After playing many hours of Skyrim, I'll admit it is a quality game. Plenty of features to make it fun and interesting. We may be able to complain about certain gameplay mechanics or design decisions, but in reality the game is quite playable and likely represents an appropriate amount of development effort for a flagship title.

I think the biggest issue for many players in my age range (28) is that we remember the feeling and emotion Morrowind evoked, which came at this magical time in our gaming history. I distinctly remember how profoundly immersed I was the first time I discovered I could "play" a game by wandering through some swamps and picking mushroom academical ingredients at my leisure. When I hear the Morrowind main theme I get a kind of pseudo-narcotic high. I remember rushing home and starting up the game, hearing the music, and anticipating the amazing experience I felt awaited me. The same phenomenon applies to FF7.

Through no fault of Bethesda, I have aged some. I have gained quite a bit of experience in playing video games. I'm much more keenly aware of what makes a game good and what doesn't. I can spot a line that isn't anti-aliased properly a mile away. I actively participate in forums which give users a false sense in having some input in game development. I have become my own worst enemy when it comes to allowing myself to enjoy games. I have developed absolutely zero tolerance for any perceived imperfection. The DRM wars that software companies have waged on PC users has strongly reinforced my "us" vs "them" mentality.

So I don't necessarily blame Skyrim for not being Morrowind. If you sat a kid who was new to the series down infront of both I'm quite sure he would choose Skyrim as the better game. Unfortunately I believe many of us desire that nostalgic "Morrowind" experience but we have all grown older and life has taken it's toll. It's sad.

Very nicely said.

I'm younger, and I feel the same sort of attachment to Oblivion. Skyrim is a monumental gaming achievement, and once the bugs have been smoothed out, it will be recognised as one of the greatest RPG's of the PS3/360 generation. As far as mechanics are concerned, I'm pushed to think of a way that Oblivion can touch it. But the feelings that Oblivion evoked - and Morrowind did, for the majority of people on this forum got hooked to the TES series by playing Morrowind - aren't something that it can emulate, despite it being awesome.

Bethesda is just following the industry trend. The RPG definition is changing.

I agree. However my first game in the series was Oblivion and it evoked such a powerful emotion from me I can still recall my time with the game when I drink a soda that I drank throughout my playthrough or smell the scent of the air freshener that was in the room while I was playing it.

Very nicely said. However, I think your argumentation proves exactly why the die-hard morrowind-fans should not critisize Skyrim too much, as it's impossible for them to realistically look at both games.
Sure Morrowind was there the first, but they can't just keep it the same as that!

We got it. Morrowind was great. It's normal you'll never get that feeling. It was a first.

well said OP. except that for me it was Daggerfall. When Morrowind came out I thought "well, this is a nice game, but its no Daggerfall"

because that's what nostalgia does.

Indeed, you just have to enjoy each game on its own merit.

Yeah it is sad indeed, I doubt i'll ever feel that special awesome feeling I had playing Morrowind for the first time. Well actually I still get it whenever I do a replay of Morrowind but not nearly as strong as the first time. Its sad, but thats how life works.

waiting for the game of the year addition is an unfortunately long wait especialy when it's been hyped and if you HAD waited it would probabl have kiled that feeling before it started becasue "you wern't playing it when it came out" and had acidentaly read a billion spoilers in the no-spoilers section.

I agree on the Morrowind subject.

Btw, Skyrim reminds me of Morrowind sometimes, with music and some locations... Oblivion, in its turn, was a very different game.

