Since my saved game files on Oblivion (PS3) went down the drain, I've decided to try Morrowind for xbox.

I like consoles better than PCs because I don't have to worry about downgrading the graphics to reduce lag.

I'm used to Oblivion, so what's Morrowind like?

I've only started playing Oblivion recently.
But I strongly suggest playing it for PC. Even my older, fecal laptop could run it highest resolution with a few texture/model mods.
But, whatever. Morrowind, while being slower paced, has alot of depth to it (lore-wise). Oblivion just had all these nice elements, but Morrowind is just awesome-sauce. As you probably know, Morrowind's world isn't as badly levelled as Oblivion's. I see this as a good thing. More weapon/armor types. Combat is a bit less amusing though. Blocking is done automatically, and only if done with a shield. The been done stealth archer thing just doesn't work as well in Morrowind.

Still, get it for PC! But whatever...

Despite all the flaws in the game, it's just amazing.
A very nice experience.

Have fun!

Tada!

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind_for_Oblivion_Players

My advice would be to just put Oblivion out of your mind, not get caught up in things like comparing combat, or getting frustrated because you can't cast a spell and hold a weapon, and finding the NPC looks so very clunky looking. (Assuming you are on Xbox and can't mess about with some mods to perk things up a bit.) Just play the game - wander around, check your journal to see where you should go, talk to people, save regularly. I mean it about the saves - first, I always found MW to be very crashy at the best of times. Second, since the enemies aren't necessarily leveled with you, you can go into a cave and get your ass handed to you before you even realize what's going on. Always handy at the early levels to have a save just outside that cave to reload (come back for your revenge a little later.)

It's just a different mind-set - no real hand-holding, getting around can be an adventure itself sometimes, fatigue is important (try running for any length of time early on to see what I mean), lots of places are dangerous to unskilled characters, the combat can take a bit to adjust to, and you can frequently screw up a quest by killing someone randomly, if you aren't careful. But it's such a great game and a well-realized world - I hope you enjoy it.

Without hijacking the thread or starting a war, I have to say the scheduled NPCs in Oblivion added a huge layer of gameplay (as in, more depth).
But yes, the hand holding lost its charm very quickly.

Morrowind is darker, more diverse in every aspect, and harder.
And no voice acting to limit conversations to 3 sentences. You'll actually get to have long conversations with NPCs.


Almost every flaw/bug in the game has been fixed or addressed with the MW Code Patch and MW Patch Project.
And more fixes are being made all the time.
That's the reason to get it for PC.

Morrowind is pretty much an explorers dream. You never really know what you'll find in some random dungeon the first time you do it. Even random houses can have interesting things, such as notes made specifically for it. It's a shame that Oblivion in my opinion completely lost the fun of exploration, otherwise I'm sure I would have liked it a lot more. Fallout 3 made exploration pretty fun again, but it's not an Elder Scrolls game obviously. It does give me some hope for the future of TES, at least.

Though yeah, the NPC scheduling was certainly cool in Oblivion, and I still enjoy a modded Oblivion and it's awesome expansion. It will never stand up to Morrowind for me, though.

edit: And yes, get Morrowind on the PC if you can.

No, I meant design flaws.

Like which ones do you mean?
Many design flaws that were believed to be permanent have been changed by the Code Patch.
eg: expanded map, rain/snow collision

For sure.

Oblivion's just eye candy. Morrowind is more primitive, but will blow your mind. The "flaws" in it are so tiny you won't even notice. It's not like some quests are so plagued with them that you can't finish... like in Oblivion. There's a lot of stuff crammed into Morrowind, so it can lock up sometimes. Save often. Save obsessively. If you think you're saving too much, you're not. Do it some more. And then save it one more time. I started on Xbox, and it's a good experience because your cheating is so limited. No console commands to move you around cells, give you items/money/journal updates and whatnot. The PC version is great because you can play with mods and the CS. If this wasn't possible, I wouldn't own the PC version. I wouldn't want to sit at a desk and play MW for as many hours as I put into my Xbox, from my couch. Take everything you're used to from oblivion and toss it in the trash. And leave it there.

