Ok now Im not going to talk about the dungeons in Morrowind here in case others haven't played it, but, does everyone remember that very first Ayleid (oops spelling) ruin right when you exited the sewers at the start of the game? Ok so you killed those bandits outside, then go into the ruin. You find that there are more bandits camped down there. You go into their leader's quarters and find a note with their plans to rob people on the highway outside, but that there are noises scaring them coming from lower in the ruins. You go down their, explore, fight undead, and find a necromancer who has been creating the undead, and then read his note about how he fled Morrowind when the mages guild outlawed necromancy. Not quest found here, just pure self exploration, which made me feel as if the whole open world thing had so many possibilities to see etc etc. Then I learn that that was the only non quest dungeon like this.

So what I am saying is that I would rather have a few of these types of dungeons than 1000s of the kind found in oblivion

I like uniqueness in a dungeon but there should be ordinary generic dungeons with only a hand full of bandits in them.

It was pretty clever how Bethesda made the first dungeon you see as you exit the sewers so much more interesting than 90% of the others. Good first impressions for the players and reviewers.

It even had a decent amount of clutter in it.

By the title of the thread I thought you meant something else...

I explore myself all the time.

Me too.

It's nice to know we three have something in common...Mr. Sparrowhawk might consider retitling this thread....

Exploring without the need of a quest is my favorite way to pass time, I loved how it worked in Morrowind how you could just walk around ruins and rocks and come across hidden armor and neat places. One thing I missed in Oblivion was that there wasn't much for exploring other than in dungeons or sight seeing on vanilla. I would like to have that urge to look anywhere and everywhere to find something special for my character, whether its armor, a unique item or something else. No crack will go unexplored. ^_^

There was a good few unmarked quests in Oblivion, I'm sure there will be too in Skyrim.

I agree whole-heartedly...

The new snowy and mountaneous environments beg for it. Should be some really good stuff.

Just so you know, that's not true. There were a few others pretty much exactly like that. Specifically, Lost Boy Caverns comes to mind. I know Shivering Isles had several more like it as well. You can't expect EVERY dungeon to have something like that though. Only a select few, so it's a fun find when it happens.

I lol'd but i still agree with the OP completely.

Me too...

The necromancer came from Daggerfall, and he did indeed offer a fun little theme to Vilverin.
Its just too bad that most of the other dungeons did not have a little story like that.
Its kind of sneaky even. Its the first dungeon many people in the game will see, including reviewers, and it will give an askew view of the experiences ahead.
Unfinished and bugged quests like Lost Boy cavern dont really count lol.

Lackuster in Oblivion dungeons was one of the most heard complaints though, after level scaling, and I have no doubt whatsoever that in Skyrim a lot more attention is given to make them memorable.

Thanks.
You just made my day!

:biggrin: