r/oblivion•
orbanimalenjoyer2

Does this Oblivion challenge video copy from the UESP?

Original Discussion

So, I was doing research for a Thieves Guild challenge run. After looking at the UESP (and finding some errors), I decided to see if anyone has uploaded a similar challenge to YouTube. I found this video. Now, it's clearly taken a lot of effort to make this video. It's almost 40 minutes long and has a lot of editing. However, as I was watching the video, I kept noticing the YouTuber doing things that I remember reading on the UESP.

Obviously there's nothing wrong with using the UESP as a resource, but the odd thing was that this YouTuber didn't mention they were using the UESP and framed almost everything as their own idea. I really don't know if I'm imagining things because I just read the UESP articles, or if this YouTuber is really just copying the UESP. I'll list some things I noticed from the video and if I'm wrong, I'll delete this post.

So, at the start of the video, the YouTuber posts a screenshot of the UESP, where the text says that you can get expelled from the Thieves Guild. The UESP is wrong here (you can't get expelled, but you can softlock the quest though), but it does show that this YouTuber is reading UESP articles for the challenge.

Next, the YouTuber steals from the following locations for the "Independent Thievery" quest:

  • Drakelowe basement
  • Bravil Skooma Den
  • Red Diamond Jewelry
  • Castle Skingrad wine cellar

These four specific locations are also listed on the UESP page for the quest (and have been listed on the wiki since 2008). Additionally, when they steal from the Bravil Skooma Den, the Skooma bottles are not actually marked stolen, which may be an error from the wiki that this YouTuber copied.

If this YouTuber is copying the UESP, then at points in the video they are playing dumb regarding some quests. They say they don't know why the guard for the statue of Llathasa Indarys isn't hostile to them, and then they claim they went back and checked and discovered that it was because the player is a member of the Nine Divines faction. This information is also listed on the UESP.

They also skip the entire vampire dungeon during "Boots of Springheel Jak" by just killing Jakben right away. The wiki suggests this as an option as well. But this could be a coincidence since killing NPCs in Oblivion is pretty common.

During The Ultimate Heist, the YouTuber decides to start sneaking around despite the whole challenge being about not sneaking. This is what the UESP recommended to not fail the quest (before I changed it), but it's wrong since the Blind Moth Priests are blind and do not realize you are an intruder regardless of your sneaking.

So, obviously there's nothing actually wrong with this video. Copying from the wiki isn't harming anyone in any way, if that's what's happening, and it makes for a better narrative if the YouTuber is discovering things on their own instead of just following a wiki. I don't state "I got my info from the UESP" every time I say something about Oblivion either (though I also don't say I discovered it myself). I like the video, it's pretty entertaining. It's just that I kept wondering through the entire video if this YouTuber read the same articles I did, especially since I've made some edits to those same articles. What do you guys think?

Posted Sep 30, 2026, 3:39 AM UTC

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