Enhancing Morrowind's roleplaying experience

[ILikeMorrowind]

There's a mod working on that. I think it's called Living Morrowind, and half is done so far. Still, the npc's are limited to what they say. What I like to do is imagine conversations. Like Fargoth is talking behind your back. You draw out your sword and point it between his eyes telling him you're giving him a warning. That way you're free to do more which is always benefitial. I'm sure those who played Daggerfall had to do that constantly hehe.

[cmac]

You already are slower when you carry armor. So basically you're swimming slower as well, including walking, swimming, and running. Plus, it lowers your dexterity and you have a tougher time swinging and dodging. There seems to be a minimal effect from what I've seen, but it's there. So because it slows you down, I feel it's fine to swim across with armor.

Carrying armour does not slow you down. Carrying weight in general slows you down- you jump lower, run slower, and swim slower. Weapons speeds have nothing whatsoever to do with encumberance. With less Fatigue, the PC will swing slower, but it is not determined by encumberance. You could be carrying almost your maximum weight, and you can still swim normally, albeit slower. Dexterity, skill and grace in physical movement, especially in the use of the hands, is not effected by wearing armour. There is no 'dexterity' variable.

[ILikeMorrowind]

Oh yeah, it is weight. Still, if swimming across a river with armor, you'll swim slower than without that armor weight. So if you swim with armor on you, you're into greater risk if creatures swim towards you. Can't get out as fast.

[cmac]

You're only at a greater risk of creatures attacking you if they see you. And the Totem of CLaw and Fang increases your chances of being attacked by bears. That's it. But, yes, you are logically correct in saying that you would attacked more if you were moving slower.

[ShinJiOh]

that's no good, if you dont wear armour when a dreugh or something attaks you and you are at a low level you're gone not to mention if were something as light as chitin maybe it wouldnt make a difference :blink:

 

however with water leather shrinks so wearing netch stuff should kill you

 

and with armour maybe agility should be drained in stead? :ph34r:

[Limorkil]

This didn't strike me as some sort of "holier than thou" post where someone was telling everyone that they MUST do THIS to play Morrowind correctly. Clearly Morrowind is a game, and it is not realistic. You can play how you like. Personally, I think swimming around in armor, carrying a shield and a sword, is totally unrealistic. I would rather not do that, but then it is far too much hassle to take all that stuff off and leave it on the ground. If someone wanted to do that, then good for them, but it seems like too much work for me. You can discuss whether it is realistic based on the fact that the game lets you do it, but the game also lets you type in console commands so pretty much anything you choose to do in the game could be considered realistic. In other words: each to his/her own.

 

I am actually a fan of realism for the sake of atmosphere, even though the realism I am thinking of is not really all that "realistic". It's sort of movie realism. When you watch a movie something is lost if the acting is bad, or the effects are cheesey because it makes the story less real. However, the fact that Batman, Neo or Legolas never have to stop to urinate does not really spoil your enjoyment (well, unless you are into some pretty weird stuff). On the other hand, most of us are totally unphased when Neo dodges bullets or Legolas summersaults onto a horse even though that is pretty unrealistic. However, people like my father and brother find such antics too hard to believe, so their enjoyment is much less.

 

My point is that the concept of 'realism', or 'believability' varies depending on the context and the person observing. So I prefer not to run everywhere in Morrowind because it seems unrealistic to me and my concept for my character, but I would not expect anyone else to do the same. In the same way, just because someone wants some ideas for increasing the roleplaying aspect of the game doesn't mean that those ideas have to sit well with everyone.

 

Another issue that was raised was that of enforced realism, such as being forced to make your character eat food every few hours (like in Everquest), or sleep on a regular basis. I think enforced stuff is good if it really does fit the concept of the game and it does not cause frustration, but in general I would prefer such rules to be optional. In Morrowind, for example, I would love to be able to switch on some rules such as:

 

- PC needs to eat

- PC needs to sleep

- PC gets sneak and swim penalties based on items worn/carried

- PC automatically resurrects at the nearest Imperial/Temple shrine upon death (note that this is not realistic, proving that realism is not the only goal)

 

The important thing is, I want to be able to switch such things on, or OFF if I do not like them or they become tiresome. That is why mods that do such things are great, because you do not have to use them. In this respect Morrowind beats many many RPGs, including many that have not yet even been built, because it gives us the option to bend rules, break rules and even create new rules using TESCS.

[the00phoenix]

You're perfectly right here! The ability to customize a game gets more and more lost, since video games evolved to a major buisness. Nearly everything is linear or forced upon the player. Long time motivation is a reached through high game difficulty and not through a rich game world. To create something new, entertaining and worth its price takes time and time is money <_<.

Morrowind has some drawbacks (NPC's, dialog), but at least you can play it like you want and the play makes sense nevertheless.

[ILikeMorrowind]

Since people brought up 'it's just a game,' I thought I'd share a few quotes from a book I'm reading called "Designing Virtual Worlds." His named is Richard R. Bartle who is the father of creating the first virtual world. He's helped most gaming companies throughout England and the US regarding virtual worlds. This quote convinced me:

 

"Virtual worlds are more than just games, they're places."

 

Obviously they are, whether it's a football game to a fantasy roleplaying game. Since they're places, he suggests to apply realism as much as you can so the player can mistake his world with this one. It's also interesting how he said today's virtual worlds are children scribbles comparing what's to come. Feel free to pick up his book sometime if you're into this stuff. It surely opened my mind from the creator himself.

[Magatsu]

The ONE thing that has kept me playing morrowind is FREEDOM.

In tomb raider, diablo 2.... heck all games!. you are forced to follow a path. in car games especially you are even more "restricted" in morrowind i have a giant map, an entire new world to evolve in and explore. A game where you can Always find something new... something more...

 

Ive played it since it came out and always there is a spark that keeps me going.

I love this game, i deleted it twice but now ive learned my lesson. I always come back to it...

 

The game is kind of old so i began to think i was the only one left playing it cept for 2 friends of mine and i was so glad when i found this site, seeing there is still people out there playing it. It has its flaws but compared with other games in gameplay,music,the freedom to do what you want this is the very best game ive ever played. :D