Is this game too dated to enjoy for a first time player?

[The Spry Wonder Dog]

My first Elder Scrolls game was Oblivion, then went to Skyrim. Haven't played any of the other ones. Haven't played an elder scrolls game in a long time but I suddenly got this itch and ended up reinstalling Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online. I'm having fun but I kind of want to play some other Elder Scrolls games.

Trying to decide between buying Oblivion and Morrowind. I have played through Oblivion a couple times when it was relevant. Discovering Shivering Isles was one of the most powerful moments in video gaming for me. I know it is a game with a lot of flaws, but the game also does a lot right and would be a good nostalgia trip for me. Or, I could go back further and dive into Morrowind completely blind. Some of the ideas interest me like how there are no quests markers but other aspects of the game seem pretty dated and I'm not sure if it's worth trying at this point.

What do you more experienced Elder Scrolls players recommend? How does Morrowind compare to more recent Elder Scrolls titles? I have a few vague memories of some friends playing Morrowind when I was younger but I really have no idea how it plays.

[asd]

This game is a lot different than Oblivion or Skyrim. It's more like a tabletop RPG like D&D. If you like those then you will probably like Morrowind as well.

You might want to use some graphics mods. The easiest one to install is probably Morrowind Overhaul. It makes the game look much more up to date. The vanilla game looks horribly dated, the draw distance is like 5 meters.

By the way, the leveling system in this game is almost exactly like in Oblivion. So you have major and minor skills and they give bonuses to your attributes.

[Valden21]

Graphics aside, I don't think the game is all that dated as long as you keep some things in mind.

The first thing you need to know about morrowind is that combat works on a dice-roll system, with your chances to hit a target in combat being based on Agility and your skill in whatever type of weapon you're using. That skill is determined by your character's race and class, both of which give different bonuses to different scores. These scores increase by using the skill again and again and again.

Another thing you need to know is that the first time you enter a town, the residents will look down their noses at you unless you're a member of their respective faction. But doing quests in that town and being nice to people will change their opinion of you.

Third, you might come across some fancy-looking gold-and-blue armor called Indoril Armor. DO NOT wear it in front of Ordinators (the guys wearing the same kind of armor). Wearing that armor is a big deal for them, and they don't like it when they see it on someone who isn't an Ordinator. They WILL attack you if they see you wearing it. I think you can get away with it if you're not wearing the helm, but I don't know for sure.

Fourth, don't be afraid to talk to random people, with the possible exception of a Wood Elf by the name of Gaenor, whom you might meet in the Temple Disrict of Mournhold (part of the Tribunal DLC, which comes as part of the game if bought through Steam). Stay away from that guy. Otherwise, when on a quest, don't be afraid to ferret out every bit of information you can about the quest. It all gets written down in your journal.

That brings me to my last point, the journal. Learn it. Know it. USE it. It will come in very handy when you're wondering "What next?". It also contains all the navigational information you're given about how to get to quest locations, which is necessary to have since there's no quest marker in this game.

[The Spry Wonder Dog]

Hmm that is all interesting info. The world sounds incredibly detailed and alive. I'm not a modding expert but I will consider the graphics mods. The combat sounds kind of complicated but fun. Are there certain combat types that do much better than others, or weapon classes/builds that are useless?

Feel pretty sold on it I think I will give it a try. Now the only question left is which one should I play first??

[ZarahNeander]

Download, install and use MCP aka Morrowind code patch: https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/19510. Fixes alot of problems..

Originally posted by Mastopeth:

Are there certain combat types that do much better than others, or weapon classes/builds that are useless?

Offensive magic is meh (except enchant), supporting magic very useful. Melee needs some skills, make your primary weapon skill a major. Ideally a weapon skill, your race has a bonus in it. Prevents alot of frustration.

[The Flying Rodent]

Originally posted by Valden21:

Third, you might come across some fancy-looking' gold-and-blue armor called Indoril Armor. DO NOT wear it in front of Ordinators (the guys wearing the same kind of armor). Wearing that armor is a big deal for them, and they don't like it when they see it on someone who isn't an Ordinator. They WILL attack you if they see you wearing it. I think you can get away with it if you're not wearing the helm, but I don't know for sure.

Wearing the Helmet and Cuirass are what get you into trouble. Wearing any other part of Indoril armour should be fine.

