I'm sure I couldn't have been the only one to notice the differences in attaining artifacts between Morrowind and Oblivion. In Oblivion practically every worthwhile artifact was received as a quest reward or you were directed to by a quest. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for good quest rewards but does anyone else miss the days of Morrowind where you had to explore randomly to find some of the best artifacts (e.g. Dragonbone armour, Daedric Crescent etc)? I also would quite like it if Daedric armour, as in Morrowind, once again became far more difficult to attain. At higher levels it was far too easy to get in Oblivion imo...

Agreed 100% :dmc:

Somewhere between Morrowind and Oblivion would be the best way to handle it. I agree in Oblivion it was usually too straightforward and easy to get your hands on a bunch of mystical artifacts. At the same time, in Morrowind while reading http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Tamrielic_Lore there wasn't really any guidance about which items were actually in the game or where to start looking for them. A good approach would be to give the player a 'trail of breadcrumbs' to follow. Maybe you talk to somebody who tells you about the wondrous Staff of Herpaderp, thought to be lost somewhere in the Mountains of Derp. Or you read a book that tells you about Nocturnal's Gloves of Herp, last known owner Sven Derpsson, believed to have been killed by frost giants near Whiterun. That sort of thing. Clues, but not neon signs.

In Morrowind there is a batlemage in Seyda Neen's tradehouse , he tells you about the ring of the mentor that is lost somewhere in bitter coast inside a tomb and if you search you will find it , you just have to ask the mage about little secret . Quests are okay but all other games are full of them , in free open world a man should be able to take his bow and go find things himself without the need for questing .

So what you're saying is use the treasure trail note mechanic from Oblivion but provide an actually worthwhile payoff. That'd be great, in Morrowind I suppose that I only became aware of certain artifacts due to the wiki. It was a nice surprise you got though when you inadvertently found things, though I'd imagine it would be far more exciting to get an artifact as the payoff for completing an arduous treasure trail, you'd feel like it was more earned than simply found through sheer, blind luck...

This is actually my biggest complaint about Oblivion and one of my favorite things about Morrowind. Artifacts are the reason I entered dungeons in Morrowind. Artifacts are the reason I re-scanned dungeons after clearing them out in Morrowind. In Oblivion, it was a pretty big let down that the only unique artifacts were obtained through quests and other similar methods, and dungeons had almost only random loot. It made exploring dungeons not really worth it. Plus, I loved collecting all the artifacts from Tamrielic Lore and decorating my house with them.

I'm really hoping Skyrim has a return to this method of hiding unique artifacts in dungeons all over the place. It's my only big concern at this point.

Yep, agreed. It really adds to total playtime as it encourages the maximum amount of exploration. I'm personally also hoping for a return of some of Bloodmoon's Artifacts and Werewolves, it kind of makes sense considering we're in Skyrim... Yeah other then that the game looks fine to me, no massive changes that I would want...

Artifacts.. simple rare armor was too easy to find. I hate how when I joined the Dark Brotherhood that orc had ebony armor on and when I turned level 20 all of a sudden he was wearing daedric.

Agreed. There needs to be some artifacts in random caves/ruins. Some should still be obtained through quests, but common, not every artifact can be possessed by someone. There has to be a couple pieces of awesome armor or an ancient powerful enchanted blade laying around a ruin or two.

I totally agree with what you've said. I actually just made a post about this, maybe you'd like to read a different perspective http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1216919-those-hidden-gems/page__p__18245706#entry18245706 cheers

The only difficulty is just finding them... blindly with no indication...

... that's not difficulty, that's blind luck...

Sometime blind luck, and sometime a description told you by a friend, but generally after a vigorous search.

Anyways, stumbling upon a hidden treasure always has given me immense pleasure in Morrowind.

Something sorely lacking in Oblivion.

This was a big deal to me as well. Practically http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Artifacts were tied into quests, some of which were easy to do like Azura's shrine quest, or Nocturne's quest. I think the only artifact that was well hidden was this one mace found in a certain Oblivion gate.

