So guys I have been thinking of getting Morrowind for something to do until Skyrim. I have heard it is way better than Oblivion. So I want an unbiased answer since I don't want to waste my money, should I get it?

If I wanted an unbiased answer to that question, I wouldn't go asking it in the Morrowind forum.

But you're still going to get one from me. Shouldl you get Morrowind? Maybe.

Morrowind is not better than Oblivion in every way. In some ways it is, in other ways it isn't. I personally think that overall it is the better game, but there are a lot of people who prefer Oblivion. Have you played Oblivion? If yes, then you can read http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind_for_Oblivion_Players to get an idea of the differences.

Morrowind is older and because of that the graphics are more primitive. NPCs don't interact with each other unless a script tells them to do so. They only interact with the player character. Compared to Oblivion the animations are worse, the combat is clunkier, and stealth isn't as good. NPC mostly stand in the same spot 24/7, though some might wander around a little.

But on the other hand the art direction is better (or at elast I prefer it), the factions interact with each other, there is a lot more of them (apart from the 3 standard guilds you also have the Imperial Cult, the Tribunal Temple, the Imperial Legion, 3 different noble houses, the Morag Tong assassins, and with the Bloodmoon expansion you can even join the East Empire Company). There is also a lot more different types of weapons and armor and the world in general is richer and much more sensible. There is no level scaling and the creature leveling is much milder. There is no such thing as common bandits wearing Glass Armor and using Daedric Weapons. Rare items are actually rare. You can find hand-placed artifacts if you explore on your own. There are functional mines and fishing villages. And the Dunmer have a very strong culture.

In short Oblivion is a more convincing presentation of a less convincing world whereas Morrowind is a less convincing presentation of a more convincing world. If all you want is some dungeon diving action you'd better stick with Oblivion. But if you want to explore a fascinating new world Morrowind is the best.

I haven't played Oblivion yet so I don't have any opinion on it, but I do like Morrowind a lot. Keeping that in mind your enjoyment of the game will depend a lot on what you want from a game. It is often said about Morrowind that it's all about your characters skill rather than yours, which is true. In the early game you'll very often be failing to hit things and you won't be very successful at casting magic or doing much else. The game doesn't scale much to your level so it's very possible to get in over your head and end up in some very tough situations.
I've heard some people are very bothered by the fact that the dialog is all written which is something to keep in mind. You'll also rely on written directions to find your way when doing quests and such. The graphics are obviously older now so if you can't get over that you should maybe stay away.

I personally like most of the things I've mentioned but some find it very hard to get over, especially the combat. Some of the more popular things however are the world you play in which is unique and varied. The factions in the game are a lot of fun and offer some replayability since it's hard (though not impossible) to go through them all with one character. The lack of scaling is often mentioned as a point in Morrowinds favor compared to the sequel (I can't comment on that personally) but it's true that you end up feeling very powerful at later levels.
Overall I would recommend the game to anyone who asked even though a lot of things about it tend to be rather divisive. If you simply can't get over the graphics or the fact that you'll often miss when swinging a sword at your enemy morrowind isn't for you.

It also isn't that expensive anymore which is something else to consider

I'm playing both games and I can say that they are both great! But personally I prefer Morrowind, although I played more Oblivion, since it so big and full of fun quests. And with mods it looks and plays amazing. I recommend buying the pc version and installing http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1196406-relz-morrowind-overhaul-sounds-graphics/. It looks and sounds amazing now.

I don't know the actual numbers, but from a standpoint of what it feels like, I'd be shocked if Morrowind didn't have at least double total number of quests, given the great number of guilds and factions as well as a high degree of Miscellaneous quests.

To the original question though, if you can get past the fact that it's an older game and the graphics/physics aren't as good as Oblivion's, you will find a hell of a game to kill many, many hours.

Yes.

...next question?

