I'm a long time player of the TES series. I started playing with Daggerfall, then played Morrowind, and then obviously Oblivion and then Skyrim.

What I do not understand however is the fact that I'm still playing Morrowind to this day and I'm not playing Skyrim anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game. It's actually really fun. I played for over 300 hours the first month it came out. But after that..I was done. I pretty much did everything. The game has no replay value. Not in the sense that I want to play it over and over again.

Yet Morrowind, I'm still playing it, despite putting in literally thousands of hours. Why is this? How am I done with Skyrim months after release yet after TEN YEARS I'm still playing Morrowind, and it's FUN? I even played Oblivion more than I have played Skyrim, and it's just because I simply don't WANT to put Skyrim in my tray, and I can't figure out why.

What makes Morrowind such a great game, and what makes Skyrim such a great game yet have ZERO replay value for me, and others? And please, do not even attempt to insinuate that I'm the only one who feels this, go to the Morrowind forums and you can see this is very apparent, a lot of people feel this way.

At the end of the day, Oblivion wasn't as good as Morrowind, and neither is Skyrim. It's still just a shell of the former glory of the TES series, and I want to know WHY. I want to play Skyrim. I really do. But I have zero motivation at all, because after one play-through I did all quest, I did all guilds, it just ruined it for me.

In a nutshell

-Unique World
-Heavy Politics
-More Factions
-Opposing Factions
-More Types of Factions (Imperial Based, Dunmer Houses, ect)
-More Content/large expansions
- Better Character Progression and unique ness

I've only played Morrowind Oblivion and Skyrim. And Oblivion was my favorite out of all of them. Morrowind was good as Skyrim with both the DLC.

Every player has his own opinions. I have strated with MW but find SR to be my overall favorite TES game, tough I have absolutely no problem replaying either of the 5 games. Hell, replaying them all now.
In other words: there is no "Better", just "Better for me".

And no, we know you are not the only one. Posts like this existed since MW was released (when DF fans whined about how MW is such a terrible game). And they will exist for centuries to come no doubt.

Indeed. Politics is the thing I probably miss the most.

I think the simplest explanation is:

Morrowind was made for fans of open-world RPGs.

Skyrim was made for everyone with a games console or gaming PC.

The politics and the fact that player choice actually MATTERED. I can get so much more immersion in Morrowind, simply because if I am a member of House Telvanni, I am a MEMBER OF HOUSE TELVANNI. If I am a member of the Thieves Guild, I am a MEMBER OF THE THIEVES GUILD, that's who I am. In Skyrim, those things matter not, to the point of absurdity.

Morrowind is an alien world filled with political intrigue and culture clashes. Very advanced folklore. Skyrim is a hiking simulator with RPG elements. At least its how I look at it.

Regards,
Eno

So, they didn't make Morrowind with the intention to make money? Interesting.

Skyrim is better then Morrowind. i don't understand the hype over Morrowind. it's a good game but Skyrim is better IMO.

That's a very good point. Skyrim really is nothing more than a glorified hiking sim. Haha. The quest have no choices, the dialogue has no branching, there is NO choice, I don't even know why they let you pick options, all options lead to the exact same thing.

Yeah, it all mattered. Just like how everyone was pissed that Archmage of Mages Guild joined its enemy House Telvanni.
No wait... it didn't matter... other than some MG members "hmphing" if you asked them about Telvanni, there was no differences (I don't think even their disposition fell down). Also, no other House actually cared if you joined the enemy as much as they should have.

MW is as shallow in this regard as its successors.

Morrowind was a hiking simulator with more flavor text than Skyrim.

Both are equal and Skyrim did weapons better than Morrowind, just like Morrowind did quests better than Skyrim.

Oblivion? Well, it had some really good oneliners, but beside that it was just the midpoint.

If you understand the history of Bethesda and the near ruin the company came into before Morrowind's release, no, they didn't make Morrowind to make money, they made Morrowind to be an amazing game that changed the face of open world RPG's forever, and they did just that. Ig they didn't, they would have gone under.

Quest directions.



What do you mean did weapons better? The combat? Yeah, you're right. Because combat is the reason to play an RPG.

The fact that Skyrims dialogue goes something like this: "Go here, get this sword." *places map marker*

And Morrowind's goes something like this: "In order to obtain this mystical sword, you must first take the Silt Strider to Seyda Neen. After arriving, you must walk through the marshes, passing the Delano Ancestral Tomb, and crossing the fjord. After that, look east, and pass between the two mountains that look like the humps of a Guar. Once there, enter the ruin. Be wary, traveler, as many vile things inhabit that ruin."

Probably has something to do with it.

this.

if based on MW ten years ago you were to project how intricate the NPC interactions and story lines were going to by now you'd have been sadly mistaken. All the effort has been placed on the icing and nobody bothered to work on the cake here.

I think a lot of people who like MW enjoyed the consquences of guild joining and advancement. There is simply no such system in skyrim, and there are zero quests with alternative conclusions. Unless you count getting the shiny dagger or not as alternatives.

Oh god yes.

So, to avoid going under, they had to do what? Make a product that would sell. Morrowind was that product.

Your actions don''t have much consequence in Skyrim, and thus gameplay was really the same no matter what you chose/did--storyline and especially gameplay wise.

Morrowind, however, did have consequences and clear paths, and good opposing factions, and that's what makes it have replay value, is that the game is considerably different with each choice you make.

Actually, it was more like 'find this dword, it's in a cave'.

Also, I was trying to point out earlier that the three newest TES are essentially the same game with differing graphics, combat, and faction design. The two biggest changes in the series was Morrowind's hand crafted world and Skyrim's removal of attributes in favor of reworking character progression.

They're all hiking sims with interesting settings and wanton glitches and features left out from past games.

It's absurd to suggest that because Morrowind didn't expertly accomplish this that it's on the same level as Oblivion or Skyrim. The idea is that Beth would improve on what they attempted in Morrowind, rather than elimate any consequence altogether.

so this got me thinking. one of the first quests in the MW:MG -> http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Four_Types_of_Mushrooms

No map markers, and you can get a dialog option for each of the mushroom description. You get some directions on where to maybe try looking and thats it. The player must go do some searching. No map marker and lots of interaction with the NPC. So that is a MW fetch quest. If you forget a detail or fail to discuss something you can rely on detailed notes in your journal. Finally when you complete the quest you get a new friend - because your reputation improves and such.

In skyrim its often dialog with NPC: "Hey will you get me this?"

( ) Yes
( ) No



Not as entertaing imo. Especially since there is next to nothing in your journal, and no apparent benefit for having done the quest. I mean there will be direct compensation (gold) but sometimes the rewards are ridiculous - 600 septims for delivering dog food?

Started with Oblivion, bought that maybe a month after launch when a friend recommended it, played that for a solid 5 years racking up god knows how many hours. Got Skyrim, still play it often, racked up about 350-400 hours so far. Bought Morrowind, couldn't play it for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Morrowind is a game I find cluttered, fiddly and an all around hassle to do anything, it's good for hardcoe RPG fans that like to take the time to read everything, get to know the characters, etc... Skyrim is... well... as some would put it, for the "casual's".