I remember when i first played morrowind and i would just head in a direction and see where it took me, and the amount of places and objects i discovered was incredible. One minute i was in a sandy town, the next in a rocky desloate area then the next im near a great big wall with a some kind of forcefield. There was giant creatures to travel on, buildings shapped completely differently and just sooo many diverse locations and i just remember feeling lost and confused, and i kinda liked that because to me that is exploration.

Now i havent experienced this in any other game, not even skyrim. Iv tried to do the same in skyrim, just head ina direction and see what feelings it gives me and to be honest its same as oblivion, in that i feel like im more or less in the same place wherever i go, with a few exceptions. Now im not saying that i dont like this game - i love it in fact -i think its better then morrowind and oblivion and to be honest its probabaly gonna go down as one of my all time favourites. I just wish Bethesda would give me that feeling of exploration again, i so do miss it.

Howe about you guys, are you different to me? Feel the same? Do you think skyrim has the exploration morrowind had or lack of it? Let me know, thanks : )

In Regard to exploration it's;

Morrowind>Skyrim>Oblivion

Places of Skyrim looks too similar for you? I agree. Morrowind was definitely more unique.

For me there was exploration thrill in my first Skyrim playthrough, the world is beautiful and many unique looking handcrafted locations. The dungeons were nice too because there is variation in design, puzzles ( a bit too easy, but still). Skyrim is a beautiful place to explore. But Morrowind had a whole different vibe, first there was the covered map that made everything a surprise, I don't like to see the geography and the cities in a Google Maps layout from the beginning. Searching for locations on my own added a lot of excitement to Morrowind, the compass makes things too easy. And, of course, when it comes to exploration, there's also the loot factor. The unique loot handplaced all over the map in the most hidden places made my Morrowind exploration worthwile, although there are pieces that I never found. The leveled loot in Skyrim is killing part of the exploration thrill.

All in all, Morrowind had the greatest "lost adventurer in a strange land" feeling for me, but Skyrim is also enjoyable, a good improvement on Oblivion, I hope they keep the handcrafted design and improve the loot from non-quest related exploration and the puzzles to be more varied and more challenging.

It's because in Skyrim they hold your hand and give you a piggy back ride to the places... In Morrowind you were like "WHERE THE FK AM I AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!111" Which could get pretty annoying, even though that is how you would be realistically since you have never set foot there before... There needs to be an in-between imo.

You must not have played Morrowind in a while. It doesn't even compared to Skyrim's exploration, unique locations, varied terrain and easter eggs.

Feels like your character have some kind of high-awareness ability by knowing were everything is at a distance.

I think its because in Skyrim and Oblivion, you have too much information from the beginning.

When your start, you already know all the regions and the major towns, and a compass that tells you every locations in the area. Lets not forget that an arrow tells you exacly where to go, and who to meet.

So exploration is minimal in this game.

I think the Internet has a lot to do with this. When I played Morrowind, the only real way to find out what was in the game was to go somewhere and see what there was. Now, we can almost read about the entire game, whether we want to or not, before we even install it.

As for the game "giving me" a reason to explore, this one is the better of the series. Simply because each dungeon now has a story or a reason for exploring it. Before, a number of places were generic in the sense that it was a place to explore with something neat to pick up, but no real reason for it being there. Other than the few Easter Eggs sprinkled about, most dungeons in Oblivion/Morrowind were interchangeable. Note, I am not refering to aesthetics or design, just the reasons for being there.

You're kidding. In Morrowind, the map was actually useful. The journal was useful. You must pay attention to the directions NPCs gave you or else you will get LOOOSSSTTT!
Skyrim on the other hand, you just know. No directions needed, you just know...

LMAO why would a sane person be HAPPY that Bethesda removed a feature they didn't use? Spellmaking was optional.

lol thats like saying exploration is optional just do the quest and dont worry about it, I dont explore past the quest so i dont care it is less as exciting

that just sound stupid, everything in the game is optional, if they take out swords since im a mage i dont care? no

do you understand how dumb you just looked?

I enjoy exploring Morrowind and Skyrim about equally. If I had to pick one that I like to explore the most it would be Skyrim

I don't find this at all. I still find Skyrim a far more interesting place to explore - its less desolate (Molag Amur, I'm looking at you!), is more detailed (both graphically and in terms of the overall details placed in the world) and to me, has a much better 'feel' to it. Skyrim practically yells 'explore me!' as I walk by. Morrowind does this to a degree, but eventually you'll hit one of the bleak bits of landscape and end up sprinting all the way to your destination.

That's not to say exploration is bad in Morrowind, I just feel its better in Skyrim. It's subjective, I suppose.

I've never played Morrowind, but I did see some videos of it. Despite not having a comparison, I do agree Oblivion seemed to be very open and without any real major scenery changes. But I can't agree it didn't give me a feeling I was losing out in exploration. I always loved going over the next hill and seeing a town, building, or ruin inviting me to check it out. I loved how the open plains turned into a wooded area as I headed east, and swimming in the rivers because it was faster than walking.

Skyrim's exploration was a bit different, because real life told me mountains aren't going to be fun to navigate. I spent more time trying to determine where paths went, since there really wasn't much to expect but more forest or plains on the other side, which added a great sense of realism for me. Finding places and buildings hidden in the trees is still exciting for me, but yes, I don't suppose there would be a sense of exploration in a mountainous region.

For that, kudos to Labyrinthia. I so love that ruin.

On the topic: I always feel encouraged to explore in any TES I've played. Skyrim gives me a lot of points of interest and the landscape variation is great. Morrowind on the other hand appealed to me in a greater sense because I love the alien nature of the province more than Cyrodiil and Skyrim. I was fascinated by the land, the people, the events, the fauna, the rare artifacts, everything was rewarding my persistence and the slower paced exploration with silt strider rides, checking my map and journal all the time, even noting down things to remember, made it more like an adventure for me. Skyrim at some point becomes more predictible in what may expect you doing a quest, diving in the water or opening a chest in a place that was insanely difficult to break in.

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There's a reason why the feeling of exploration is limited: it's the almost complete lack of mystery. Why would I want to climb all the way up to the peak of that mountain if I already pretty much know what I'm going to find along the way and at the end of the road? I just have to take a brief look at the map to realize that at the most I'm going to stumble upon a cave, a ruin and perhaps a dragon wall, with no stories to tell unless they are related to a quest. Nothing really unique.

There's an abandoned mine in the Rift with a journal telling a story about two miners. One of them disappeared with no apparent reason but if you look very carefully you'll know why. If you know what I'm talking about you should easily realize that Skyrim definitely needs more of this kind of locations.

That, and the complete lack of a near-distant fog, which is what really makes you feel lost and confused. That is exploration, as the OP said. A dense forest would be very welcomed as well.

Clearly you haven't played Morrowind in awhile. Morrowind's terrain varies from grasslands, to marshlands, to archipelago, to desolate Ashlands/Volcanic, to city-scapes, to wintery forests. Skyrim's terrain goes from Wintery forest, to wintery forest, to another forest, with a little bit of marshlands and plains thrown, finishing with rocky terrain in the Reach.

Morrowind does have better exploration/encourages more exploration for several reasons, among which:

• More interesting minor cities - I don't feel like Skyrim's towns and villages offer you much at all aside from the five major holds, and even the smaller holds don't have much to do or see. Morrowind just had more small towns which would have their own quests, and usually a lot of quests from elsewhere that would cause you to visit that town.
  
• More varied terrain - Like I said earlier, Morrowind just had a lot of different types of places you could see.
  
• Hand placed loot - In Morrowind I was rewarding for visiting every little cave I could find because there was always a chance that there was some super awesome unique artifact stashed in some corner. Skyrim's dungeons generally offer you random, leveled loot.
  
• Less restrictions on movement - In Morrowind if I saw a high ledge, or mountain I could levitate up to it and see what was up there. Usually nothing...sometimes the only Daedric Longbow in the game. There was literally nowhere I couldn't go, no angle I couldn't look at something from.

^ pretty much this. 5 years of efforts wasted by the minute they thought a 3D map with a GPS was a oh so cool idea that everyone would have liked.

I'm with dAb, the 3D Geosynchronous Dwemer Satellite giving topography/terrain type and up to the minute weather information sorely works against that "exploration" feeling. you know what roads to take and how to get wherever. that compounded with Oblivions Progeny of Randomized lewt and very little of interest in said dungeons when you get into one.


yep

and they all (Morrowind Oblivion and Skyrim) suffer from been there done that syndrome but thats not whats being discussed. unlike Morrowind and Oblivion you know exactly what looks like where before ever getting to it. never mind that Oblivion had all the markers for every city enabled from the start. in Skyrim you know where they are and what they look like and whats between them >_>

Well I never said anything about the map, journal or directions. I just commented on the OP's comment about the varied places and landscapes.

Quote - "and the amount of places and objects i discovered was incredible. One minute i was in a sandy town, the next in a rocky desloate area then the next im near a great big wall with a some kind of forcefield."

More like one minute I was running over a flat grey surface, then I was on a green flat surface and then a brown one. You can debate that Morrowind did other things better but when i comes to landscape and places of interest it doesn't even compare to Skyrim.

FYI - you can turn the quest arrows off, look for the location marked on your map and find your own way.

Which leads only to frustration, since you are not given any directions at all. Nothing, nada, niente, nichts. Sure, the directions in Morrowind were confusing at best but one would think that after ten years the Beth folks would have learned how to implement them a bit better. Oh wait, what on earth am I proposing here? Just remove them altogether and give players GPS arrows, it's easier!

I tried to do that, but then I came to the realization that Skyrim don't really give you any real directions. People tell you WHERE you need to go without actually telling you HOW to get there. Sometime they don't even till you WHERE. They just tell you to go fetch this and SOMEHOW you just...know... Like I said, your character is just suppose to...know...