What I miss

[slainia]

Morrowinds inventory/ui system

It's...atmosphere - everything felt harsher, has anyone ever noticed that? Or maybe I just imagined it. The Slaves were something I really loved... and the idea that the thieves guild was for the poor.

What I'm really missing right now tho, is the imagination th egame took.

Morrowind was alien, yes, but that's also what made it so unique and interesting to explore. Skyrim, and Oblivion even moreso, are both very...humanized. Very westernized, in fact. The only thing about oblivion that really seemed magical to me (in terms of imagination) were the ruins, which I still enjoy.

If you think about it, look at the animals from morrowind --> oblivion --> skyrim.

in morrowind, a good number of the enemies you would encounter were fictional. weird, fascinating, but fictional, and even when they could've used more depth (in terms of lore) they were still...unique. I don't want to fight animals I see in real life, or even in other universes.

And now, for the last two games, we have... wolves, bears, sabre cats, more bears and wolves, spiders, then the standard humanoid races, and the daedra et al. These are fairly good in themselves, but morrowind had *more* of the animals, I think.

Maybe it's just my memory, but i miss that about the game.

 

Edit:

actually, one thing that I really, really miss, even though it's pretty impractical...

The named npcs. I know wanting every one to be named had its' drawbacks - how often did I stop to check if I'd killed osme quest guy, only to find out he was a bandit? - but at the same time, on the surface it added more depth, even when the dialogue choices were the same. (And yeah, I prefer text dialogue too. or, oddly, how morrowind did it with important stuff being voiced, but the rest text.)

Edited October 25, 2012 by slainia

[CasperTheLich]

as far as tiber septim being a nord or imperial, i never recalled hearing about his lineage in morrowind or oblivion. only about his accomplishments. does anyone remember anything about tiber septim’s background, or rather his background as it applies to this subject?

 

as for what i miss from morrowind.

i guess the feel of morrowind. even with the vanilla game it just seemed more polished, more complete. oblivion and skyrim feel more like half a game & trying to cover for that fact with slightly changed gameplay (or very changed in regards to skyrim) & flashier graphics, at least to me, if i'm being honest.

 

i also miss the depth of it. it had far more character than the following titles.

and yes i do miss left gauntlets, right gauntlets, pauldrons, greaves. and the shortblade, longblade, claymore, battle axe, etc. skills too.

 

i also miss not being lead around by the nose. tell me where to go how to get there, but let me actually find my way there. i miss the long complex quests mixed in with the simple ones. And i hate not being able to ignore the main quest cause I’ve been thrown head first into a situation where time seems to be a facter.

In morrowind usually I didn’t even start the main quest till I was fairly well established in the island, mid level member of the fighter’s guild, mages guild, adopted by one of the great houses, done quite a few odd jobs, etc. you can’t really do that in oblivion or skyrim. Hmm, I really want to join the fighter’s guild but I really should do something with the amulet of kings, then I have to find martin before he’s killed if he isn’t dead already. Or I want to join the companions but I really should do something about these dragons first. Even if it is rather silly to go about hunting dragons without any real training. See what I mean?

i also miss the attention to detail.

now oblivion, what do i miss from oblivion.

rpg attribute sets, classes, birthsigns, conversation mini-games. now i still feel oblivion was a bit more hollow then morrowind and well some of the same stuff im missing from morrowind is similar to the stuff i miss from oblivion, but morrowind did it better IMHO.

 

these days game developers think that they can distract us with shiny new graphics and they can ignore depth of gameplay & environment. when games had poorer graphics & less advanced tech they had to dazzle us with depth & story. now they give us bs, bs in nice packaging but bs non the less.

 

as always IMHO, and sorry for the not so little rant

Edited October 25, 2012 by Invisible Man

[AnkhAscendant]

actually, one thing that I really, really miss, even though it's pretty impractical...

The named npcs. I know wanting every one to be named had its' drawbacks - how often did I stop to check if I'd killed osme quest guy, only to find out he was a bandit? - but at the same time, on the surface it added more depth, even when the dialogue choices were the same. (And yeah, I prefer text dialogue too. or, oddly, how morrowind did it with important stuff being voiced, but the rest text.)

