I'm about to start Oblivion from the very beggining...
Any recommendations on things I should do, places I should go, ways to build my character?

I always imagined how I'd be in real life, or how I'd want to be, rather. That's my suggestion.

Try to check out as many of the side missions and things as possible, because they add to the ambiance

Cool, thanks for the suggestions guys.
@Termite, I totally agree. I've played the game before and stumbling across little side missions is a blast, some of them are actually quite deep.

Find a couple farms and build up your Alchemy skill.
Seriously, most underrated skill in the game lol.
Then, with all those early Restore Fatigue potions, you can sell them one by one (has a patch fixed that?  I can't remember) to merchants to increase your Mercantile skill quickly. :]

"Find a couple farms and build up your Alchemy skill.
Seriously, most underrated skill in the game lol.
Then, with all those early Restore Fatigue potions, you can sell them one by one (has a patch fixed that?  I can't remember) to merchants to increase your Mercantile skill quickly. :]
"

Dude, the Alchemy skill is one of the greatest skills to increase because of how easy it is. Another piece of advice is to create your own custom class when the time comes. IDK, have fun with Oblivion...

Start collecting things in the dungeon at the very start, it will pay dividence later.

Program your TV to shut off after three hours or so.  Otherwise you'll put down your controller and find out it's four days later.

Make a character to your personal preferences. Do you like to be the Stealth Assassin or Thief that wants to rob people's homes when they're sleeping to later sell their goods to your fence? Do you want to be the all knowing, all powerful mage? Or do you want to be the powerful, bloothirsty Warrior that can crush enemies heads in using a claymore, or warhammer? Or.....do you want to combine the two of these to get what you really want? It's not a good idea to comibine all three, because you'll have to focus on some more than the others. When you get out of the sewers, go to the first Ayleid dungeon right ahead of you. It's next to the camp with bandits.

Alchemy can really increase your mercentile skill, steal from castle dinner tables to get food.

"Alchemy can really increase your mercentile skill, steal from castle dinner tables to get food."

"Start collecting things in the dungeon at the very start, it will pay dividence later."

"Drebin_893 said:

"Start collecting things in the dungeon at the very start, it will pay dividence later."

I don't understand this either. The stuff in the dungeon at the beginning is simple rusty iron armor, some very weak potions, and some rusty iron weapons. Unless you have OCD and are trying to get a copy of every item in the game for display in one of your houses or something, it's pretty useless stuff."

Remember to choose your major skills wizely.

The potions can increse your merchantile because if you practice/level, you will have tons of potions you will never drink. Sell them one at a time for merch skill and gold.

After you get Martin from Kvatch, don't take him to Joffrey right away. Go do some side quests, join some guilds, and see who else you can get to follow you around. You're supposed to be protecting him but he only ever gets knocked out and can do some good damage on his own. I plan on doing this next time than trying to get as many other characters to follow me around. Then: house party in Anvil.

be ready to lose a hell of a lot of time. I mean tons.

ooh and be careful who you kill.

download Morrowind.

Why are people posting here? He asked for tips on starting the game.. two months ago.

*points at gonzo guy*- he's the thread necromancer!

hopes no-one notices that I posted right after him

Just don't be a bad guy in the beginning. If you don't want to serve the time and continue to resist arrest, prepare to have a totally awful gaming experience. I've discovered this first hand, even though I kept getting in trouble accidentally. One of these days I'll start from scratch and try not to break any laws, and maybe then I won't hate the game anymore.

"Why are people posting here? He asked for tips on starting the game.. two months ago."

i just kicked everyone ass who got in my way and  bulit up my wepons

Go and do the nights of the nine quest before getting too deep into the main story, this will get you some awesome armor and weapons and make life easier.

I always found the Arena a good place to buff some of your skills.