How many people here remember starting their Elder Scrolls adventures with Morrowind? I dont remember the year exactly, but I do remember that it was my birthday, and rummaging through the used game section I stumbled across a game with an interesting cover and decided to get a closer look. When I read the description I was impressed by the claims made and decided to try it, given that it was under $10...

On the ride home I decided to open the manual and see what was inside, I found the following descriptions.

"The well-educated and well-spoken native of Cyrodiil are known for the discipline and training of their citizen armies. Though physically less imposing than the other races, Imperials are shrewd diplomats and traders, and these traits, along with their remarkable skill and training as light infantry, have enabled them to subdue all the other nations and races, and to have erected the monument to peace and prosperity that comprises the Glorious Empire."

"The citizens of Skyrim are aggressive and fearless in war, industrious and enterprising in trade and exploration. Strong, stubborn, and hardy, Nords are famous for their resistance to cold, even magical frost. Violence is an accepted and comfortable aspect of Nord culture; Nords of all classes are skilled with a variety of weapon and armor styles, and they cheerfully face battle with an ecstatic ferocity that shocks and appalls their enemies."

"In the Empire, "Dark Elves" is the common usage, but in their Morrowind homeland, they call themselves the "Dunmer". The dark-skinned, red-eyed Dark Elves combine powerful intellect with strong and agile physiques, producing superior warriors and sorcerers. On the battlefield, Dark Elves are noted for their skilled and balanced integration of swordsmen, marksmen, and war wizards. In character, they are grim, distrusting, and disdainful of other races."

With such descriptions in mind an image of what I was getting into began to take shape. Finally when I arrived home and started playing I was confronted with a neat opening to the main menu and music that really instilled the feeling of adventure and mystery. The opening text and introduction finalized in my mind what I was getting into, and, upon entering Sayda Neen, the entirety of what was advertised presented itself...

I began with a collection of items that I had promptly stolen from the building when no one was looking, received a sum of gold upon my release, then proceeded to explore the town. In short order I found the trader and discovered that trade and barter was exactly what it was. I scrolled through this list of very interesting looking weapons and armor and picked out what I (thought I) wanted. From there I was so eager to explore the world that in less than an hour I found myself in a cave in the middle of nowhere with broken weapons and low health hiding in terror from a Cliff Racer that was hell bent on doing me in...

While short and grim, this first look at the game birthed to me that the game was in some capacity, real... That mistakes made could cost you your life, and that choices were made with the utmost seriousness... Play through after play through, I lost very little of that feeling of mystery and adventure. While tedious at times the environment presented a freedom to choose, both what I wanted to do at any given time, and to choose how I wanted to treat and interact with people...

In contrast... When Skyrim was announced, there were a great many things said about it. The trailers portrayed a world far more in depth offering the player a far greater role playing experience. A world where "If you cast a fire spell, you could set a building on fire" and "By helping or hurting businesses the player could have a significant impact on the economy" There were a great many things said about the NPCs and how they would have radiant AI and have a far more realistic feel. In fact, after playing the game, I found that very little of what was claimed before its release was actually accurate...

I found myself in a world where the graphics were much better, and the psychics was much more realistic. But, all the promised features that I saw in the advertisemants were nowhere to be found, instead I found monotonous characters that regurgitated the same dialogue over and over. Sticky quests that made the game feel more like I was being lead, then actually left to choose for myself. And worst of all... Leveled lists... I soon found that the most rare and expensive weapons and armor were given freely to just any character wondering the roads. I found that the enchanting system was so rigid and so restraining, that any semblance of what was customizable equipment was so butchered that even the mystic appeal of magical items disappeared all together...

I found myself so bored and bewildered by what I saw at the max level that I have, to this day, never finished the main story of Skyrim... The economy seemed trivial and pointless, the quests were so controlling that I lost most interest in finding new ones. The only thing that was worth being called an improvement was the dynamics of the combat, which also lost its appeal when I found myself without a reason to fight...

To this day I only even play the Skyrim anymore because I have discovered a number of mods that actually provide a semblance of what was promised by the release. Hunterborn, Frostfall, Realstic Needs, and a few others offer me the hunting and surviving adventure that I originally expected to have as advertised. But sadly no matter what little tweaks and additions I make to the game it always comes out as this dull, uninteresting retardation of what Morrowind was... The equivalent is going from the film 'The 13th Warrior' to flag football on the playground... Not even real football where the best and most able players succeed, but where all players are equal (grabbing at flags) and any attempt to over achieve was futile...

While seemingly off topic, I do have a point to this that is relevant to this forum... I want my Elder Scrolls back...

I want back the diverse items that could be equipped. I want the armor all nine pieces, I want the clothing all six pieces, I want the jewelery all three pieces, and I want the ability to enchant them as I see fit... I want the ability to make clothing that can light me on fire, or a sword that heals my enemies, or casts fireballs... I want to open the barter screen and feel like these are items that I really have and be able to trade as many items as I want in a single transaction and haggle the difference... I want quests to feel more like real jobs where you get paid for honest effort and not just pity party from every sad sap that has troubles... I want actual guilds, where there are actual institutions, with qualifications and advancement...

Most of all, I just want back that feeling of adventure... A decent dose of mystery... Skyrim is supposed to be a whole region of the world, a vast civilization all its own, yet every faction, every hold, they are all operated by a number of people that can be counted on a single hand... In the land of fierce warriors, there is only one faction for fighters? There should be a unique faction for warriors and hunters in each settlement... The ability to believe that what I am doing is real pretty much doesnt exist...

With all the mods that exist, I find it very hard to imagine that there would be no mods made by people who feel as I do...

If there is anything out there that can fix one or a number of these problems, I would surely like to know, and I am sure that I cannot be the only one....