About Morrowind - My thoughts

[spectre]

But most of all? I hope to God they do NOT use that one voice actor that sticks out like a sore thumb. Don't waste money on A-listers and just get people like the cast of Bloodlines who can actually do separate and distinct characterizations.

Better yet, realize, that not.every.fucking.line must be voiced.

I's go as far as to say it's counterproductive for an open world feeling they're trying to achieve. No way in hell you can have adequate voiced dialogue for all the guys out there.
It works for less open worlds, where you have much fewer characters.

 

[Twinfalls]

Why don't you read one of them description-heavy science-fiction books? No 3D eye-candy? I seriously can't see anything else worthwhile that 2001: A Space Odyssey brings to the table. :decline of the codex:

1) I don't really like description-heavy literature OR games. However, since interactivity is one of the advantages games have, I particularly don't like games which focus on a passive element such as static descriptions.
2) The analogy doesn't hold simply because the 2001: A Space Odyssey has writing just as good, if not better, than most sci-fi stories. If Morrowind was a masterpiece in writing, I'd recommend it before "normal" literature wholeheartedly.
3) I HAVE read at least two of Clarke's stories from the 2001: A Space Odyssey universe, and I liked them, thank you very much.
4) The movie can amplify, immersion-wise, most of the moments in a book, whereas the much-praised lore of Morrowind is present IN virtual books, reducing the importance of Morrowind's multimedia capabilities advantage.
5) Women haven't really been known to write good sci-fi or direct good movies, so unless you're some kind of artist, odds are that you're wrong.

1) You attempted to glibly dismiss any worth that Morrowind has on the basis that it is nothing more than 'description-heavy' fantasy prose with the addition of '3-D eye candy'.

b) By extending your own assessment criteria, I have demonstrated your hubris. You made a shallow, arrogant dismissal smacking of 'cool-points'.

3.1415) Your woman-jibing mad skillz are manifestly lacking. Please consult Lyric Suite for some tips.

The movie can amplify, immersion-wise, most of the moments in a book, whereas the much-praised lore of Morrowind is present IN virtual books, reducing the importance of Morrowind's multimedia capabilities advantage.

Do you enjoy clutching at straws generally? So much that you'll do it no matter how foolish you sound? Play the game again and take a look around while strolling.

I don't really like description-heavy literature OR games. However, since interactivity is one of the advantages games have, I particularly don't like games which focus on a passive element such as static descriptions.

Who cares what you fucking like or do not like? Morrowind is, as the OP stated, a work of art. If you have played it substantially and believe otherwise, you are either seriously lacking in critical faculties, or telling a little porky. You may not like Morrowind, but so what? Tons of people do not like Morrowind. Tons of people can't stand 2001. Yet anyone who seriously disputes that 2001 is a work of art is either a fool or a teller of untruths.

 

[bonch]

What made Morrowind great was its modding capability.

 

[BethesdaLove]

What made Oblivion great was its modding capability.

 

[Double Ogre]

Morrowind has no good mods actually.

I always play it vanilla.

 

[JarlFrank]

Morrowind has no good mods actually.

I always play it vanilla.

Better Bodies
Better Faces
Better Textures
Morrowind Graphics Enhancer

----> HEAVAN

Oh and Tamriel Rebuilt but that only comes out shortly before Duke Nukem Forever.

 

[Double Ogre]

Better Bodies
Better Faces
Better Textures

Nah, they look nothing like the originals. And while Better Bodies are seamless, they have some funny proportions. Also, lol titties.

 

[Talonfire]

Morrowind has no good mods actually.

I always play it vanilla.

Lies, Morrowind has plenty of decent mods. Most of them are utter garbage true, but there's a few gems amongst all of the crap.

Oh and Tamriel Rebuilt but that only comes out shortly before Duke Nukem Forever.

I'm still waiting for Duke Nukem 3. Fuck first person shooters, bring back side scrolling platformers.

 

[Double Ogre]

Morrowind has no good mods actually.

I always play it vanilla.

Lies, Morrowind has plenty of decent mods. Most of them are utter garbage true, but there's a few gems amongst all of the crap.

OK, name them. No "Better Shit" please.

So far, only MGE seems to be decent, but it is an engine hack first and foremost.

 

[Kavax]

Morrowind has no good mods actually.

I always play it vanilla.

Lies, Morrowind has plenty of decent mods. Most of them are utter garbage true, but there's a few gems amongst all of the crap.

OK, name them. No "Better Shit" please.

Galsiah's Character Development, The "Services" mods, the Less Generic Dialogue mods, Myth and Murder, Kidnap!, Morrowind Comes Alive, You violated the law, Character Maker, Roleplaying Pack - Stealthy Classes, Dracandros Voice, Give Your Orders...

However, I reckon you have to use +200 mods to make Morrowind good.

 

[DraQ]

What made Morrowind great was its modding capability.

False. Oblivion wasn't even half-decent despite similar modding capability. Mods have greatly enchanced Morrowind experience, but to do so they needed solid foundation in the form of base game - it's environments, atmosphere and lore. In oblivion, where such foundation was absent, numerous mods have barely succeeded in alleviating the suckage to the point where the game was playable by people who were neither masochists or sufferers of profound mental retardation.