Originally posted by Valden21:

That brings me to my last point, the journal. Learn it. Know it. USE it. It will come in very handy when you're wondering "What next?". It also contains all the navigational information you're given about how to get to quest locations, which is necessary to have since there's no quest marker in this game.

This.

Originally posted by ZarahNeander:

Originally posted by Mastopeth:

Are there certain combat types that do much better than others, or weapon classes/builds that are useless?

Offensive magic is meh (except enchant), supporting magic very useful. Melee needs some skills, make your primary weapon skill a major. Ideally a weapon skill, your race has a bonus in it. Prevents alot of frustration.

And this.

Enchanting is terrific , as you can make items that cast spells of every other school, in addition to the Constant effect type items typically found in Oblivion and Skyrim.

Supportive magic is useful for basically everyone, whereas offensive magic is only really useful if you don’t use physical weapons much. You cannot wield a weapon and cast spells at the same time in Morrowind: it’s one or the other.

Weapons have a chance-to-hit mechanic, which is effected by (in order of importance): Weapon skill, Fatigue Level, Agility and Luck, with the first two having by far the most influence on your chance to hit.

Given this: it’s best to have at least one weapon type as a Major skill to start with, and to only use Miscellaneous weapon skills after you have bought some training for them. Else you’ll find you’ll be airswinging all the time, and failing to both do damage AND level up that weapon skill (the weapon needs to hit to increase the skill).

It’s also important to watch your Fatigue , which effects your chance to hit, as well as your chance to cast spells. This can be done by choosing not to run or jump prior to combat, or by Restoring your Fatigue with potions , items or spells (again, Enchanted items work wonders here).

An in depth discussion about Morrowind combat can be found here.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/22320/discussions/0/1499000547492966139/

[Freeradical_.]

Mwind the land of the nasty green elves. What do you want Outlander!! Die Nwah!

If you like Oblivion you will like Morrowind. It's very similar.
IF you play Oblivion on normal level then this game will be much harder.
If you played Oblivion on 75% slider or more then this is similar.
The game sucks you in just like the other TES games with many hours of gameplay.

The game is trying until you get to about level 3 then hopefully you have enough skill in the combat of your choice to survive.
Pay attention to you major and minor skills and play accordingly.
If you have a skill of 30 in two handed weapons and skill of 10 in one handed then use two handed initially. Blocking is automatic and based on your block skill. Essentially if you have a 30 skill in one handed weapons you have about a 30% chance of landing a blow. Also the longer you hold your attack button down the stronger the hit.

The graphics were dated even when the game can out in 02 since they are based on DX8 not 9.
I modded the landscape, clothing and faces.
Mwind is a bleaker landscape than Tamriel or even Skyrim but still very pretty in places.
There is also an open source engine called OpenMW which runs smoother than the original engine. The MW code patch is needed the other mods are optional for original engine.

When this game first came out it played better on Xbox than PC though PC had higher resolution so the graphics were better. There was a lot of hype about this game when it launched and high expectations. So there was some back lash when the graphics weren't the best and the game engine suttered a etc.

[John Gromorg]

You will find that Morrowind is the greatest role playing game in the last 20 years.

[Joelson]

As a first timer i beat the main story of Morrowind few days ago and overall i can say it has great roleplay elements but the gameplays clunkiness was too much for me, check my review if you are interested about fellow first timers opinions about the game.
But in short i can say that try to "endure" the game till about level 8 if you dislike combat even then drop the game it´s not worth it.

[Asus]

Originally posted by Mastopeth:

Hmm that is all interesting info. The world sounds incredibly detailed and alive. I'm not a modding expert but I will consider the graphics mods.

As for graphics mods (and sound).

MGSO has lost some popularity in the last few years among the Morrowind modding community. There is some misinformation about it. You might hear the Overhaul Mod is garbage, outdated, and has a 'ton' of bugs, so don't use it. It's fair to say some of those statements are true, but the Overhaul is by no means garbage.

In my opinion MGSO is the perfect starting point if you're just a beginner and not experienced with modding (Morrowind). MGSO will give you a good idea of how modding (Morrowind) works, and with some (important) patches and a few extra mods, you can have a beautifully modded MW free of bugs in a rather short amount of time.

