why is Morrowind better than Oblivion?

Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:38 pm

I have heard a lot of people say that Morrowind is better than Oblivion, but I have played it and I still say that Oblivion is better

I did like the weapons system in Morrowind, which was very lacking in Oblivion. Morrowind did also have a lot more content, as far as cities and quests. A lot of people said that they disliked the markers in Oblivion, but I believe it was a big help (although toggleability would be nice at some points). I do also think that Oblivion's models and animations were a lot better. I did like the lights that were in morrowind, since in Oblivion you only get a torch

The fighting in Morrowind really made me mad, because even with the highest skills you only hit your opponent every 5th shot. I also thought the dialoge was kinda weird, where you don't hear the person speak, except every once and a while. I also thought that the magic system was way better in Oblivion than morrowind, however it lacked the content that morrowind had. The lock-picking system in Oblivion was a lot better also since it was based on how locks actually work, but I do miss the probes.
btw I am talking about vanilla don't include any mods
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TOYA toys
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:22 pm

I don't think it is. I'd say it's very close, but Oblivion is better. I think the people who say Morrowind is better are just nostalgic or expected too much by studying the lore like crazy.
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Casey
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:32 am

For me, Morrowind was a much more in depth experience. Morrowind had tons of text and other things to constantly discover in it, while half of the content on Oblivions disc was voices if I remember correctly.

Being a console player, I don't have access to any mods other than what Bethesda releases as official DLC. Morrowind just seemed to have much more content and explorability compared with Oblivion.
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Sheeva
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:01 am

:rofl:
Nostalgic?!? Come on, gimme a break.
A game can't be considered an improvement if a bunch of stuff we previously enjoyed got removed.
Once you establish a masterpiece, you add to it, not take away.
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Shaylee Shaw
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:23 am

I've played both Oblivion and Morrowind, and I can honestly say I like Oblivion more. Sure Morrowind has more content, but Oblivion was easier for a casual gamer like myself to play. The controls were very easy to get used to and what I really liked was how realistic the world felt.
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Jamie Moysey
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:46 pm

:rofl:
Nostalgic?!? Come on, gimme a break.
A game can't be considered an improvement if a bunch of stuff we previously enjoyed got removed.
Once you establish a masterpiece, you add to it, not take away.

Do not deny your feelings.
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Julie Serebrekoff
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:21 pm

Everyone I've spoken to who likes Oblivion better focuses on the combat.

That's the reason right there.

I don't give a @#!!@# about the fighting. Morrowind is so much deeper than that. It's an RPG, it's about the story.

Oblivion was all fighting, all the time. Morrowind was much more slow-paced. As I've said, it's a niche game that turns off most people who don't want to invest time into a game like that.

Oblivion turned us off because it was instantly gratifying with really nothing you have to work for. Just five linear questlines and you can choose the order in which to do them. But not really how to go about them, which is the huge aspect that separates RPGs and action games.

Yeah, you can play dress-up a little and there are a handful of skills, but you can only play the role the devs want you to play. Notice how noble and virtuous the PC is, even as a Dark Brotherhood assassin? Sure, he may talk like a jerk, but he's always got the heart of gold, gag.

Plus, so much was inaccessible until you unlock it in a quest like the Academy and a huge number of dungeons. And then some quests dungeons were open, but empty until you take the quest. I could go on and on.

The point is that Oblivion catered too much to people who want to jump in, bash some skulls to relieve stress, make it to the epic finale, get their instant sense of false accomplishment, then move on to the next month's topseller that they pre-ordered.

I like games like that, too. But the Elderscrolls RPGs have always been a niche. And they're not supposed to be about any of that flashy, popular stuff. They're supposed to be about taking your time, exploring, learning the lore, learning the politics, micro-managing, collecting, developing a character, epic stories, not so much epic battles, although one or two are cool... you know, all that good boring stuff. Anyone who comes into the Elderscrolls looking for a fight totally misses the point, IMO.
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Ana
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Everyone I've spoken to who likes Oblivion better focuses on the combat.

That's the reason right there.

I don't give a @#!!@# about the fighting. Morrowind is so much deeper than that. It's an RPG, it's about the story.

Oblivion was all fighting, all the time. Morrowind was much more slow-paced. As I've said, it's a niche game that turns off most people who don't want to invest time into a game like that.

Oblivion turned us off because it was instantly gratifying with really nothing you have to work for. Just five linear questlines and you can choose the order in which to do them. But not really how to go about them, which is the huge aspect that separates RPGs and action games.

Yeah, you can play dress-up a little and there are a handful of skills, but you can only play the role the devs want you to play. Notice how noble and virtuous the PC is, even as a Dark Brotherhood assassin? Sure, he may talk like a jerk, but he's always got the heart of gold, gag.

