Top 5 Elder Scrolls Games?

[Moeboid]

Nice work Moeboid! Your method produces quite a different ranking from the method I used a while ago in this thread. This is because my method assigned points 5,4,3,2,1 and your very similar method essentially assigned 4,3,2,1,0, meaning the lowest ranked game from one entry in your method receives no more points than an unplayed game, while I gave one point just for playing a game. This makes a great difference to the many players who played S and O only, since your method reduces the gap to the unplayed games, particularily Morrowind.

For the record though, I did play Arena quite a lot, but I still haven't made my way out of the starter dungeon in Daggerfall. If I made my ranking today I would change it to M-S-O-A after having played Skyrim quite a bit more. The levelling system and the rather bland world of Oblivion really brings it down below the others, and my second impression (and heavy modding) of Skyrim actually made it quite good.

Actually, my ranking system has absolutely nothing to do with points. Morrowind is on top because the people who rated it above the other games outnumber the people who rated it below them. The closest game to Morrowind was Skyrim. They appeared in 40 lists together, of which Morrowind was placed higher in 22 of them. It's a good way to compare since it gives absolutely no advantage to the more popular games. It's true that the list matches the "Total Difference" point scores, but that's just a coincidence. Had Morrowind only appeared in 10 lists (each with all games included), but was ranked highest in all of them, it would still be placed highest despite being below Skyrim in points. If the only thing I was interested in calculating was the "Total difference" point scores, then here's how the points would've been assigned (it's essentially the number of games it's ahead of, minus the number of games that it's behind):

Hidden:

Five games:
1: +4 points
2: +2 point
3: 0 points
4. -2 point
5. -4 points

Four games:
1. +3 points
2. +1 points
3. -1 points
4. -3 points

Three games:
1. +2 points
2. 0 points
3. -2 points

Two games:
1. +1 point
2. -1 point

Edit: Oh, and I'm not updating the list with your modifications lol. Too lazy. I might do it all against once we have another 20 or 30 lists - enough to change the overall rankings.

[Skrofler]

Actually, my ranking system has absolutely nothing to do with points.

Uh, yeah we call them points, those numbers you used as an abstraction to relay the data of players' preferences. You can call them fnards or donks if you like but the rest of the world calls them points.
Anyway, thanks for the clarification of your method. I gather that you didn't use your totals list for the ranking but, if I understand correctly, only the individual pairings. Ergo: if O would have been preferred over M, but still S over O and M over S, your method would have produced an inconclusive ranking. Correct?

Oh, and I'm not updating the list with your modifications lol. Too lazy.

I wasn't expecting an update, but you asked for corrections, so while I pointed out that you didn't include Arena in my list (which would change nothing of course) I also updated the list to reflect my current preferences.

[Moeboid]

Uh, yeah we call them points, those numbers you used as an abstraction to relay the data of players' preferences. You can call them fnards or donks if you like but the rest of the world calls them points.
Anyway, thanks for the clarification of your method. I gather that you didn't use your totals list for the ranking but, if I understand correctly, only the individual pairings. Ergo: if O would have been preferred over M, but still S over O and M over S, your method would have produced an inconclusive ranking. Correct?

Oh, and I'm not updating the list with your modifications lol. Too lazy.

I wasn't expecting an update, but you asked for corrections, so while I pointed out that you didn't include Arena in my list (which would change nothing of course) I also updated the list to reflect my current preferences.

Meant to say my list has nothing to do with total points. My bad.

Yes, your example would be inconclusive. Here's how I'd settle it:

Spoiler:

Here are the M, S, O scores with the M vs O score reversed, producing your example:
O:31 vs M:13 (O:70% vs M:30%)
S:30 vs O:22 (S:58% vs O:42%)
M:22 vs S:18 (M:55% vs S:45%)
The best way to settle this that I can think of is to add the percentages together for each of the games. This gives us O:112%, S:103%, M:85%. There are other ways to do it, but this produces the result that seems fairest to me.

Ahh, and I thank you for the update. When I eventually do update the lists, it will be corrected then.

