to the secret HQ in City Of Heroes, I suppose, and I never did get around to that, either. Perhaps since it’s free I’ll take a look this time – that taxidery talk intrigues me. I wonder if you can have a stuffed ghost?
Related Stories:
One of the things I loved most of all about Morrowind was building up my lordly mushroom house, and of course adorning it with junk I’d collected in my travels. And of course adding to my skull collection.
Pretty tempted to reinstall Oblivion and have another go at it.
I also just noticed “Hire a vintner to create special wines to enhance your fighting abilities.” Haha.
I still don’t know how many homes an adventurer could possibly need. Guess we’ll find out in The Elder Scrolls V – Realms of Realty
I never got it in Oblivion – at least in the base game, what does it get you? Nothing other than a place to dump your excess kit, and I generally sell that to a fence (because most of it’s stolen).
City of Heroes on the other hand… if you’re in a reasonably-sized Supergroup, your secret base can be a really handy way of getting around, since it can be kitted out with teleporters to every zone. Add to that the base teleportation veteran power (if you’ve been playing long enough to get it anyway) and you can go to any city or hazard or PvP zone with two zone transitions and a short walk in between (but then you have to wait ages for the base teleport power to recharge). Rather handy, as is resurrecting in your base’s medical centre instead of the hospital if the hospital’s in a less convenient place, having access in the base to your personal vault for invention salvage (and an invention workbench – just needs some sort of black market/consignment house terminal for bases now and you could do all your invention needs without moving), inspiration collectors and dispensers… a shame that the whole base raiding and items of power thing STILL isn’t working properly though. Every time they try and bring the Cathedral of Pain back online it all falls apart and they have to take it away again.