Morrowind has no good mods actually.

I always play it vanilla.

Head and texture replacers do not keep the feeling of the originals, same with clothing replacers, but better bodies are just that - bodies. They could use stricter adherence to the original look&feel, but it's not like they make characters sprout a second face on their left knee or something.

There fairly numerous minor mods that successfully fix broken mechanics or improve the existing one - WGI modular (rebalancing stuff like spell effects - including useless feather and burden, restoring missing powers to some known artifacts, etc.), halberds revamped, Khajiit Eye of Night Toggle, graphic herbalism, Adul's Advanced Combat makes combat much more risky and interesting while making only cosmetic changes to the core mechanics. I'm also planning a mod (requiring almost nil CS skill, fortunately) partly fixing alchemy exploitability through fine tuning of deleterious effects, adding deleterious effects to premade potions and boosting the efficiency of alembics.

There are also some good mods adding stuff to the game - adamantium-netch armour fills the gap in upper-level medium armours nicely, while being even more stylish than Jan Jansen's AdventureWear; some armour mannequin mods help store your gear in a more orderly and aesthetic fashion; TR will inevitably rock once it reaches full completion; Polish mod - Hagge was beyond awesome and I'm sure those aren't the only mods that don't suck.

 

[Talonfire]

However, I reckon you have to use +200 mods to make Morrowind good.

You're confusing Morrowind with Oblivion.

 

[Kavax]

However, I reckon you have to use +200 mods to make Morrowind good.

You're confusing Morrowind with Oblivion.

Seriously, does vanilla Morrowind play like a good game to you? For me it's pure boredom, without my legion of mods I wouldn't have played it after the first time.

 

[Talonfire]

However, I reckon you have to use +200 mods to make Morrowind good.

You're confusing Morrowind with Oblivion.

Seriously, does vanilla Morrowind play like a good game to you? For me it's pure boredom, without my legion of mods I wouldn't have played it after the first time.

I enjoy exploration, so yes. Morrowind had quite a few distinct regions with the possibility of hidden treasures, caverns, and NPCs.

 

[DraQ]

Seriously, does vanilla Morrowind play like a good game to you?

It requires specific mindset, but yes.

 

[BethesdaLove]

I like how you call it a "specific mindset"
:euthanasia:

 

[Kavax]

However, I reckon you have to use +200 mods to make Morrowind good.

You're confusing Morrowind with Oblivion.

Seriously, does vanilla Morrowind play like a good game to you? For me it's pure boredom, without my legion of mods I wouldn't have played it after the first time.

I enjoy exploration, so yes. Morrowind had quite a few distinct regions with the possibility of hidden treasures, caverns, and NPCs.

Exploration alone a good game does not make. Specially with the horrible original leveling up system that is always a strong tempation for munchkinism to get tose x5 multipliers, or the fact that NPC's stay always in the same place.

Heck, exploration is also much better with mods, because you can now hire mercenaries or order lower-ranking members of your faction to help you, or you can find NPC adventurers raiding the cave before you, or you get challenging monsters, or you simply have a prettier landscape.

 

[JarlFrank]

Morrowind doesn't have good gameplay. Too many fetch-and-bring quests, mediocre combat system, soulless NPCs. But it's still a good... well, program, if you don't want to call it a good game. Especially with the graphic mods I'm using. It's beautiful. It's an alien world with deep and interesting lore. It's immense fun to just explore that world and its history, to look at the wonderful landscape, to delve into deep dungeons and discover ancient artifacts...

Morrowind isn't a game; it's a piece of art. You should look at Morrowind as some sort of interactive painting. A very beautiful and unique interactive painting. It's lovely to just explore the gameworld and do the quests, no matter how simple they are, because somehow that game has a certain magic to itself, something that pulls you in. It's probably the very alien and unique world that makes this game so captivating, maybe the unique rulesystem, maybe the chance to find something interesting everywhere you go, or maybe it's just all of its features combined. But fact is: it's a very unique game, lacking in many areas, but still unique and beautiful. If you give it enough time, you will learn to love it with all its flaws. It just manages to have a certain atmosphere that many other games lack.

 

[Squeek]

Heck, exploration is also much better with mods, because you can now hire mercenaries or order lower-ranking members of your faction to help you, or you can find NPC adventurers raiding the cave before you, or you get challenging monsters, or you simply have a prettier landscape.

A lot can be said about Morrowind, but this point is, I think, the best one. The truth is Morrowind is better with collaboration.

But all the collaboration was done by fans whose modifications were described up front, usually in great detail, because it was up to the player to evaluate and select them. The mods were sometimes outstanding, but all the modding happened above-board and in super-slow motion.

A dynamic Morrowind that could react to the player by deciding how and when to modify itself would have been so much better. Modders might have been offered incentives to create better mods and given better modding tools. Then they might have created so much more. And fans who loved the game would have paid for access to all that.

The problem with Morrowind, as with all sandbox RPGs, is that it's a game that comes in a single version instead of being a dynamic game world. If Bethesda had abandoned the concept of single version when they created it, Morrowind might have actually been as incredible as its fans want to believe.