Nostalgia aside, Morrowind is simply a much better game than Skyrim.

morrowind was my first but i gotta admit i felt more amazed with oblivion with shivering added. but i think the problem with games nowadays is that the media just destroys any mystery or grandure we get from the games. like i said in one thread of mine we see so many video game footage and interview videos it destroys the inner speculation and wonder we have in anticipation for a game. like we hear so much about the game and see so much before it even comes out . like cmon do we really need to know the dark brotherhood is their or that the thieves guild is located in the sewers and that there on hard times what happened to us finding out for our selves morrowind was the renessaince of our series becuase (at least at my age then im 19 now) there was discovery and wonder if you wanted to know about a game back then you read a magazine...now? its all over the place and always in our faces and it destroys the mystery

EDIT : i still remeber my first STOOPPP YOU VIOLATED THE LAW

It wasn't the graphics that made morrowind my favorite. It was the complexitity. Oblivion and Skyrim are simplistic when compared to Morrowind. Take enchanting for example; in Morrowind it was very difficult, complicated, and customizable, but in Oblivion and Skyrim it was reduced to copy/paste, or rather cut/paste, material which becomes very boring. I miss putting "constant-effect" enchantments on weapons, and "cast when used" on rings.

Aye I agree 100%, thats why I never watch videos or read reviews of a game, all the hype simple destroys alot of the experience you get from it. The only thing I would ever read about the game is the combined review score from several trusted sources, too see if its worth buying.

Explain this to me?

I thought Morrowind had its own forum Go there OP thanks

Morrowind never gave me that feeling, Daggerfall and Skyrim did, but that doesn't bother me and make me complain about other TES games as I still love them(I'm not pointing at the OP)

My list would be:

Skyrim
Daggerfall
Oblivion
Morrowind
Arena

But you don't hear me ranting about how Morrowind is horrible.

The reason I wont get the same feeling again, like I did in that game, is because that was literally the first game Ive ever played of that kind. Open world RPGs were never popular with me and my friends growing up... Mostly played sports and shooting games. But when I found out I can explore a world with every single item having interactive features and NPCs that all have encyclopedic dialogue and stories behind them... Hundreds of quests and unique towns to visit was unbelievable. Of course, after playing the Fallouts, Oblivions, GTA's of the past decade, the "awe" factor has slightly decreased over time. Morrowind was ground-breaking for me. (even with all its bugs and horrible fighting system) Skyrim is obviously a much better game overall, but the nostalgia for Morrowind will never be matched.

Being cynical is the easy way out. All you need to do is give up and criticize anything/anyone that hasn't also. I hope you find another Morrowindesque game again. Life is too short to hold on to one game from 2002 for for the rest of your life.

I had this exact same feeling in Morrowind. It blew me away. Especially after FF7, which I felt was the pinnacle of gaming, I was amazed that my feelings could be surpassed. But they were.

And they were again with Skyrim.

Honestly, I understand the nostalgic pull of Morrowind. I can still recall with vivid clarity certain moments of the game. But just like with FF7, the experience was overshadowed by a 'better' one. Maybe it's that the environment and story of Skyrim are more appealing to me. Maybe for you, that's the alien environment and strange dreams of Morrowind.

*shrugs*

Anyway, I hope you can still enjoy the game.

I LOLed at that comment too. Give both games to 1000 RPG gamers who have played neither and see where the results go.

edit: The FF7 comments are confusing to me as well. I'm also 28 but FF7 was my Skyrim (ie Nostalgia letdown).

Well, I just typed a huge response and accidentally hit and "back" button, so it was all erased. I will say that I feel it is more than just nostalgia for me. I believe Daggerfall and Morrowind are better RPGs than Skyrim because they have more freedom, options and longer, more involved questlines. Now, even though I think they are better RPGs than Skyrim, both Daggerfall and Morrowind have their issues that, at times, frustrate and drive me crazy (Daggerfall has some game-breaking bugs and Morrowind's combat could be horrible sometimes, IMO).

If we are going off just nostalgia, then, yes, Morrowind does elicit the strongest emotional response in me because it is the first game in the TES series I played. Also, it is the first "sandbox" game I have ever played.

For the record I'm 35, which means I was 20 when Daggerfall came out and 26 when Morrowind was released. I purchased Morrowind when it came out in May 2002 but didn't play Daggerfall until last year.

Same here, Morrowind gave me that feeling. The only way to get it again is for Bethesda to remaster Morrowind on a next-gen game engine, with or without voice acting.