Hi everybody,
Thanks to QuakeCon sale I own both Oblivion and Morrowind. I modded Oblivion with FCOM and few other mods (still on lookout for more). But I often hear people saying Morrowind is better. I never played it before. So my question is this : Should my first playthrough of Morrowind be modless and if not, which mods are essential?

while someone may tell you to play at least the first time without mods, I tell you that my experience would have been much better if I used mods from the beginning.

Here is my list of http://arcimaestroantares.webs.com/suggestedmods.htm

I agree with the above post. If you decide to get anything, just get Better Bodies and Better Clothes, along with Morrowind Code Patch and Morrowind Patch Project. Those are very good ones.

I agree with Slaanesh. I'd recommend sticking to mods that don't do anything too crazy when you first start the. The ones listed above make the game playable for 2011 IMO.

While I do agree with everything the above posters have said, my tastes are a bit different. I'd suggest you give vanilla Morrowind a go, and if something bothers you too much you can always find and install mods that improve that.

Still, the MW Patch Project and MW Code Patch contain mostly bug fixes - using them does not distract from the awesomeness that is good old vanilla Morrowind at all.

Go vanilla until you run into something that bothers you too much, then look into MCP/MPP, and/or whatever else deals with the issue(s) you're having. Too many new people don't even try to enjoy the game as it is, and that's a shame, because none of us would be here modding anything if the game wasn't any good to begin with. If we didn't like already, we wouldn't bother.

When people say Morrowind is better than Oblivion, the game they're talking about isn't a heavily modded one, it's the vanilla game.

When you start using mods, please start small. Don't go for the huge, hardcoe stuff like Morrowind Overhaul, Morrowind Graphics Extender, etc. Basically, aside from the Code Patch and Patch Project, if the first word in the title of the mod is "Morrowind", I advise staying away from it for awhile.

yeah, stick with replacers first so that you wont be turned off by the dated graphics. I say get Morrowind, Tribunal, and Bloodmoon, then Better Bodies, then install MGSO.

EDIT:
No gameplay mods, just play Morrowind as it is. Enjoy the lore. Then play oblivion, and enjoy the graphics. Lol.

:facepalm: :facepalm:

There's no harm in having a look at the vanilla game, even if it's just so you can appreciate the hard work modders have put into making it easier to look at. Then, I would recommend going with head and body replacers first. Then landscape and such. After that, the sky's the limit, but you'll get more play out of it if you run through it without extra landmasses and quests and then add them later. Some mods can make it a whole new game and if you don't take it in stages, you might miss something.

Like Elaura said, pick whatever mods strike your fancy first, but be careful with those that add new content like landmasses and quests. Morrowind is a very old game and it's only through the efforts of various modders that its graphics have stayed up to par. The bug fixes of the Morrowind Code Patch and the Morrowind Patch Project are definitely recommended, as is the Morrowind Graphics Extender if your system can handle it. After you've played through a bit and decide you want more content, the LGNPC series is very good: it gives the NPCs unique dialog as well as new quests. How heavy or how light you mod is up to you.

I have finished Morrowind completely at least 20 times before I added anything, I started modding for Tamriel Rebuilt, and must say texture and mesh replacers are a pain in the ass. Vanilla MW is beautiful, and the MCP/MPP are definately useful and good to install. Also Tamriel Rebuilt sticks to the vanilla MW feel, and expands MW a lot, every few years a new province is added. Note that the latest version of TR now covers both provinces in one download.

See what you like and dislike in the game and after you have visited the whole of Vvardenfell and its add-ons Bloodmoon and Tribunal if you have them, then search for the mods you want, high rated ones generally give you no trouble.

Installing all official plugins from here http://www.elderscrolls.com/morrowind/expansions/ , Better clothes and better bodies,Morrowind Code Patch ,Morrowind Patch Project and MGSO. I know it may be too much but I like all these mods

I wouldn't even bother with the official plugins (except the 2 big expansions that come with the GOTY edition of course), they're not even that good.

The Entertainers plugin is a fun addition for bards, though I would get the expanded version off PES that adds it to all innkeepers.

Ah the official plugins. They are so rarely talked about these days (or ever for that matter), but they are still pretty good additions to the game. For me they also have a lot of nostalgia value since they were the first mods I've played and ultimately what encouraged me to try my hands at making my own. You can't really go wrong with those.

Also, do you know of any game developers these days who continue to release free content to a single-player game after the game's release? That's a rare thing.

Really, if it's your first playthrough then by all means, play completely without mods. They give the game a completely different atmosphere which is interesting, but not what the original game intended to be. After that, modding Morrowind is fun and interesting. I personally couldn't play it again without mods, but for the first playthrough, I can only say: Before you ruin it, play vanilla.

Aww, c'mon, Firemoth is pretty fun. I'm trying to make it even more fun, though. The official plugins just need some unofficial love is all.

While I'm here, I'll add a vote for unmodded at the beginning. Even the graphics are fine, to me. They look old, but they do not look bad. But hey, I enjoy games whose graphics consist of almost nothing but white lines amidst endless black.

*Points to sig*

My morrowind is now in fully playable state and I love it! (only its lagging a little so I will have to lower settings in MGSO) but on your webpage are interesting mods, are they all Better clothes and better bodies,Morrowind Code Patch ,Morrowind Patch Project and MGSO, official plugin compatible?

There's not much that is incompatible with better bodies, better clothes, Morrowind code patch, and Morrowind patch project. They're designed to work with almost anything. MGSO is designed to be modular, so you can adjust it.

Things that are "incompatible" are often changing the same things. So, for example, if you installed MGSO, then installed a different texture replacer, the two would be "incompatible" but it wouldn't cause any problems. The last change is the one that is used.

I agree with Adul and Elaura: start a first game without mods. Add them when you feel the need to change something. Modding is our way of changing what we don't like about a game. If we do not yet know what we don't like about a game our mod decisions are going to be made in ignorance.

I have no idea why people are not suggesting that you install the patches immediately.
I agree vanilla is fun to start, but it is broken. Patch your game.

excerpt from http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/page__hl__recommendations


And Better Bodies is just great, because vanilla bodies are the weirdest looking things ever.

Wait... doesn't the MGSO come with the patches??

Dont't waste time play the game see how it looks and enjoy

Didn't get the permission I think.

I can't speak for everyone, but I think most of us are not referring to patches when we talk about "using mods." Of course he should patch his game. I can't imagine any of us telling anybody not to patch their game and I have not heard anybody in this thread so he should not. Slaanesh The Corruptor, tealpanda, Adul, Jac, Detlik and BTB have specifically recommended the patches. For the rest of us, my understanding is that what we're discussing whether to add mods after he has patched his game.