I don't find the writing to be any better or worse than any other game I've played. Some of it is pretty good, some maybe not so much.

And seriously "The wickwheat is winnowed, and under the harrow, the earth is prepared for planting. The n'wah must die and their flesh serve to sweeten the soil."? That is the example of "good" writing from MW? No wonder I hated that game.....

Yeah I agree that the switch to almost all spoken dialogue has contributed to the dilution of the quality

I said it was the very first thing said to me in game after months away from Morrowind.

As the Hortator pondered the first lesson of ruling kings, Vivec wandered into the Mourning Hold and found that Ayem was with a pair of lovers. Seht had divided himself again. Vivec then leapt through into their likenesses to observe, but he gained no secrets that he did not already know. He left a few of his own behind to make the journey worthwhile.
Then Vivec left the capital of Veloth and wandered far into the ash. He found a span of badlands to practice his giant-form. He made of his feet a less dense material than the divine to keep from falling waist-deep into the earth. At this point the First Corner of the House of Troubles, the Prince Molag Bal, made his presence known.
Vivec looked on the King of [censored] and said: 'How very beautiful you are, that you do not join us.'
And Molag Bal crushed the warrior-poet's feet, which were not invulnerable, and had legions cleave them off. Mighty fires from the Beginning Place were brought like nets to hold Vivec and he let them. 'I would prefer,' he said, 'some kind of ceremony if we are to be married.'
And the legions that took the feet were summoned again and ordered to begin a banquet. Pomegranates sprang from the badlands and tents were raised. A throng of Velothi mystics came, reading the passages of the severed feet on the ground and weeping until the scriptures were wet. 'We must love each other briefly,' Vivec said, 'if at all. I am needed to counsel the Hortator in more important matters because the Dwemer high priests stir up trouble. You may have my head for an hour.'
Molag Bal rose up and extended six arms to show his worth. They were decorated in runes of seduction and its reverse. They were decorated in the annotated calendars of longer worlds. When he spoke, mating monsters fell out. 'Where must it go?' he said. 'I told you,' Vivec said, 'I am meant to be the teacher of the king of the earth. AE ALTADOON GHARTOK PADHOME.'
With these magic words, the King of [censored] added another: 'CHIM,' which is the secret syllable of royalty.
Vivec had what he needed from the Daedroth and so married him that day. In the hour that Bal had his head, the King of [censored] asked for proof of love.
Vivec spoke two poems to show him such, but only the first is known: I'm not sure just how much glass it took to make your hair Twice as much, I am sure, as the oceans have to share Hell, my sweet, is a fiction written by those who tell the truth My mouth is skilled at lying and its alibi a tooth
The sons and daughters of Vivec and Molag Bal number in the thousands. The name of the mightiest is a string of power: GULGA MOR JIL HYAET AE HOOM.
The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.

These were the days of Resdaynia, whem Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the ALMSIVI and their champion the Hortator. When the gods of Veloth would retreat unto their own, to mold the cosmos and other matters, the Hortator would at times become confused. Vivic would always be there to advise him, and this is the third of the three lessons of ruling kings: 'The ruling king will remove me, his maker. This is the way of all children. His greatest enemy is the Sharmat, who is the false dreamer. You or he is the shingle, Hortator. Beware the wrong walking path. Beware the crime of benevolence. Behold him by his words.' I AM THE SHARMAT I AM OLDER THAN MUSIC WHAT I BRING IS LIGHT WHAT I BRING IS A STAR WHAT I BRING IS AN ANCIENT SEA WHEN YOU SLEEP YOU SEE ME DANCING AT THE CORE IT IS NOT A BLIGHT IT IS MY HOUSE I PUT A STAR INTO THE WORLD'S MOUTH TO MURDER IT TEAR DOWN THE PYLONS MY BLIND FISH SWIM IN THE NEW PHLOGISTON TEAR DOWN THE PYLONS MY DEAF MOONS SING AND BURN AND ORBIT ME I AM OLDER THAN MUSIC WHAT I BRING IS LIGHT WHAT I BRING IS A STAR WHAT I BRING IS AN ANCIENT SEA 'You alone, though you come again and again, can unmake him. Whether I allow it is within my wisdom. Go unarmed into his den with these words of power: AE GHARTOK PADHOME [CHIM] AE ALTADOON. Or do not. The temporal myth is man. Reach heaven by violence. This magic I give to you: the world you will rule is only an intermittent hope and you must be the letter written in uncertainty.'

