I've been a TES fan since the begining, starting with Arena and I have played them all save Oblivion (Daggerfall by far my favorite). My question is this, I've played Morrowind but not to conclusion or anywhere near it really. I do own Skyrim and have been giving that a go and intend now to purchase Oblivion to complete my collection (exculuding Battlespire/Reguard/and the phone app games). What I would like to know regarding Morrowind is should I play through without the other expansions loaded and complete the first game before I enable the first expansion, then complete the second and enable Bloodmoon. I ask because I played before with everthing loaded and get attacked by the Dark Brotherhood quickly which sets up the first expansion. I like to RP my avatars so it is a bit immersion breaking (only because I know what its in regards to but if I was to persue the "quest" so to speak I would find myself entering the first expansion having done nothing in the original. I of course can RP around this but I am curious. Will I be missing out on anything just playing Morrowind straight up without expansions or shall I just load em all and go for it?

Thx for any responses

V

Bloodmoon is fine to have right from the get-go. Tribunal is the problem, though. If you want to go pure vanilla (no mods) for Morrowind, either use Tribunal after you make decent headway into the game (level 20+ or something), or, like you said, start Tribunal after finishing the story.

If you are not against using minor modifications, you can have both expansions installed grom the get-go and use a mod like this: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2487

You won't miss out on any gameplay features by not using either expansion from the start, I believe (I recall some Menu/User Interface tweaks from using Tribunal, but it has been awhile). I personally would have both expansions going from the start, and use the simple mod above to make the DB assasins only attack you once you are well into the game.

You have to load the expansions in order, but I don't know if you can do so and then uncheck Tribunal. Playing without the expansions means you don't get the improvements to your journal and a few other fixes, and most mods require the expansions.

My suggestion for a PC player would be to either load the expansions, but use a mod to delay the attacks, or just live with the awkward journal until your character reaches a point where the DB equipment won't seriously unbalance your game.

Thanks for the advice. I think I will install them all and use the suggested mod to delay the Dark Brotherhood attacks. One other thing I remember about Mrrowind I didnt like was merchants wearing the gear I sold them, thought that was a bit odd and it bothered me quite a bit. I shall look for a mod regarding this but perhaps someone could recommend one for me.

Thanks for you input,

V

Morrowind Code Patch (MCP) has a checkable fix for merchants equipping gear. It also fixes dozens of other bugs.

You really want to use both the Morrowind Patch Project (MPP, which replaces the old Unofficial Patch, and fixes several THOUSAND bugs, placement errors, spelling and grammar mistakes, etc.) and the Morrowind Code Patch (MCP, which fixes several engine-related problems). The latter is highly configurable with a menu when you run it, although it's hard to know which changes you need or want in your game; I use about half of them.

Yeah I'd recommend the delayer. But one thing. If you get involved in the tribunal quest, only go so far as to stop the db attacks. Tribunal makes less sense if you haven't beaten the vanilla MQ.

Thanks Everyone for your suggestions. I have loaded the MCP and the MPP along with a Dark Brotherhood delay mod, as well as a few DLC's from Bethesda itself (Firemoth,Adamatium Helm quest, Lexicon quest and Bitter Coast sounds. I think this will be enough for me as it removes the few, in my opinion, undesirable aspects of the game. As well as fixing numerous bugs that I wasnt even aware of. So again thank you for the information and now off to Morrwind . I intend to play through this time then take a run at Oblivion while Skyrim gets in better shape (not that its horriable but it seems its in need of another patch or 2). Oh yes, I used the FPS Optmizer as well given that I own a wide screen display and wanted to be able to adjust the resolution and FPS rate, handy tool.

Thanks again,

V