morrowind or oblivion

[lurchman]

My wish is, that they didn't change how the Meshes and Textures were made. Then you could merge stuff from Morrowind to Oblivion. And back. Could you imagine the mods that could made if the two were compatible.

[Povuholo]

My wish is, that they didn't change how the Meshes and Textures were made. Then you could merge stuff from Morrowind to Oblivion. And back. Could you imagine the mods that could made if the two were compatible.

Compatible or not, it would still be illigal.

[Guest Tessera]

I think the comparisons between the two games are indicative of just what sort of gamers many people are becoming.

 

In many ways, Oblivion is superior as an RPG. Unlike Morrowind, it's not as guided and linear in nature. In Oblivion, you've basically been dumped into a big sandbox and your next moves are entirely up to you. There are no required quests. There are no absolutes. There are certainly plenty of things available for you to do and try out, but none of them are necessary. It's your world... and if you play it that way right off the bat, without expecting to be guided through every phase of your character's existence, then Oblivion comes out ahead on the "true roleplaying game" scale.

 

Morrowind was more structured than Oblivion. Many players these days have become used to (and perhaps even dependent upon) games of that nature, as the industry seems to feel that we're all too stupid - or that we lack the creativity - to create our own stories within their gameworlds. Thus many games place you on a set of railroad tracks that have a beginning and an ending... and whilst many of those games try to give you the illusion of non-linearity through side quests, they really don't allow you the full freedom to do whatever the hell you wanna do.

 

On that basis, I prefer Oblivion, simply because it really does feel like it's, well, *my* world to do with as I please.

[Povuholo]

I have to disagree on a few points here. Just my opinion ;)

 

In many ways, Oblivion is superior as an RPG.

My opinion is that Oblivion is too action orientated. Player skill is almost as important as character skill, if not more. In Morrowind there was a dice roll every time you attempt to hit your opponent. This makes character skill much more important and that's what it should be in my opinion. I say Morrowind is the better RPG of the two.

 

Unlike Morrowind, it's not as guided and linear in nature. In Oblivion, you've basically been dumped into a big sandbox and your next moves are entirely up to you. There are no required quests. There are no absolutes. There are certainly plenty of things available for you to do and try out, but none of them are necessary.

Morrowind is more guided than Oblivion? Just because it points out where to start the main quest? There are no required quests? Did Morrowind have required quests then? Don't say the main quest, that's the same as with Oblivion.

 

I think Oblivion is way more 'guided' when you look at the quests themselves. In Morrowind, a character tells you where to go, and you have to find it on yourself. In Oblivion, a red/green triangle appears, pointing you out exactly where you have to go. Even for simple things, like finding a clue in a house or finding a treasure with a treasure map (what's the fun in that if the quest markers point you exactly where it is?).

Could you explain in what ways Morrowind is more guided than Oblivion according to you?

 

Morrowind was more structured than Oblivion. Many players these days have become used to (and perhaps even dependent upon) games of that nature,

 

What's wrong with that? Why do you think that that this type of game is trying to keep stuff easy for the 'stupid'? What nature?

 

Thus many games place you on a set of railroad tracks that have a beginning and an ending... and whilst many of those games try to give you the illusion of non-linearity through side quests, they really don't allow you the full freedom to do whatever the hell you wanna do.

Again, what is the difference between morrowind and Oblivion here?

 

I also think Oblivion lacks lore. Where is the mystery? In Morrowind you had Dagoth Ur of who you can't really say whether he is good or evil, you had the disappearance of the dwarves, you had the dwarven ruins with some nice artifacts (misc. items, not like weapons) you had Wraithguard, Keening and Sunder with their special magic properties...

[Landsknecht]

Chosing between Morrwind and Oblivion is hard, when it comes to game quality. For my computer situation, Oblivion barely runs, but I still get much enjoyment out of it, and I keep that in mind when comparing the two. There are elements of both which I prefer and dislike, but modders do a good job adjusting them to each other for each player's preference.

 

That virtually impossible choice is why I put FF3 as my favorate game, mainly because I grew up with it.

[Guest Tessera]

Could you explain in what ways Morrowind is more guided than Oblivion according to you?

 

I was going to write up an intelligent and thoughtful response to your entire post, until it occurred to me that this question carries within it a certain degree of veiled hostility... and on that basis, I won't respond to it.

 

Try playing Oblivion differently than you have been. I'll just leave it at that.

[Abramul]

I've gone back to playing Morrowind for a while, and...

*I absolutely LOVE Oblivion's stability. Yes, I've heard it's unstable, but I'm running it on what's probably a mid-range system, with graphics set low, and it's only ever crashed a few times.

*Dungeons/points of interest/whatnot displaying on the world map is a definite improvement, but only if they show up ONLY AFTER you've discovered them, by which I mean direct line-of-sight, or perhaps an audio cue.

*The questmarker triangles: I don't mind these in some cases, although there should be a "General area" option. For instance, consider the final segment of this post:

*Spellcasting: I prefer Morrowind's "You can try casting high-powered spells, but you probably won't succeed" attitude. However, the higher (magicka) cost of Oblivion's spells adequately compensates for the 100% success rate.

*Lockpicking: I WOULD like Oblivion's system better, if there was:

---A chance for a low-level Security user to break a pick, even if they get the timing right

---Or: RANDOM SEQUENCE! The 'good hit', as it were, recurs after a fixed number of 'bad hits'.

*Graphics: I don't much mind Morrowind's graphics, except for cases where a mesh is downright chunky.

*Critters: One thing about Morrowind that I immensely prefer to Oblivion is the uniqueness of its animals. Everyone has wolves and bears. Two things which I immensely prefer to Oblivion's version: Mudcrabs and Scamps. MW's Mudcrabs were not very hostile, and cute in a Switch-siggish way. The new Scamp's mouth-breathing thing is downright creepy.

NPCs: Overall, I prefer Oblvion's NPCs, primarily because they have schedules built-in, as opposed to the MW schedule mods.

Dialogue: Morrowind, hands down. There is no need for spoken dialogue, it detracts from being able to create deep non-main characters, and REQUIRING it is significantly detremental to modding. The (non-PC) conversations are nice, or would be if they were less repetitive and made sense more often.

*Physics: Having physics is nice, but I'm not sure if Oblivion made the best possible use of it.

*Traps: Oblivion's traps are fun, usable for defence, and occasionally creative, but I do miss Morrowind's spell traps, especially since you can't really use a ceiling-mace to defend personal property. (This would make an amusing consequence for opening something you shouldn't: You open a jewelry box, take out a high-quality ring, close the container, turn around, and...SPLUTCH!)

"Combat AI: Oblivion, definitely. MW's combat AI is often downright stupid.

*Interface: In general, I prefer Oblivion's. MW's appeals to my preference for simplicity of display, but...

---DYNAMIC CROSSHAIR: Can't emphasize enough how much I like this.

---One-click equip: Would prefer if it took a double-click, especially for dangerous items, but it's nicer than drag-and-drop.

---Spell sorting: would like an additional Only Show School X option, but it's definitely better than all spells in one list.

---Combined menus: Oblivion doesn't really handle this well, since it sometimes takes a while to switch between sections, but it does seem more accessible.

---Modifiable: Don't know if MW's are, but I don't think they are.

(Counter)

---Full stats shown: Prefer MW's "Hover for stats".

---Non-resizable, except from outside the game.

---The one thing I don't like having integrated is the map.

*Enchanting: Overall, I think I prefer Morrowind's. Although it was overpowered, the restrictions in Oblivion are FAR too much. A recharge rate inversely dependant on number of (non-constant effect) items in inventory, and a cooldown period for use of a given (non-strike) item's enchantment would have been sufficient.

*Spellmaking/Enchantifying: Only Mages Guild members? What the Nerf?

*Alchemy: Both games are balanced in this, or would be if MW had a decent restriction on # of potions usable at once (4 is too few, methinks).

---POISONS ARE GOOD! One wonders, though, if someone's planning on exporting all those poisons the Nerevarine sold...

That's it for now, now here's my example of why I don't think the existance of a quest-marker is not inherently bad. The use in Oblivion was definitely too much, especially regarding moving targets.

EDIT: Couple other things...

*Sneaking: Better in Oblivion, especially since sound is considered.

Auto-harvest: An improvement, although it could be argued that the opening and closing of the organic container is equivalent ot an alchemist determining whether a plant is usable.