Tamrielic Lore is my favorite in-game book. I like how they vaguely mention items and their locations; because it give you the sense that the world of Nirn is huge, and there are some items just beyond your reach in some distant land. So yeah, more items hidden please.

That's level scalling for you and I [censored] hate it.

As for artifacts it should be a mix of some as quest rewards and some that are hidden to be discovered by exploration

I totally agree with you but I dont think that the location of powerful items should be randomized, leave a few notes or clues for the more observant players to follow up on such as a clue in a book or a rumour being spread around town ("hey did you see that wacko in the mountains calling himself Umbra?" or "Did you hear Totius sixtus brought himself a new suit of Mithril lately?"), powerful items such as Daedric armour should be carefully placed around the world, perhaps belonging to a person of great influence or found in the tomb of a legendary warrior and not found in some random crate of a random dungeon or on the body of some random joe.

I am in full agreement that Morrowind's approach to artifacts was in almost every way better than Oblivion's. But I would definitely appreciate the addition of subtle references in texts scattered throughout the game world, which would provide yet another incentive to read the in-game books. Combine this with a smaller amount of NPC hint-droppers and an even smaller amount of run-of-the-mill quest rewards and that should help reintroduce the MW feel with a bit more direction. My personal prediction is that Bethesda will unfortunately favor the Oblivion mechanic.

EDIT: I think Morrowind actually did have a lot of what I am asking for (think Lord's mail and Daedric quest rewards). I guess I want an increased emphasis on clues embedded in the literature.

Totally agree.

In Morrowind I'd make a new character and see how much cool stuff I could amass without levelling past level 1. Just for funsies.

But in general, yes, place stuff in the world and make it accessible straight off the boat (so to speak). There is no greater satisfaction than finding an item that is 'too good' for your current situation. Rather than, as in oblivion, oh hey.. I found yet another full suit of dadric armor.. woop woop.

I totally agree too.

I would like to see artifacts obtained/presented in more unique ways:

Wielded by an NPC that must be killed in order to get it, good or evil to make it possibly a difficult choice.

Shattered/worn/enervated, and has to be repaired through a difficult unmarked quest.

Lost in some random location, like in Morrowind.

Through some quests like in Oblivion.

Fake/counterfeit versions that we can obtain, and later have to quest and search far and wide for the real deal. No indication given that it is fake aside from perhaps lack of special powers.

An object hyped/regarded to be an artifact, but turning out to be unremarkable.

An artifact that has been corrupted, and functions opposite of how it used to.

An artifact that has melded into the body of a creature/person.

Those are just some ideas.

ahhh. yes I loved to explore morrowind, I never knew what items I could stumble upon. The artifacts where ofte very well hidden,
and very powerful. Morrowind was a world of wonders for sure, it was so deep and complex in every aspects ( well not combat :tongue: )
I hope skyrim also has many hidden artifacts and I would love if the Mace of Aevar Stone-Singer returned from Bloodmoon

I just hope the don′t recycle the same old crap for the 4. or 5. time and give us some unique nordic relicts hidden in places that you will only be able to explore once you are getting close to level 50.

i think they should make an uber hidden artifact you know one thats unmarked exept for some tiny detail no journal updates but if you find that on detail maybe searching high and low and following a really sparce bread crumb trail of info to find something that could become a legend even over the internet you know a real special easteregg that so few people can find

Hidden being the key word. BSG should map out at least 10.000 awesome hiding places. Sometimes even in plain view, but barely visible under some leafs 2 feet off the trail. Other times in places pretty much impossible to reach. Sometimes connected to quests, sometimes not. I want Saviours Hide to be found in varying places for each playthrough, completely opposite FONV where you knew precisely where to look for something you wanted.

Yes and no. The locations of artifacts were often completely random and nonsensical. What was a Nordic artifact, enchanted by an Imperial battlemage and used for fighting dragons, doing in a Dwemer ruin, stuffed inside somebody's closet? If they're going to be scattered like that, give them a logical reason for being there.