the moment elder scrolls got you

[umber hulk]

bought morrowind for xbox, knew nothing about the game,

after the intro and a bit of running about,
i remember opening the map and thinking, holy [&@%!], look how little i've uncovered,
so i decided to forget the whole quest thing and just cross the land, from south to north, right up through the middle.
i went up into the mountains,
and then came the cliff racers, which were a PAIN to fight,
and each kill left me with hardly any health, and i'd no way to recover except to sleep for hours,
so i'd creep along, encounter a racer, fight, kill, sleep, wake up and continue, making slow progress,
days of gametime became weeks upon weeks, as i gradually came to grips with how to survive,
i'd gained a couple of levels, i was about one third the way across the map, i'd uncovered a very thin strip up the middle,
and i realised how [&@%!] epic this was going to be...

[dzio]

The moment I knew it got me was when I was watching the sun set over Seyda Neen for the first time and decided that it would be fun to go looking for

Spoiler:

that missing tax collector

at night, to see what critters might be about after dark. It was just the beginning and I felt like I was in.

Of course five minutes later I got squished by a scrib and a rat who decided to test this whole "strength in numbers" thing, but that another story...

[HatofMadness]

for me was when I first exited the Oblivion sewers....felt like I was just picked up out off my couch, and dropped into cyrodiil.

[AddictedtoMorrowind]

After I got pounded by three rats over and over again. At level 5.

[Avron the S'wit]

Oh, there were so, so many moments. Getting caught in an ash storm and squinting through the blight to see the sun rise over the Ashlands in Morrowind was likely one of my first moments, but once I started to get into the story, I realized it was golden. I utterly and completely fell in love with the main quest in Morrowind and especially the Fighter's Guild storyline, caught up in all the scandal and intrigue and mysteries of the world.

And, really, I felt it all over again when I stood before my first Oblivion gate outside Kvatch and when my character's vision cleared at the intro to Skyrim. From the start to the end, each TES game gives me goosebumps and just gets my imagination going. It's why I'm such a fan of the series...it's so easy to feel like a part of the world.

[Akiraka]

It was like 4AM. I suppose I was 14. "Even In Death" by Evanescence was on. I don't even particularly identify with the song or anything, but its atmosphere really meshed withe the game, at least in that moment. I was running through the fields North of Vivec late at night, and the sky was completely clear. I found myself looking up at the red moon and all the stars as I was running. And it just, hit me. That sky was more real than any night sky I'd ever enjoyed IRL, and I had completely lost myself in the game and whatever task I was performing. That moment always stuck with me, even after all these years.

[N'wah Nern]

Wandering through the dark rainy streets of Balmora, stumbling into houses, killing rats, looking for Caius Cosades.

Then I did the thieves guild quests and realized I could get away with way more than I thought I could.

[Chaos the N'wah]

When I opened the box...

But seriously, when I wandered outside Seyda Neen, heard a scream, looted a certain body, used a certain scroll, and got a good view of the land; I imagined myself going to these places after I peeled my dead body from Grazelands.

Other times I was struck again, like when I realized I my business partner was a Daedra, when I discovered a covert Sixth House member, when I realized I was planting a mushroom to live in out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by ash, when I discovered Vivec and its libraries...

[Assassin540]

When I was sent on my first contract for the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion

[phoult37]

for me was when I first exited the Oblivion sewers....felt like I was just picked up out off my couch, and dropped into cyrodiil.

AMEN!!!

[Dark Spark]

There I was, standing atop the lighthouse tower of Seyda Neen as the early evening showers began to splash on my chitin armor— waiting to see where Fargoth ended up sneaking his embezzled stash so that I may steal it from him.

[Yomnom]

Well, it basically got me the moment I started Morrowind.
But if there's a really memorable moment for me, it was when I first saw the Ghost Fence. The sky was grey, I had Paradise Lost playing. It was such an exciting moment, it just felt so epic, and magical.

[Biggsydaboss]

Watching the sun rising From cloud top in oblivion.

[Avron the S'wit]

There I was, standing atop the lighthouse tower of Seyda Neen as the early evening showers began to splash on my chitin armor— waiting to see where Fargoth ended up sneaking his embezzled stash so that I may steal it from him.

Oh, true, that quest is quite the beginning of it all. I remember climbing up there and just hunkering down for hours and hours, staring into the town below... It's a wonder I didn't get dreadfully distracted, although I suppose I did have a lot to think about in the time that passed.

[deadknight]

When i first saw the Imperial City from outside the prison sewers (i knew nothing about TES back then)..i told myself this is truly a good game ...then of again..i didnt played to many games before Oblivion

[Argonanza]

Ahh.. exiting the ruins only to venture over to the opposing ruins and then flee like a little coward from angry bandits.

[Mekorosi]

Entering my first Oblivion Gate - namely the kvatch gate - and fighting the epic battles that ensued both in that cataclysmic realm and the ruined city it's denizens had claimec. Sword and shield in hand, I waded through fires of Oblivion and blood-soaked remnants of Kvatch, slaying the twisted souls and beasts of Dagon as they in turn tore out the throats of my allies and the remaining innocents.

Despite our small, hopeless force, we carved a path through the Daedra hordes and reclaimed the city!

I collected the hearts, claws, and skin of my foes and assembled a mound of warning to the hellish hordes, should they ever return. My task complete, I gathered my new ally, Martin, and left to seek more challenges. Thus the Elder Scrolls consumed me, and thus it's world and lore will forever have my love and respect.