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[theinevitable]

So. I am pretty into the game Oblivion lately. this game is pretty awesome, except for the part where 90% of it is random dungeons that all look the same. The issue I am having is that the information is apparently packed on the disc very tightly-- leading to a problem.
PROBLEM: tiny, tiny, tiny scratches on the disc apparently cause major issues in reading it. I constantly lose my progress because my xbox stops being able to read the disc. I bought one of those little disc-cleaning kits, and I have used it twice. I have no idea where these scratches are coming from-- they basically follow the pattern that would occur if something inside the xbox were scratching it-- they are circular. At this point, the scratches keeping it from being read... are the super-tiny marks left from cleaning the scratches off. Am I doomed to never finish this game? Why does it keep getting scratched? None of our other games have had this problem. Is there some sort of high-quality disc-cleaning service or product which you folks would recommend?

Also: WTF, why do games like this always choose your character before you have played the game? I am now on my second character, since the first guy was basically a horrible concept (good at swords, but also good at some random kinds of magic which I never used.) Now my guy is basically a sneaky fighter, but I suck at sneaking. So, basically he's a kind-of-good fighter. I really don't want to start again. i also find myself regretting not setting any of the magic-types as a major skill-- I don't have the ability to cast powerful spells, so the spells I have aren't strong enough to use against the enemies I'm fighting, so I don't use them, so I don't rank-up in those skills....
so hard. it is so hard to play video games. maybe I should take up something easier, like biking or sumo wrestling.

[jaydub]

I love Oblivion, but it killed my computer recently.  I'm negotiating with the video card company at the moment - but I'm wondering if the new card will just move the stress over to the CPU or memory or something next.  I'm still on my first character, but I went through 3 or 4 early ones with Morrowind before I found a set of skills I liked.  Its part of the game.  If getting through the early parts of the story bugs you, there are definitely mods that allow you to skip it and plop you down in the Capital city with some basic starting stuff and your quests advanced to the appropriate marks.  Although that may not work with non-PC versions.  Hrmm.

Oh - scratched disks.  My dino-Xbox doesn't seem to inflict excessive scratches on its disks, but its hard to tell with a 5-year old having access.  I've never had any luck repairing them on (for example) music CDs.  My solution with them has been to get the lost music back off Kazaa or the like (I already bought the license with the original disk, I figure.  Probably the RIAA wouldn't agree).  Maybe see what Bethesda has to say?

[nDed]

If just cleaning the disc doesn't work, then you may have to get it professionally resurfaced (basically they just grind layers off the bottom depending on how deep the scratches go). I've never actually had this done though, so I couldn't tell you if it would be cheaper than just buying a new copy. I guess the 360 disc drive is kind of prone to scratching. Apparently that thing totally sucks!

[Doc]

What kind of disc cleaner was it? I used to use one that involved rubbing a small amount of liquid on the bottom of the cd, it dried clear so it effectively filled in all the scratches, that worked alright for me.

As for finishing oblivion though, I've been playing that sucker for months and I'm still no where near finishing it, but then I like side quests way too much.

[nDed]

I finished it, it's fairly short and the ending's not much to speak of. Basically some big red guy stomps around town and gets killed by a ghost dragon or something, and I guess you get some cool armor. Also, I think the oblivion gates close when you finish the main campaign, so I would hold off on it until you've done everything you want involving oblivion gates (or just make another save file).

Edit: No spoiler tag?

[jay-ell]

When I worked at EB Games, we had a Game Doctor in-store that we would use to resurface games for people who didn't annoy us too much.  You might call around to local game stores and ask -- locally owned places are more likely to help, especially now that EB has been bought by Gamestop and I think their corporate policy is a little more "pro-making-people-re-purchase-games." 

We always cleaned used games at the store with Windex and facial tissue -- don't use a paper towel, it's too abrasive.  An old t-shirt is actually better, or an actual lens cleaning cloth if you've got one handy.  That will handle most fingerprint smudges, which are more likely to be a problem than really tiny scratches.  I have also used contact lens solution to clean disks at home. 

I've never tried it, but I hear that toothpaste can buff out small scratches.  X-Boxen can get pretty picky about which discs they'll play as they age, as well -- if it happens with multiple discs, it might be time to have the optical lens cleaned or, unfortunately, to trade up. 

We had to stop using our xbox because it would choke two or three times every time we changed discs.  Very Bad.  We stuck it in the closet when we got the Wii. 

Here is an article that backs up the toothpaste argument. 

[theinevitable]

ok, um, my internet is acting up.

basically I found out that it may be an issue with my save files getting fragmented, not with the disc. So i am going to attempt to remedy this, but right now I am busy listening to Explosions in the Sky and reading Questionable Content. So.

thank you for all the ideas, though! I will try them if it ends up not being a software issue.

[Nabubrush]

So i am going to attempt to remedy this, but right now I am busy listening to Explosions in the Sky and reading Questionable Content.

The Kids are Alright.

[jaydub]

Brasso metal polish is also highly recommended. 

[theinevitable]

Nabu-- I figured I should take the occasion of reading a comic largely about pretentious music types to catch up on all the pretentious music which I had but had never listened to.
So, Animal Collective, Ted Leo, The Fiery Furnaces, Pavement, and Explosions in the Sky... are all pretty enjoyable. I like this. (I had already listened to some Pavement, but there was a ton I had never heard. so.)

I figure if I make fun of myself about liking this music, it makes me less likely to be called a "pretentious asshole" by the next girlfriend who sends me a long rant about my faults when I break up with her.

...to be fair, her favorite band was Guster. I thought I did a pretty good job of not saying anything, but apparently I didn't.

[Nabubrush]

Actually, I was juts making a (deeply veiled and obscure) comment on how it is kind of neat that you can say "I am busy listening to Explosions in the Sky and reading Questionable Content" and have that not mean the same thing as " I am busy listening to explosions in the sky and reading questionable content" - but that is probably partially what you meant in the first place. I'm getting kind of loopy, as I go home today and I am also feverish. I would have been better off if I had woken up with the gin already in me.

[theinevitable]

ok, I obviously missed something. Did you mean the album by The Who? That is the only thing I can think of.

[Nabubrush]

Actually, I was going to say "you're alright", and then I figured I should make a comment about how the youth today aren't all screwed up and are really ok, because they have stuff like this going on and I fi9nd it amusing, and then I figured that I would cross-link it up with a reference from my own youth, and then it would be all ironical and shit. And then I had to explain it all, and the little joke died.

[Dexter]

i also find myself regretting not setting any of the magic-types as a major skill--

Creating your own class in Oblivion is fraught with peril.  It's way too easy, as I'm sure you've now learned, to throw together a bunch of skills and abilities that sound really awesome in isolation but turn out to be completely useless when combined in one character.  I, too, learned this the hard way.  Well, actually I learned it when a friend of mine asked me what class I was playing, looked at my list of skills upon learning it was a custom one, and told me basically that it sucked and I should start over.  But you get the point.  I took my friend's advice and created a Battlemage and that seems to be working much better.

Also:

my xbox

(insert customary PC-gamer mockery of console gamers here)