 

(FOLLOWING ADDED AFTER INCLUSION IN MY POST ON NEXT PAGE)

*Weapons and Armor: Overall, I prefer Morrowind's, but this section needs more...

---Materials: Morrowind is far better in this regard. Each material has its own strengths and weaknesses, rather than "If it's heavier and more expensive, it's better".

---Dwemer Armor: I do like Oblivion's, as it isn't just peeled off the guardians. BUT STOP CALLING IT DWARVEN! (MW did this too.)

---[Volcanic] Glass: Although Oblivion's looks OK, I much prefer Morrowind's styling.

---Medium Armor: Not much of a loss, really.

---Weapon Skills: I don't have a problem with each class of weapon having its own skill, as in Morrowind, since it makes sense to specialize in one type, and use other skills for other areas. As far as Oblivion's skills go, the [melee weapon] skills should, I think, be 1-Handed and 2-Handed.

---Spears and Staffs: A definite loss. Spears are very useful for fighting powerful opponents, and there's just something cool about fighting with a staff.

*Fast Travel: I don't really have a problem with this, but I think Oblivion's implementation is flawed.

---Travel points should only be available on the roads, or at VERY prominent landmarks.

---You should NOT be able to travel to a location without first going there on foot, or on horse.

*Levitation: Overpowered in Morrowind. Dropping it, though, was too much, as (even with the "No looking in cities" requirement) it could have been implemented in one of the following fashions:

---Allow levitation in the wild, and have it set up that the player cannot attack while levitating, and cities have a "Cone of Grounding" preventing a person from looking in.

---Only allow levitation up to height x, and possibly prohibit attacking.

---Have it work as a combination of MW's Jump and Slowfall effects.

(END ADDED MATERIAL)

 

You get off the boat, go through chargen, and talk to (don't remember the officer's name).---quest marker is set for Balmora

You arrive in Balmora. If you ask someone the location of the South Wall, and they tell you, then the quest marker is set to the South Wall entrance.

You ask where (the guy upstairs) is. You're told he's upstairs.---quest marker isn't set, as this is obvious

He tells you where Caius' house is. quest marker is set

[tmx]

^ well one thing about oblivion that annoy the crap out of me, is often when i quick save while performing an action, or even standing still, the game would crash and my quicksave.ess would corrupt. luckly they have a quicksave.bak, but once awhile i can play 20mintues or more without quicksave so that is bad.

 

there is one thing about morrowind that stand out above the rest for me is its alien and desolate landscape. i never seen anything present like the red mountain so bleak. i was attracted to morrowind in the first place because of this world presentation factor. it force a lot of work on the player side, sometimes that isnt good thing a game, but for morrowind it was very good. because you have needs, jabe to feet travel to places, your supply run out, so you're not always safe (except the levitation abuse). with oblivion you can quick travel your way out. some games goes further than this and have food/ration factor. like betrayal at krondor, i really like that. i have explore a whole world that is different fand figure out how it work. trying to understand the panthology in it and everything it was very pleasent, and suprisign when i found out the truth about the tribunal.

 

in oblivion when i first saw it i got high from the graphic, but for the most part the world and people wasnt so interesting because it resemble too much of an idealistic roman culture, white stone and all, wears out quick. not bad, but more known and welcoming.

[cactoblasta]

I was going to write up an intelligent and thoughtful response to your entire post, until it occurred to me that this question carries within it a certain degree of veiled hostility... and on that basis, I won't respond to it.

 

Please do anyway. I'm curious as well. What about Oblivion fits in with older western RPGs in a way that Morrowind does not? I can't really think of anything Oblivion has that Morrowind doesn't also have.

[Povuholo]

Could you explain in what ways Morrowind is more guided than Oblivion according to you?

 

I was going to write up an intelligent and thoughtful response to your entire post, until it occurred to me that this question carries within it a certain degree of veiled hostility... and on that basis, I won't respond to it.

 

Try playing Oblivion differently than you have been. I'll just leave it at that.

 

I didn't mean to make it sound hostile. I tried not to. It's hard, we're on a forum. ;)

I'm not saying I don't like Oblivion. I like both games. So please, just type the inteligent and thoughtful response. I can take it. :happy: