I agree, Daggerfall is by far my favorite storyline. I loved the political aspects of it, which remain unmatched. I love Morrowind's cultural atmosphere and the fact that this was the game where Bethesda really smacked some lore on us, it's unfortunate that Daggerfall was made before the bulk of lore was established (more specifically, before MK).

Having only played Morrowind and then Oblivion, I can only decide between the two I guess. Of those, I'd pick Morrowind.

I think one major point of Morrowind that nobody's really mentioned, is that you are the reincarnation of a great war hero. In previous posts it's said that the PC in Morrowind was a just a nobody who Azura used to defeat Dagoth Ur, etc. etc. However, how many failed incarnates were there? They all tried to wield moon-and-star and they all died on the spot. Why? Because the PC wasn't just some convict with a few fancy gadgets, they were Lord Nerevar Reborn. Just figured I'd throw that in there, seemed significant.

Really what is creative writing though? I mean everything's been done already, nobody's going to go out and make up something completely so brand new and original that you're going to be amazed at the very thought of it. As was said about Daggerfall's storyline, so you have a lot of options at the end and it's all about political backstabbing and what not. And? That's not complicated. It's not original. Just because it isn't something that's used in a lot of games doesn't make it epic. Now I'm not bashing on Daggerfall's storyline in anyway, I haven't played it so who knows, I may feel it's as good or better than Morrowinds...Just saying, I think it all comes down to deliverance, how the game is presented and how the story relates to that. Not so much the storyline itself, but how it is unveiled to you through progression of the game. This is why I didn't care for Oblivion. It's all handed to you right from the beginning. The only really surprising thing in the whole storyline is that Martin ends up turning into a dragon.. which I didn't really care for anyway. Felt kiddish.

Azura probably chooses who the ring kills, since azura made the ring.

She had to kill a few "fake" Nerevarines first to make one seem legitimate. Essentially, it could be anyone, since the artifacts do all the work.

Yeah, Daggerfall was my favorite plot. The story had a lot of unexpected turns and interesting themes.

Lets just say it was by no means a watered down experience, and I hope that future Elderscrolls games carry the same complexity and the full elderscrolls experience.

Giving credit where it is due, I did love Morrowind very much. They took a high concept, mature approach on the typical "Hero of destiny" approach. Loved how there were so many interpretations through out the game just to the role you were destined to play.

I have yet to beat Arena, but lets be honest. After getting three shards of the staff, you pretty much already have an idea of where the story is heading.

And of course while I do enjoy oblivion, the plot was just way too watered down. Especially when you compare it to Morrowind and Daggerfall. So here's to hoping once more that The Elder's Scrolls returns to dynamic high concept stories.

That's the other thing I love about Morrowind's plot. You really think about it, whether you were a pawn or a hero, and there's a ton of grey. Which rocks.

The ring didn't actually kill several of the failed Nerevarines as far as I can tell.



The ring may not have even had any real power short of a very minor boost to Nerevar's natural charisma, and over time its legend grew until it became the symbol that it was in Morrowind.

Ive only played Morrowind and Oblivion so I cant render a complete opinion. But between those 2, I prefer Morrowinds' plot compared to Oblivions'. It felt like there alot more going on around the time that you get deeper into the questline. Someone put it well by saying Oblivions' plot was too cliche. I agree with that

I love Morrowind's Main Plot. It is very original, and it has multiple layers of understanding, and can be thought of as deep. And with the addition of Tribunal, the fall of Almalexia, and her destruction of the Tribunal in the process, I think made it even better.
Still, I think that Oblivion's plot could of been made far better through just a little more writing, and perhaps, if were made longer, and if the invasion itself had seemed urgent and dangerous.

I really enjoyed the Bloodmoon plot. The whole setting was consistent enough to keep familiarity with the main pieces and still manage some well placed "what the hell is going" moments before an intense well paced final battle.

Yeah

And the Fighters guild - Commona Tong - Thieves guild triangle.

Oblivion since it's the only one I actually own....I played MW and it showed promise but didn't get to play enough time to prefer it over OB.

Morrowind's plot, there is nothing better than starting off as a street urchin

Im gonna go with shivering isles as well.

I actually enjoyed Daggerfall's the most. There were really no, "good guys" in Daggerfall.
Morrowind's was great too. The Nerevarine cult being put down and all the lies being told makes it interesting.
Arena and Oblivion are meh. Generic. Especially in Oblivion, you feel like a sidekick.

In Oblivion you are a sidekick. Martin's the hero, remember.

Crowd: Martin! Martin! Martin!
Me: :meh:

Changed it to fit how I responded.

EDIT: Typo

More like:

Beggar: Wow, Martin Septim! Did you really close the great oblivion gate, save kvatch, kill 18 daedra in under a minute with your bare hands, and save all of tamriel from the daedric prince of destruction Mehrunes Dagon?
Martin: Well, yes. It was 19 actually, but who's counting? Not me. B)
Me: :banghead:

:rofl:

Which doesn't make much sense, seeing as you do everything. Technically Martin doesn't even close the gates, that was Akatosh.

