What makes Morrowind so great?

[JoeyDestructo]

really? no love for Daggerfall? my faves in order

-Oblivion
-Daggerfall
-Skyrim
-Morrowind
-Arena

[GoatLiver]

You guys need to cut wolfie some slack its just his/her opinion that Oblivion was a better game...even if he/she's wrong!

As for nostalgia, I believe quite a few people (myself included) played Oblivion before we played Morrowind and grew to love Morrowind more. I have to say I never found Morrowind to be all that difficult in terms of combat. To be fair I've only played it to a high level on one character and a good combination of Nord + Barbarian class = good connectivity of axe to face even at the lower levels. The fast travel was never an issue for me because I still don't even use it in Skyrim with the exception of the carts to major holds.

One thing I did like in morrowind was the multiple ways to finish the main quest, and that you could kill any NPC none where essential. I remember I killed someone and it had some message along the lines of "with the death of this person the land is doomed to its fate" XD

To the person asking if they should get morrowind, I would recommend it like others for the PC. It can be a bit more challenging and much longer, but the rewards of epic story lines great exploration of a truly unique land and culture are worth every bit of struggle. Just read back through this thread and relate to what people say. If you think what wolfie says sounds how you play/like games then you may not enjoy Morrowind to its fullest, but if you like all the things others say about story lore and depth then you may very well enjoy Morrowind. Besides its not like Morrowind is still full price you can prob get it for like $5.

[Frost Mage]

really? no love for Daggerfall? my faves in order

-Oblivion
-Daggerfall
-Skyrim
-Morrowind
-Arena

*Blank stare*

[JoeyDestructo]

really? no love for Daggerfall? my faves in order

-Oblivion
-Daggerfall
-Skyrim
-Morrowind
-Arena

*Blank stare*

would play Daggerfall anyday over Morrowind

[i-m-so-ghett0]

Unfortunately I cannot experience Daggerfall, as I am on Xbox. Is it really better than Morrowind? Is this talk true?

[Elegost]

For me, I guess it's a nostalgia thing. I fell in love with Morrowind's landscape and the bewildering myriad possibilities of gameplay. I have fond memories of lying on my apt floor (on the rug that brought the room together ) playing through the Telvanni quest line with my Dunmer, which took a good long while, and listening to the Beatle's Magical Mystery Tour as a soundtrack... ahh.. t'was nice. Anyway, though, if you're a fast reader, there is no reason you shouldn't enjoy it. It's a little more taxing to the attention span as well.

Morrowind for 360? no no.. very buggy. Besides it would look a MILLION times better on even the most basic newer PC than it does on Xbox. You can max all the settings and get some amazing mods to help with graphics (if you just can't get past how dated the original ones are).

Also, "stuck up fanboys?" That's a little antagonistic, don't you think?

Sadly I can't afford a good PC right now but I do intend getting one next year.

Ah yeah sorry about that, I just wanted honest opinions not raving fanboys which Ic an say I have got, sory for offending anyone, nto intendend!

[Drathyn]

A lot of the gushing Morrowind love expressed on this forum is really just a case of fond nostalgia. I suspect a lot of people here were of a certain impressionable age and cut their gaming teeth on Morrowind. As with so many things in life, you always remember the first one more fondly than the rest. A lot of people still look upon Zelda OoT as their favourite game of all time.

While this is probably true, it had all the advantages that were mentioned here - and some of those have slightly disappeared in later games.

There were already discussions about how Skyrim (and other current RPGs) was simplified and "smoothed" compared to Morrowind. The journal for example: we had a vast quest-journal in Morrowind that could come up to 100s of pages, and that you actually had to read (!) to pick up the threads and proceed in your quests and choices. You had to understand it to find places on the map (not always easy for non-native-speakers). In Skyrim you have a questmarker, and a little text with bullet-points....
Another example is the "steal / take" option on items. Why does it have to be highlighted nowadays? It's all made so comfy for the player, but the thrill was lost on the way...