Give me some Skyrim writing that can compare to anything like that...

I didn't think so

Origin stories and [censored] mythology? No, Skyrim doesn't have anything like that. That read like some piece of fan fiction to me.

I don't mind dark stories, but that's just....

Yeah, there was the "this is just business" option, "i'm a crazy cultist! " option and "Remain Silent" option

I don't really mind so much, I sort of sub-consciously fill in the gaps myself. Although I do prefer text based dialogue in RPG style game, probably because Morrowind was my first play at an RPG.

I don't read fan fiction so I'm not sure what that's like. I do think it's awesome that this forum has to censor Morrowind though.

Just play Ultima 7 with exult engine, it's free and still IMO the best open world RPGs ever made..it's actually two whole games, The Black Gate and Serpent Isle. Seriously, minus the old graphics if you are an RPG fan of good writing and plot you will love the games.

I don't think the writing in Skyrim is bad, I think it's slightly less unique than Morrowind..but much, much better than Oblivion.

Ugh, Morrowind's dialogue was garbage -- click words, read something related to the word. Most of the NPCs had the same drawn out crap for each word. It was like a giant encyclopedia, not immersive or entertaining at all.

That sounds a little stilted to me. Though the same poetic style is used in Sovngarde.

I think the writing in Skyrim is awesome and improved over Oblivion.

The recently added books, set in the time after the oblivion crises are a good example of declining standards. The book The Oblivion Crisis was one, written like someone had played the game and jotted it all down. I like the extra information in the game in the form of books and collect them all regardless. I did roll my eyes though at seeing the word "stressed" in a journal. I do not believe in the world of Tamriel that the word stressed would be used to describe a form of anxiety caused by being deprived of alcohol.

I wouldn't say all the dialogue is bad but they have drastically cut down the player and npc responses. I just hope it doesn't get any worse in the next game, I would have loved to have the scouts back, who could tell you the general layout of the land.

I agree with the OP. But you know how it is; TES is heading towards the mainstream of "more action, less talk".

I do think the writing has suffered, but I don't think the books in Skyrim are all that bad. The thing that bothers me is the incredibly limited dialogue options. I'm not even necessarily talking about WHAT is said by the PC, but what the REACTIONS are to what is said. There just isn't really any consequences or rewards for picking one dialogue option over another, and oftentimes I feel that there aren't even enough choices. I lost count of all the times I only had one dialogue option, or I had multiple choices, but all led to the same conclusion. It makes quests feel very boring to me.

Thanks, will try that.

On a side note, just played 3 hours of PS:T, made it to the Hive and it surpasses all of 300 hours spent in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim combined. Skyrim is pretty (modern TES games in general have a strong emphasis on crafting gorgeous architects) and that's all it has going for it. WIthin the first few hours of Torment I'm being reminded of the philosophical debates on existance and the values of life.

PS:T is a timeless classic. Too bad even New Vegas didn't have that quality of writing in it.

I think the general tone in Skyrim fits the lore of the place. Morrowind is obviously going to be a region of more... hmm, poetic inspirations whereas Skyrim is more hands on. I also think many of the sidequests in Skyrim do an excellent job of illuminating the local culture.

But every TES games has gripes with tackling its predecessors. Morrowind might have had a better gameworld and more "genuine" quest integration with your surroundings, but its action elements were supbar compared to Daggerfall, it had far less content, the sophistication and "epicness" of Daedric quests were all but removed, Daggerfall had superb possibilities for generation own abilities and equipment, Morrowind also had a seriously dumbed down skill system.

Morrowind was still a superb game.

This, pretty much.

Skyrim is an -ENORMOUS- step up from Fallout 3 and Oblivion, in my view.

This is good? It's really quite froosible. The franging is wibble.

The first thing said to me when I just fired up Skyrim while walking through Whiterun was, "You hear the news? Those damn mages blew up Winterhold. Guess it was just a matter of time."

Do you guys consider that better writing?

The only writing I've found better than what you posted would be anything in the shivering isles. "I'll Calicrack the Findoo, You Terrytate it!" Was the first line spoken to me in New Sheoth

I loved the Shivering Isles. They took the criticisms from the Morrowind fans and added some of that back into Oblivion. The giant mushroom trees were kind of an obvious hint at the direction they were taking with that DLC. More trippy and poetic, less bland medieval times.