TES dungeons have always been too simplistic, whether they have a confusing layout with lots of paths or not, the main problem is that enemy placement and spawning isn't very well conceived to create a variety of challenge and motivate the player to consider different strategies and approaches depending on the layout and terrain. It's basically run and swing at everything you meet (or blast, shoot or whatever your style of play is). There are no obstacles that you can use for protection, or using shadows to stay hidden, chokepoints to avoid being overwhelmed or other features. Skyrim isn't worse than any other TES game in that regard, and in fact does surprise with a few dungeon battles that involves unique AI behavior that though not really that challenging, at least throws you off your game a little bit at first.

and i like the trap door / ladder exit. who wants to run back through an empty dungeon?

i just don't agree here. running back up a narrow tunnel - or a flight of steps to get the tactical advantage is abundant here IMO. i have found that some baddies stand out in the open, and some lurk (or nap lol) just off to the side of a door way. it seems they wont chase me very far, which can make sense since i'm supposed to be good at sneaking and such. since i'm not super hi level yet, i end up sniping a couple baddies and then usually have to haul ass as their pals come a searching. they give up and i go back at it. also: since i use destruction as my "o crap, they are on top of me", i've found the aforementioned chokepoints and stairs a nice way to hit multiple enemies and catch them with my Fus Ro (don't have to 'Do' yet) which usually gives me time to get out of doge.

morrowind dungeons were awesome, but i too got lost often. oblivion was just horrible (like fallout subways!!) - skyrim has unique looking dungeons IMO. as unique as they can be i suppose. and i like the trap door / ladder exit. who wants to run back through an empty dungeon?

Yes, having all these different dungeons is a step back to having the same dungeon copy and pasted across the whole map.

In terms of huge, complicated and mazelike, we haven't had those since Daggerfall.

Yes, I too feel that Morrowind has better Dungeons than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind has better graphics and visuals than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind has better combat than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind has better voice-acting than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind is more immersive than Skyrim. Oblivion? What's that? Never heard of it.

Seriously, we all know Morrowind was a good game but if that's the only game you're going to compare everything to (with your distorted, nostlagic view of the game) then keep out of the other forums.

What else are you going to compare it to? TES games are unique so it makes more sense to compare Skyrim to a prior TES game than any game made by someone other than Bethesda.

Yes, having all these different dungeons is a step back to having the same dungeon copy and pasted across the whole map.

Yes, I too feel that Morrowind has better Dungeons than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind has better graphics and visuals than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind has better combat than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind has better voice-acting than Skyrim. I also feel that Morrowind is more immersive than Skyrim. Oblivion? What's that? Never heard of it.

Seriously, we all know Morrowind was a good game but if that's the only game you're going to compare everything to (with your distorted, nostlagic view of the game) then keep out of the other forums.

I wish some of them were actually dark or had dark parts in them. There really isn't much use for a torch in this game unless I turn down the brightness.

Whats that about Blackreach? Oh you mean that unnecessarily large cavern thats filled with a whole bunch of nothing?

Read in between the lines. In no way are the dungeons in Morrowind overall better than they are in Skyrim. And he didn't even mention the VAST improvements from Oblivion or even Oblivion at all. There are lots of threads like these. The OP is simply struck by Morrowind Nostalgia, otherwise most people would agree with him.

you put skyrim graphic and details in morrowinds dungeons that had good loot and skyrim's gets blown away.

Skyrim dungions IMO are much better than Oblivion's, which not only had LESS tilesets, but less unqiue tiles per tileset. Skyrim's gameplay in dungions is also much more fun as well.

However, they do suffer from it's own problems, that Morrowind didn't have. The thing is, your average Skyrim dungion on a case-by-case basis is more fun to play through than a Morrowind one on a case-by-case basis. But, the problem is that there are just too MANY dungions in skyrim, and that every single one has the exact same style/layout of design.

Every cave, drager den, dwemer ruin, fort, etc will ALWAYS play in a linear sequence of halls filled with the same exact traps, followed by a "boss" baddie, followed by obviously predictably randomly generated loot everywhere, with a convienent exit right at the start of the dungion.

This is a nice design. The problem is, it's used everywhere. There's no variation in anything except the layouts or the circumstances. There's also the problem of loot not being rewarding because you never get anything "good" for your level, and you never have anything worth spending you gold on anyways.

Artistically there are also repetition issues. All Dragur Dens will look EXACTLY the same, along with caves, etc. Places don't feel unique past the first hour of gameplay as such.

Now there are VERY rare exceptions. Black Reach for example. Other examples would be Passes, which don't loop around to the entrance. Certain caves are a lot more open too, like the Broken Oar Grotto. But these are very rare exceptions.

It's ironic that they made dungion design less repetitive and more fun from a moment-to-moment gameplay point of view compaired to the copy+paste dungions from Oblivion by expanding tilesets and types, but they failed to make them less repetitive in their overall gameplay design. So, in effect, they are just as repetetive as Oblivion, except now for different reasons.

the dungeons are better detailed and a bit different from one another. ok. i'm tired of opening a barred/hidden door that puts me right back at the beginning of the dungeon. dungeons are very linear. no mystery, no intrigue.

but, the worst is that the loot is meaningless. the economy is broken. master chests with 20 gold.

i'd rather have better gameplay mechanics.