Sure, but that does not make it a slow teleport. And silt striders might be safe from ground animals, but let's not forget morrowinds most annoying enemy nr. 1. And I don't remember traveling together with others, I don't remember other people other than the actual traveling agent. This also insinuates that the enemy actually is smart enough to know when to not attack, and I've had cliff racers follow me into the safety of a city, and get absolutely slaughtered by the guards.

There are guards on the roads, who's to say you don't travel along side one of them as you go across the map? If we imagine you use your weapons, why not your spells? Who's to say you don't use every ability you have to avoid conflict. Sure I would have liked to see this, but not seeing it, does not make it a slow teleport, just as not seeing what you assume happens when that screen fades black in morrowind, doesn't make a silt strider a slow teleport.

This also totally ignores that seeing it as a slow teleport stretches believability to a much farther extent. You don't lose magicka, you don't even have a spell, you will never find a scroll with the ability, not in oblivion at least. You do not teleport.

In Oblivion, more than one extremely low level character of mine "tagged along" behind a patrolling guard on the way to another city. In MOST cases, I was still attacked by bandits or creatures along the way. The guard invariably intercepted ONE, and I had to fend off the other(s). FT completely avoided that "possibility" (read that as "near inevitability") of being attacked, cost nothing, and was available FROM anywhere to any known destination. It just felt "cheezy", like a crude solution to the problem that never got "polished".

In MW, you could use the smoothly integrated "commercial" transport options (for a price, as well as the passage of time), or use magical transportation to specific destinations for the cost of Magicka, a scroll, or a potion. Since many of the quests were somewhat local to the giver (if not right down the street), walking WAS a viable option, where the scattered quests in OB virtually REQUIRED FT (or more than a reasonable amount of footwork and complete reliance on the quest compass). Just as neither game really "filled out" the cities into the "crowded streets" mentioned in the in-game literature and conversation, MW just blissfully glossed over the fact that you were the only paying passenger on the entire island. If there had been a couple of random "co-passengers" already aboard the boats or silt striders, it would have felt even more believable. Unfortunately, instead of being "improved" in OB, the "integral" transport options were removed entirely.

The real shame of it is, Oblivion was so CLOSE to being a great game, but the development was too obviously rushed, and a lot of "shortcuts" or "band-aid fixes" were used that seriously hurt the game. Also apparent, the game mechanics were drastically altered to over-compensate for many of the flaws of Morrowind (YES, it had its share, I'll freely admit), with the result that many things which needed some "tweaking" or "toning down" were removed completely, or totally replaced by something else with a fresh set of problems. For instance, since there were few good artifact Spears in MW, they were less popular, so rather than add a few "good" spears in the next game, the solution in OB was to remove them. Since spellcasting, alchemy, attack, and repair failure rates were frustratingly high at low levels in MW, OB removed the possibility of failure completely. Let's all hope that TES V is given the time and resources to make it at least what TES IV might have been.

Game mechanics, purely and simply. In books (think A Dance in Fire), transports are often full. And really, it's not too difficult a scenario to imagine; a full transport is more cost-efficient than transporting 1 person. A transport that's defenseless along the roads is bad business. Those are pretty much universally-applicable statements. And derived from those statements, 1) transportation in the world will, more often than not, involve other people, and 2) transportation will hire mercenaries to protect themselves.

The actions of enemies, whether they be NPC or creature, are the fault of AI, and it seems rather pointless to talk about AI when we're debating believability through a separate mechanic. "I find transports not getting attacked more believable because bandits are smart enough to pick their targets" sounds a lot more reasonable than "I find transports not getting attacked less believable because the limitations of a game mechanic, specifically the AI, means they will be hostile to anything on sight."
Would it be nice if our bandits had a bit more intelligence? Sure. But mentioning AI in a matter of immersion is like telling the Emperor you don't think the Oblivion crisis is much of a threat, seeing as you have the power to infinitely delay it.


Come on, now. If you walk through Cyrodiil, even on the roads, even if you use every skill you possess, you're going to get attacked. There's no denying it. Could you walk alongside the patrolling guards? Sure. But how many guards patrol those roads? What are the chances that you'll know their schedules enough to walk with them? And there are some roads that don't get patrolled. The Red Ring Road gets a lot of activity, but segments of the road to Chorrol, Bruma, Bravil, Leyawiin, or Anvil don't.


