Edit: After some solid sleep I see this post has to go. Whohaa!

Well since we're all getting nostalgic over here I suppose I might as well tell

I remember one of my friends telling me about Morrowind in grade 6 or 7. He was right about Diablo, so I took his advice and bought Morrowind. Of course, after installing it it refused to work. I used what little knowledge I had of computers to seek the source of the problem, and somehow arrived at the conclusion that I needed a new video card. After weeks of toil and fiddling with drivers, along with a little help from my father, I finally got that finicky Morrowind up and running. I made my Dunmer warrior and then, like most of us, I was utterly confused. Where do I go? What do I do? Anyway I walked up to this giant bug thing and looked at the list of places to go. For some reason I recognized the name "Balmora" and went there. And in Balmora I did what anyone new to Elder Scrolls does, run around stealing and killing. Of course my spree was often cut short by the hardened Hlaalu guards. Eventually I got bored of this and stopped playing.

6 months later, for some inexplicable reason, I was drawn back to Morrowind. I have no Idea why. I just had the strange urge to play it again. So I decided I would set off in a random direction from Balmora and actually try to do something of use. I wandered for days (looking back, it was a miracle I survived), and eventually ended up at Ghostgate. Is was in that journey where Morrowind first blew my mind. I looked up, seeing the Ghostfence in awe, and I cowered in the face of the veteran temple warriors stationed there. That was when I first thought "this game is amazing". From then on I joined the fighters guild and the rest is history.

Of course Morrowind continued to amaze me time and time again. I can't count how many times my mind was blown by the main quest :tes:

I had the same experience with walking around Seyda Neen and the Bitter Coast region around it for a few hours, and then discovering the world map view. I was amazed.

Thanks for your story, I like it. It's honest.

I've seen quite a few stories on these forums of people starting with Oblivion, for one reason or another, and then finding it difficult to go back to Morrowind or one of the other earlier Elder Scrolls titles.

If you're really interested in the idea of going back to play Morrowind for the first time but feel like you can't, for whatever reason (I know it's not for everyone), then I think you have to look at what's holding you back. Whether it's the quality of the visuals or sound you're worried about, you could always turn to the many mods that see to the dramatic improvement of these characteristics, or whether it's the many aspects that you like about Oblivion that are missing in Morrowind, then there are some mods that see to that too (so long as you're on PC), but really, it's the fact that Morrowind is different to Oblivion that makes it worth a look! Sure Morrowind has its setbacks just like any other game, and I probably can't stress enough that playing it on PC with the official and unofficial patches/fixes really makes a difference here, but even coming back to it after long periods of time I find myself forgetting its flaws and coming back to the same conclusion as the first time I played Morrowind, that it's really something quite special.

Basically what I'm getting at here is that you'll never know whether you'll take a liking to something or not, unless you try it. So I say at least try the game out for yourself, give it some time, it may just be the game that you always wanted to play and you'll be kicking yourself for waiting so long.

my experiences exactly

the only thing which came close to this in oblivion was being lost in an ayleid ruin with low supplies and broken weapons, being chased by skeletons.. I just ran through random corridors not knowing where I was going. The feeling of being lost is just awesome.

Well, unfortunately I'm on the 360. But I may yet do that, especially since I know I won't be playing through OB again before Skyrim, and I figured having a broader perspective from at least a playthrough of Morrowind might help. I have just always felt like I'm missing a big part of the story, and the history of TES games in general. Heck, now that I know a little more, I almost want to go see what Daggerfall's like too. :thumbsup:

That was the most heartbreaking story Ive ever heard. Seriously, they could make a motion picture about that. That almost made me tear up. I just.....I just dont get it. Why didnt you get it? Why?! Will we never know?!

Its funny, because I got Morrowind for my birthday. My mother ordered it for me online and I had never heard of an ES game before. I read a brief review on amazon and may have even seen a couple screenshots, but I really had not idea what I was getting in to. Never in a million years did I expect what I got. If Im not mistaken, the game was delayed for a while.....at least as far as shipping from amazon was concerned. By the time it finally arrived I could almost have cared less about it.

But when I popped that disc in and realized that there was literally a world inside this video game, I feel in love. Like I said before, I had never seen anything like it. It was ......HUGE!!!!! I didnt even know video games could be that big. And wait a minute! I could....pick up literally every item in the game?!?!?!?! WTF?! Needless to say I was absolutely amazed, and I spent hundreds of hours in my teenage years wandering around in Morrowind. Then came Oblivion. I honestly never had a doubt in my mind that Oblivion would be my favorite game. I was right.

Yeah, I know. There's no going back now. I can always go back and play them, but like I said, it won't be the same.

Hey, maybe you'll be happy to know I got together with my favorite girl from 3rd grade when I was a senior, and now we're (unofficially) engaged! :biggrin:

Speaking of which...I'll have to learn to balance between Skyrim and playing stuff with her. Yes, she's a hot gamer girl. I know, you may bow down now. :bowdown:

Ok now that heartbreak turned to hatred.



Just kidding. Ive had my share of long lost loves and Morrowind was way better. hahaha. Congrats to you though!

And for the record, I think you are right. Going back would probably just be a dissapointment.....Heck even going back to Oblivion is hard (yea yea I know...Im not a real fan) after Ive played Fallout 3 and seen some of the behind the scenes upgrades that have been made. But at least give it a shot some day. Chances are you'll say 'wth is this crap' and turn it off after 5 minutes. But heck, I used to love Goldeneye 007 and I go back and play it now and wonder what I ever liked about it. Lol.

Thx!

Well, I think that's probably true. But I don't think it matters if the experience is what I'm after. For instance, I just got the Arcade remake of Quake 3:Arena from the Dreamcast, and I freakin love that game. In fact, it's better now. I just wish I had friends who play it on Live. But anyway, I still have Jade Empire, KOTOR, Halo:CE, etc. I just have to keep them, because I KNOW how good they are and I still play them, if rarely. A classic is a classic. I just don't know about the games that were kinda "before my time", even though I respect them immensely. I certainly am a gamer who loves the new and awesome stuff, and I love what is yet to come without even being able to imagine it. But there are some games that stand the test of time. Is Morrowind truly one of them? THAT is the question.

To me, it started with Morrowind. I cant say I love Oblivion without realizing it was Morrowind that I truly fell in love with. Oblivion was pretty much the same game with loads of improvements. People will always try to pit them against each other, but since they came out years apart there is really no comparing them. Each was a masterpiece in its own. I LOVED Oblivion. But I admit Morrowind did have a different sort of feeling to it. It was just incredible how I felt when I played that game....I guess mostly because Morrowind really felt like a completely different planet, as where Oblivion felt more or less like a fantastical version of earth, imo.

Bottom line, if you love Oblivion, you'd be bound to love Morrowind. Moving back through genres is still tough though....Oblivion to Morrowind isnt quite as bad as playing GTA4 and then going back to GTA2 though....there are lots of simularities and they both have a familiar feel to them as far as mechanics and overall gameplay. Try it out sometime. Im sure you wont be completely dissapointed, just realize going in that you are taking a downgraded version.

I remember hearing about Morrowind on Toonami (that it took forever to actually walk somewhere, which I thought was pretty cool). Hope Skyrim can be just as fun (or that someone recreates Morrowind with the Creation Kit ).

I had never heard about Morrowind, nor had I ever had a current generation computer. So it was a few years after Morrowind came out that I played it. I finally got an Xbox for Christmas. Me and my friends kept playing different games but I was never truly gripped by games like I was in my childhood (huge fan of Saturn Bomberman on Sega). One time when me and my best friend were in Gamestation I saw the case but had no money, my friend bought it. We played that game round his, taking turns for months (while playing Happy hardcoe music haha).

In my first play through I didn't touch the main quest, I was too gripped with exploration, I went from cave to cave all the way to the ghost fence, which amazed me. The idea of it, just the name "ghost fence" filled me with awe. Then I started having the dreams....I didn't know it, but I had become a vampire, I'd been in too many dangerous ruins and fought with a vampire (without realising). As you can imagine, the idea of having become a vampire was incredible.

I never even knew what an rpg was. I never heard of morrowind but saw a friend playing on his computer. I thought it looked interesting but never acted on it. Then i saw this same friend 3 yrs later playing oblivion on the new xbox 360. Now this time i was really fascinated, i remember how amazed i was by the graphics and the random bandit that was killed! I saved up and bought a xbox 360 only to have to keep saving to afford oblivion. When i brought it home, exited the sewer and realised how much adventure was possible i was joyous. I killed deer for ages and roamed the vast open world with my wood elf hunter. My ultimate character "wisis" came later and he was a breton mage. Playing as a spellsword became my style. Man i never had as much fun with anyother game ever. The only other game that comes in second is the original fable which also had a certain "wow" factor to it.

