Oblivion: first impressions

Along with my new xbox 360, I purchased the fourth Elder Scrolls (aka "Lizardface") game -- Oblivion. My first impression is twofold -- the graphics are an incredibly major improvement over Morrowind, and I feel a little overwhelmed at the scale of the game. There's a lot to take in and the first several hours of gameplay I spent exploring around and experimenting.

I'm impressed and sucked in to the gameworld already. Oblivion seems more polished than Morrowind -- more thought-out, somehow. I admit to "gaming" my character a little bit. I get OCD when I play games like this -- I strive to complete every quest and collect every knick-knack and gee-gaw. I can't help myself. So, when I created a character, I have deliberately made it so that I will gain levels slowly. The enemies in the game are supposed to "level" as the main character levels, meaning their toughness increases and their equipment gets better to track with the main character. Right now I would prefer to explore without getting my ass kicked too severely.

So I've made a character that levels up whenever I get skill increases in block, blades, heavy armor, destruction, and restoration (a spellsword -- fighting mage type character). However, I am actually playing the game as a sneaky, back-stabbing, fast-talking, light-armor-wearing, blunt-weapon-using rogue type character. This will ensure a slow level-up process while I explore the world and get my feet wet.

Is this "power gaming"? Or am I playing the game within the game -- the inevitable stat-tweaking and inventory shuffling that occurs in every computer rpg. The fact is, after the introductory dungeon at the beginning, the game recommended that my class be Acrobat, but I chose Spellsword. Why? It sounds cooler.