It is not a "slow teleport" as referring to a spell. It is a slow teleport in the sense that your character is removed from the world and its consequences, while time is fast forwarded, and then your character arrives at his destination unscathed, no matter what. Does Morrowind's transportation system do this as well? Yes, as has been noted. However, 1) Transportation in Morrowind is limited. Spells and Mages Guild transport are truly instantaneous and don't fall under this caveat. Silt striders and boats only go to specific locations. And 2) Transportation a la Morrowind makes more sense to be uninterrupted than simulated walking. When you pay to get somewhere, you're not just paying to get from point A to point B. You're paying to get there safely. And while that doesn't mean you're completely guaranteed no plausible problems, compare it to what Orzorn posted up a ways:

Despite the fact that it is plausible that both could be attacked, it is exponentially more plausible that you'll be attacked on foot as compared to a limited transport. Hence limited transport's better believability over simulated walking.

But you don't know that this is the case, sure it was in a book, but when I walk up to a silt strider, I am the only one there, if we say what you say is true, then I am suspiciously always the first to need a ride, no guards, no other passengers waiting for the strider to become full.



Can't this also just be dismissed as the fault of the AI? I imagine all the roads will be patrolled in actuality.



I only disagree with calling Oblivion fast travel "slow teleport", but refusing to call morrowind fast travel the same. Traveling in morrowind is limited, but it doesn't change the mechanics when you do fast travel. I agree that mages guild transportation is different, because it actually is a teleporter.



I agree completely. Enemy interrupts would not be unwelcome, neither transportation services.

Both are true. There are no monsters in L.A.

For Morrowind, it was game mechanics, as sure as the discrepancy between swinging your sword and actually hitting was game mechanics. Silt striders are rare things; other than the ones they've secured for transport, their carcasses litter the ashlands. It's not like you can go to a silt-strider farm and just pick one out. Because of this rarity, you can bet they're protected. Boats don't exist just to ferry people; they ferry cargo and trade, which are important things to cities. It's only natural to think that they and their cities will take steps to protect themselves as best they can.


Perhaps. But factor in the Oblivion crisis, the strain on the legion to take care of problems in Cyrodiil, the short-handedness of the legion in Cyrodiil, and simple guard-duty of the roads takes a back-burner priority. It makes sense to me in the world that not all the roads are patrolled.


While it is the exact same mechanic in an isolated sense, the limitations do affect it, the cost does affect it, and the conceptual understanding of what's going on behind the scenes affects it.
Limitation makes the slow teleport far less of an issue, because you only have a small channel of pathways in which to use it.
Cost acts as a further limitation, as well as giving in-world and out-of-world explanations for why there is no interrupt; in world, you're paying for safety, and out of world, payment is a justified explanation for why the game fails to interrupt travel.
The conceptual understanding of what's going on behind the scenes, aka traveling via established methods that lend credence to their safety by their longstanding and continued existence as profitable business maneuvers and vital parts of infrastructure, makes zero interrupts far less of a stretch of imagination than simulated walking everywhere.


:facepalm:
And the anology goes zooming overhead. LA doesn't need creatures or monsters to be dangerous and deadly, and you don't need creatures or monsters to be attacked.

I got the anology, I was joking.

Ok, if want a different answer, still both are true, 100% Chameleon.



Thats cool,

Joking on the internets; aren't you aware these are SRS BIZNSS?
Apologies, then.

EDIT: And I don't consider the 100% chameleon suit reasonable in terms of believability. Honestly, if Dagon would've outfitted his Dremora in 100% chameleon suits, then mundus would be nonexistent at this time.

Fine: The taxi ride.



OK fine, Alex never wins.

Morrowind because i liked picking 10 skills instead of 7.

No monsters in LA? You havn't met my in-laws.

I like whichever game I'm playing at the time. I've played both on the X-box 360. I started with Oblivion, and then tried Morrowind because I was interested in Dunmer culture from playing Oblivion and wanted to know more about it.