Nah,what you've really got to think is whether you liked Oblivion for the graphics, gameplay and polish or the RPG elements, immersion and world exploration. If the former, wait for Skyrim. If the latter, Morrowind

is this another oblivion vs morrowind battle....i was sure oblivion was better then morrowind until i started playing it a while back, thats just my opinion the fact is no one can truly tell you for sure which one you'll like better you have to play them both to know for sure

If you have 2 or less hour to sit down and play in one go, buy oblivion.
if you have more than 2 hours each time you sit down, buy morrowind.

oblivion is immediate fun that you can breeze through, morrowind is longer and more thought out.

I know you want an unbiased answer, but just get Morrowind, you won't regret it :celebration:

well,to take pc specifications needed to run both games,mw is a lot easier without mods,while oblivion needs a little more juice even unmodded,add mods to it you can get both games to cripple any pc regardles.
I would say to play mw you probably should be comfortable with reading since most of the information is texted,and in many parts more informative and longer than ob dialoges.

An un-biased answer will not come from us, because we love the game.
A truly un-biased answer can only come from you (Trippy clock)

Watch some gameplay videos on YouTube. If you like what you see, get it. If it seems boring, then do not get the game.
Simple. Honest.
Don't let anyone's opinions matter except your own.

Unless you are new to all video games, and have no frame of reference, I am sure you can make your mind from seeing gameplay on YouTube.

^^^Just DO NOT READ THE COMMENTS on youtube.^^^

Youtube comments for....anything.....tend to be around the lowest, most vile form of human communication.

We could talk for hours about the pro's of morrowind (and cough* much less time about the pros of Oblivion) soits quicker to talk about the cons of each.

Morrowind Cons:

- Graghics are old, yea its an old game. But this can be fixed with mods.
- Less realism: NPC's dont move around much and have eat/sleep cycles like Oblivion. But this can be fixed with mods (to some degree).
- Morrowind was not "downveloped" for console, meaning that its a real game. This means that skill-challenged newbies may struggle to pick up the combat system quickly and/or learn how to get around. Sometimes the directions given by NPC's arent that helpful, especially if you dont think for yourself. People coming straight from Oblivion also seem to nerd over the lack of Quest Markers, etc. This is very, very sad.


Oblivion Cons:

- As a Lore fanatic, playing Oblivion and especially Shivering Isles made me red death furious. If your not aware of the massive lore-errors Bethesda made then dont google it. Ignorance is bliss.
- The game is very, very fragile. Even the most seemingly insignificant oversight in a mod can stop the game working and many ingame actions have a serious likelihood of crashing the game. In the 10 years of playing Morrowind it would have literally crashed once for every hundred Oblivion crashes ive ever had: and im running on a good machine. Cant imagine how it is for other people.
- The patches are mind numbingly annoying to install, meaning that probably 70% of people who own Oblivion come back with some kind of error and cant do the updates. Sure its easy once you know what to do and which order to install, etc, but this nonsimplicity does not cater to the vast amount of ignorant gamers out there (and admitedly myself included, installing the ShivIsles patch was the most annoying thing ever).
- The NPC's are very boring and generic. Every [fort/cave/thing] has either Bandits, Vampires or Monsters. Wow. Thats exciting and predictable. Also, due to the voice acting in oblivion, the amount of dialogue and therefore interesting information available is infinately less than Morrowind. Talk to a well informed savant in Morrowind and you'll come back with more information than pretty much all NPC's in oblivion combined.
- The item levelling system. Oh my science this is so stupid. When you get to X level, how come every bandit in the world suddenly gets Glass armor, etc. Its just beyond unrealistic. Fortunately there are some well made mods that address this.. somewhat.
- Difficulty placing items. Placing items in morrowind is a quick select and direct click where you want it. This allows you to fill your home with awesome items everywhere and not worry about some silly Havoc engine making them fly off everywhere whenever you brush past then. Obviously Morrowind doesnt have any collision system for items but this means things stay where you put them. Very handy.