Manually Installing (many) individual mods will give you exactly the results you want, but this is much more time-consuming. It's also easy to make a mistake along the way. Now you need to take even more time to troubleshoot. If you have a ♥♥♥♥ ton of free time then go for it. If you just want to play the damn game, MGSO is the way to go and it will look gorgeous.

Both approaches to modding have pros and cons. I'll give links to MGSO patches, and the manual DIY ways to installing mods. Whatever way you choose I hope you get the results you're looking for. Most importantly I hope you enjoy Morrowind..

Thread I made for MGSO. Lots of useful info. link

DIY links.

S.T.E.P. Project [wiki.step-project.com]
https://pastebin.com/7gf2VLaf

[Mr. Whiskers]

Just because the game is dated doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed. Look up some gameplay and some mods and see if what you find looks interesting.

[Kalbi]

I also started with Obliviion, then Skyrim, before recently starting on Morrowind. The character animations are completely dated (pretty much laughable) but it's an enjoyable game. Graphics are dated also but overall the game runs smooth so that goes a long way. It's interesting to see the game design decisions that were made with the game mechanics and skills. There's a nice sense being rewarded for going off the main roads and exploring.

[porphiron]

NO!, grab all the major mods...it looks amazing and the nights sky is something else..

Here is a very good, and easy follow setup....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A9SdpWvd9A,

[Varenvel The Festive Dinosaur]

its proper roleplaying game , if you enjoyed witcher , or divinity games you will feel like home

if you disliked these and prefer "action games" like skyrim , or other action games who just got "rpg" becouse you levelup in it you may not enjoy it

Things you can do in morrowind who you wont do in most other games:
Make own spells(while in oblivion you can to lesser extent , you cant in skyrim)
-store any being whos not humanoid(human) soul in soul gems
-Use said souls to turn any item into enchanted item , on use or even permanent effect(you can also name your item)
-Kill anyone(and i mean anyone , quest npc annoys you? you can kill him , vendo? you can kill him , god's(ones who are in game) YOU CAN KILL THEM
-killing important npc will display massage "thread of story was broken" or something like that , that means even if your murderer or sociopath or similar or just like kiling people ocasionaly you may want relode previous save as that character has ether imporant quest or takes part in main story , unless you want to fail main story(you can unlike other games)
-break the game(3 special scrolls you get outside when walking out of town road to north , something will happen who i wont spoil but these scrolls are one of most amusing things you will ever get in gaming ever)
-Make own enchanted scrolls
-become powerful wizard(magic in skyrim is joke , in morrowind you can eventualy make such spells who can literaly vaporize small part of town with 1 spellcast , or paralise everyone within the room for 30s , there is literaly no limit in that exept max magnitude of spells , but lots mods rise that)
-Game does not scale to your level(who is both nice and not so , nice is you can levelup and game wont become harder , but also means if you go into dungeons you dont know if you will be strong enough to complete it)
-No quest markers , ever , you will actualy need to read journals , 90% of the time game gives you all clues you need , if not you can ask for them
-when you talk to unimportant npc you may be baffled with amount of things you can talk about him , even up to 20 dialogue options on commoner who also extends from what you talked with him , like rumour extending into special place who gets marked on map , every blue text from sentances can be clicked to asked further
-Alchemy with so many ingriedients you can also break game with potions , making potions who let you kill gods(you wont be making these early on or even midgame , needs alchemy tools)
-Make potions anywhere


i personaly miss this kind of games , skyrim is action game with roleplaying elements while morrowind was true rpg

i could go on and on why morrowind is superior game , just in short everything you do in skyrim does not matter , you cant kill anyone almost with exeption of some uninporant commoners and guards , you cant impact story in negative way , you have no impact around world , in morrowind what you do matters and whatever you be villain or hero SOMe people will hate you for that more and more , joining 1 faction makes some factions like you more , others hate you

Who can lead you to unable to visit some towns , trade or talk there , or be attacked on sight , everything you do has some impact within the world lesser or bigger while in skyrim..nothing really matters

also unlike most other games(with exeption of few like divinity or witcher) lots characters are incredibly racist especialy if you got starting personality and normal switch , npc's will call you names , some will even refuse to talk to you depending on your service or "refuse service" and thats just few things

[The Flying Rodent]

Originally posted by Varenvel The Lasagna Dinosaur:

Things you can do in Morrowind that you wont find in most other games:

This. You won’t find this in any other game lol.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=823166091