Edit: The more I think about that percentage thing, the more I like it, so here they are for all the games. Doesn't change the rankings, of course, but it might be interesting for someone looking for a more "accurate" measure of how much separates the places.

Hidden:

Code: Select all

   S  O  M  D  A    Total
S: X  58 45 86 93   282
O: 42 X  30 80 93   245
M: 55 70 X  96 100  321
D: 14 20 4  X  84   122
A: 7  7  0  16 X    30

[JaggedyJack]

My favorites

1. Morrowind (modded) - Having played Arena and Daggerfall since I was a kid this game just improved so much over the previous two games and added such detail that it blew my mind. To this day it is by far my most favorite of the Elder Scrolls. Mods have continued to improve on the game and I still enjoy going back at least once a year for a play through.

2. Oblivion (modded) - The Emperor voiced by Patrick Stewart and Martin Septim voiced by Sean Bean, that alone made this my second favorite TES game. The world was great and I felt it was still moving in a good direction of design. Overall this game was very enjoyable.

3. Arena - This is my super nostalgia game. Just a straight forward 1990's dungeon crawl. No markers (except on the main map to show you the dungeon) and still pretty challenging especially even back in a time before everything could be googled. Though linear in its story and quests it is still a great game to try different classes on. I still want to try and beat the game as a Monk. Also... this is just my opinion but I feel it has less bugs and crashes than Daggerfall.

4. Skyrim (heavy on the mods) - Beautiful landscape and awesome Dragons! The game seems shorter then previous TES games though all of them are kind of short if you blaze through the main story. Working with guilds or factions didn't seem to have any big pay off, an example would be The Companions. When I was a fresh newbie with them I did one quest and all of a sudden I was allowed into the inner circle within a week of game time to become a werewolf. All that ran through my mind was "I don't think I deserve this yet".

5. Daggerfall - Although the biggest of the games I never really felt it since you fast travel everywhere. Most of the cities I never bothered to visit since they are just copies of each other. Dungeons were huge which was cool as long as you had the Recall spell to get back to the enterence. However the amount of bugs and crashes that I experienced with the game at times made me unable to enjoy it as much as the other TES games. I should not have to juggle 6 save files just to avoid the corruption of said save games and loss of a character.

[Linkuya]

I already posted what my favorite Elder Scrolls games were, but I figured I'd go more in depth.

Arena: The first game in the series, it offered.. dah, you already know all this. It was a solid start to the series, and I don't really have much to say about it, however, I will say I think it's the weakest in the series.

Daggerfall: Playing on Arena's strengths, Daggerfall's world was bigger, better, and more open ended. I think this game was an improvement over Arena, but it was still far from being a masterpiece. I'd say this game is better than Arena.

Morrowind: Another imperfect Elder Scrolls game, this title bravely ventured into the full 3D realm, with some success. While this game is arguably one of the most flawed entries in the series, it offered a great plot and a good level of interactivity. However, it suffers from a sea of game design errors. Characterization and NPCs were terribly handled, and 90% of NPCs were like cardboard cutouts that fed you the same exact lines as the next guy you talked to (this is 2002 people!). The randomized combat was both a joke and a chore, and made any sort of fighting a poor experience. Couple that with a soundtrack that seemed to only have five songs that repeated and repeated over and over again, the game got grating fast. Still a overall good game that can be engrossing, but it just got hamstrung by so many issues. I'd say it's the third best in the series.

Oblivion: This is the first Elder Scrolls game that busted the door down, picked you up, and ran away with you. This game fixed everything that made Morrowind imperfect, and then some. I feel like I don't even have to sing it's praises. Yes, Oblivion has flaws like the tedious Oblivion Gates and wonky animations, but the good most definitely out-weighs the bad. In my thinking that Oblivion is the second best Elder Scrolls game, if I was locked in a room for the rest of my life, I'd want Oblivion and....

Skyrim: This is the ultimate video game. I know 'morrowiners' and the like are waving their anti-Skyrim flags, but this game improved on everything that made Oblivion legendary. NPCs felt more organic than ever, quests felt meaningful and interesting, the game world was bigger and more beautiful then ever, and you could interact with the world more than you ever could before. 10/10 Best Elder Scrolls game.

