"CG: Stealth is all about statistics, shadow, and sound. Does what you are wearing make an impact on the overall ability to sneak up on an enemy and give him a good smack to remember you by?

Yes, your armor factors into your stealth rating. Unless you’re at the absolute pinnacle of thieving skills, wearing heavy, clunky armor is going to alert people to your presence very quickly.

CG: There are over 200 hand-crafted, trap-laden, player-crunching dungeons in Oblivion. Are all of these tied to various missions or objectives, or do some of them just offer up loot, experience, and the chance to spring traps on unsuspecting foes?

Not all of them are tied to quests. A lot of the dungeons are just out there to explore and loot when you stumble across them. The percentage involved in quests is higher than what it was in Morrowind, however.

CG: You can hire mercenaries in Oblivion. Are we to assume that you can hire different character classes and races to fill gaps in our own skills? For example – hiring a Nord fighter to run up front and take damage while I work on that room-engulfing fireball?

We’re not doing traditional “run-behind-me-and-attack-guys� mercenaries in the game. A couple of quests feature guys you can hire, though. We’ve come up with some interesting ways to use them within the context of quests."