Plus, so much was inaccessible until you unlock it in a quest like the Academy and a huge number of dungeons. And then some quests dungeons were open, but empty until you take the quest. I could go on and on.

The point is that Oblivion catered too much to people who want to jump in, bash some skulls to relieve stress, make it to the epic finale, get their instant sense of false accomplishment, then move on to the next month's topseller that they pre-ordered.

I like games like that, too. But the Elderscrolls RPGs have always been a niche. And they're not supposed to be about any of that flashy, popular stuff. They're supposed to be about taking your time, exploring, learning the lore, learning the politics, micro-managing, collecting, developing a character, epic stories, not so much epic battles, although one or two are cool... you know, all that good boring stuff. Anyone who comes into the Elderscrolls looking for a fight totally misses the point, IMO.

I have had oblivion for 4 years and have over 300 hours on it. No mods too. I play on 360.
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Lillian Cawfield
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:16 am

One thing that I found I really enjoyed about Morrowind over Oblivion is that in Morrowind, the characters skills took precedence over the players skill in a number of areas. In Oblivion, with 0 blade skill and 0 lockpick skill, I can kill any enemy and pick any lock without any problems. Sure, I deal a bit less damage with my attacks and if I mess up at lock picking it resets all the pins, but as a player I could compensate with my own skill (at dodging attacks, at timing the lock pick). In Morrowind, the game still required some player skill (you cant fight if you cant center the enemy in the screen effectively) but there isn't really a way to get past that in any game. However for most things, your characters skills were more important then the skill of the player. When shooting a bow and arrow, for instance, the player has to aim it, but the characters skill governs if the arrow actually hits. Same for all weapon skills.

Even magic was based on character skill. In oblivion, you point and hit the button and shoot a fireball. The only character skill needed was a high enough attribute to cast the spell (25, 50, 75, 100) and enough magic. At that point, you could cast the spell all the time. In Morrowind, your skill in a class was measured in more then 4 tiers. Each point of a magic attribute helped you cast spells with a bit higher success rate. And it felt good to watch your success rate go up. From a low level where even a mediocre spell had a 30% chance to cast, to being able to pump them out with 100% efficiency every time was a good accomplishment. Now granted, having to switch from melee to magic mode did kind of svck.

As for graphics: Yes, Oblivion looked better but what do you expect? You shouldn't rate a game on its graphics. That is like saying that games like Super Mario Bros, Metroid, Legend of Zelda: Link to the past are all bad games because they don't meet today's standards of graphics. Are graphics important? Yes. Should they be used to rate a game? I don't think so.
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Taylah Illies
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:23 pm

To me Morrowind is a world and Oblivion is a game. Morrowind just has that "OMG, this is real. These people are real, the culture is real, etc." And Oblivion has the "Well, it was a nice attempt." feeling. I could go on and on with more reasons on why I like Morrowind more, but I am short on time. Perhaps later I will come back and talk about it more.
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lilmissparty
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:58 pm

I don't understand your argument, hamsmagoo. Most of Morrowind's quests were variants on going from point A to point B and killing/finding something, then talking to someone to complete the quest. Exactly the same situation with Daggerfall and Oblivion. You contradict yourself entirely when you say that Oblivion was "instantly gratifying with really nothing you have to work for," and then immediately afterward complain that you couldn't immediately access the Arcane University. And if you think Morrowind wasn't about the combat, you're insane. Do me a favor next time you play Morrowind. Walk from Balmora to Ald-Ruhn. Notice how everything wants to kill you? Both games, and the entire series, really, are EXTREMELY combat-oriented. Anyone who tries to say otherwise is either completely blinded by nostalgia or trolling.

Also, what exactly failed to be epic about Oblivion's main quest?
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Solène We
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:16 pm

I have had oblivion for 4 years and have over 300 hours on it. No mods too. I play on 360.

Thats quite a few but compared to some 300 hours is like a speed bump.

And you didn't have to study lore in MW. Thats why the MW crowd knows more about it in general.
Not to mention the collective knowledge of the past games, of those who played.
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Syaza Ramali
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:18 pm

It depends on the context when you say better.

Morrowind is the better RPG
Oblivion is the better action game (it has rpg elements but it still feels very action-y)
Morrowind is better if you want to spend a massive amount of time developing your character and reading books, lore, dialogue etc
Oblivion is better if you want to jump in, kill some things, explore a few caves and ruins and kill some more things

Its all about opinion of which game is 'better' really.
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Monique Cameron
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:51 pm

Anyone who tries to say otherwise is either completely blinded by nostalgia or trolling.