[Siamore]

1- Morrowind
2- Arena
3- Oblivion
4- Skyrim
5- Daggerfall

[Yaije]

Morrowind: Another imperfect Elder Scrolls game, this title bravely ventured into the full 3D realm, with some success. While this game is arguably one of the most flawed entries in the series, it offered a great plot and a good level of interactivity. However, it suffers from a sea of game design errors. Characterization and NPCs were terribly handled, and 90% of NPCs were like cardboard cutouts that fed you the same exact lines as the next guy you talked to (this is 2002 people!).

Just want to point out that around 2002 was Drakan the ancient gates, Zelda Majora's Mask, and Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. I'm not sure what to expect from a game leading into the early 2000's, but I wouldn't say Morrowind did all that terrible of a job considering the size of the game.

On topic:
Lower Number = Better
No Mods:
1.Skyrim
2.Oblivion
3.Morrowind (combat at first just plain sucks regardless of what's going on)

With Mods:
Doesn't really matter, but try and mod morrowind into the game imo.

Morrowind did do one thing right imo, and that was magic. Master Archmage-esque builds were almost always a force to be reckoned with and could get as complex as say.... Oblivion's Midas Magic mod in how you handled things, or you know... grab an ebony scimitar/daedric anything and slap an obscene aoe absorb life enchant and /win

edit: GTA3 was also 2001.... hmm, I'm starting to feel old now

[coolkid]

1 Skyrim (By far the most immersive elder scrolls. There isn't a time I don't feel like I'm in the world, as well the easiest to RP in because of it. As well every time I play the game something new happens that I've never seen before or I'll go in a new dungeon and see something unique that makes it different. It's downfall really is lack of pants, and having a bland Mages guild Questline.)

2. Oblivion (mostly nostalgia here).

3. Morrowind (The lowest on my list because it was the one I felt the least immersed in, between seeing stale npcs that all gave me the same dialogue on the same subject, to the fact that even though my blade is hitting an enemy it still somehow misses, it was hard for me to be immersed, The good part of the game though is that the landscape is great, and I do enjoy a lot of questlines in it, though even though some may find directions for quests better than markers there were so many times the game gave me bad directions so immersion was once again broke through frustration of founding where to go. Also the music was nice.)

All others I have not played

[Snail's Pace]

1. Oblivion - favorite
2. Skyrim - not far behind
3. Morrowind - least favorite

Explanation below. Note that I am not arguing that one game is objectively better than another. The paragraphs below are just some personal reflections on the games and why I rank them the way I do.

Spoiler:

1. Oblivion

I loved almost everything about this game. Sadly, I no longer have it, and time constraints limited me to playing just one character. I role-played the character through an epic story arc, then "retired" her as a role-play character - but then finished most of the remaining quests with the same character, but out-of-character. Not ideal, but it was that or not do them. Between the story arc and the more random second half, I did everything except for the last few DB quests.

Exploring the beautiful and varied environments is what I remember most about Oblivion, but I also really liked the MQ. I wanted to dive my character right into it, unlike the other games in which I have ignored the MQ. It drew me into the lore and I felt that I was witnessing the end of an empire. Also, I can appreciate now that the MQ didn't impose anything about who my CoC character was. Aside from a few quibbles that aren't worth mentioning, I thoroughly enjoyed Oblivion.

2. Skyrim

As a "choose your own adventure" role-play game, it's great. Plenty of places to explore, characters to meet, and things to do. I've probably played over 1000 hours and still haven’t seen everything, and have done less than half of the available quests. Compared to Oblivion, I've played Skyrim more, but done less - that's a complement, not a complaint. And the scenery is beautiful and even more varied than Cyrodiil.

