Thanks guys. I already had Fallout 3 so I wanted to try Oblivion. Just wanted to see if Oblivion compared to Fallout 3 at all. I was plesantly suprised by your opinions. I'm gonna get oblivion today. It was made by the same publisher so it should be good. I cant mark all of you as a solution so thats why this topic is not a question.

Well yeah, all three of them run on the same engine - the only thing actually better looking on that screenshot are particles, really

Various revisions and adaptations of the same engine, yeah. But the atmospheric effects and lighting in the Fallout 3 shot definitely help. As does the higher polycount. Plus I quite like the colour filter.

I give a slight edge to Fallout 3, but I love both of them.
Well, I love Oblivion with Francesco's Leveled Items and Creatures mod; the default level scaling in Oblivion bothered me. But now I'm 340+ hours in. People complain about the main quest, but it's a decent enough MacGuffin, which is what the main quest always is in a Bethesda RPG.
I prefer Fallout 3 for the ambiance. Mid-20th-century American pop culture is a weakness of mine, and F3 both uses and lampoons it wonderfully. There is even something relaxing about the world to me. It may be mostly gray and brown, but it's spareness is deceptive. It's actually packed with sights and stories if I keep my eyes open.
And I love VATS. At last, an RPG with guns that actually uses my gun skill numbers with neat cinematics.

2008 called. It wants it's thread back.

Morrowind and Fallout 1&2. Do Yourself a favor and leave Oblivion/Fallout3 alone. Unless You don't mind downloading a sh..load of mods. ;)

Vanilla Oblivion is damn fun, i have it on PS3 and PC, PS3 for a pure experience and quick play... on my PC i run it with Francesco's Leveled Items and Creatures mod and my stealth overhaul which makes fletching, sneaking, and backstabbing critical to success.
If you play it as its meant to be played and real get into the spell craft and soul stealing then it can be a lot of fun a good challenge and a HUGE time sink.
I'm beyond pumped for the next one TESV is going to pull the house down, there getting close to a big media release, here is to Quakecon 2010 for it! besides with the massive updates and improvements to the Gamebryo engine its going to give idTech5 a run for its money... Its simply indescribable the power the new engine GB made has under its hood.
Divinity II used its big brother and TESV will be using Big Daddy. And we'll get a taste of whats to come with new Vegas, but there tweaking the engine so much it's looking to be a shell of its former self. Then again what else can you expect from the former Black Isle team ^_^

I hate oblivion gates. A lot.
Plus the cookie-cutter copy/paste in Oblivion got tedious. Oblivion had a lot of potential, most of its unlocked by some modding. By pure vanilla? Fallout is better
The main thing that I really want in the next TES scroll is a vastly improved combat system. They really should take a hard look at Mount and Blade, not necessarily to copy it, but to at least get some inspiration. Melee combat is fairly meh in Oblivion, and bows get fairly underpowered near the end.
The leveling is also painful, enemies level with you, so you're always fighting difficult foes, and at lower levels can never meet anyone more powerful, which also leads to a very restricted set of equipment you can acquire simply due to level restrictions, which completely takes the entire point out of exploring because all dungeons are the same and you CAN'T get cool and awesome equipment until you're at higher levels, at which point everyone has it.

Would you rather meet your demise in a rat infested dungeon, or a post apocalyptic wasteland? That is the question.

it was designed like that due to the smaller world scape, even the big mods like OOO and Fran's had to use there dynamic system to swap out monsters when you achieved a certain level to an extent. I actually enjoyed always having a challenge, it meant i could truly go anyplace and not have to fear. with static spawns come the end game you'll never want to go back and visit anyplace again.
These games are easily spoken of like this... *spoiler alert below*
if you are a sit down and beat a game for the sake of beating it then oblivion and fallout will not be for you. If you want the enjoy the experience, watch the sunset on the capitol wasteland or fight inside an oil painting by dipping your arrows in paint thinner then these games will suit you fine...

I haven't played either yet - You folks are not helping me decide.

Oblivion lets you have this much fun tho
Link contimes some NSFW stuff since, well, it's Something Awful. But the mods featured are absolutely hilarious.
Heres the first part, a bit more work friendly.

Oblivion without mods is boring repetitive and generic. Fully modded it's a totally different experience. Well actually completely different game. Stuff like Unique Landscapes, Texture mods, body mods. Then theer's the gameplay mods like Oscuros Oblivion Overhaul, FCOM and mods that tweak combat and magic(Deadly Reflex and Supreme Magicka). And then there's Enhanced Deadric Invasion that makes the main plot seem more than just a side quest you can tackle whenever you feel like. That said installing and getting all of that stuff to work together is a quest in itself ;)

I love them both. In fact I just started Oblivion again a week ago, playing a lvl 22 char so far without doing any quest / questlocation at all 'till now.
Yes, after your 4th Ayleid ruin, you've probably seen every texture / trap in all Ayleid ruins. But guys.... we're talking about over 350 points of interest in the gameworld (the 60 possible Oblivion gates not included) - you're not going to do that much without copy & paste.
Frankly, if that's a problem for you then you might want to stay away from games like Just Cause 2 as well. Because one military base will be as the other, regardless if one has two sam-sites and snowy cover and the other don't.
Both can get modded to change almost everything the way you like it. You don't like how your stats are calculated on leveling up? A mod changes it. You don't like how your skill xy progresses? Mod it.
If you're the explorer / achiever typ (not the Steam- / XBoxLive-Achievements), you probably can't go wrong with these two games.
Deceiding which to play? Concerning gameplay you don't have to - both are similar to each other and chances are, if you like one you also enjoy the other.
Oblivion has a fantasy world, Fallout 3 a post apocalyptic one. One uses swords and magic, the other guns and.... bigger guns. Fallout 3 comes a bit more polished and fleshed out, while Oblivion is cheaper to get (no surprise considering release dates).
Both have their share of strengths and weaknesses. But if you like the open world concept in games like GTA, Elite, Morrowind or Prototype and enjoy CRPGs, you HAVE to try Oblivion and Fallout 3

AND grenades!