And thats really quite unbaised. I love Morrowind, and really dislike much of Oblivion. But i do still play Oblivion (some mods are really cool) and have managed to admit some flaws with Morrowind.

If your <15 years old and have played Oblivion for a while then your probably not guna enjoy Morrowind much to be honest.

Edit: Morrowind is also a million times easier to mod, so if your interested in getting into that, go with the glorious morrowind cs.

I've not played Oblivion - (yet, though I will be, when I finish Morrowind... eventually lol) - so I can't comment on it, though from the Gameplay videos it looks great to me, and it is inevitable that I will own it.
But anyway:

I picked Morrowind up because it's been on my radar for a while but I just hadn't got round to it. To be honest I wish I had years ago. I've played loads of RPGs but this really is the first one where I've had a sense of: "Ooh, I wonder what's over that hill?" So often whilst I've been playing it I have set out to do one thing and ended up doing something else completely. It is literally Main Quest? What Main Quest?
What I mean is is that gameplay and user experience-wise it's something I've never come across. I've even started doing things like making sure I get up at a certain time of day, getting undressed before I go to sleep in an inn or whatever. I have a routine. (WTF?!). As an immersive experience it's second to none.

The graphics. For their time the graphics were extremely good. I think people forget that this game came out in what 2002... It's nearly 10 years old and the graphics really aren't that bad. But the thing is that if you don't like them you can change them, you change any part of it because the community that supports it is so enthusiastic and vibrant, and that in itself is a mark of the regard in which the game is held. I started out vanilla but I've added a few enhancements, not a huge number - just enough to buff it up some but I have the settings at a point where it still retains a certain "vanilla-ness".

It's cheap as well, so you can't really go wrong on that score.

My advice? get it, try it, mod it if you want - but play it. Read the forums and see what you should do - (patches, etc) - and how you can mod it/or not so that you get the most out of it. Everything you need is there.
You won't be sorry and before you know it you'll be "ok, maybe just another half hour...". If you don't get it you will seriously be missing out on a genuinely excellent and to my mind still pretty unique gaming experience.
IMHO.

I have played them both and each of them have good points and bad points.

I personally like morrowind better. But it is up to you. Give it a try.

Morrowind is a better RPG, Oblivion is a better action game. Which of those you prefer will determine whether you like one, the other, or both. Personally, I'm a die-hard Morrowind fan (still playing it fairly regularly after 5 years or so, and STILL finding things I haven't seen or done), but found Oblivion boring after about the first week or two of playing.

Oblivion is a game to beat, Morrowind is a world to live in.

Both Morrowind and Daggerfall are well worth playing.

If you enjoyed Oblivion then you will enjoy Morrowind. Whether you would think Morrowind was "better" than Oblivion depends on what you are looking for in a game. Morrowind is a deeper and more difficult game than Oblivion for several reasons, and I urge you not to find out exactly why because that would spoil much of the enjoyment of it. There are a number of player "creature comforts" found in Oblivion that are missing from Morrowind so if you are not looking for a more complex and difficult game world and you will get irritateted being slowed down by restrictions and features thay took out in Oblivion you will not like it as much. On the other hand if you are into a real hard core RPG experience with a deeper plot and a more complex game world you will most likely agree with most people here that Morrowind is a masterpiece whereas Oblivion is just a very good game.

One extra reason for getting Morrowind is that it is a certified classic landmark game, at least as far as RPG fans are concerned. It's graphics were absolutely stunning when it came out, but are obviously not today, so get one of the graphics mods as these make it look almost up to date. It's game play is still stunning although arguably too difficult for the mass market (hence simplifications in Oblivion) There is no voice acting, so player/NPC interaction is deeper and more interesting than in Oblvion (text is cheaper than voice actors, so there's a lot more of it basically) and the dialogue system more comprehensive which contributes to Morrowind's depth and atmosphere.