Hello,

I was looking at the Morrowind news on Steam and saw an old article posted before Skyrim's launch where Todd Howard talks about how Morrowind had that 'alien land' feel that was then sacrificed in Oblivion, but would come back in Skyrim. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-10-skyrim-has-what-made-morrowind-special It has the rather audacious title 'Skyrim has what made Morrowind special', which I think I can recall reading prior to Skyrim's release and getting excited by that tagline.

Does anyone agree with Todd Howard's comments in the article I linked? I mean first of all Skyrim really doesn't remind me of Morrowind at all - in fact, I'd argue that its ruthlessly different than its predecessor. But even more to the point of the article, aside from seeing my first Forsworn Briarheart I never felt like there was a place in Skyrim that I didn't immediately understand, or where I had to go 'Wait...what the heck is going on here? Who are hell are these people? I need a levitate spell to get to even get to the guy I need to talk to!?'

So...aren't Todd Howard's words misleading at best? Increasingly I'm finding places where Bethesda or its representatives told things that turned out to be patently untrue (maybe not necessarily lies), and I'm just wondering if I'm mistaken in my interpretation of the article, or anything else I've said here. And, if not, is there anything we can do about being actively, flagrantly misled in the future aside from just not buying TES VI?

Yeah, aside from Blackreach, I didn't get much of an "alien" vibe from Skyrim. 'Skyrim has what made Morrowind special.' Suuuuuuure.
Windhelm is giving me an odd Neverwinter Nights vibe though as of late.

Its all a matter of opinion. Granted, the most popular of which is no, skyrim isnt like morrowind.

I only agree to that because I feel Skyrim is its own game seporite from morrowind or oblivion. They all have their gems and their flaws, and for me personally, skyrim does the job it was made to do very very well.

Honestly, aside from the magic and dragons.........it looed like earth.

Elk running around with moose antlers is pretty alien...

Some of the views in Skyrim were hugely reminiscent of the Rocky Mountains to me, so they definitely nailed the mountain environment thing. But not so much the "alien" feel.

Not alien at all. Unless you've never visited or seen pictues of Scandinavia. Standard frozen mountainous/hilly-plains/tundra/fjord geography, full of vikings and other simulated northern european cultural archtypes. Some just have long ears (tails?) and odd colors.

The only 'alien' thing about it to me, are the khajiits and argonians- but since they have been in TES all along and are just a part of the standard scenery, one could hardly call them a new alien element. No, there really is no 'stranger in a strange new land' feeling, in Skyrim. You're just in another really scenic Conan movie.

LOL! You noticed that too, eh?

Hmm... many parts of skyrim are unique from the standard fantasy world, but it isn't as alien as Morrowind. It is hard for a game to capture that feeling, especially when the fantasy genre has so many generic go-to things that make settings generic. The only fantasy RPG I can think of other than morrowind that thrust me into a world that really seemed unknown to me is Planescape: Torment.

The Environment and world was something that many loved about Morrowind and hated about Skyrim. Had Howard not said that I would be surprised, the fact of it being true is irrleveant in that sense.

Skyrim does not have an alien feel. The land, monsters and people all feel like earth or common fantasy.

Not at all. Blackreach itself seemed like a throwback to Morrowind (at least that's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw it for the first time).

What does give Skyrim a nod towards Morrowind is it's attention to world design. Both Skyrim and Morrowind feature completely handcrafted worlds, and they are both light years ahead of Oblivion in this regard.

I thought they were moose for a long time until I looted one and noticed the Elk label. Now I can't help but think how huge and awkward those antlers look on them whenever I see them.

I think the Reach was the most alien place in Skyrim for me, it took me a while to figure out everything that was going on there.

But, there really wasn't much of anything going on there. Other than fighting whatever falmer or automatons you ran across, and doing the standard quest activities there, all the alien looking stuff was pretty non-interactive and just for looks. Had a few minutes of "ooooooh, purdy....", soon followed by "where'd they hide the light switch?"

No. Skyrim is nothing like morrowind. I miss the morrowind music. Best in the series.

I agree completly. However i love all TES games.( Well, the past three anyway. I've never played any before morrowind.)

Morrowind's main theme is the BOSS indeed. I can play it on piano

@Smokey - Lackadaisical was talking about The Reach as in the area around Markarth, not Black Reach. Even then I felt like I knew all I needed to know pretty quick. You walk through Markarth's front gate to see a woman getting knifed, and everyone is willing to spill their guts about the Forsworn conflict.


Even this isn't quite accurate. The only thing Skyrim has on Oblivion in terms of Handcrafted-ness is its dungeons (which are probably the best in TES history). Aside from that, many quest rewards are randomized/scales, virtually all loot is randomized/scaled, and so much of the world depends on the much hyped but oft disappointing 'Radiant A.I.' which is anything but handcrafted.

The ONLY thing that reminded me of Morrowind was that one music track that plays,
more often than not in Whiterun; if you played Morrowind much you can't miss it.

It made me want to exit the game right then and there and play Morrowind.

Really? Man thats awesome. I listen to it playing skyrim all the time. I think they should have kept it for all there games. Its just that good. It would always be that reminded for all the memories of the old days.

This

Yes, you're right, sorry for my cornfusion. Hmm, I suppose the Forsworn did push the 'odd' meter quite a ways over, now that you mention it. Not so much in an 'alien' fashion, as in an "OMG, these nuts have strayed just a tad too far from the fruitcake factory" kinda way.

That's all true, but not what I was talking about. I mean every bush, flower, tree, rock.... that was all done by hand in Skyrim and Morrowind. In Oblivion, a program generated the trees/bushes/etc. The scaling is obviously still an issue, and the radiant questing was a flop. But that doesn't really fall into world design. That's more quest design.

Skyrim didn't have an alien feel for me. I'm glad. I prefer more advlt, realistic gameworlds.

Most relevant part of the article linked to IMO
We weren't promised Morrowind 2 so its hardly surprising we didn't get it. Skyrim is much more atmospheric and has more feeling of being rooted in a particular culture than the overly-cosmopolitan, rather bland Cyrodil we saw in Oblivion.