Don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think he meant more like how the combat system was thought out. Not technical aspects, engine limitations or bugs.

To the OP, everything everybody said. Plus I'd add that Oblivion is better if you want action. Morrowind is better if you want immersion. That is, if you can immerse in a older game. Some people I know (who are great people; old games are just not their cup of tea) need photo-realistic graphics, voice acting, and other modern perks to be able to immerse themselves. If that's your case, you might get dissapointed and frustrated.

If you like a good story where it's not too clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, if you like gray areas, depth, religious/political/cultural aspects, weird alien hostile landscapes, excentric characters that don't kiss your feet just because you're the playing character, getting lost and not caring about rushing to the finish line, you're in for a treat.

But anyway, you should try it out.
Trying stuff is good. That's how you discover new stuff and get to know about it.

and to add, that using mw on pc can make an eye-candy game as well - to the limitations of how beautiful a hard, ugly, red, dusty region can be - i have pimped my mw and it's so rich and great without changing much in the appearance

when people say, mw is darker, rougher you can make the darkness and roughness beautiful by using better textures. go get the pc mw.

and voice acting: i played enough games with that feature to know: you click it away one day after you heard it all.

True. Besides, I can read a given set of info faster than it takes a voice actor to say it. I don't wait five minutes for the NPC to blab at me about something when I could read it faster. And yet, cutting the NPC off after I read the subtitles just feels so rude...

Agreed as well. Having to click it away all the time and hearing the sentence get interrupted is annoying too, but not as annoying as waiting it out...

THIS

Compare the games once you've played 200+ hours of both (i guarantee if you do this you'll like morrowind better)

I'm also a Oblivion to Morrowind player. At first MW was incredibly frustrating but when I got around to LVL.20 I realized that MW was actually very satisfying and rewardringa, just takes some getting use to.

Yep. MW is simply a better game. Unfortunately, a person who plays OB first usually gets spoiled on it. That's why I'm very glad I played MW first.

Morrowind: Played for 8 years.
Characters Created: +100
Characters over level 30: almost all of them

Oblivion: Played for 4 years.
Characters Created: 12
Characters over level 30: 4

Both are incredible games, but MW has more depth and variables to promote replay.

There's no law that says you have to sit at a desk when you use a PC. I haven't had my PC on a desk in years and frankly I don't understand why anyone would want to compute from a chair, at a desk. I'm on the floor right now as I type this. Surrounded by pillows. It's at least as comfortable as any couch I've been on recently and a lot more spacious. *shrug* But to each his or her own.

My advice...

Forget about Oblivion... As far as most Morrowindians or (Morrowhiners as we are sometimes called) are concerned, Oblivion and Morrowind are not even the same game series, just using hte same geographical location and lore. Morrowind iwll not hold your hand! You have to pay attention to signs!

Still a lot of design flaws like the economy
Many of these can be rectified or at least improved with mods though

I dont get the "Morrowind is much better then Oblivion" thing. Its totally different games and wich one you like more its matter of taste.Morrowind is not better then Oblivion and Oblivion is not better then Morrowind.

A couple more things to mention about Ob to MW, Complicities:
You don't have to worry about guards crucifying you to the screen with a conversation prompt. In Morrowind, they actually have to physically touch you. So your escapes are much more pleasant.
Since NPC's don't have schedules/leave cells on their own, stealing is a lot easier.
Levitation, Jump, and Command spells actually work - wow, what a concept.

Of course, and through personal taste, some of us say, Morrowind is better than oblivion.

OK, one of the principal differences, even beyond the combat system, is directions. You don't get a quest marker, they tell you where to go. Problem is, these directions are often vague, and if you don't know where you're going, you'll get lost. What I wouldn't give for a decent map!

Let me just add a word of caution in here folks - the topic is "If I am familiar only with Oblivion, but want to try the earlier TES game Morrowind, what can I expect, what advice can you offer?" The topic is NOT "Which is better MW or OB?" I realize some of you are ardently in one camp or the other, but I still think you can answer the query about playing MW if OB is your first and only TES experience without feeling the need to run down one game or the other.