[Gideon Dragontongue]

That's the main difference, is that they smoothed it now, particularly the dungeons, which is why they removed levitation and jump so that you had to explore it the way they intended.

[Ragnarok]

That's the main difference, is that they smoothed it now, particularly the dungeons, which is why they removed levitation and jump so that you had to explore it the way they intended.

not exactly. the way I understood it was because of the way they rendered the world and the areas in it. in Morrowind, the world was rendered and loaded, "as is". those towns and cities you see on approach are actually there.

to speed up loading times and prevent having to render entire areas, now it's loaded by "cell". those town and city walls you now see on approach are just props. there's nothing actually behind them. when you "enter" the gate, the interior cell of the town or city then loads.

at least this was the case for Oblivion. not sure about Skyrim, with dragons actually flying, but the Jump and Levitate were removed from Oblivion 'cause if you ever actually "jumped" or "flew" over the walls, the illusion would be shattered since it was basically just a "prop".

I'd have to assume this was more for the console benefit as Morrowind's load times on Xbox were excessive and that was a major complaint, but on PC they seem very short, so I have to assume this "fix" was solely driven by console sales and for the benefit of that market demographic.

oh, and neither imps nor will-o-wisps in Oblivion actually "flew". more like hovered as they never actually got above about head height that I ever saw so there wasn't an actual flight mechanic in Oblivion like there appears to be in Skyrim.

maybe this is an added benefit of the new engine and physics for Skyrim, but still begs the question why they didn't bring back those spell effects for the player character, especially a "dragon-born". flying would seem to be an ideal innate latent ability for a character with dragon blood coursing through their veins.

[Utrechter]

I've bought this game some years ago because I couldn't find Oblivion. I quite liked it but had a hard time surviving a fight with scribs. Every single play through I had difficulties, but it's so hue and there's so much to see! Basically, my opinion: Scenery wise, Morrowind wins (apart from older graphics), combat wise, oblivion wins. I just had a lot of difficulties with thr combat system. Because all enemies are too strong you'll need to put a lot of time in it. I've not dome that, becaus oblivion was found and bought and installed. Pleass excuse the horiblr spelling, I'm using my phomr...

[OBLIVOWIND]

Honestly, as technology progresses, and more can be added in every minute, games will only get better as they come out. FOR IT'S TIME though, Morrowind was a very good game. So much to do and explore like the Dwemer Ruins, Mournhold, and Bloodmoon.

IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED MORROWIND... SPOILER ALERT!!

Spoiler:

I really loved seeing my house slowly built up in Bloodmoon. There were also somethings in Morrowind that aren't in skyrim. More control over objects for one thing. I could place a candle anywhere and give my house (or any building) custom lighting. I could make one room a devilish red and one room a nice blue. I also miss crossbows. Another thing I liked was the interactive play in Mournhold. Really fun!

Sometimes I think back to that game, and think that maybe there was more effort poured into that game. It really was one of the best games ever at that time. But now we get used to the new stuff, graphics and evolved combat and magic. So to go back and play it now, may be less enjoyable. If you had played it at that time though... AWESOME!

[JoeyDestructo]

Unfortunately I cannot experience Daggerfall, as I am on Xbox. Is it really better than Morrowind? Is this talk true?

download it for free on your computer!

controls are odd, but I love it.

[krylite]

Late to the discussion. Probably saying what has been said already. I'll just say Morrowind was great old-school rpg with a lot of effort put into the lore and a massive step up from Daggerfall and Arena with their random dungeons. Missing while swinging at a mudcrab? Happened all the time in Arena and Daggerfall. Morrowind seemed to be Bethseda's biggest success, then it got simplified for a bigger gaming demographic in Oblivion and now Skyrim. Not to say there were less man hours into the development. Probably the work went more into the graphics/animations and location designs of Skyrim. And then resources into the voice actors. I truly enjoy walking through the snowstorms through snowy mountains. Natural simulation has always been part of the elder scroll games ever since Arena's 1st attempts to simulate low lying fog and snow. they turned the Doom and Wolfenstein 3D shooters into the first realized 3d rp-games. I remember Morrowind being so hard combat wise, then one day I snuck into a dungeon probably too hard for my level and made off with an ebony longsword from some container or so , and just that odd bit turned the combat frustration around quick. Part of the thrill was surviving through it, and not having to stick to the lousy chitin or iron swords.

