What are some of the things you miss most from Daggerfall in the Elder Scrolls series?

For me it is climbing. I loved how when I was being attacked I could just run to the closest building and climb it. Town gates would shut at certain times, locking you out of the big cities at night, and if you fast traveled to a city when the gates were shut, sometimes enemies would spawn right when you arrived! All you had to do was was run full speed and scale the giant gates and you could enter the city. It definitely made playing a thief much more fun.

I miss...

Being creeped out in dungeons.

The music, although I'm sure Skyrim's score will offer much more.

The character creation system.

.....That's about it.

I miss that thing where you fill in your backstory. You know, where it has the stuff like: "You get along well with ____" and you fill in the blank with one of the options and it had an affect in-game. Like you could get an ebony dagger and things like that from it. It was really cool and made me feel like I had a history.

Topics like these tend to get moved to the ES general section since it has nothing to do with Skyrim

The only thing I have missed have in some way returned to Skyrim.

We have slightly varied quest elements due to Radiant Story.
We have no more attribute progression tied to skill progression.
We also have some form of character customization (albeit not as deep as Daggerfall's but more progression based) through Perks.

So really, the only thing I miss are the incredibly tricky, massive dungeons and the challenging encounters (let's face it, running into Ancient Vampires or Daedra Seducers at level 4 was rough no matter your Willpower). However, those may very well change after I've had a chance to play Skyrim.

EDIT: Also, the music.

The sheer number of skills that allowed many possible builds.
Too bad some of them, like languages, were bugged.
But yes, climbing allowed the bypassing of obstacles for a rogue, while a mage could levitate.
I miss these wholly different but equally effective way of doing things.
Smashing a lock, picking it or using an open spell.

The character creation with starting bonuses and weaknesses and a background.
It could have used some balancing, but as a concept it was great.

Some features I have missed will make a return in Skyrim, such as different legal standings in different counties, you can be hated scum in one and a law abiding hero in another.

The gritty atmosphere... Including the nudity, skimpy clothing and gore.

^ That.

Bethesda used to be pretty ballsy, but then I guess that''s not really feasible for most companies anymore. The games simply cost way too much and take too long to produce to limit your customer base right out of the gate or to take risks.

The things I liked in Daggerfall were the advantages and disadvantages system, and the magic item creation and enchanting. They were pretty simple but fun. Creating magic gems was really cool. I also miss the pageboy running up and handing you a note. That was cool too. I also liked in a strange way the color coding system for all the armor, like blue for mithril, green for orcish and red for daedric. You would get really excited when you saw a certain color of item show up in the loot table or when you were stealing from a store. I still have fond memories of waiting until dark and then breaking into the stores to rob them blind, hoping that I didn't wake the owners or alert the guards.

One strange part that I fondly recollect, even though it was a pretty big exploit, was dodging into a house when the guards were following you. They'd get stuck outside, but as you ran throughout the house you could hear them yelling at you through the walls. If you found a good two story house, you could go upstairs and then exit the house and leap from the second floor for a better chance at escaping. That was definitely more like a good swashbuckler kind of escape from the movies that is absent now (with godlike guards that you cannot get away from).

I was also a little creeped out and anxious while exploring the dungeons too. You never knew what was going to jump out at you, and both the music and the sound effects combined for a really eerie experience. If I was particularly tired or had simply been in a dungeon for too long, it would eventually get under my skin and I would reach the point where I just had to leave - forget the rest of the loot! I was just too freaked out to stay in there any longer.

I loved the seasons and the holidays. I wasn't used to games like that, and that was definitely something I thoroughly enjoyed about Daggerfall (and of course Arena as well). I also loved how every region seemed to have its own theme of music. That was also something I wasn't accustomed to back then. Even now I can recall some of the themes to my noggin without having to go look for the midi files for a refresher. They were really catchy and enjoyable.

The level of customization over all was fairly new to me as well back then, and I that was one thing I definitely enjoyed about it, especially being able to reduce one stat for extra points to put into a new stat. And of course, I still recollect with a strange fondness the sound of rolling dice whenever you rolled up new stats (the sound reminded me of that cup full of dice from Yahtzee).

Ah, the memories. The first experience with that game will be forever etched in my memory. That was a really terrific experience. And despite some of the amazing things they've done in Morrowind and Oblivion, I've never managed to recapture or replace that experience.

@JCSpencer..........you just made me want to go get Daggerfall for my PC and relive the nostalgia!

The atmoshpere and fear factor in dungeons was something I really loved too.

Hehe, yeah I think I reminisced a little too much. Now I'm *really* craving some Daggerfall.

There's something about the art style I always liked. I have dreams about it sometimes. Simulated 256-colour dreams!

I also really loved anything that added some complexity to the world. Having to identify magical items and all the extra skills and character attributes are the things that come to mind.

One of the things I always rant and rave about is the diversity in music. Daggerfall was the first game I remember where the music would change not only based on location, but also the weather. Snow, rain, sun, overcast, night, etc. It's awesome. There's a mod to do that with Oblivion. Great fun!