The first ES game I ever bought was Morrowind: GOTY, but that was back when I used to buy a lot of RPG/adventure games when they were on sale at Best Buy and then never get around to installing and playing them. (That was money well spent!)
Then I bought Oblivion when it came out, which was the first ES game I actually played. I've played it many times, but have finished the main quest only once. I'm going to have to restart it again, because my current game is playable as long as I don't get too close to the Oblivioin gate outside of Chorrol, otherwise it freezes-- presumably due to the reference ID bug-- so I won't be able to complete the main quest unless I restart, and can enter or leave Chorrol only by the north gate. Besides, I eventually want to restart it anyway and complete the main game with all add-ons disabled, then play the add-ons in order of release. I don't like how some of the add-ons change certain things-- like the temple in Anvil-- before I've had a chance to enjoy the unaltered versions. Also, it seems odd to be handed all sorts of notes about inheriting some place or other, or a letter asking if I would please, please help repair the Orrery, before I've even made it out of the Imperial sewers. ("Hey, wait! Don't run off! Could you please show me the way out of this place, preferably one that isn't crawling with goblins? And while you're at it, could you maybe help me carry some of this junk out of here so I can sell it?")
Eventually I remembered that I already had Morrowind, too, so I installed it and started playing. Initial reaction: Ew, the graphics! Delayed reaction: Soup is on, baby! I've read posts on Steam by people (trolls are people, too, aren't they?) who love to diss Morrowind for various reasons, but I love it. I recently bought it again on Steam so I can move back and forth between my desktop PC and my laptop, and have also finally installed all of the official add-ons. I've finished the main quest (again), and am now on a mission to visit every location in the game, but my current game is mostly on hold for now.
I installed the free download of Arena some years ago, but couldn't get the hang of the controls at that time, and never made it out of the Imperial Dungeons.
Then came Skyrim, although I have the "plain vanilla" version with no add-ons. Based on all the caustic comments I've read on Steam, I'm glad I never upgraded to the Special Edition. I've restarted several dozen times, and have completed the main quest once, but my current game is mostly on hold for now. It gets kind of boring when you've legendaried your skills so many times that you're basically an impervious god with fur growing out of your ears.
Now that I've played through ES3, ES4, and ES5 at least once each, I've decided to go back and play Arena. I completed the main quest, but now I've started over (for the dozenthish time) with the intention of mapping and documenting everything. That's the main reason I finally joined the wiki and forums, so most of my blabbering will probably be about Arena, at least initially. I don't mind Arena's primitive graphics and gameplay-- it reminds me somewhat of the Ultima: Underworld games, which I used to love playing many years ago.
Atarians may recognize my online name from the AtariAge forums, but I haven't been very active there since getting back into my keyboards and music. My online name is my original AOL screen name from when I first went online in 1995-- a slightly abbreviated pun combining my Sun sign (Capricorn the Sea Goat) with "Billy Goats Gruff." Not that that's important, but some people have misinterpreted it as "Sea Gate Gruff" or (my favorite) "Sergeant Gruff," so I thought I should set the record straight from the get-go. You can call me "Sea," "Gruff," "SGG," "Ossifer Gruff'n'stuff," or "Mike"!