I think a big problem with Oblivion were the Ayelids and the ayelid dungeons. In the end it didn't seem like a fully realized lore of the game. I've forgotten a lot about Oblivion. Of course I remember the white gold tower and the market arms of the Cyrodil. And it was nice to have seen the Elder Scrolls library/vault rooms. But I remember the city of Balmora and the first time seeing Vivec City was an unforgettable highlight of my entire gaming experience. the forboding upslopes of Red Mountain constantly under the ashstorms. The magic shield wall and their "generator" struts. An awesome set of mysteries that unfolded. Betrayel , greed, heroism, the story had it all. Disappointingly in Oblivion, there was never anything done in the Elder Council. All you saw were the round table and empty chairs. And Ocatto not doing much more than any other NPC.

I still like Skyrim. I've avoided the main quest early. (have not gone up the mountain to the greybeards yet) and have just roamed around doing all the misc and city centered quests. Unfortunately the towns besides Solitude and Whiterun just seem that much smaller (than even oblivion in some cases). Morrowind did a better job fooling the player into feeling he was in a bigger town than it was by use of details crammed into a way that made things look more full. Whereas Winterhold town, Morthal and Dawnstar look like the same cabin houses. Some towns felt like they only had 5 people in them. However the landscape areas of Skyrim are immense and breathtaking far bigger than Oblivion and Morrowind. I like how they kept some of the music and themes by Jeremy Soule from Morrowind and Oblivion. The bards play a tune similar to one of the background tunes in Arena (usually the snowfall music outside). I recall in Morrowind wanting to see more of the "westernized" architecture and landscapes. And now I get it all in Skyrim. The "Conan the Barbarian" and "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" feel of the place and music. I prefer to be an imperial visiting the land. So not really donning the viking stuff and fur shorts as shown in the trailers. And I miss my old friend Uriel Septim VII (the good emperor) greatly.

[Zero-Sum]

A lot of the gushing Morrowind love expressed on this forum is really just a case of fond nostalgia.

Half-true. Morrowind was my SECOND TES game. My first TES game I played at 16, Oblivion, then I grew interested in the series, then I played Morrowind, and hell, despite the graphics (there are mods for that!), the game was excellent and it still is my favorite (alright, I'm still nostalgic, I cry orange juice rainbow unicorn tears half the time when I hear 'Call of Magic'). Nobody was holding your hand throughout all of this, you had no real quest markers, no immortal essential characters, no red-hand steal cursors, etc, it felt more immersive, and the lore was, by Talos, absolutely fantastic. Michael Vehk Kirkbride's writing blows my mind (seriously, doesn't anybody know what drugs he's taking and where I can get some?)

Oblivion was lacking in lore but made up for it with shininess and physical character customization, and better accessibility (some elitists call it 'dumbed down gameplay' - I voice no opinion on that matter.). Still, I felt there was more awesomesauce in being the god-slaying reincarnation of an ancient, legendary Chimeri war hero than just being a random dude chosen to save Tamriel from demons (random guy chosen by fate, sure, but still). In Morrowind, you were the MAIN CHARACTER. In Oblivion, you were just the player, and Martin was the main character.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

That's the main difference, is that they smoothed it now, particularly the dungeons, which is why they removed levitation and jump so that you had to explore it the way they intended.

not exactly. the way I understood it was because of the way they rendered the world and the areas in it. in Morrowind, the world was rendered and loaded, "as is". those towns and cities you see on approach are actually there.

to speed up loading times and prevent having to render entire areas, now it's loaded by "cell". those town and city walls you now see on approach are just props. there's nothing actually behind them. when you "enter" the gate, the interior cell of the town or city then loads.

at least this was the case for Oblivion. not sure about Skyrim, with dragons actually flying, but the Jump and Levitate were removed from Oblivion 'cause if you ever actually "jumped" or "flew" over the walls, the illusion would be shattered since it was basically just a "prop".