Wait, so you're saying that anyone who disagrees with you is either too nostalgic to know what they're talking about, or they're a troll? :lmao:

I agree that all TES games have combat as a focus, but Oblivion puts it over the top. And, IMO, that is not good. The past TES games, especially Morrowind, were more about role playing. Live a life in a world that was not your own. In Morrowind, you were encouraged from the start to make a name for yourself, live a life - before you even had to find the puzzle box. In Oblivion you are pretty much flat out told to do the main quest right now and to kill a lot...And not to live a life.

That's not to say that I hate Oblivion. I don't. I love Oblivion, but it is WAY more combat based that Morrowind. Morrowind encourages you to live a life. Oblivion encourages you to kill things.
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Kayleigh Mcneil
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:24 pm

I don't understand your argument, hamsmagoo. Most of Morrowind's quests were variants on going from point A to point B and killing/finding something, then talking to someone to complete the quest. Exactly the same situation with Daggerfall and Oblivion. You contradict yourself entirely when you say that Oblivion was "instantly gratifying with really nothing you have to work for," and then immediately afterward complain that you couldn't immediately access the Arcane University. And if you think Morrowind wasn't about the combat, you're insane. Do me a favor next time you play Morrowind. Walk from Balmora to Ald-Ruhn. Notice how everything wants to kill you? Both games, and the entire series, really, are EXTREMELY combat-oriented. Anyone who tries to say otherwise is either completely blinded by nostalgia or trolling.

Also, what exactly failed to be epic about Oblivion's main quest?

I'm not trying to access the University as a guild member, I'm trying to loot it as a high-level thief. So, I'm not contradicting anything, that's one thing you're wrong about. You should be able to go anywhere, like the box says.

And as for combat, the creatures you encounter in the wild make more sense, they're not placed in perfect five-foot increments, one at a time, they're not all hostile. So, that's another thing you're just wrong about. And there are TONS of non-combat quests.
I've played characters for hours without ever fighting anything except for the two or three hits it takes to knock out some wilderness baddies. And the fighting is over with so much more quickly, and it's actually based on skills and rolls like it's supposed to be. I could go on and on.

There is so much more to Morrowind than the combat.

And pretty much every little quest in Morrowind had at least two solutions. And in the quest systems thread, I explained in more detail why I prefered Morrowind's quest system over Oblivion's so read that.

I've highlighted the totally unnecessary insults that you've thrown into your response to my post in red. Kind of self-defeating, since most of it was wrong...

Edit: what failed to be epic about Oblivion's main quest? it didn't fail at being epic. I'm not trying to insult Oblivion, I'm just saying I felt Morrowind was way superior and more of what I want. There's no reason to lose your temper and take it personally.
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leni
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:07 pm

One thing that I found I really enjoyed about Morrowind over Oblivion is that in Morrowind, the characters skills took precedence over the players skill in a number of areas. In Oblivion, with 0 blade skill and 0 lockpick skill, I can kill any enemy and pick any lock without any problems. Sure, I deal a bit less damage with my attacks and if I mess up at lock picking it resets all the pins, but as a player I could compensate with my own skill (at dodging attacks, at timing the lock pick). In Morrowind, the game still required some player skill (you cant fight if you cant center the enemy in the screen effectively) but there isn't really a way to get past that in any game. However for most things, your characters skills were more important then the skill of the player. When shooting a bow and arrow, for instance, the player has to aim it, but the characters skill governs if the arrow actually hits. Same for all weapon skills.

Even magic was based on character skill. In oblivion, you point and hit the button and shoot a fireball. The only character skill needed was a high enough attribute to cast the spell (25, 50, 75, 100) and enough magic. At that point, you could cast the spell all the time. In Morrowind, your skill in a class was measured in more then 4 tiers. Each point of a magic attribute helped you cast spells with a bit higher success rate. And it felt good to watch your success rate go up. From a low level where even a mediocre spell had a 30% chance to cast, to being able to pump them out with 100% efficiency every time was a good accomplishment. Now granted, having to switch from melee to magic mode did kind of svck.

As for graphics: Yes, Oblivion looked better but what do you expect? You shouldn't rate a game on its graphics. That is like saying that games like Super Mario Bros, Metroid, Legend of Zelda: Link to the past are all bad games because they don't meet today's standards of graphics. Are graphics important? Yes. Should they be used to rate a game? I don't think so.

well I agree the graphics don't make a game, but I couldn't really get into Morrowind because they were so bad, when I first saw someone run, I laughed, at least with Mario and the legend of Zelda the animations are right. I actually would play the game for a while, untill I found a part that had pretty bad graphics then I just had to turn it off.

also I couldn't get into the game because it was just the same stuff over and over, I mean seriously you see one city and it has the exact same thing as any other, so how can you get into a game, when the architecture doesn't differ

and seriously with the skill, do you know how to swing a sword, yes it is common sense, stuff like lock-picking may be a little harder
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Gavin boyce
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:08 pm

well I agree the graphics don't make a game, but I couldn't really get into Morrowind because they were so bad, when I first saw someone run, I laughed, at least with Mario and the legend of Zelda the animations are right. I actually would play the game for a while, untill I found a part that had pretty bad graphics then I just had to turn it off.

