as the title suggests i'm going to download the game off steam and try it for the first time, only previously playing oblivion,fallout 3 and fallout new vegas. Any tips or Mods?

Install the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19510 (the bugfix options at least) it fixes many serious bugs that Bethesda never fixed.

If you want to know what to expect from the game, this page is very useful:

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

I guess it is pretty much said already.

My advice is that do not install mods before you completed the game at least once. If you start modding before playing it for a certain time you might not get to play the "proper" game.

-Emp-

ok thanks, i'm downloading the graphical overhaul mod. This will be the first elder scrolls i have played on pc.

Well Welcome to Vvardenfell! :celebration: The one thing you need in Morrowind is patience really, not in a bad way I mean

Keep your goals sharp and your mind open, mate. Morrowind is a different beast. She holds a place in many of our hearts that no other game can.

Or rather, keep your mind sharp and be able to change your goals if the one you're getting towards will be too difficult for that time, or otherwise ruin your experience. That is, don't be afraid to change your goals if needed. Remember that you can do basically anything you ever want in the world of Morrowind. Just know that you should click and read towards all the available dialogue to get the context you need to complete a quest. Oblivion gives you the arrow and goal straight away; in Morrowind, you have to read it, and find the right place on your own.

I'll acquiesce to that. It's common for players to feel overwhelmed or lost in these games, more so this one than Oblivion even. I imagine I suffered less from this because I always found and kept objectives in mind, even if they were altered or temporarily replaced.

Save often... those orcs with the warhammers are mean.

Yeah, I even had trouble with this Medieval/fantasy vocabulary in English back when I first got the game. (As if I still don't with any vocabulary. :facepalm:) Let alone to remember who told me to go where, and how to get back to the quest giver. I think I also svcked more quests than I could muster at once. AND I actually thought I was supposed to do something! It took me something like five years IRL and two main quest playthroughs before I realised that, hey, the world truly is open and free. ._. I think the feeling of being lost eventually becomes the feeling of freedom, and that's when you truly "get" Morrowind and start to think of it as an awesome game!

Get a searchable map from the UESP. There is no Quest Compass and the ingame directions you are given are not always good. Or easy to follow.

Play only when you have time to do so in a leisurely fashion. Unlike countless action RPGs, Morrowind isn't about getting from Point A to Point B to finish Quest C. You'll need to do some serious stats training before you're really to tackle anything. Go fight and defeat a few mudcrabs, for instance. Hang close around the small port, at first. Save often. Buy a healing spell, upgrade your equipment. Check out the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind. If you haven't bought them already, do consider buying the two expansions. Not only do they add a lot of great content to explore, but they also help out one of the biggest drawbacks in the initial release, it's awful in-game journal.

I wouldn't completely write off mods. Take a look at what PlanetElderScroll has to offer, at least in terms of general categories, just to get a sense what mod groups address. That way, you'll know (for example) if you ever wish you had a dedicated home relatively early in the game, there are hundreds of mods for every taste to supply that need.

Don't get discouraged by your inability to hit things with weapons when you first start playing. Persevere and eventually you'll be downing NPCs like a pro.

Don't focus solely on gaining skills and completing quests. If you run out of things to do, pick a random spot on your map and travel there, and see what happens along the way. Exploring in Morrowind is one of the many reasons so many people love it.

Don't kill for loot and don't kill Elmussa Damori.Her name gives me nightmares.If you kill her, the Thieves Guild members will no longer barter with you.Nor you will be able to join the guild.It is because of this NPC that I learned to use the Construction Set.

Sometimes, if you can't find a place, it might mean that you have gone too far away.Go back, it's not that easy to get lost if you are careful.

Get a Amulet of Divine or Almsivi intervention.Great stuff

Avoid http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Sanyon#Sanyon and other daedric ruins till you're at least around level 12.That doesn't mean you can't go to the Ashlanders.Just don't get too close of that ruin.

Save often.Install the patches and bug fixs.Install Tribunal for better journal.^^

Don't join 2 Great Houses! My strongest advice.There is a glitch in the game that allows you to do so.However, you will be unable to finish the questlines of both houses because you'll become the owner of 2 strongholds, and there are quests that require the player to kill the owner of a stronghold.There a three joinable Great Houses, 3 strongholds.You'll be asked to kill the owners of the 2 enemy strongholds, and one of them being your character.You'll have to use the Construction Set to get past this.

My tip: Do not cheat if you aren't playtesting .

no tips..

honestly just learn about the world yourself.

each hurdle you personally overcome will make it that much more memorable.

I mean wheres the fun in me telling you what tarhiels scrolls will do to you.

In deciding what sort of character you want to play/build I would pay attention to endurance and speed. If you do not have high endurance and speed it takes forever to get around, you end up running your endurance right down all the time (by running) relying on frequent quicksaves to step back when attacked which kinda kills the atmosphere. Or you have to walk everywhere which is very cool and realistic etc to start with but quickly becomes a pain.

Cast magic is much less powerfull in Morrowind than e.g. Oblivion. The biggest reason being magicka does not naturally regenerate. Enchanted items however do recharge themselves over time (you may notice this is the exact opposite to Oblivion). Consequently enchanted items give you a) a larger magicka pool than pretty much any character might have naturally, and B) it regenerates itself to boot. Any character can buy a spell and have an echanter enchant an item with that spells effect. For this reason playing a Mage based character in Morrowind is difficult and arguably not recommended first time out.

Power levelling is easy in Morrowind becasue unlike Oblivion there is no limit to how many training points you can buy per level - too easy. Originally it was not so becasue training in misc skills did not count towards levelling bonuses. I think they came in for a lot of criticism for this because for many characters the only way to raise certain attributes by any appreciable amount was by hours of mindless grinding so they changed this in the first major patch. Now however it is trivial to get 3x5 pt level ups but if you do you will unbalance your game. I would try to level up "naturally" as far as possible using training in line with your character's role, but having said that if you get frustrated with for example lack of endurance, strength or speed (which can all be particularly frustrating in Morrowind taking away enjoyment of the game) I would power them up for few levels and compensate by increasing the difficulty slider.

Going out exploring to find dungeons and ruins to plunder is great for charcter develpopment and very profitable (and the way the game is supposed to be played) but you must be carefull not to sell an item that is required for a quest you haven't got yet and very carefull not to kill an NPC involved with a quest that doesn't involve simply killing them. In general if an item has a unique sounding name (e.g. "Berelle's Bowl") it probably has quest significance. Killing important NPC's is a particular problem for thief based characters who use stealth to kill first and ask questions afterwards. As a general policy I would always attempt to talk to the first NPC I meet in a location to find out if they are hostile or not. If the first NPC is hostile then there still might be a quest related non-hostile further on but they will probably be either locked in a prison, right at the end of the dungeon or in some other way "different" from the hostiles. It is quite possible to block advancement in a guild or house in Morrowind in these ways so you need to be carefull, but I think this gives the game an edge.

It is easy for a character specialising in sneak/security etc to get good at weapon and armour skills, but much harder for warrior/magic specialists to get good at sneaking and opening locks. Good sneak and security skills also enable you to do a lot of things in the game that are otherwise pretty difficult as well as the opportunity to make a good deal more money in the early game when money is still an issue. Stealth based characters are also IMO interesting to play (more options etc) and since they are no more difficult than warrior based characters I think they make a good choice for a first playthrough.