I'd have to assume this was more for the console benefit as Morrowind's load times on Xbox were excessive and that was a major complaint, but on PC they seem very short, so I have to assume this "fix" was solely driven by console sales and for the benefit of that market demographic.

oh, and neither imps nor will-o-wisps in Oblivion actually "flew". more like hovered as they never actually got above about head height that I ever saw so there wasn't an actual flight mechanic in Oblivion like there appears to be in Skyrim.

maybe this is an added benefit of the new engine and physics for Skyrim, but still begs the question why they didn't bring back those spell effects for the player character, especially a "dragon-born". flying would seem to be an ideal innate latent ability for a character with dragon blood coursing through their veins.

That's correct, Morrowind had all towns within the world itself. I haven't yet turned off the collision in Skyrim to see what actually happens. The exception was Mournhold, which WAS an interior cell, so they had to make up something about "levitation offends Amalexia and is not allowed".

[AddictedtoMorrowind]

Nao! You have to pay Effe-Tei and Asciene Rane! It lowers my budget if you do not!

[Ilikeskooma]

to me morrowind is better then oblivion but skyrim is the best...

[gamermanblue]

First things first. I've played about 80 hours of Morrowind, maybe 100 now on Skyrim and 600 or 700 on Oblivion. So take that for what it's worth.

However, trying to be objective lets tale a look at some of the things that people rave or complain about.

Main quest.
Morrowind: You are the hero. No if's and's or but's about it.
Oblivion: You are a 'selected by the fates' errand boy (or girl)
Skyrim: You are the dragonborn. However, if Ulric or the greybeards have the voice, why can't they be?
I would say that Morowind's is the best. It had a nice progression, from opening boredom of helping out Cassius, to being infected and cured with the disease, Being recognized by the dunnmer tribes, to taking on the living Gods themselves. Much better then Oblivion and still better then Skyrim.

Factions and Faction Quests
Morrowind: Greatest amount of playable factions. Some good quests, some downright annoying quests. Stories were slightly lacking. People in the guild felt like they were real people. Need Skills amd Stats to progress.
Oblivion: Lowest amount of playable factions. Some boring/annoying quests. Multitudes of interesting quests. Guild stories were good but most people in the factions are eminently forgettable. Archmage, Head of Fighters Guild erc.,. at level one is possible.
Skyrim: More factions than Oblivion. Short stories. Guildmates feel alive, you may even wish to murder them. Hard to be Head of a guild at level one, but can still be an archmage with no magic or a thief without stealing.
Hard to say here, as it mostly comes down to personal preference. Do you like the guild to have a unique story, a proper role-play element or feel alive? Do fetch quests immerse you, or do you want to feel appreciated by your colleagues? Myself, I am going to say Oblivion slightly edges Morrowind due to less annoying fetch quests and the absolute beauty that was the first half of the darkbrotherhood questline. I also liked the story of the Mages against Necromancers and the honorable Fighters against the cutt-throat Blackwood company. Skyrim is a far distant third.

Graphics
Completely unfair to judge and so will be put aside

Items and Artifacts.
Morrowind: Scattered throughout the land. Seek and ye shall find.
Oblivion: We are sorry, Mario, but your tresure is at a higher level.
Skyrim: So, you want to take a class in enchanting, do ya?
For the casual gamer that just wants to play the game and enjoy themselves, Oblivion and Skyrim are for you. For a gamer who actually wants to explore another world, Morrowind is hands down the best game. I love oblivion, but nothing drives someone up the wall like being accosted by a highwayman, who is ready to kill you over a pitiful 100 gold, in full glass armor. Just dumb. You really have to hunt around in Morrowind for good stuff, but when you find it, it's all BOO-YA-GA. (This, for me, is the number one dissapointmant for Skyrim)

