So, we all know that there is about....nine months or more until TES-V is released and I was a massive, huge fan of Oblivion. Only problem is, it is starting to bore me and I'm looking for something new.

So, I turn to Morrowind. *BUT*. I have heard a few bad things lately about Oblivion players who go back to Morrowind and are dissapointed with the poor graphics and what they call "antiquated" gameplay.

Is it true? Is morrwind fun to play, even after Oblivion? Oblivion was graphically pretty yes, but it missed a certain...something...Is that something to be found in Morrwind? Daggerfall almost broke my spirit it was so hard, so I hope Morrowind isn't that hard.

I want something tough, but enjoyable. Even if the graphics svck, I'm happy if the content is there. Is there fantastic storylines? Is it true that you can actually explore every mountain you see and not be pushed back by the stupid freaking invisible wall of Oblivion?

Thank you for all that respond...now I just need to know one more thing.

If I choose to buy this, it will be through Steam, thus I can't do any patch-like things such as the snowflake fixing bug I have heard of. Remember, I will not have any discs, so if there are any patches/fixes that require fancy disc-copy-stuff, I can't do that. Will the game still work on steam? (and windows 7, 32 bit).

Thank you very much to all who respond. I appreciate any advice you can give me.

I'd say you'll like Morrowind a lot. Everything you're looking for (content, storylines, tough but enjoyable) describes Morrowind very well. And yes, Morrowind's game world is infinite. Vvardenfell is surrounded by water and the water continues out forever. No invisible barriers (gods, how I hated those in Oblivion!)

Personally, I don't think Morrowind looks bad at all. I just started a new game myself, without any mods (except for a race mod). I'm enjoying Morrowind's graphics enormously. What Morrowind lacks in graphical high-tech bell-and-whistles it makes up in style. Morrowind (somewhat like World of Warcraft, in my opinion) has so much style you can almost forget the graphics are not next-gen. That said, I think Morrowind's water and skies actually look better than those in Oblivion (particularly daytime skies). Morrowind's water is still, after all these years, some of the best water I have ever seen in a game.

Your biggest adjustment may be the combat system. Morrowind uses more of a traditional roleplaying combat, where character stats matter as much as player skill. Some players who are used to Oblivion and first-person shooters, have a hard time with that. Just keep in mind that the hardest levels in Morrowind combat are the very early levels. It is my experience that after level 5 combat gets progressively easier.

The up-side to Morrowind's combat is a feeling of accomplishment. In the beginning of the game the player often misses. As levels pass the player begins to connect with more regularity until finally, at about weapon level 75, the player is rarely missing at all anymore. Hitting that point is a great feeling. For me, there's a feeling of accomplishment in reaching this point at last that is missing in Oblivion. In Oblivion the player hits as often at level 1 as he does at level 50.

In case you haven't seen it already here is a handy article: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind_for_Oblivion_Players

Thanks alot Pseron Wyrd, for the speedy reply.

well, if the invisible barrier is gone, that almost sells the game for me.

Seriously though, I won't mind if the graphics are missing, as long as the game will run. I just checked and Steam doesn't have a refund policy...meaning if the game doesn't work and I can't apply traditional patches because of the way steam works, I could be out $AU20.00. Which is a fair bit. I missed the steam summer sale and don't know whether there is another until december....

In any case, I just checked out UESP and the list of stuff sounds good. I hated the omniscient compass, so the signposts will be a nice change. Also, level scaling svcked, so another tick. The other stuff does sound good too, a bit more 'hardcoe' than Oblivion, which might be nice.
also, no fast travel, and no "omnisicent guards know you murdered someone" sounds good.

Thanks again for your help.

The Steam version patches itself so you don't have to worry about patches. But if you like Oblivion, it is worth getting. Morrowind I prefer to Oblivion, I just love the style and feel to the game. I think you will really enjoy it. Morrowind has endless playtime value it is definitely worth the buy. Even after all these years I still can sit and play Morrowind and find new stuff to do.

Unfortunately, the water in MW showed up all the other graphics in the game so much

I just started my first-ever Morrowind playthrough (on 360 of all things) just last week. Definitely worth a try! I miss the combat and the graphics from Oblivion a little bit, but for the greatest part am really enjoying my "new" game.

Yes, play Morrowind. You will not regret it.

I started the series with Oblivion, and nowadays I much prefer Morrowind, it just has far more replay value and interesting things to explore

I play Morrowind on the Steam version, and I can download and play all the mods I want. You just need to redate the Morrowind, Tribunal and Bloodmoon .bsa files in your data files folder to the following: Morrowind 5/1/2002, Tribunal 11/6/2002, and Bloodmoon 6/3/2003. You will need a file date changer program, http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/filedatech.html is the one I used. The only difference I have seen between the Steam version and the disk version, is the Steam version won't allow you to use the Tribunal and Bloodmoon assets in the Construction Set, which was enough for me to go out and find the disk version, but it might not be a big deal if you don't mod, or don't mod much.

Morrowind is a great game. I highly recommend it.

morrowind is fun to play, the only thing that i can't stand about it is the dialog, every npc is like a walking encyclopedia repeating teh same info as everyone else. Teh combat is....ok but it takes some getting used to,

Sounds like you will really enjoy Morrowind.

But one thing a lot of players have trouble with in Morrowind, is assessing the value of the skill levels.
For example, here's how I rank my shortblade levels:

50: Average
30: Bad
20: Terrible
10: "Oh god! I just stabbed myself!"

So when I hear a player complaining that he keep missing at a skill of 25, I can't help but laugh. But if you know how bad 25 is, you can take measures like using a bound dagger, training or even choosing the Warrior birthsign at the start and won't have any trouble.

Absofreakinglutely! Just don't expect a pretty live action game, but appreciate Morrowind as a traditional fantasy RPG and delve into the new world. TESIII certainly has its annoyances and it's hard and time-consuming to get a game going, but it will reward you! :celebration:

This!

I think you would quite enjoy Morrowind. Many of the players on these forums even prefer it over Oblivion.

I'd say go for it. I It sounds like you'd love it

Ok then guys. Thanks for your help.

I think I might get it! thanks again!

is that date trick only needed for mods, or do I have to do that to play it at all?

You can play without doing that, and the only mods that I would recommend for a first playthrough are the Morrowind Patch Project and Morrowind Code Patch.

Ok, thanks. I just wanted to check.

moneebagz is dead on, only needed for mods, and I'll second his recommendation for just using the patches for your first play through, you really should see the game as it was originally intended.

Will Steam add those for me? It seems to patch almost everything else..?

BTW, I'm looking at getting the Morrowind GOTY edition, if that changes anything.

You'll have to download them, and they are considered mods, so you will have to do the re-date thing in order to use them:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19510

http://www.gamesas.com/?showtopic=1041190

Steam GOTY only has the official patches applied. I have the GOTY too.

edit- I'd like to add that these patches are not necessary to play the game. They just pick up where the official patches leave off.

Thanks for clarrifying that.

Thanks also to everyone else who helped me.

Even after GOTY came out there were still many minor issues that the unofficial patch fixed that made things better. Nothing like an NPC telling you something is east when they really mean west. (only a couple of instances but you get the idea.) Yes play it vanilla style if for nothing else than to see how it was supposed to be. Mods can be added later and really increase the replaying of the game. Heck some people here have played MW for years and never even finished the main quest. I have one character that has never completed a single quest. My biggest complaint is the graphics but that can be fixed with mods. Even so, its a really awesome game.

Nothing like....so how am I supposed to get the idea? :unsure2:

Anyway, as long as there is no disastrous graphics-missing or broken-quest like things, I think it will be fine. Thanks for the help. :laugh:

You know, that's something that I originally expected in the game. I didn't trust all the information given to me, because I thought a part of the game would be that some NPCs would lie, but to my disappointment I found out that everybody always speaks the full truth and it ruined part of the realism.

I had a quest bug, which prevented me from doing any of the quests of a specific quest giver, but I won't say anything more as not to ruin anything but be warned!