However, I rank Skyrim below Oblivion for two reasons. First, the premise of the MQ does not appeal to me, specifically the Dragonborn aspect of it. In general, I don't like "Chosen One" character types (Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen are the only exceptions that come to mind) and am not interested in playing that type of character in a game. Second, I don't want to have to deal with randomly-spawning dragons. Fortunately, both the "Chosen One" premise and the oversized cliff-racers are easily avoidable - I just don't advance the MQ after leaving Helgen. But at some point, I might create a Dragonborn character, just to experience playing the MQ and Civil War quests.

3. Morrowind

Cliff racers drove me out of Morrowind. Walking through bleak landscapes under near constant cliff racer attack is what I remember most about that game. Before that, though, I vaguely recall enjoying the game, mostly just free-form exploring and questing, and I think one of my characters completed the Imperial Cult. But at some point, the cliff racer attacks always ramped up to the point where the game started to feel like punishment.

[DikaSmausha]

If we say favorites
1. Morrowind
2. Skyrim (tie)
2. Oblivion (tie)
3. Daggerfall
4. Arena
If we talk what is the best
1. Skyrim
2. Morrowind (tie)
2. Oblivion (tie)
3. Daggerfall
4. Arena
I will post why later.

[Velvet LeChance]

In terms of how much fun I had:

1. Oblivion.
2. Morrowind.
3. Skyrim.

I never got to the end of Arena so I won't count that. And Daggerfall I never started.

[Huntershound]

5) Oblivion
4) Arena
3) Skyrim
2) Daggerfall
1) Morrowind

[Avron the S'wit]

Because I was informed I have not yet voted, I shall rank them in order of my favorites (judging by overall enjoyment and questlines, since that's how I roll):

1. Morrowind
2. Oblivion
3. Daggerfall
4. Skyrim

I haven't actually played a total of 5 games yet, but there's the rankings of what I have played. For me, Morrowind had the greatest story line, whereas I find Oblivion to be very replayable. I actually really enjoyed Daggerfall and Skyrim, while easy to replay for me, just doesn't have a lot of depth in the stories compared to the others.

And that is my vote.

[Moeboid]

Ok, just recalculated the overall rankings. Here are the results:

1. Morrowind (322)
2. Skyrim (267)
3. Oblivion (245)
4. Daggerfall (117)
5. Arena (49)

DikaSmausha, your list was not included because I didn't know which one to use. Confirm which one you want to be included and I'll update the results.

Here are the results in detail, as well as everyone's lists:

Hidden:

Code: Select all

This table contains how many times each game was ranked ahead of each other game
   S  O  M  D  A 
S: X  34 21 27 28
O: 28 X  17 28 29
M: 28 36 X  32 31
D: 6  7  1  X  22
A: 4  4  0  7  X 

This table is the same as the one above, but expressed in percentages. The "tot" colum is the sum of the percentages, and this was used for the total scores.
   S  O  M  D  A   Tot
S: X  55 43 82 87  267
O: 45 X  32 80 88  245
M: 57 68 X  97 100 322
D: 18 20 3  X  76  117
A: 13 12 0  24 X   49

And here are everyone's individual lists:
M O S A D thamoirthegreat
M O S     Panthera
S M O AD  umadbro? - tie assumed between A D
M S O D A AddictedtoMorrowind
MS O D A  Pilaf The Defiler - tie assumed between M S
M S O A D OblivionDuruza
S O       Witchery
M S O D A Mars
S M O D A ArgonianDunmer
S O M     DarkEastwood
S M O     cypruss11
M S O D A Mod-Loving Wood Elf
S O       I EAT pain
O S M     Tiber-Septim
M O S A   ZeRoc - D not included
O M S D A Mekorosi
O M S D A Pieter the mage
S O A     hrút dragonborn
O S A D   Sparky
M O S     Skrofler - D A not included
O S M A D Nevastar
O M S DA  FaWa
O S       Hissien - M D A not included
O S       MattFlan - M not included
M S O D A Knight Captain Kerr
S M O D A Vahrukiv
S M O D A TheRedPriestess
M D O A   Disagreer - S not included
S M O D A snapple
M S O D A Morinehtar
S M O     Master of Puppets - A D not included
S M O     The Enraged Balaur
S O M     Ysmir
O S M     Lynx
O S M D A Unionhack
S O M     Mr.Argonian
M D S O A Werozzi
M D O A S Xarnac the Conqueror
O S D     Kaliber
M S O     Chaos the N'wah
S O       MTD3454
O S D M   Durnehviir
MS O      JebbX
M S O     udubdawgs
M DS A O  DwemerInSpace
O S       skullclutter - M not included
M D O S A dante5186
S M O D A This Is My Name
S O M D A Linkuya
M D A O S Dakin Dareleth
M O S     Moeboid
O SM      philfredbob
M S O D   BetaB17
Added in this update:
O S       >EnterUsernameHere<
M S O A D Saara The Man
M O A S D JaggedyJack
M A O S D Siamore
S O M     Yaije
S O M     coolkid
O S M     Snail's Pace
O M S     Velvet Le'Chance
M D S A O Huntershound
M O D S   Avron the S'wit

