Hi All,
I would like to start playing the Elder Scrolls series of games but am unsure of where to start. Can you advise? I know nothing of the series, I've just heard it's very good. I would think starting with the latest game might be confusing, but going back to the earliest game (late 90's?) doesn't sound too appealing.
Thanks much,
JI

PS Please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong forum.

Hi, and welcome to the forums! :goodjob:
You're new here, so have a http://www.uesp.net/wiki/general:Fishy_Stick

The only two games I've player were Morrowind and Oblivion.
Personally, I liked Oblivion more.
I also think that you should start with Oblivion, because you don't have to know alot about TES to fully enjoy it.
Morrowind is a great game, but I think that you need to know a little bit more about it.

The series isn't like alot of game series, were you have to play game 1 to know about game 2.
You can start from anywhere, and still understand it

But you will probably be safer with Oblivion.

ALSO: please wait for other people to post there opinions before you go out and buy Oblivion, they may have more useful information that will help you out.

Any TES game from the 90's might be hard to play considering the extremely outdated graphics. But http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind would be a good game to start with, as I and many people think it's better than http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion. Morrowind doesn't have the greatest graphics, but they aren't bad and you'll get used to them quickly. What did you want to play on? PC, Xbox 360, PS3?

For a first time, Morrowind. It will captivate you. Makes you feel all -- *nostalgia tear*

It doesn't really matter what game you play first. There are a few things you might get if you played the earlier games, but generally speaking they are fairly independent. Although it is worth to note that they all follow a timeline; TES2 is 6 years after TES1, TES3 is 22 years after TES2 and TES4 is 6 years after TES3.

Another thing worth noting is that TES1: Arena and TES2: Daggerfall are http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/downloads_games.htm so they are easy to try, and (today only) there's a http://store.steampowered.com/app/22320/ on TES3: Morrowind so you can buy it cheap.

But the Steam version of Morrowind doesn't come with the Construction Set, so if the OP ever wanted to mod, he couldn't.

All grievances aside, I would advise you not to play Oblivion as first because of two reasons: 1. It will be hard to play other TES games after that (you'll be used to better graphics, voice dialogues etc.) 2. There are quite a few spoilers in Oblivion considering the events that take place in Morrowind (mostly rumours of what is happening in that province, but they contain some important details).

The obvious answer would be "from the beginning," which is easy, since as Freddo said the first two are available for free. That aside, you don't really need to know anything about the other games to play one of them, so starting point doesn't matter much.

It doesn't really matter where you start, as they are all great games. I personally would recommend Morrowind, as it is my (and many others') favorite. I really don't want to get into the fissure between Morrowind players and Oblivion players, but needless to say that Morrowind and Oblivion are rather different games.

However, Morrowind is rather cheap at the moment, so that is a good incentive to try it out first.

Daggerfall or Arena, dont go Oblivion and backwards cuz you get too hooked up on the graphics and just go "olololol grafixx sux dis gaem isnt PS3 STANDARD!!111!!!oneone ololololollonololol"

give the old games a chance first and if your eyes cant take the heat you are welcome to progress to easier TEs games like Morrowind/Oblivion.

Not like (vanilla) Oblivion's graphics are worth mentionning.

Personally, either Morrowind or Daggerfall would be a good starting point for starting the series.

:nod:

I think Oblivion is the best place to start. It is the easiest access point, and is still my favorite game. Yes, it is an RPG, but the combat system, graphics, and animations all make Oblivion the easiest game to get into. Oblivion's graphics are also breathtaking at times. Oblivion currently has the latest official lore and is just great for the first time Elder Scrolls player. Ignore those who would bash Oblivion.

P.S. Arena came out in 1994, Daggerfall came out in 1996, Morrowind came out in 2002, and Oblivion came out in 2006.

Some posts have gone away, derailing a topic is not acceptable and bringing the thread to the level of Oblivion bashing arguments are likely to get those members warned.

Either answer the OP's question in a constructive and helpful way or stay out of the thread. I won't be tolerant next time.

OK, have you played Oblivion as first? If so have you liked Morrowind? If not, why? If yes, why do you like Oblivion better? That's the kind of answers we need here. It's difficult to choose which of these two games play first as most who played both liked the first one they played better. We need to come up with a list of characteristics. For instance:

Oblivion:

-Newer graphics
-Lush, but smaller world
-Voice dialogue
-Intense, demanding main quest


Morrowind:

-Previous generation graphics
-Big and diverse, but somewhat empty world (less dungeons than in other TES games)
-Almost everything in text (much of the lore is in the books found in Morrowind, so you can learn of it while you play)
-Main quest is it's weakest part, most don't find captivated by it or at least don't feel that much of a need to do it


care to add something?

Go with Morrowind first since it has more of a traditional roleplaying feel than Oblivion. Also the environment and atmosphere is more unique and less cliche.


After that(if you enjoy it'll be a while ) check out Daggerfall and then Oblivion.

Plus you can find it for cheap.

Must this thread turn into a war between Morrowind and Oblivion?

Here's what I suggest:

If you are newer to RPGs and want an easier play-through, get Oblivion.

If you are more experienced with RPGs and don't don't mind reading a lot, get Morrowind.

Of course, that's just in a nut-shell. I could go more in-depth with specifics of each and why I prefer Morrowind, etc, etc, but I feel that would only fuel the argument.

People say Arena svck, but If you get Daggerfall to work, try it. I'd cry for daggerfall to work on my pc.

Otherwise I found morrowind with expansions to be most funny, but If your pc is powerfull enough, Oblivion with a crap load of mods is just a thrill.

Most funny? I assume you mean most fun?

For your Daggerfall problem I have two words for you: http://www.dosbox.com/

IDK why, but Dos Box doesn't work on all PCs/Lap-Tops, or at least that's what I've heard.

nah, works fine on my 3 different computers (2 stationary and 1 lap-top.)

DosBox itself should always work, if it doesn't there's something wrong with the PC's configuration. Problems may occur with running games, but Daggerfall's manual that can be found with it on the Official TES page contains info on what settings to use. This is also for the OP if he would like to play the game as first.

If you're new to RPGs, Oblivion's probably your best bet. Although if you already have some RPG experience and want an absolutely incredible game, go for Morrowind