Hey all,

I'm a recent new lover of Morrowind, happily plodding along with my Orcish Fighter-mage Gragnok Gra'bool. There is one main reason I haven't played as much as I'd like to, though...my PC. Not that it can't handle the game, but I just hate playing games on my computer, as opposed to lounging on my couch with one of my console systems. Good news, though, I've got the xbox morrowind GOTY, eh? The one issue--it would be going back to vanilla.

I started up my first game with a fair number of mods. Some visual, some gameplay, some balance. I've never really played much of vanilla. How much of a different experience at the end of the day is it? Are the mods, ultimately, just icing on the cake, or do a lot of the standard mods really improve the feel and flow of the game? I know this is a little vague since I don't have the mod list (and aren't at the right computer to post it...), but for the most part I installed a lot of the "classic" and standard mods. Morrowind updated, I think, MGE, GCD, better bodies/clothes/etc...I basically went down one of the recommended mods for new players list and used most.

Anyway, let me know what the vanilla experience is like. I love Morrowind, and I really like the mods, but at the end of the day I may enjoy the console experience more. Thanks.

-Nikolai

Edit: Heh...I just noticed the "Vanilla for me" thread two threads down... I'll look through that, but any other new opinions would be great.

Many people enjoy the vanilla experience, as you can see from http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1120592-vanilla-for-me/
Vanilla can be very enjoyable, but it does have some flaws, which is why most people still install the community patches to fix errors and keep the game stable.

Many people cannot play without certain mods, like GCD or BB, but at the end of the day mods are just an extension to an already great game.

I know it's probably too late since you've already bought an XBox but I have to say this...no one is forced to sit at a desk when they use a PC. My PC sits on the floor. My Monitor is on a very low table. I play Oblivion on the floor with my back against a pillow-chair, surrounded by pillows and blankets. I can game while lying on my back, on my side, on my stomach or sitting up. I have more space to stretch out than if I were sitting on a couch.





There are over 7,000 mods just on Planet Elder Scrolls alone, and every single mod user uses some different combination of mods. So it's impossible to say how much of a different experience vanilla is without specifying which mods we're talking about.

I think Morrowind is perfectly playable without mods. It's a great game, right out of the box. In my opinion vanilla Morrowind has fewer crippling faults than any game I've ever played. And this comes from someone who has made and used mods for eight years.

That said, I'm the exact opposite of everybody else who has ever played Morrowind, in that I don't think Morrowind needs graphics mods. Yes, I said it out loud: I don't think Morrowind needs graphics mods. I don't play with Better Bodies, or MGE, and I don't use texture replacers. I play with a lot of mods that change the game is sometimes very drastic ways, which, as you can see from reading that other thread, is frowned on around here. So you probably don't want to listen to anything I say, lol.

It really does depend on what mods you use. If it is a big enough deal that you went ahead and bought the Xbox version, then I suppose it's worth it. Personally, there are a lot of mods that I have to have, and I don't think I would ever be able to switch to completely vanilla. But yes, Morrowind is a wonderful game vanilla or modded, so it really just depends on your preference.

Morrowind works wonderfully without mods, but Better Bodies and Better Textures (etc) really give a lot to the game. I played Vanilla Morrowind for approximately 2? years before I DL'd my first mod, and didn't get bored with it once. After playing the modded version first, I don't know how you'll adjust to Vanilla.

TES games are meant to be modded, which is why I personally wouldn't even dream of buying one for my X-Box. Then again, whatever works for you. At the end of the day, Morrowind is brilliant even unmodded.

This is just my personal experience, but if you play pure vanilla (Ie on the XBOX, as I did for 4 years) generally you may end up getting a bit of an MMO type syndrome, as in, you tend to stop role-playing and instead focus more on just finishing things in precise ways. In my experience, it eventually got to the point where I could, quite literally, plot out the three Main Quests, all of the factions (That could be played on one character), and all of the sidequests, as well as the collection of all the uniques and what not in my head and play through them in relatively the same amount of time and never actually have to pick up the game. Even to this day, 4 years after finally putting down Morrowind for good (and subsequently picking it back up) I can still do most of that.

Basically my point is that you should be careful of how you play the game, as you may end up getting lost and eventually losing that charm that Morrowind has when you slow down and actually take in the game.

Personally, I think vanilla is underrated. Mods can fix a lot of stuff and add a lot of content, but the core game is really not as bad as some people make it sound like.

That said, although I can perfectly understand someone who would want to go back to vanilla for gameplay reasons (like in the other thread), I'm not sure you're doing it for the right reasons. You might want to rethink about it because I get the feeling you'll just end up disappointed. Going back to a 100% unaltered game is fine if that's what you really want, but that doesn't seem to be your case.

I consider them the second half of a game that was only half-finished when it shipped >.>

Half finished how?

Most TVs nowadays have a place for you to plug a monitor cable into. Just plug your PC to your TV instead of a monitor (not necessary if you've got a bigass monitor) and get a decent Joypad. It'll take some dinking around with the controls to get the joypad to work right but once you get it set the way you want you can easily switch back and forth. Switch to the joypad when you want the "sit down on the couch" experience and switch back to the keyboard and mouse otherwise.

Another alternative would be to get a super comfortable computer chair like mine. Even if I had a couch near my computer I'd still prefer to sit in my chair.

While I myself do, very much prefer the vanilla game over a game with modded content, I will admit that there are a few bug-fixing mods that are almost required to play the game properly. Then again I've never played the console version so the bugs you see in the PC version my not exist on Xbox for all I know.

My mod list commentary and, in particular, the main readme for my own mod both read like a laundry list of faults I found the original game.

I've been told that the main readme for my FAQ is the greatest exploitation guide for unmodded Morrowind in existence.

That actually is something that I was considering. I often have plugged my comp into my TV, and used my wireless mouse and a keyboard with a usb extender while Morrowinding. Ergonomically I just prefer the controller to the mouse and kb, even if it is less accurate. Perhaps I'll try buying one. It's frustrating...I have a wireless Xbox360 controller with a usb charging adapter, and the computer clearly recognizes it, but microsoft disallowed the wireless controllers being used wired via these adaptors.

My one xbox warning is to get used to really, really long loading screens. It took me less time to download the game and get started than it did to load the game on the xbox. You get used to it after a while though (2 years talking here).

I got to admit I went over the top with mods when I started morrowing, and it ruined my exsperiance from the start, however not all my experiance, because I never could cope with travelling on it lol but now playing vanilla has been more enjoyable then ever lol. Then again my mods where amuture mods back then, but i've gotten more advanced and now working on a large city on oblivion for 2nd time lol. :brokencomputer: