Sorry. Your post was doomed from the very beginning. Oblivion made a few improvements in some areas, but had major downgrades in many more areas.
Oblivion was by far a worse game than Morrowind overall.

Pessimism. I has it.

not really, but the whole Beth crowd does. Yes, it will be better, no doubt in my mind.

I have no bloody clue. My personal, hence only speaking for myself, response is that, from what I've seen, I think it will be better than Oblivion. Therefore, I think it will be better than all the Elder Scrolls games before Oblivion, too.

To say that TES svcks without mods is just being ignorant and stupid...

Although it would svck if TES couldn't have mods...

Look, I've played both games, and I admit that I prefer Morrowind - but Morrowind was still a deeply flawed game in a lot respects. It was buggy as hell, had absurdly bad character models (even for the time), a flat-out stupid AI, ridiculously bad combat interaction, and textures that would have made the baby Jesus cry.

However, its depth and attention to story and detail allowed to transcend all of that. It made you feel like an alien in a subtly strange world. The books, letters, and carefully positioned props gave a sense of depth to the world, etc. It was the plot, atmosphere, and setting that allowed Morrowind to be greater than it really should have been. You became so immersed in it that you stopped noticing all of the flaws.

Oblivion, on the other hand, got most of the technicals right. It's amazingly beautiful, the AI is significantly better (fewer NPC's repeatedly bouncing off of walls endlessly, etc) The havok physics are a nice upgrade (I liked being able to kick bottles, etc.) The water model was much improved, voice acting was nice, etc. The two features I would love to have most in Morrowind are horses and sitting/laying down. It's a shame Morrowind didn't have either.

However, the story just felt stilted and boring to me - though I admit I gave up on it fairly early on. I haven't played it, but I understand Shivering Isles brought back some of that atmosphere and story telling that we missed from Morrowind - which gives me hope for Skyrim.

I believe had Morrowind and Oblivion been switched - such that Morrowind had come out with Oblivion's engine and assets - it would have been one of the finest RPG ever made. People would have written books and sung songs about it. However, that's now how it happened - and perhaps its for the best.

So, I'm hoping for the depth and immersiveness of Morrowind with the upgraded core of Oblivion. If Skyrim can pull that off, we will have something great to play with for a long time.

It's a bit late, but here's my hint to the devs. Make it deep, but make it optional. Let the casual games finish the game in 20 hours and feel like they accomplished something, but under the surface, allow for a 100+ hour game for the diehards that want to explore every corner, do every side quest etc. That way, everyone wins.

Oh how quickly everything devolves into a Morrowind vs. Oblivion war around here... :wallbash:

This is just my opinion: This is Skyrim, so forget about those other two, please.

That is true

100+ is far from enough. Add an extra digit on that number and I will be pleased

Have you read my post?

I had proved what you just said without reading my post.

The only part of OB I liked better than MW was the quest writing and scripting.

Agreed on both counts. Its always a comparison on these forums, why not just appreciate separate games for what they are - separate games. I've played both Morrowind and Oblivion and love both, and with that said I'm one of the very few on THESE forums who was able to do that, which is a sad thing. :confused:

And thus far Skyrim sounds good to me, maybe its because I remain positive and don't feel the need to incessantly criticize a game that I know very little about.

Oblivion didn't set the bar too high, so I would hope Skyrim is better. It would be more than a little disappointing if it's not.

I'm just ecstatic about a new Elder Scrolls game and so much of a Bethesda fan that anything they say sounds good, to me.

Honestly, though, as long as they stick to making an open-ended, first-person, real-time RPG with a lot of content, I'm happy. As long as they don't remove swords and keep those things, I don't mind and I actually even welcome change. I swear Bethesda is one of the few companies who don't make every game in a series the same as a predecessor with some new weapons and I can honestly say I prefer the way Bethesda does it.

Yeah, this, uh, x 1000. Gracious. I guess it's inevitable. And it's only going to get worse.

NOPE! YOU'RE WRONG !

Haha just joking. I stand corrected :pinch:
I agree then. A certain amount of technical advancements are inevitable, each game naturally being more advanced than the one proceeding it. However when you strip each game of these natural additions which are the norm of the industry, you are left with the depth, creativity, originality, and basically everything else at the core of the game which makes it novel. When it comes to these important aspects, Morrowind has them all and then some, whereas Oblivion was sadly lacking.

Yes that's what I meant when I said that Skyrim would surely be a better game, because it is made with more advanced technology and the opportunities and options that comes with it.

And they have proven with FO3 that they are gradually returning to Morrowind standards, and announced that they want to bring back the unique sense of culture and factions conflicts that it had, and other aspects as well...

I have high hope for it, and I say let's wait and see.