TES3, What have I missed?

[jojo man]

Hey all,

I've heard a ton of references to morrowind and seen it compared to oblivion a number of times. TES4 was my first forray into the TES universe so I have exactly zero idea of what Morrowind was like so i'm asking you. What have I missed by not playing it? I'm kicking around the idea of grabbing a copy but I wanted a little bit of your input first. :thanks:

 

Note: I understand that the journal in Morrowind is an absolute nightmare, any mods or updates fix this? Or is the problem overstated?

[WoogieMonster]

You have not really missed anything, since Oblivion is not a sequel as far as the story goes. In Oblivion, you do hear NPCs talking about things that happened in Morrowind and specifically to your character, but that's about it.

Playing Morrowind after Oblivion is "difficult" to say the least. But there are some who still quite enjoy it. And yes the journal is pretty much useless.

The game is only $19 now so if you're curious, it's good to see some creatures and sights that are not in Oblivion, some different types of dungeons to explore etc etc. Just keep telling yourself "it's an OLD game" and certain things should not bother you too much.

[Malchik]

Morrowind's downsides are mainly age related, i.e. graphics are not as good, there is little voice acting, no AI etc. The levelling of monsters stops when you reach level 23 so even if you play on the hard setting it eventually becomes too easy. The dialogue topics get you the same response from everyone.

 

On the positive side, Morrowind has far greater variety - more dungeon types; more armour and weapon types; more architecture; more unique artefacts. With the expansions it has about 540 quests compared to some 210 in Oblivion, there are 11 guilds (some of which are mutually exclusive without a mod); there is a purpose to becoming a vampire as there are several unique artefacts you can only get by doing so (and there are three clans only one of which you can join in game unless you have a mod to change it). There is no really evil guild although you can be a vampire or a werewolf (with the Bloodmoon expansion.) One big plus point for me is that several powerful and unique artefacts are in dungeons that do not feature in quests. This makes exploring interesting, if you are an artefact hunter.

 

There are also some parts of the game where you have to do either or which increases replayability.

 

But as WM points out, it is a rather older game and you shouldn't expect the detail you have with Oblivion.

[jojo man]

Thanks for the info WM and Malchik.

Morrowind's downsides are mainly age related, i.e. graphics are not as good, there is little voice acting, no AI etc.

What do you mean by no AI though? Do enemy's just stand there until you attack them? Do NPCs stand idly in place all day? Oh and I almost forgot...What exactly are these cliff-racers that i've heard about? :thanks: in advance.

[doomjockey]

Morrwind was my first TES, and a worthy introduction to the series. To add a few positives: it sports open cities, makes meaningful use of the Z-axis (via levitation), and overall feels less of a hack n slash and more of an RPG. It's features are dated now, but were better implemented. Main quest was better too.

 

Thanks for the info WM and Malchik.

Morrowind's downsides are mainly age related, i.e. graphics are not as good, there is little voice acting, no AI etc.

What do you mean by no AI though? Do enemy's just stand there until you attack them? Do NPCs stand idly in place all day?

 

Well, the AI's pretty basic overall, but I think he was referring to the lack of Radiant AI which allows NPCS to carry out their own tasks without user input. Basically give the appearance of a "living" world. So yeah, 99.9% of the NPCs just kinda stand around waiting for you.

 

Oh and I almost forgot...What exactly are these cliff-racers that i've heard about? :thanks: in advance.

 

Cliff racers are the devil.

[jojo man]

Thanks for the clarification Doomjockey. But regarding cliff racers...Why are they the devil? What is it that makes them so bad? Oh yeah...The poor visuals don't really bug me, in some cases it even makes the game a little more enjoyable(gives me the feeling of nostalgia even if I haven't played the game before).

[WoogieMonster]

Some might say cliff racers are the creepiest TES monster there is. They make this weird "bird call / gurgle" sound that after a while is really freaking creepy because you can hear it before you can see them. They are flying ninja dinosaur creatures, if it's foggy, cloudy, or raining hard, you won't know it's there until it starts trying to eat your brain. And they usually hunt in packs of about three, unless you go up into the mountains where they apparently nest in which case it's hard to fire an arrow without hitting one. Did I mention that they stalk you like an African wild cat? Yeah. And most of them carry disease so it's not a great idea to go hunting for them.

[jojo man]

Some might say cliff racers are the creepiest TES monster there is. They make this weird "bird call / gurgle" sound that after a while is really freaking creepy because you can hear it before you can see them. They are flying ninja dinosaur creatures, if it's foggy, cloudy, or raining hard, you won't know it's there until it starts trying to eat your brain. And they usually hunt in packs of about three, unless you go up into the mountains where they apparently nest in which case it's hard to fire an arrow without hitting one. Did I mention that they stalk you like an African wild cat? Yeah. And most of them carry disease so it's not a great idea to go hunting for them.

I'm sold. Now I have to buy Morrowind, If only to see a flying ninja dinosaur creature :woot: !!! Thanks Woogie!

[WoogieMonster]

I'm glad you're happy, I just unlocked some horrible terrifying memories. On a side note, if you get the box set, you know that little white card that falls out of the box that everyone immediately tosses into the paper shredder? You should look at this one, it tells you the order to install the games to make the patch work.

[jojo man]

Can do Woogie, and if it's any consolation...your pain will not be in vain(hey, that rhymes!). I promise to have a blast. :thanks: again!