 

Heck yes. Actually I agree with everything you said, but this part especially. I too remember being freaked out when I saw I killed a named person :P I've been wondering for a while if it were possible to incorporate some sort of random name generator to give names to the randomly generated NPCs.... I miss it seeming like everyone was a real person.

[nakakita]

The names for the nameless was done for Oblivion, not for bandits I don't think, but for random guards certainly. I'm actually playing Morrowind at the moment, along with Skyrim, though I'm getting the controls all fouled up when I switch to Skyrim.

 

Ah! Also, for those who think that Skyrim is 'nicer' in terms of friendliness by the natives, try playing an Imperial some time. You end up with this scenario: *Saves the world* "What do YOU want Imperial? Imperial Scum. Why do they let provincials like YOU wander Skyrim?" Even in less Nord-infested areas they're still pretty horribly rude. Bretons don't get this level of constant hate. (I've not played any of the other races for longer than an hour.) NPCs were the most polite overall in Oblivion IMHO. In Morrowind they can be nasty yes, but ugh, my first Skyrim playthrough I felt so unloved by the populous I wanted to side with Alduin and call it a day. Skyrim NPCs don't really recognize you as the savior of the world at large except in rare instances. Morrowind and Oblivion NPCs did.

 

But let's see..

• 
   
  
• From Oblivion (which was my first TES game, which I got just after Skyrim's release..) :
  
• The conversation mini-game. I know a lot of people hated it, but I liked being able to make every guard my best friend.
  
• Damage/Spell reflect. (Overpowered yes, but sooo much fun. Skyrim's damage reflect is just fail.)
  
• The paper map. (There's a mod for this, but I don't like it quite as much as Oblivion's default map.)
  
• The Thieves Guild isn't a group of terrible cultists, had a better plot, had some honor, and never made me feel 'guilty' working for them.
  
• The male imperial voice. (Especially the guards. <3 )
  
• The entire Shivering Isles.
  
• Darnified UI
  
• Ryk's broom mod.
  
• A specific summonable home mod. It had everything I needed, and nothing else. 90% of Skyrim homes are either too large, or too mannequin filled, and I Hate. Mannequins.
  
• Ease of adding new music to the game.
  
• Not really being 'the one chosen by prophecy! (In Morrowind, I feel I have to play a Dunmer because of this. I know I don't have to, but it feels
  
• that way. In Skyrim, I have never, and will never play a Nord, but I feel a little odd playing a non-human. I feel like I can play whatever in Oblivion and it 'fits', because you're just some random prisoner, no one special.)
  
• The alchemy system.
  
• Having to earn my way though the mage's guild to be able to get to the Arcane University.
  
• How NPCs had specific scheduled they always adhered to, and how you had to learn them if you were planning on assassinating them privately, or robbing them blind. In Skyrim, there's an NPC who really should be continuing some sort of routine, but instead he stands on a pier without sleeping or eating until you either kill him, or finish this quest. This is really lame.
  
• Ayleid Ruins (though they don't fit in Skyrim at all. I just think they're pretty still, and the resources were great for making player homes.
  
• Being able to block with your fists.
  
• Having to search for, and win over master trainers.
  
• The hot keys. I haven't figured out Morrowind's quite yet, and I never got the hang of Skyrim's. Oblivion's hotkey system seemed more intuitive overall.
  
• Skingrad, Leyawiin, Anvil, and the Imperial City.
  
• NPCS without related quests actually having backstories and not being generic filler.
  
• The look of the temples, and having temples in every town.
  
• When becoming Listener, delegating assassinations to others and taking your cut, instead of being forced to do all the work forever.
  

 

From Morrowind:

• Levitation.
  
• Not feeling like you have to save the world RIGHT NOW.
  
• Taunts.
  
• Guild Guides.
  
• Actual requirements for advancing in guilds besides completing a specific amount of quests.
  
• Having conversations listed in the journal.
  
• Wearing robes over armor, and clothing under your armor.
  
• Different pieces of armor.
  
• Having NPCs treat you differently based on the value of the clothes you are wearing.
  
• Lots of clothing that actually looks unique.
  
• Male Dunmer voices.
  
• Male Altmer voices. (Though for both, I do like some of the Skyrim voices, More variety would be nice though. :/ )
  
• Daedric Ruins. (Though I think Skyrim did do a better job than both with Daedric Quests.)
  