Combat
Morrowind: Behind the scenes dice numbers control on screen actions which can cause WTF annoyance. Can make you feel like you are swing at paper. Especially at low levels. Gets better as you progress in Skill and as you adjust to the game.
Oblivion: What you see is what you get. Swing a sword or throw a fireball it will miss or hit depending on where you and the enemy are standing. Still feels like swinging at paper though. Very repetitive.
Skyrim: Combat does feel better. Feels like you are actually hitting someone with your axe, not just cutting butter. Cut-scene finishing moves can break up the repetitiveness of combat.
As with graphics, I am not sure how fair or objective it is to compare these. Morrowind can be annoying but it is about how good your character is, whereas Oblivion and Skyrim is more about how good you the player controls your character. RPGer's will accept Morrowind, Gamers in general will probably be screaming "WHY NOT YOU STUPID ^$%&" at their screens alot. For me Skyrim wins 'cause I love the cut-scenes.

That's enough for me for now. I don't feel like going into magic and skills and other stuff as that gets more subjective.

[Mattbott]

the graphics of morrowind are what probably made it great imo, the plot and lore really were the thing that sucked you into the game in the long run, and having run through the skyrim main story in 20 hours ? i did miss something that morrowind delivered on.. tho the main plot in Mw was over long imo, there were too many groups needing the same sort of chores to be done and that just bored me - it wrecked the flow of the game and meant i only ever did the whole main story twice despite 600 hours of gaming.. i also tended to grind to a halt needing a break near the end of the main story in Mw, not compelling story telling at all

generally in style morrowind was a lot more raw and complex.. this meant the gameplay could be very inconvenient, yes you would discover wonderful little gems of lore and mystery, but these would be interspersed between hours of frustration trying to piece together who gave you the quest you just finished, or where the ashlander lived who you were meant to deliver a message to.

the levelling in oblivion was the main game spoiler in that one for me (but dont forget you were sometimes severely limited by your stats, skills and level in going places in Morrowind) , and the contrast with Mw where the enchanting, spellmaking and skill system were streamlined and made more accessible, was a fair trade-off I believe , tho i can see where people might think the baby was lost with the bath water.. but i found fiddling with sound spells that never actually worked just tedious and fast travel just works so well, its probably the single nicest thing they did for us in the TES series

so really whats great about Mw is it's the stick we can beat Bethesda with every time they dont make a perfect game - in Skyrim they have brought back a lot of the nice jewel like details of lore and location we had in Mw and the levelling is nice and dangerous in places , just like we fondly remember from tes3, and i think skyrim is more closely related to Mw the game than Oblivion, which has done it a lot of good

[philfredobob]

I played morrowind a little bit , so i cant say i know everything about it , i have tried to read its story and i think i understand it .. and i watched my brothers play it too , so i know a decent amount about it ... so .. here goes :
well , i went , i fought a little worm thing for about half an hour then got bored and got off , got on later and continued , landscape was quite boring in my opinion and the lack of fast travel is a bit of an annoying bit , i mean there are interesting places , but the game just didnt suck me in at all , every time i felt myself getting sucked in i swung at a mudcrab ,nissed, and got yanked back into reality , after a little bit more of playing , i gave up .. i watched my brothers play the rest of it most of the time ,none of us ever finished it .. so i looked up the story instead , and it was not as impressive as i thought it would be ...im sorry but i just dont like it .. by the way im sorry if im comin off as a dickhead , its not my intention ,im just trying to give my opinion .. anyways , back to the matter at hand, the story , i dont see whats so good about it , everybody says its fantastic and immersive and all that jazz , but its actually very average for me , dagoth ur and his supposidly godly power doesnt seem very godly to me , and by the way , about the lore .. i dont play games for lore , i play them for immersive storylines .. which morrowind just didnt have in my opinion