also I couldn't get into the game because it was just the same stuff over and over, I mean seriously you see one city and it has the exact same thing as any other, so how can you get into a game, when the architecture doesn't differ

and seriously with the skill, do you know how to swing a sword, yes it is common sense, stuff like lock-picking may be a little harder

Right there you've just proven that you haven't really actually ever played Morrowind.
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sharon
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:36 pm

Nevermind, the pole's no longer up.
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Niisha
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:59 pm

and seriously with the skill, do you know how to swing a sword, yes it is common sense, stuff like lock-picking may be a little harder



Not to try to start a flame war or anything, but I will say this:

Do I know how to swing a sword? Yes. You hold the handle and swing the pointy end at whatever you want to kill. That being said, if I had to swing a sword against somebody who knows what they were doing, I would end up like the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690

Even if I tried to bring a sword against an animal that wanted to hurt me, I may be able to injure it and scare it off, but I lack the training and skill to effectively put it down.
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Pawel Platek
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:07 am

oh sorry ill take that down, I just wanted to see if there were Morrowind fans than Oblivion
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Charlotte Henderson
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:48 pm

I just want to say that if you really think all the architecture in Morrowind is the same, the it's obvious you popped the game in for 10- 20 minutes, couldn't get over the graphics and combat :shakehead:, then turned it off without giving it a chance.

So, if you really want to know why Morrowind is so much better than Oblivion, why don't you actually play it instead of posting a passive aggressive thread? :slap:
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Channing
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:50 pm

oh sorry ill take that down, I just wanted to see if there were Morrowind fans than Oblivion

Mkay, but IDK if the mods would still consider it a versus thread or not.

But anyway, to answer your question: Yes. When the versus threads were allowed they pretty much always ended with Morrowind getting massively more votes.
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Jack Bryan
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:23 pm

It's not that I take it personally. But your posts have always conveyed the attitude of "Oblivion is a shallow game for people with short attention spans" (even the posts that include the disclaimer about "not trying to insult Oblivion"), and I'm quite tired of it because I don't understand how you can believe the things you're saying when I know from experience that they're wrong.

The thing is, a lot of quests in Morrowind do only have one option. I would advise you to look through http://uesp.net/wiki/Category:Morrowind-Quests You're right, there are several quests that allow you to end it in more than one manner, but usually not in any way that dramatically improves replayability (keep Fargoth's ring for yourself instead of returning it, agree to keep Sharn gra-Muzgob's secret and learn a summoning spell, etc.) However, the bulk of the quests are the kind which you seem to condemn in Oblivion-- go here, kill this.

In Morrowind, the scribs and netch stand out as the only creatures that won't attack you on sight. Everything else-- mudcrabs, cliffracers, rats, nix hounds, alits, kagouti, etc. wants you dead, and will do everything in its power to realize that goal. And I don't know about them not being placed in perfect five foot increments. I sure encountered enough cliffracers when I was walking around.

There is more to Morrowind than the combat, just like there's more to Oblivion than the combat. You were correct earlier when you stated that people tend to focus on the combat when they talk about why they like Oblivion more, and I think that's because it's the main difference between the two games (how the combat plays out, not how much of it there is or how much it's emphasized).

I've played through Oblivion as a stalwart paladin, protecting the land and all of God's creation and defending the weak of heart. I've also played it as a sadistic assassin, and on the flipside, a former Morag Tong assassin whose strict code of honor would not allow him to question to his duties in the Dark Brotherhood and whose zealous hatred of Daedra would not allow him to stand by and allow the heretics of the Mythic Dawn to fulfill their plans. Oblivion, just like Morrowind, is all about how you play it. I've played many roles in Oblivion, and all of them felt natural to me.
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Laura Wilson
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:55 pm

I've actually played Morrowind for 150 hours. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. I just like the setting and feel of Oblivion better.
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Bellismydesi
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:36 pm

We've had plenty of threads discussing the pros and cons of Morrowind and Oblivion. Many of them end up locked because people seem to get defensive over their preferred game and then comes sniping, then flames, then somebody loses an eye... Honestly, given the title of the thread, it's kind of set up to be adversarial and there has already been some posts that I are getting the moderator stinkeye. So I am going to lock it.

OP, if you tried MW and didn't care for it - that's fine, that's your experience. Plenty of us absolutely love the game. I also happen to love Oblivion, but for different reasons than why I still like MW so much. Both games have svcked up hours and hours of my life since oh, 2003.
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ZzZz
 
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