I never played an SSI game, the first RPG game I played was Might and Magic Clouds of Xeen. Which I found to be an absolutely amazing game.
I live in Europe (Denmark) I don’t think AOL was ever a thing here, we did have Compuserve for a few years until Internet made it irrelevant.

AOL: Do you mean Amarica On Line?

I only played it years later on Linux. Smooth as butter. 😎
I was not aware there was an SSI game with the same name, I suppose that’s what you meant by AOL?

Absolutely, I know I programmed 8 bit graphics in assembly on the C64, and played with the custom chips of the Amiga in assembly too. fun times 😋
I was pissed that you couldn’t write off computers faster than 3 years, because in 3 years a computer was completely obsolete IMO, as in basically useless. Up until at least around when the GeForce 256 came out in 1999. After that 3 years was still old, but not completely useless.

Nowadays things have stabilized

I agree, nowadays it doesn’t matter much (IMO) to have a GPU that is a couple of years old. Admittedly I only use QHD/1440p. To render the same in 4K requires a 2.4 times more powerful GPU.

But oh boy when Voodoo, Voodoo2 came out, and then TNT, TNT2 and GeForce. Those were a lot of major upgrades in just 3 years. (1996-1999)

ancient Gamebryo tech.

Oh boy how time flies…
But wouldn’t that mean it’s made by the Elders themselves?

I 100% agree, I liked the original graphics, the remake while it is pretty, is also a bit boring IMO.

Absolutely, €55 is like a completely new Tripple A title.
Free however is a bit much to ask, but maybe €15 complete including the original, and €5-10 as an upgrade.

OK Thanks for clearing it up, when I saw the graph I thought it was some sort of cheap trick to make the remake look less expensive.
Glad it was just a mistake.
However just to be clear, the 2009 game of the year is not JUST the original, it also includes the 2 expansions.
Deluxe also includes Morrowind and Skyrim.

I agree, which is why I actually linked the SteamDB page for the original GOTY edition, to show the occasional €3 price.
And you can see the increase in price from 15 to 20, although it’s still €15 when I visit the Steam page?

I agree the remaster looks good, but it’s very vanilla like naturalism and a bit boring IMO.
The original had a distinct style, which you may like or not.
Although the remaster can be argued to be objectively better, in that it is more accurate and detailed, the original however was more artistic, I think which you prefer is a matter of taste.

Alternatively enjoy the original experience at a fourth the price, available as game of the year edition that includes expansions.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/22330/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV_Oblivion_Game_of_the_Year_Edition_2009/

Or buy on sale for only 3 Euro!!
https://steamdb.info/app/22330/

€55 Euro for just a graphics remaster is bullshit IMO.

Maybe buy a system preinstalled with Linux.
That way you know the hardware supports Linux, and the Distro has the necessary drivers.