I also love hearing stories like this and I had the same experience but it was with Daggerfall. The thing with each new TES game is that even though I know what to expect, I still don't really know what to expect. And it's knowing how the previous TES games I've played are like that creates a drive and excitement like no other game can do. There should be a hall of fame for games and TES should be the first one inducted into it.

I had practically the precisely same experiences. except it was on PC and i got the game for free since my dad got this game for free with his new router and didn't want to play it so he gave it to me. (he was a hardcoe everquest player back then, and he sometimes played C&C generals... too bad he just stopped gaming, or we'd get along much better now, he's a ruined person by now, kindof like a shipwreck. can't fix that.)

Morrowind is probably the greatest example of a complex game that a developer was brave enough to transfer to a console platform. Sadly the trend these days is to simplify games for consoles and then port them to PC's. Bethesda, you should look to Morrowind as an example, don't simplify games for consoles, keep them complex and make them for consoles anyway!

I know what I mean.

That's exactly how I feel. I love having the freedom to do what you want and do where you want and also not be held in a structred or forced storyline.

I'm glad you posted this. I never played Morrowind but have been trying to so I can learn more of the lore. Also I have to use a keyboard and mouse and I'm not used to that at all. Now I think I've been approaching it from a wrong POV too. The newer games move quickly with less reading and they have more action...I love all of that. I read at work all day so getting into all the reading in Morrowind has been difficult. I'm going to think more about exploring instead of getting quests completed. I think I'll just explore and let things happen as they will and quit worrying about it so much. Thanks again.

:tes:

Hmmm... I didn't have quite that reaction to Morrowind. I liked the game and everything but it didn't give me that sense of awe that you experienced. However, one game really touched me like that. It was The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. I dont know if I'm older than you but if you were old enough to appreciate video games when OOT came out, I'm sure you would have had a similar experience.

It is nice to see a thread about people's love for TES, not a thread about people's hate for TES or why they think Skyrim svcks (7 months before release :shakehead: ).

Thanks for sharing. :tes: :thumbsup:

Same. :tes:

I had never heard of TES until one day when I wandered down into the basemant...

I was in college, and one of my house mates had made up his room down there. I walked in to find him playing Morrowind. Bursting with excitement, he tried to tell me about how awesome it was and all the things you could do, but at the time, the only thing that struck me was: "Now those are some ugly character models!"

Fast forward a few years and I was watching an E3 presentation. Todd Howard starting showing off Oblivion, and I was blown away. Finally I remembered my friend playing Morrowind and made the connection. I bought the game, loaded some better bodies/better heads mods (I could stand looking at the characters now!), and proceded to become totally engrossed in the world of Vvanderfell. It was like being warped to a foreign city. I felt lost, but I also knew there was something to find in every direction. Combined with the sheer depth of interaction, it made for an unforgettable gaming experience.

To this day, I count that feeling of "a world worth getting lost in" as a mark of the truly best games. And they don't have to be open-world games to capture it. Half-Life and Thief gave me similar feelings with smaller environments, because the worlds felt lived in, not simply there for the player. Of course, TES does it on a whole different level from everything else.

oh oblivion was an adventure though you just knew which direction to walk when you started a quest. and that compass didnt say anything about where the next foe is or what the next geographic feature will look like or who youl meet along the way. but still the copy paste dungeons where a bit dull i admit. both games had pros and cons. in morrowind you where placed smack dab in the middle of an ancient land rich with traditions and superstitions and incredible landscape . but most characters had no personality and it was easy to get hopelessly lost. oblivion you got to explore the very beating heart of tamriel albeit in troubling times and it was the first game that you could enter a daedric realm of oblivion not to mention in the shivering isles expansion you met a daedric prince in person and even helped them out. but it sort of spoon fed you. and well if you have played it you know the level scaling can be infuriating .and the dungeons where pretty much copy pasted. however skyrim remains to be seen and after all thats why we are all talking on this forum no?

i was just quoting what someone said on the gamespot forums i thought it was a great piece of work mainly because it reminded me of my first moment playing an elder scrolls game