Skyrim is great and all, but it doesn't have the magic of Morrowind. The lore has been so reduced and simplified that there's nothing left to grab you. Morrowind had so much unique stuff, not only in visuals but in lore as well. The origins of the Tribunal, the disappearance of the Dwemer, the struggles between the Imperial Cult and the Tribunal Temple, the Great Houses and their volatile relations... I feel like I could go on forever describing things that made Morrowind feel like a unique and living world, but with Skyrim there's just none of that. There is no conflict between factions (aside from the incredibly shallow and boring war), and there's no mystery to wrap your head around. It's just so simplified and (here it comes) mainstream.
The combat is better, though.

I find it hard to believe someone could love Morrowind and not enjoy Skyrim (at least), unless you're just very picky about specific features you want in.

That said, i think Morrowind is a brilliant rpg and i find myself mysteriously wanting to play it again from scratch.

Yeah this same thing is happening to me, ever since i beat the main questline of Skyrim i've been wanting to play Morrowind again. I just want to learn all of the history and lore again, because i didnt pay attention very much when i played through Morrowind a long time ago.

I'm enjoying Skyrim, though I think the novelty is wearing off a bit after 100h. I find many of the dungeons interesting and at least a couple throw in something different, a cage or floating spheres of light that leave you wondering at what could be coming up next - it's always fun to left wondering For the most part I'm impressed by the atmospheric lighting too. But.

Nostalgia or not, I find myself continually let down by the ambient sounds. There I am in front of a door, flickering light and darkness, still wondering about an earlier event. I feel a little tension, trepidation at what that door is concealing. Then, as if from nowhere, I hear cave_ambient_wind_2 (invented name) again. Again! That must be, oh I wasn't counting but, it must be at least many times I've heard it repeated in the past hour. Maybe Mw ambient sounds are not as varied as I imagine but they are used in all the right places: that door a few lines above was a perfect candidate for something new, fresh, spooky, just something to help the tension build. I find the Dwemer ruins particularly disappointing in this regard.

Certainly not nostalgia: Mw smugglers, how many different types were there? I don't mean different in dress or level or name - though that also helps - I mean types as in what they were smuggling? Booze, drugs, alchemical ingredients, cloth, slaves, artefacts. I always felt quite bad when I cleared out a smugglers den only to find their illicit goods consisted of nothing more than smuggled cloth or perhaps they were forging expensive rugs or tapestries? I loved freeing slaves and the bastard smugglers deserved everything they got! So simple, to vary the total feel of a dungeon by the use of a few hand placed items hinting at a back story, making me stop for a second and wonder. For the most part Skyrim is lacking in such little subtleties.

Yes, I also missed the variety of nice ambient sounds, but there was something that bothered me a lot more: Skyrim has a "dungeon cleared" sound! Honestly, who thought this would be a good idea?!

By the way, one of the caves I explored, somewhere near Whiterun I believe, had poachers inside. They were carving up a mammoth, and there were plenty of tusks lying around the den. One of the NPCs even said something about them having to "deal with a merchant", whom you could find at the other end of the cave. It really feels like Bethesda at least started off by trying to give the various dungeons some character, but had to eventually abandon this project, probably to meet that stupid 11-11-11 release date.

I might try it. I bought for the xbox back in September and have barely touched it. I like Skyrim, but they just screwed up too many things. i.e. lack of spells, destruction svcks, leveling system svck