Finally, here are the scores from before the update:

Hidden:

Code: Select all

   S  O  M  D  A    Total
S: X  58 45 86 93   282
O: 42 X  30 80 93   245
M: 55 70 X  96 100  321
D: 14 20 4  X  84   122
A: 7  7  0  16 X    30

[BetaB17]

Ah.. oh how I love thee Morrowind.. the product of so much rage.. the fault of bugs.. but in time it was grand.. and a story few could grasp
In truth, I can see how each of the recent 3 have at their strongest>_> Story, playability, and scenery. So it surprises me not in the order they fall in

[Pieter the mage]

My Top 5 :
5. Arena
4. Daggerfall
3. Morrowind
2. Oblivion
1. Skyrim

TES is my favorite game series ever so I love all games. My first game was Oblivion and it blew me away then I played Morrowind and after Skyrim released and I played it religously I also tried Arena and Daggerfall and I liked them too.

[Pieter the mage]

EDIT
Comment Invalid.

[Raynil dralas]

Starting with my fave.

1.morrowind
2.Skyrim
3.Daggerfall
4.Oblivion
5.arena

[DikaSmausha]

Ok, just recalculated the overall rankings. Here are the results:

1. Morrowind (322)
2. Skyrim (267)
3. Oblivion (245)
4. Daggerfall (117)
5. Arena (49)

DikaSmausha, your list was not included because I didn't know which one to use. Confirm which one you want to be included and I'll update the results.

Here are the results in detail, as well as everyone's lists:

Hidden:

Code: Select all

This table contains how many times each game was ranked ahead of each other game
   S  O  M  D  A 
S: X  34 21 27 28
O: 28 X  17 28 29
M: 28 36 X  32 31
D: 6  7  1  X  22
A: 4  4  0  7  X 

This table is the same as the one above, but expressed in percentages. The "tot" colum is the sum of the percentages, and this was used for the total scores.
   S  O  M  D  A   Tot
S: X  55 43 82 87  267
O: 45 X  32 80 88  245
M: 57 68 X  97 100 322
D: 18 20 3  X  76  117
A: 13 12 0  24 X   49

And here are everyone's individual lists:
M O S A D thamoirthegreat
M O S     Panthera
S M O AD  umadbro? - tie assumed between A D
M S O D A AddictedtoMorrowind
MS O D A  Pilaf The Defiler - tie assumed between M S
M S O A D OblivionDuruza
S O       Witchery
M S O D A Mars
S M O D A ArgonianDunmer
S O M     DarkEastwood
S M O     cypruss11
M S O D A Mod-Loving Wood Elf
S O       I EAT pain
O S M     Tiber-Septim
M O S A   ZeRoc - D not included
O M S D A Mekorosi
O M S D A Pieter the mage
S O A     hrút dragonborn
O S A D   Sparky
M O S     Skrofler - D A not included
O S M A D Nevastar
O M S DA  FaWa
O S       Hissien - M D A not included
O S       MattFlan - M not included
M S O D A Knight Captain Kerr
S M O D A Vahrukiv
S M O D A TheRedPriestess
M D O A   Disagreer - S not included
S M O D A snapple
M S O D A Morinehtar
S M O     Master of Puppets - A D not included
S M O     The Enraged Balaur
S O M     Ysmir
O S M     Lynx
O S M D A Unionhack
S O M     Mr.Argonian
M D S O A Werozzi
M D O A S Xarnac the Conqueror
O S D     Kaliber
M S O     Chaos the N'wah
S O       MTD3454
O S D M   Durnehviir
MS O      JebbX
M S O     udubdawgs
M DS A O  DwemerInSpace
O S       skullclutter - M not included
M D O S A dante5186
S M O D A This Is My Name
S O M D A Linkuya
M D A O S Dakin Dareleth
M O S     Moeboid
O SM      philfredbob
M S O D   BetaB17
Added in this update:
O S       >EnterUsernameHere<
M S O A D Saara The Man
M O A S D JaggedyJack
M A O S D Siamore
S O M     Yaije
S O M     coolkid
O S M     Snail's Pace
O M S     Velvet Le'Chance
M D S A O Huntershound
M O D S   Avron the S'wit

