I haven't blogged in the last four days. Or five. What's my excuse? I was busy. Busy playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Busy!

I don't usually like role playing games. When I was in high school, I gave Diablo a try after hearing my friends go on and on about how awesome it is. I quit in 15 minutes and never played again. And don't get me started about MMORPGs like Ragnarok Online. I just don't understand their appeal. At an overnight Christmas party a few years ago, I noticed a friend playing Ragnarok on a PC in the corner.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Killing frogs," he said without looking up.

"Why are you killing frogs?"

"To collect bottles. Frogs drop bottles."

"Why are you collecting bottles?"

"It's a quest. If I get 500 bottles, I'll get a reward."

500 bottles? Are you freaking kidding me? That would take forever! I decided right then and there that watching paint dry is more entertaining than Ragnarok. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if there's actually a "watch paint dry" quest in that game.

The only RPG I've ever played to the finish was Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness. I gave it a chance because I loved many of the other Sierra games. Within the first few minutes, I was introduced to the five basic elements that make up all things: air, earth, fire, water, and pizza. Pizza? Heh. The old Sierra brand of quirky humor was enough to have me hooked.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion isn't nearly as funny as Quest For Glory was, but I find it entertaining in a different way. The game is huge. Huge is good. It's also nonlinear. Nonlinear is good too. There are so many fun little side quests to do (no kill-frogs-collect-bottles snoozers) that even someone with as short an attention span as mine wouldn't get bored easily. It's almost like the GTA: San Andreas of RPGs.

I might blog a bit more about my new Oblivion addiction tomorrow. Right now, I need a fix. It's just a little past 3:30 AM, so I think I'll go play for an hour or two. Or three. Yay!