I know that there's been this joke running for 10 years that cliff racers are the most annoying thing ever, and I used to agree with it a long time ago, but after playing the game recently I don't really get it anymore.

If you're level 1-5 and have a decent build, they're not that bad to fight and you'll get a lot of experience from them. I've found myself desperate for enemies to level my skills on in my recent playtime of the game, and cliff racers are good for that at low levels.

At higher levels, I usually kill them in one or two hits, so I don't see the annoyance?

Maybe it's just hearing that stupid sound they make over and over again?

Their collision/pathing is pretty bad too which often makes them entertaining to encounter. For example, I encountered one near Suran and it got stuck on the wall while trying to follow me into the town.

You see them being annoying as meaning: "I hate cliff racers, they're so hard to kill". What most people mean is: "I'm trying to just walk between Vivec and Peligiad. Oh great, here comes 5 cliff racers I have to deal with. Man, I hope that 5 more don't swoop down on me in 5 seconds."

They aren't difficult, just they swarm you over and over and over and over and over.

But I can either get a lot of skill increases from that or just kill them quickly... Neither of those are annoying,

Actually, I have been playing with MGE, maybe that makes the difference because I can see them from farther away and not walk right under 5 of them.

I wish I could get some gfx enhancer to work, is mge basically the same as overhaul?

Nah, MGE does distant land, shader stuff, AA and AF, etc. Really cool program, you can use it w/o the overhaul if you want, and customise it to what your PC can handle.

MOSG, if that's what you mean, replaces textures, sounds, models, and adds graphical mods such as windows glow. And it includes MGE on top of it.

It has nothing to do with combat. They're annoying to me because I hear them when they're not attacking. I won't know whether they're about to attack, however, unless I stop what I'm doing and look around. Okay, I verify that he's too far away to attack and proceed on my way. Twenty feet down the road I hear another Cliffracer. Again, I have to stop and look around to see if he's about to attack. I verify that he, too, is too far away to attack and I proceed on my way. Twenty feet down the road I hear another Cliffracer...

I'm starting a second real playthrough of MW, and I'm not finding them as annoying this time around. Granted, I'm only lvl 7 and have been hanging around Balmora/Vivec/Caldera a lot... maybe they're more common elsewhere?

It's probably also that this character's highest weapon skill is Marksman. With my last fighter, who only used crossbows and was always short on bolts, I hated to waste the shots, so it could lead to a waiting game as the cliff racer eventually figured out how to fly down at me.

They are way, way too repetitive.

They make horrible sounds.

I always need to make sure they don't see me, which means I must take the longer road.

They interrupt me all the time. Tracks change too often due to them.

huh?

what happened to your first pc?

i'm with ya.

they don't bug me, at all. i think they're funny looking when waiting all politely in single-file until it's their turn, lol.

the sound they make is classic and all morrowind.

I find them an irritation, I quickly get tired of slogging through swarms of Cliffracers every time I travel anywhere off the beaten path (i.e most of Vvardenfell). I modded my game to make them passive, except for the diseased and blighted ones. I like them better aesthetically this way too, as a scenic creature they add to the weird atmosphere of MW. You don't really get that with them when they're aggressive because they're usually right up in your face attacking you.

I wrote myself a mod to do this too. One of the simplest modifications to make, and I actually much prefer cliffracers when not all of them are out for my blood. The game feels nicer with a few more passive creatures

There are no cliff racers between Vivec and Pelagaid.

Amazing I know. I wouldn't have believed me either.

Yeah... I was thinking that. I've been playing recently too, none spotted in West Gash, Ascadian Isles, Bitter Coast (except for one off shore), or the Grazelands yet.
They are annoying in the Ashlands, and when island hopping around Azura's coast though.

You WILL learn to hate them.

Don't find them a problem myself, but then my game is modded with Creatures, with pads out their levelled lists to spawn other stuff, and also they have a script on them that increases their passiveness as you kill more and more of them. Although, they do have a chance of always attacking regardless.

It's not that they're hard to kill, and I can deal with the sheer repetition, but what really annoys me is how long it takes them to finally get on with the actual business of attacking.

You take a leisurely stroll through the ashlands or Molag Amur region (not that the areas are placid and idyllic places for a casual stroll), and you suddenly hear "That Sound". You look, and see nothing, because the "cliffie" has randomly flown off to check out another spot on the opposite side of the nearby mountain, but it might come back at any moment. Three minutes late, you're getting pecked on the back of your head. End result is that every time you hear "That Sound", you're on edge for the next few minutes, because an attack is likely.

Combining the sheer "numbers of the beast" and "That Sound" with the long wait until they gradually work their way down to you, and you have a formula that adds up to "annoying". Granted, with a Marksman character or Destruction Mage, it's less of an issue, because you can take the fight to them, rather than wait for the reverse, but otherwise they're pure evil, sent by Vaermina(?) as a form of mental torture against hapless adventurers.

Frequency of attacks by them can be annoying, but OTOH they can literally be a green, renewable cash cow. Their plumes are relatively light and bring up to 30 gold per plume (at least that's the number that sticks in my mind). That can buy a few days lodging and meals and support your other activities that generate 'real' money Plus they give ample opportunity to improve various skills, such as marksmanship or destruction or ... (fill in blank) So I think of them as a mixed blessing - both annoying yet a RP feature to provide a living for us subsistence-based hunters and ingredient gatherers

I always enjoyed going cliffracer hunting.......

They're everywhere. I walk, then the music changes, so i look left-righ, nothing, up, nothing, and then suddenly I'm attacked by a Cliffracer. Where was he? Up in the air, I couldn't spot him even if he was near me. Then another one appears. And another one. And onother two. Yea, there were times when I killed 5 Cliffracers in one place.

^
The cinematic camera won't allow you to spot them up in the sky. They keep following you, battle music plays, you know they are somewhere, but can't see 'em.

I found that an amusing post

I didn't hate them that much (with high Marksman skill they're not that much of a hassle) ... until I made the 'bright' move of changing all the music in the Morrowind music files....

Much as I like the original music, every now and then I like to change it up, so I created alternative collections of the music folder, using my own choice of music, and swapping out the files. There's a particular file that always plays for wilderness hostiles, and I picked a suitably loud and dramatic piece for this one. Too loud and too dramatic, it turns out...!

The trouble is, Cliff Racers always seem to attack in areas that are reasonably mob-free, and for all my other 'wandering through the lovely countryside'-type music I'd chosen nice, peaceful numbers that were about half the volume. And, most often, you hear the Cliff Racers loonngg before you see them. so there I'd be, strolling through the environment being lulled into a false sense of security by the soothing background music - "Doo do-dooo.... doo-dooo doo-doooo... do-do...

-DAN-DAN-DAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" - at full-on volume as a pack of Cliff Racers do their stealth-thingy somewhere a hundred miles above my head! Cue beverages thrown over myself in shock, pounding heart and much cursing as I scan the skies for the little blighters.

So that's my tip - if you're gonna change the battle music, don't change it to something likely to give you cardiac arrest if you're not expecting it.

They smell bad.

I deleted them from all the Leveled Lists they are in. I hadn't seen one in like 6 years. And btw, there are like about or over 3,000 spots in the game where they'll spawn at.. That is the highest amount of spawn-points any creature have in Vanilla Morrowind, last I check.