» Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:38 pm
Some of these complaints are laughable for an RPG, really.
For example, there are many complaints about Morrowind's combat and magic system being based on (gasp) SKILL! Well, it's a role playing game, and your character's ability to do anything is supposed to be due to their skill (theirs, not the human being playing them, but the character's!) Same with actions like running or jumping. If it isn't good enough, raise the skill! If you want spells to work, raise the skill! (Not to mention that it doesn't matter, anyway, because pure spell casters should be spell chaining to cast spells due to the very limited magicka pool available in any of these games... characters who seldom or never use spells can try and fail or simply use scrolls and potions). Same with combat of any kind - raise the skill if you are not hitting, just as you would if you were actually in that situation yourself.
It seems to me that some (vocal) people do not want an RPG, but actually want an action game where they are testing their own abilities, not role playing a character with specific skill levels. There is a difference between genres, even for hybrid action/RPG products (where they usually lean more toward the "action" than the "RPG" actually).
Yes, Morrowind could be improved. For example, the poor character art, animations, etc have been stated many times and such things are some of the most popular mods for PC players of the game. However, it seems rather silly to ask for role playing essentials to be replaced by action essentials and call such a change an "improvement" of an RPG. The same is true for Oblivion, of course; there's little reason to replace role playing elements with action elements and call such a change an "improvement" of an RPG.