Finally, here are the scores from before the update:

Hidden:

Code: Select all

   S  O  M  D  A    Total
S: X  58 45 86 93   282
O: 42 X  30 80 93   245
M: 55 70 X  96 100  321
D: 14 20 4  X  84   122
A: 7  7  0  16 X    30

I would just use my favorites list. My "best" list was just stating what was technically the best ones, gameplay wise.

[Will Zurmacht]

1. O - ambiance
2. S - dungeon design
3. M - lore

[Jeelius-Tei]

1: Oblivion (not sure about you, but I like realistic colors in games...)
2: Skyrim (I dislike the colorlessness of Skyrim. Not very realistic.)
3: Morrowind (I never played it much, it lagged my old Dell laptop. I also did not install it on my desktop because I did not like the unrealistic combat.)
4: Daggerfall (never played it, but I hear it has a large map. I like games with large maps.)
5: Arena (never played this one either, but the fact that it is so old probably would remove some fun.)

Honestly, I don't see why the majority prefer Skyrim over Oblivion. Skyrim's quests were all the same. Fetch this, grab that. Some say the caves/ruins in Oblivion all look the same. I say the same with Skyrim and Morrowind. I personally prefer exploring the overworld, thus, I do not tend to go into caves/ruins. I believe the overworld should be welcoming, not cold and uninviting. Oblivion does a perfect job at this, and making coming out of ruins quite relaxing. Skyrim's odd coloring makes this impossible. In fact, some of Skyrim's ruins are more colorful than it's overworld.

[DragonoftheNorth]

In no particular order: Skyrim Morrowind Daggerfall Oblivion and Arena

[BelatedGamer]

1) Skyrim: It may not be perfect, but it's the closest the series has gotten to perfect.
2) Arena: The first one I played (Besides Battlespire), I love this one mostly for nostalgia, but it's genuine fun if you know what you're doing.
3) Oblivion: Got me back into the series, after missing Morrowind and Daggerfall. Still, it's a very flawed game, but also a very fun one.
4) Morrowind: Another flawed gem. The setting is unique, but the archaic mechanics and static world really hurt my enjoyment of it.
5) Daggerfall: I HATED this game. Buggy, brown, boring. The only game in the series I consider bad.

[uberandy666]

1. Oblivion
2. Skyrim
3. Morrowind
Haven't played Daggerfall or Arena.
Oblivion will always be my favorite game of all time. It was my first Elder Scrolls game. The green forests and hillsides, and the grassy and flowering fields is stunning.
The gentle and welcoming folk who always thanked or noticed what you did for them. And the amazing music.
Hard to choose between Skyrim and Morrowind. Skyrim has the greatest combat and visuals, but with people i dont care much about, boring faction quests and frankly a less interesting world.
Morrowind offers a great world, with great quests. But the combat can be annoying, and the generic answers all NPCs give is rather dull.

[BelatedGamer]

1: Oblivion (not sure about you, but I like realistic colors in games...)

I think that calling them "realistic colours" is misleading. They're overly bright and meant to be stylized.