Now oblivion :
Combat was improved , the map wasnt improved too much , and all the dungeons are the same,the planes of oblivion look the same , though i must admit i did enjoy running about through the forests , unfortunatly , everything levels with you wherever you go , and even at high levels , every thing you fight is roughly the same size as you are , which i thought was very dissapointing as i wanted some massive enemies to kill , so the system was better but who you use it on was worse . uh factions .. the dark brotherhood and thieves guild has interesting storylines , the fighters guild and mages guild did not , both of them (fighters and mages guilds) had sort of ''good knightly fellow'' questlines , instead of interesting mysterys .. uh now main story , i actually quite like oblivions main story , i like how it starts off , and i felt like cyrodiil was actually being threatened by a powerful force , i dont like the fact that your charecter is more of an errand boy(or girl) instead of heroic figure , i mean sure , they tell you how fantastic your job was , but you dont feel you deserve the praise from these npc guys, and finally the ending , i like how martin does what he does , but i dont like the fact that im completley left out of it , martin is the hero of the oblivion crisis and greatest emperor ever and you are like a bloody sidekick , i mean where was the final almighty boss fight with a powerful being ? they couldnt possibly expect people to believe it was mankar camoran ?! i killed him without even trying , i mean why didnt we get to hold off mehrunes dagon using some powerful artifact or something , and try and weaken him or something , but no , when i got to mehrunes , i just ran around his foot and into the temple of the one (he didnt even manage to do a single attack ) ..all in all , i like the storyline , but i dont like my role in the storyline

Skyrim :
im not done with it yet !!


TL;DR
Morrowind : bad combat ,Good artifacts and exploration , decent landscape , good lore , good role in story , average story
Oblivion :Good combat , pathetic artifacts and tedious exploration, decent landscape but quite samey samey , no much lore added , bad role in story line , good story
Skyrim : ..... uh ... bananas?

[i-m-so-ghett0]

I actually almost liked Morrowind's combat over Oblivion. Combat in Oblivion was boring and soul crushing, while in Morrowind there was a bit of strategy and luck, with moving different ways for different attacks and having a chance to hit or miss your target, so it stayed fun for me.
And I really liked Morrowind's story way more than Oblivion. I got so bored with Oblivion's main quest that I didn't even pay attention to anything about halfway through. Morrowind's story is so much more interesting and with much deeper lore and backstory, and makes you think about the characters you interact with (if you were paying attention).

[Gideon Dragontongue]

Of course, Morrowind's main story is only really interesting when you're paying attention...

[Zero-Sum]

Of course, Morrowind's main story is only really interesting when you're paying attention...

I betcha half or more of the people who complain about Morrowind's story being boring don't know about CHIM or whether or not Vehk really did murder Nerevar.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

75%, easy. And I was twelve when I was playing it.

[Zero-Sum]

75%, easy. And I was twelve when I was playing it.

I don't doubt it, there are others like you. I swear, the lore and story of the games has been dumbed down after Morrowind, the only few things they did right was incorporate a FEW of MK's writings in both Oblivion and Skyrim ... please, BethSoft-Godhead, get the mighty Kirkbride to incorporate his work in future DLCs and make it so that the Thalmor creation-undoing conspiracy is canon so I have even more reasons to kill 'em all.

Morrowind was way more epic than Skyrim (though the Dragonborn theme is still epic, and killing dragons is fine and all) - three words: KILLING. LIVING. GODS. Sure, Aldy is kind of a god, he's no normal dragon and he is the harbinger of the apocalypse and all that, but in Morrowind you were the reincarnation of an ancient Chimeri war hero, you're caught in a web of old betrayals and prophecies and heroes, and Vivec was the most awesome character ever. Not to mention at least three other Aedric gods make cameos in Morrowind, so it was basically god-land. And the Nerevarine could be considered a god after he fulfills his destiny because (and this only adds to the epic factor here) he's effectively immortal (Corprus), he is the reincarnation of a Chimeri war hero considered a Saint amongst the Dunmeri, and he slew three gods (nutcase Almy, Vivec possibly, and Dagoth Ur).