• Only the person you stole an item from knows that it's stolen, not everyone.
  
• Unique Enchanted items found in specific locations. (I liked some of Oblivion's enchanted items more, but having to search for them is not fun, since it was all random.)
  
• Option to have enchantments that are not constant effect. (I like constant effect enchants, and sometimes enchanting in Morrowind is a bit of a pain because of how weak the constant effect enchantments you make are compared to ones you find, but the option to do this would be nice.)
  
• The Morag Tong (because they're better than the Dark Brotherhood.)
  

 

From Both:

• Sleeping to level up.
  
• Ability to wear multiple rings.
  
• Athletics/Acrobatics.
  
• Water Walking, and or, being able to kill those stupid slaughterfish underwater.
  
• Spellcrafting.
  
• The spells in general.
  
• Ring of life detect.
  
• Night Eye that isn't obnoxious, and doesn't require vampirism.
  
• Not having to dedicate a specific hand to spell casting, and then having to switch back to a weapon. Morrowind's system isn't great, but it's better than Skyrim's, and I can't actually remember how Oblivion's worked at this point, (other than that blocking while casting made your casting faster) but I know it was better than how Skyrim's works. Oh, sure, Skyrim has dual casting, but dual casting unmodded is a lot worse than being able to craft your own more powerful spells that you didn't need to dual cast.
  
• Pilgrimages, and or, a greater emphasis on the Divines. Oh sure, there's a whole war being fought because of Talos, but he isn't manifesting, and he's more of an excuse than a real reason. People talk about him all the time, but are never actually involved with him. The only exceptions to this are the priests/esses of Mara who mention communing with her, and that priest of Arkay from the Dawnguard. But you got to meet 3 avatars in Morrowind, and Oblivion's Knights of the Nine has a huge emphasis on them, even if you don't actually see/talk to them.
  
• Attributes and Classes.
  
• Greater differences between the races other than appearance.
  
• Longer questlines.
  
• Portable alchemy apparatuses.
  
• The scenery. People complain about Oblivion's landscape being generic, but the regions felt more different to me than Skyrim's do. And both Morrowind and Oblivion have areas like Skyrim, it's just not forced on you all the time.
  
• Larger non-Nordic population.
  
• Feeling of actual civilization? (Morrowind feels like it's in a more modern timeframe than the other two games, but Oblivion still feels like it's more modern tech-wise than Skyrim. Oblivion felt like it was mid-Renaissance (I mean they have painters, and there was someone working on a composition for the emperor before he died who will complain to you about losing his commission thanks to the assassination) but Skyrim feels like Europe after the fall of Rome.
  
• The old Blades. The last Blade remnants are not people I would side with.
  
• Pants? Skyrim has no pants. Skyrim NEEDS SOME PANTS. Like seriously.
  

 

I could probably come up with more, but I think I've already listed too much.

[MiloHunts]

@nakakita

WOW, you just about covered everything I was thinking when i started this post. Nice post.

 

On Skyrim, Bethesda should have put more thought into the alchemy system and made it so it is not the most powerfull skill in any game they have made.

 

if you have not tried alchemy yet, I will give you a small example of what is possible.

 

I made an archer to test it and got the perks up to poisoner, started making potions and by accident made a marksman potion that improved marksman by 4000% well had to try it out and did a 1 shot kill on Alduin, was messing around some more and seeing how high I could get all my stats using alchemy (and i didn't go as high as I could have) health 10000, bow damage 3000, armor rating 15000, magicka 20000 poison that did 15000 damage and on and on

 

I now only use the base alchemy to get my skills higher and weapon damage of weapons I like higher (weapons I like verses the best damage weapon)

[luzburg]

Portrayed as an Imperial, one because his ancestors were Imperials in Cryodil Martin SeptimUESP was Uriel Septim was UESP, So after playing Oblivion for years I asume that that Tiber Septim was Imperial also. It appears that he is not known as a Nord untill Skyrim.

The UESP doesn't say anything about his history untill Skyrim came out from what i could find.

 

I might be wrong, but with the past Elderscroll games it appears he was a Imperial.

 

enlighten me if I am mistaken

 

 

Oh I wouldn't be an expert. I'm just going from what I remember of books ingame. I'm pretty sure the accepted historical version (ingame) is that he was from Atmora but I think thats false. I think Skyrim proves that he was a breton because of a quest at Old Hroldan.

