So, what's new to do around here...? To which question posed by XCN to Bethesda's Pete Hines and Bruce Nesmith, the answer they give is: pretty much everything, because they want The Shivering Isles to be an expansion and worth it, and not just a more-of-the-same exercise. In sum, the new content in the expansion to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion really boils down to, and we summarize:

The grass, the trees, the sky, everything in between, creatures, dungeon types, ingredients, armor, weapons, rocks, trees (mentioned again), landscape, houses, weather, ingredients (again), something about an NPC who will gladly torture anyone at your behest to advance the plot - and that's a game highlight Bruce points out - new spells, abilities, and weapons, pretty much everything BUT the skill sets. They didn't want to mess with the game mechanics.

Okay, you get the idea, right? It's not meant to be sarcastic, when you think about it: that pretty much covers 2,400 Microsoft Points worth of download.

Now all of this new content kind of sits apart from Oblivion, plot-wise and game-wise, reveals Bruce/Pete. Plot-wise, "the events of Shivering Isles remains separate of anything you may be doing in Oblivion." Game-wise, players can freely shift between Shivering Isles and Oblivion, between Sheogorath's realm and Cyrodiil, any time they want. BUT they can't bring certain artifacts out of Shivering Isles, and they can't bring horses into Shivering Isles.

Also, "crimes in one world don't convey to the other." Guess no Interpol in this game, then. And if this isn't new enough for you, Bethesda does "have plans for at least one more (downloadable content)." It will be a small addition - no more expansions, remember?

From a collaborated effort of the fans of The Elder Scrolls Legend, an assorted set of interview questions were popped into the hands of the folks at Bethesda Game Studios - more specifically, into the hands of Bruce Nesmith, design director of the Shivering Isles project, and Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda.

The big news is that the highly anticipated and last expansion to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PS3, Xbox 360, and PC) will be released around the world, for the PC and Xbox 360, on March 27. It's always a comforting thing to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, isn't it?

Playstation 3 gamers might have to wait a little bit more, as the TES IV: Oblivion has yet to be released on their next-gen console.

As Bethesda has been hinting for some time, the Shivering Isles will not only feature new sets of armor and weapons, but will also allow players to have weapons and armor forged for them. There is the same sword that gets more powerful the more blood it tastes, called Dawnfang (or Duskfang). The same armor and weapons can also be enchanted with magical abilities through disposable molds called Matrices.

Down along the line, they've got new features for being forgiven for your crimes, disguise and keeping count of the dead, new factions to join like the Court of Madness, and creatures with unique powers and abilities that will force you to adjust your strategy. But the game will be set to scale safely with your character level.

As said before, the content of Shivering Isles is a quarter of  Oblivion's full size. But before you could slap this on your platform, you may have to download a patch that will come before its release which should correct some crash issues and prepare your platform for Shivering Isles.

And you don't have to feel alone anymore: if you choose to defend Sheogorath, you will be aided with the help of the elite soldiers - Golden Saints and Dark Seducers. And there will be a huge battle where you will side with them against the Knights of Order. Now only if you could ship Bethesda the idea of some ballistae and onagers...

Spells will be added with the expansion, including summoning and area of effect spells, but there won't be new spell effects. But you can use a certain spell to change the weather. Multiple path stories are now available, including the choice to support the Golden Saints or the Dark Seducers. As usual, choices will affect what new choices arise in the future.

You can click on the "Read" link below to get more details of the fan-spewed interview.