Morrowind, for me, is a much more meditative experience than Oblivion. There's so much to see and do in Morrowind, and it never gets old for me. It's true, the graphics aren't as pretty, and it took me a few hours of playing time to get used to it. It's not as pretty, either technically or in design (Vvardenfell is quite desolate compared to Cyrodiil). The gameplay can be very, very frustrating when you're starting out. Everything's out to kill you, you don't know where you're going because there aren't any quest arrows or much in the way of help, most of your attacks and blocks don't work, no one likes you that much. Your spells have a strong chance of failing, and so do your potions. It's very easy to play for an hour or so and say "You know? This is [censored]."

But if you are patient and let the game reveal itself, it is SO rewarding, particularly once you get some experience and skills built up. The richness of the culture and history is amazing for a gameworld, and I find the Morrowind Main Quest FAR more rewarding psychologically and as a story than I do the Oblivion Main Quest. The interplay and rivalry between factions is also much more developed than in Oblivion, in my opinion, although the faction quests don't have as big an arc in Morrowind as they do in Oblivion. Training is much easier and provides more obvious benefits in Morrowind. And Alchemy? Oh ho ho.

Another thing--if you get into Morrowind, you'd damn well better like reading. As far as I'm concerned, a giant wall of text is a good wall of text, but your mileage can and will vary.

R U SERIOUS?? THIS THREAD?? AGAIN??

This thread asks which is your favorite, not which is logically superior. They're different games with obviously different (yet often overlapping) audiences.

Depending on why you like Oblivion, you will either like or dislike Morrowind; if you prefer depth of lore and atmosphere, you will likely enjoy Morrowind. If you prefer graphics and physics, you will likely enjoy Oblivion. Realize neither game has all of what the other has, but each obviously has enjoyable aspects.

OK, just off the top of my head, the Go Fish quest. How on earth do you know exactly where all the fish are? It just doesn't make sense. It would have made the quest much more rewarding if you actually had to search for the fish, not just magically know where they are.

Both great games, but why compare them all the time. Play Morrowind as Morrowind and Oblivion as Oblivion, problem fixed.

Bingo.

I love them both and each for different reasons. Neither is a perfect game and both are actually very good games. I look forward to the next TES game and know that it will be different in many ways as well but I predict I will like it too. Big sand box with good graphics and fun quests and open ended...yep I can't see a reason to compare them over and over again either. I would rather play them over and over and add a mod here and there.

Some folks just want more of the same. :shrug:

I really like both of them, but as summer, i like them in a different way.
I liked the staves in Morowind, but not in Oblivion. I like the implementing of horses and houses in Oblivion, instead of stealing a house. Morrowind enchanting is more fun, than in Oblivion, and i could go on like this

I like Morrowind better. I have played the game since the week it came out and I still haven't done all things I wanna try (like living as a Vampire or Werewolf among many other things.) I still play it til this day. I beat Oblivion twice and haven't had the urge to play it since, because there's nothing interesting left to do. I mean collecting those statues and nirn-roots=boring!

Also, just to weigh in on the FT debate, in Oblivion I refused to use fast travel. You can walk from one side of the map to the other in less than half an hour without using a horse, so fast travel wasn't even that necessary in OB. In Morrowind walking from one side of the map to the other probably takes two-three hours (I'm not sure because I've never walked from Balmora to Sadrith Mora without making stops along the way.) Morrowind actually needed fast travel much more than Oblivion did, and Morrowind did it the right way, not the easy-unbelieveably cheesy way.

In my opinion, it seems that the more technology gets better, that imagination gets worse- as far as games go.

The first thieves guild quest, where it points to the exact location of the diary.

Morrowind always wins in these.

I equally like Morrowind, Oblivion, and Fallout 3, but for different reasons.

Artistically, I am quite fond of the semi-photorealistic style utilized in Morrowind. The houses of Balmora standing silent, illuminated only by the weak glow of lanterns in the middle of the night - or the dark sewers of Vivec. I would go so far as to say that even Arena and Daggerfall were attempting a "realistic" art direction, and Morrowind excels at this. All the textures and the lighting choices, they just seem so stark and ancient. It's truly chilling.

Oblivion, as much as it was praised for its graphics, it almost feels stylized to me. Perhaps a bit too much ambient lighting/normal mapping?