[MiloHunts]

lol

we can blame it all on Bethesda

The only 2 NPC's that have been in a Elderscroll game, that were related to Tiber Septim were Imperial

In Skyrim the Nords say he was a Nord

and now it appears that he might have also been a Breton.

Next Bethesda will add something that says he was an Argonian :tongue:

 

Something to talk about anyway :tongue:

[AnkhAscendant]

--everything--

 

Seconded.

 

I have more now:

 

• 
   
  
• Unarmored skill
  
• Hand-to-hand skill
  
• Chameleon
  
• ...or basically anything that made Illusion worthwhile. Charm, the magelights being part of it, and wasn't Detect Life in there at one point too? Seriously, now Restoration is a more valid school of magic.
  
• Spell fail chance.
  Between the class systems and the armor penalties on spells in Morrowind, there was a reason not to wear armor as a mage. And a reason not to cast magic as a warrior. That's what I want, restrictions, so it doesn't seem like the game is geared toward MMO-playing compeltionists who want to be maxed-level, master of everything, vulnerable to nothing, head of every faction...
  
• Mages guild quests actually requiring magic.
  
• Having to do something to be accepted into guilds besides show up. Heck, I have a level 30ish mage in Oblivion who was still working on getting his commendations for every guild branch. In Skyrim I showed up and cast Frenzy on a carved eye...
  

[nakakita]

@nakakita

WOW, you just about covered everything I was thinking when i started this post. Nice post.

 

On Skyrim, Bethesda should have put more thought into the alchemy system and made it so it is not the most powerfull skill in any game they have made.

 

if you have not tried alchemy yet, I will give you a small example of what is possible.

 

I made an archer to test it and got the perks up to poisoner, started making potions and by accident made a marksman potion that improved marksman by 4000% well had to try it out and did a 1 shot kill on Alduin, was messing around some more and seeing how high I could get all my stats using alchemy (and i didn't go as high as I could have) health 10000, bow damage 3000, armor rating 15000, magicka 20000 poison that did 15000 damage and on and on

 

I now only use the base alchemy to get my skills higher and weapon damage of weapons I like higher (weapons I like verses the best damage weapon)

 

Thanks ^^, and Oh yeah, I know Skyrim Alchemy can be more powerful than it's Oblivion equivalent (but Morrowind's is a bit overpowered too. It doesn't have a poison option though. Unless you like poisoning yourself.) I liked Oblivon's alchemy system mainly because it felt more balanced. :/ .. I liked how you were limited in your potion intake, and how the healing potions were DoT instead of instant. I didn't use poisons all that often, but I used a heal everything + shield potion frequently. I also liked Oblivion's system of learning ingredient effects a bit more than Skyrim's, even if Skyrim's is 'more realistic' I guess. When I use alchemy in Skyrim, I end up looking up all the effects in the wiki because I can't be bothered to eat everything. And while you could make a ton of cash selling potions in Oblivion, it's worse in Skyrim. Much worse. (I also miss Cobl's ingredient sorter. x_x) I think the most cash you could make per potion in Oblivion was 56 gold? The ability to make a potion from one ingredient was nice too. I haven't made any super-powerful potions for Skyrim because, well, the generic healing potions do a better job for less effort.

 

Oblivion definitely had issues. I do like dealing with Dragons more than Oblivion Gates, but Oblivion Gates had better rewards. (Unless you like shouting? .. I tend to just use Aura Whisper, and Become Ethereal, because I'm boring I guess. I don't Fus people around. But I'd rather have acrobatics and a ring of detect life than these shouts.) The leveling and level scaling were crap. But Morrowind is the only one of the 3 where you can't beat the main quest at level 1. (Because Caius doesn't give you quests unless you level up.)

 

Ah! another thing to add to the Morrowind list. How they dealt with essential NPCs. Much better. And I've been long winded again. :ohdear:

[OakRain]

 

being able to kill those stupid slaughterfish underwater.

 

 

 

One sure way to get the Slaughterfish in Skyrim is to use any one of the three elemental cloak spells,cast Fire Cloak for ex and go swimming near Slaughterfish - they die in seconds.