Oghma Infinium: Exploit or Legitimacy?

[Tom]

There has been a lot of talk on The Elder Stats about whether or not the use of the Oghma Infinium to increase a character's statistics should be considered an exploit or a legitimate action. Currently, The Elder Stats considers the Oghma Infinium to be an exploit, but talk around the website has caused me to question this decision.

In this topic, I would like all people with knowledge of the Oghma Infinium to discuss whether or not it should be considered an exploit. Please vote in the poll in this topic, and then post in this topic and say whether or not you think the Oghma Infinium should be considered an exploit. The main reason why The Elder Stats currently considers the Oghma Infinium an exploit is because it allows a character to raise his or her skills above 100. However, I am considering no longer calling the Oghma Infinium an exploit, therefore allowing characters who have used the Oghma Infinium not to have to say that they used exploits on a character just because they used the Oghma Infinium.

So, please discuss whether or not the Oghma Infinium should be considered an exploit in this topic. If I see that enough good reason has been presented to call the Oghma Infinium a non-exploit, then I will remove it from the list of exploits that must be indicated in a character's profile. Thank you for your time, and hopefully this topic helps us come to a conclusion about this issue.

[Teinaava]

I think it should be counted as an exploit, because it allows you to raise your skills and attributes over the level 100 cap. You're not supposed to be able to raise your attributes above 100, but you can exploit the Oghma Infinium to raise them above 100. Not only that, but having that listed on your profile lets other members know where the extra points came from. However, I do understand why some people don't consider it to be an exploit, and if it is decided to no longer consider it an exploit, then people could just list that they used the Oghma Infinium in the "Comments/Character Bio" section so others will still be able to tell where the extra points came from (as well as allowing the mods to know that you didn't use glitches/exploits).

[HabaneroRed]

One of the reasons that I think it should not be labeled as an exploit pertains to the requirements to start Hermaeus Mora's quest. Since it requires the player to be half-way through the main quest (9 of 17 quests), as well as having completed all other Daedric Shrine quests, meaning you are at least level 20 (Clavicus Vile's quest and Boethia's quest require level 20), it seems that the developers specifically intended it to be a late-game item. Even at the minimum level to obtain it (20), it is possible to have 2 attributes maxed out. I didn't even start the required quest (Blood of the Daedra) until level 41, because I did all of the guilds' questlines first.

In addition, most skill boosts in the game have a requirement that the skill level is less than 90. If the developers had wanted to prevent it from raising the player's attributes and skills above 100, why didn't they include the same script for the 3 skill boosts and 2 attribute boosts?

Instead of requiring the player to list the Oghma Infinium in the comments section, a radio button should be added to make it similar to the section of the profile asking if KotN and SI are installed.

[Tom]

Instead of requiring the player to list the Oghma Infinium in the comments section, a radio button should be added to make it similar to the section of the profile asking if KotN and SI are installed.

That's along the lines of what I was thinking of doing. Since some people do not wish to mark their characters as having used exploit if all they did was use the Oghma Infinium, then I think a radio button on the character modification page would be a good idea. That would even out both sides of the argument so that the moderators would see why a character's stats are above 100, yet the character wouldn't have to be marked as an exploit user.

[Tom]

There has been a new change in regards to the Oghma Infinium on The Elder Stats. The Oghma Infinium is no longer considered an exploit on The Elder Stats, but its usage still must be indicated in a special way in a character's profile. There is an announcement about this new change which will tell you everything you need to know about indicating the Oghma Infinium for a character. Click here to view the announcement. It's an important announcement, so please be sure to read it thoroughly. Thanks for your input and cooperation with this, guys.

I'll leave this topic open in case you wish to discuss this issue further, but I think the majority of the issue has been correctly settled.

[Eskayti]

I'm glad you changed it the way you did Tom.
I don't see it as an exploit because it's a reward for completing the Daedric Quests, since that is the only way to get it. Otherwise you have to consider The Night Mother's Blessing an exploit, as well as the boost from Baurus, from the Gray Prince, Arvena Thelas/Quill-Weave, Seed-Neeus, ... who else am I missing? Any way, you see my point?
Just because you get a bigger boost if you've already exceeded an attribute/skill level doesn't mean you should be penalized for it.
Just my opinion.