Why even ask this question, whenever any sort of competition is brought up between the games, everyone always votes for Morrowind, often without even thinking about if it truly is better in the aspect in question.

That said, my vote goes for Daggerfall.

Out of all the Elder Scrolls games listed, the only one I haven't played was Arena, but I have read about its plot. Oblivion, I've already beaten. Morrowind, I'm just about to head out to meet Vivec for the first time, and Daggerfall I've just barely scratched the surface of so far.

Oblivion is really just what I'd like to call 'short-term epic'. You head out, get schei?e done, and the world slaps you with the title of Champion It wasn't exactly deep, as far as inner politics and whatnot goes, but the thing is; I wasn't exactly in a position to really give a damn about the politics concerning the rest of the continent. That was Ocato's job, and when I waltzed up to him, he practically said "Bugger off. I'm busy trying to keep an empire from splintering into magnificent shambles. And no, I don't need/want your help." What I did was more direct, with less/none of the political crap that one may have to wade through.

Morrowind, on the other hand, had a fair share of political schei?e for you to wade through on your way to stopping Dagoth Ur. The question isn't whether you were the actual reincarnation of a warlord, or just some blockheaded pawn for politcal leaders/Azura. The answer, in my eyes, is that the nerevarine is both of these things. Who's to say that Azura didn't take Nerevar's soul and spit him back onto the mortal world? Who's to say that the actual reincarnation of Nerevar didn't have his/her faults and screwed up along the way? In Metal Gear Solid 3, which was a prequel to every single Metal Gear game in existence, when Big Boss/Naked Snake dies, the words SNAKE IS DEAD that popped up on the screen gradually morph into the words TIME PARADOX, and time literally stops, leaving you to either quit the game or boot up from the nearest save. Morrowind was more indirect, when it came to things besides the Nerevarine dying, by leaving you a message telling you that you could either persist in the doomed world you created, or go back to the last time you saved.
In the end, the Nerevarine comes out as both a political pawn and a true fufillment of the prophecy in my eyes; but nobody said that you can't give those political powers a boot in the ass and a good decapitation after killing Dagoth Ur, and possibly even flipping the bird at Azura by deliberately screwing up the quest she gives to you in her shrine.

Daggerfall isn't something that I have managed to dedicate much of my time to yet, but I'm familiar with the storyline from what I've read up on it. You're an agent who sets out to exorcise a pissed off ghost, and end up getting to brag about walking a mile through dangerous politcal schei?e. That's what it all boils down to; no saving the world or anything, it's simply you going around on the backstage, fixing the problem that is a grand total of 44 countries, and four of them, besides the Empire and Mannimarco-the-Badass, are sooner or later up your ass about handing them the keys to a giant, time-wrecking God Robot that ends up making six different contradicting events happen at once. That put aside, the fact that I wasn't a hero destined to save the world had an impact on when my character dies. That, combined with the fact that if you never saved the game beforehand, it was literally the end of the game, put an emphasis on how unimportant you could potentially be in the grand scheme of things.
I'm the imaginative type, so when I created this Argonian girl, who was a Battle Mage and such, and I went through the whole character creation process that essentially wrote out her backstory, the first time she died in Privateer Hold had some impact on me. Even more so when I realized that there was no such thing as auto-saving in Daggerfall. She was gone for good at that point. Comparing it to Oblivion and Morrowind, and pretty much every other game I've played so far, death meant something different. It was an actual 'Game Over'.

I'm stuck between Morrowind and Daggerfall, when it comes down to which has the better storyline.

Oblivions felt great because it changed the face of the entire empire at the end, and left it with and uncertain future. Which none of the other games ever did.

Edit: I don't know morrowinds ending cuz i killed the bald blades guy and then proceeded in the doomed world i created.

Yeah, but did they have to use such a cliche story to setup for an uncertain future?

Agreed. And I felt more of a change at the end of Morrowind, walking outside Dagoth Ur and the blight was gone and the sun was shining.

The sad thing is that it wasn't always to be so cliche. I believe Todd Howard(may have been someone else, but I'm pretty sure it was Todd) himself who said they were thinking of adding a political part to the main quest, but eventually decided not to because it would detract from the gameplay. :facepalm:

As many of you probably know, I love Oblivion, but I find that to be ridiculous. Politics are anything but detracting from gameplay and Bethesda had a better idea, originally, but it was cut so the main quest wouldn't become what seems to be boring to be gamers in general. That's where I think Bethesda was aiming a little too far into the mainstream gaming crowd. I want my favorite game to have the questline that Bethesda originally intended. The only remnant of that political side of the main quest is the dead Count of Kvatch.

My favorite plot from the list given in this poll is Morrowind's, but of all TES plots, Shivering Isles' is my favorite.

Morrowind for sure. Oblivions plot was black and white Hero vs. Hell type crap like most other games. Just not fun for me. As for the other two I'm still working on completing their main plots.