So I started my TES experience with Oblivion - had heard of Morrowind back in 2003-04, but didn't have the time or the PC to play it back then.

I have played Oblivion since 2007 - it's my favorite game of all time, just because it affords me the freedom to do any damn thing I want in-game. In all my Oblivion years, I have heard people say how great Morrowind was. Of course, to catch up on some lore, I read the Morrowind plot and saw a bunch of videos. One thing that really prevented me from picking up MW was the graphics looked dated for MW (2003), until I saw what MGE can do to make Morrowind look as beautiful as Oblivion (2006).

So, in order to fully start playing MW, I am planning to install the best/highly recommended mods out there. My research yielded this guide, called the Morrowind 2009 guide around here: http://morrowind2009.wordpress.com/

I am planning to follow it from A to Z. Any caveats I should be aware of? Any tips on what not to do (better knowledge since that guide was written)? Any suggested mods that have come up since that guide was written - back in Jan 2009, that are considered must-have? Any new updated guides that I should follow instead?

Pour in your thoughts please!

I think that's a great guide for newcomers.

My top mods would be (not in order )

* Better Bodies
* Better Heads
* Darknut's Replacers (Great additions in general)
* Texture Fix 1.8
* Corrected UV Rocks
* Windows Glow
* Vurts Tree Replacers
* LGNPC mods
* MCP - Morrowind Code Patch
* Unofficial Patch Project
* Connarys Replacers --> Can't find the link atm, sorry.
* Visual Pack

Well most of the mods are in the list, so I won't go further,

You can find most of them at PES (planetelderscrolls, If you didn't know) or by a quick search here at the forums.

Other than that you'll have to do some trail & error with mods in general, I'm pretty picky when it comes to gamechanges made by others, so I'll rather do them myself in the CS

With MGE you should get a decent water replacer, and phal's (spelling?) sunray shafts, they're awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrS1uJ7faqM

SPOILER! You can always try my mod(s) If you like (Had say that :whistling:) SPOILER!

- Trance

I've also got a mod if you're intrested,

I would recommend looking at Pluto's http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/ thread.
And the helpful http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind_for_Oblivion_Players wiki page.
Lots of people recommend playing vanilla MW the first time through. As for me, I say play what you like, but it might be a good idea to limit the changes to just bugfixes and graphics so you get a feel for how MW is supposed to work, and then go crazy.

Cool - thanks for the recommendations - I'll try these out, including your mod that looks quite interesting.

BTW, is there something like OOO or FCOM in Morrowind? How about Unique Landscapes (UL) for Morrowind? I can't imagine playing Oblivion without them, and something similar in MW would definitely be a DL for me!

I have a brand-spanking new i7-930 with a NVIDIA GTX480, so it can chew anything that can be thrown at it.

*Points to sig*

Not really, no. OOO and FCOM were designed primarily to bring the Oblivion experience back towards the Morrowind experience

You're going to have a ton of fun!

Plenty of good recommendations already, so I'll just add this: take some time and sift through PlanetElderScrolls when you get the chance; you're bound to find something to your liking =)

And don't worry, no matter what your system specs are, there is a combination of mods and MGE settings that can bring your system to its knees ^_^