Morrowind: The Secondary World

[Magus]

Like seriously this game seems damned gigantic the first time you play it. I was convinced it was going to take me years to play the thing. I've since gotten a better grip on its size in the probably something like 20 hours I've played it so far (having only scratched the surface of the game yet) and while it's still pretty damn massive it's slightly more contained than I realized (only slightly because this seriously is a massive, massive world).

And really if I attempted to read every single book in the game, complete all the sidequests, discover all the items and alchemical solutions and spells and the epic, intricate, detailed backstory of the universe, it probably would literally take years (maybe only two, but definitely plural).

Like I think there really was this desperate struggle back at this time to really create a fully realized digital secondary world that lives and breathes with detail and legends and warring religions and beliefs and offers total freedom of choice, to really create the ultimate realistic fantasy sandbox. Morrowind was that world.

I'm sure it's been surpassed by other RPGs since then, its sequel Oblivion undoubtedly, but I still seems like this game has to be one of the greatest works of art of all time. Just the amount of loving detail put into it is amazing, like every single house looks lived in, the paths you follow look like real paths, mountains look real, everything is so damned real seeming.

Like just look at some of the places (http://neon.chem.bg.ac.rs/morrowind/atlas/index.html) and the amount of effort put into making them seem incredibly intricate and detailed. How can a person be satisfied with the linear quests of Final Fantasy X or XIII after playing this game?! I assume some of you have managed to go back and enjoy games with a more contained world, but I don't know if I can...

Also the first person perspective, while it doesn't allow for the level of strategy inherent in isometric games like Fallout or Arcanum, does make the game world feel darn immersive. I can seriously get lost in it for hours at a time.

Obviously this game has flaws but I have little interest in recounting them. The massive achievement of this game is way more important to fawn about.

[Marc v4.0]

Well, yeah.

[Pip Boy]

Can we call a temporary ban on threads that remind me how extremely excited I am for Skyrim?

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

I'm sure it's been surpassed by other RPGs since then, its sequel Oblivion undoubtedly, but I still seems like this game has to be one of the greatest works of art of all time. Just the amount of loving detail put into it is amazing, like every single house looks lived in, the paths you follow look like real paths, mountains look real, everything is so damned real seeming.

I saw a mudcrab the other day.

[Krylo]

How can a person be satisfied with the linear quests of Final Fantasy X or XIII after playing this game?!

Different kind of enjoyment.

[Shyria Dracnoir]

I saw a mudcrab the other day.

Horrible creatures, I avoid them whenever I can.

[Yrcrazypa]

The one thing I hate about Morrowind. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgMgUehD1Tw)

[CABAL49]

I recently booted Morrowind back up with a couple of graphic enhancers. And I removed all the cliff racers from the game. All of them.

[PyrosNine]

So you like this...Morrowind game, huh? And likely, you also enjoyed Oblivion, but less than Morrowind?

Maybe you'd like....this? (http://morroblivion.com/forums/morroblivion/mods/753)

I suppose you want some morro'blivion (http://morroblivion.com/screenshots/vivec-temple-0), amIrite?

[Magus]

I recently booted Morrowind back up with a couple of graphic enhancers. And I removed all the cliff racers from the game. All of them.

I enjoy seeing them get stuck on everything in their path and fluttering there impotently attempting to attack me for what I assume is the rest of their lives too much to remove them.

The Cliff Racer: Nature's Idiot.

[Krylo]

Different kind of enjoyment.

To explain this further, there are some things that games like Morrowind (and Fallout 3/NV and to a, much, lesser extent, Oblivion) do well. Like giving you a full world to explore and all that other stuff you said.

However there are some things they don't do as well, such as engaging personal plot lines. In part BECAUSE of the wide open world. You step into a world where your main goal is to stop Dagoth Ur, or ...whatever the daedra in oblivion was, or whatever, but then you have all this other shit going on and it soon becomes really hard to give much of a shit about it because all this other stuff going on is just so much more interesting, and long story short I have put in more hours than I can easily count in Oblivion but I have never beaten it... nor never cared to.

On the other hand, games like, let's say, Dragon Age have a much smaller and less expansive game world (the second even more so), but they do a much better job of getting you engaged in the main plot line. You are actually pissed about Loghain's betrayal, and you actually have one of multiple emotions pertaining to your indictment into the Grey Wardens (depending on your character these could range from joy to resentment). You care about the character and the quest you are on.

In these larger game worlds it's hard to care in the same way about the same things. I find myself caring about the game world as an interesting place to explore, but not actually giving a shit about the world threatening terror looming over the horizon or my own character's motivations regarding their quest (because they tend to not have any).

So it's kinda like how I'll play Fallout 3, and then Final Fantasy 6, and then Devil May Cry 3, and enjoy all of them despite each of them failing pretty hard in comparison to the others. Fallout 3 has a huge expansive world, but hell if I cared about my character's father until I ran into him by accident however many hours in, and the gameplay mechanics, though fun, weren't exactly 'heart-pumping'. Final Fantasy 6 has an incredible cast of characters and story telling for its time (and possibly all times), and was great at getting me engaged in the story and characters and caring about each and every one of them, but its world wasn't nearly as interesting to explore, and was rather small in comparison to Fallout 3s, and the gameplay mechanics were run of the mill jRPG. Meanwhile, Devil May Cry 3's writing was actually kind of painful in many spots, and its world was small and constrained (in fact it was all one building!) but the gameplay was fantastic and really just left both of the other two in the dust.

[Melfice]

Lorewise, it seems they made damned sure there wouldn't be a game set on Vvardenfell (I think that was the island's name.). Half the island destroyed by the volcano, the other half raided by the Argonians, who (re)claimed the island from the Dunmer.

[Magus]

Did they do something ironic like enslave the Dunmer after being enslaved by the Dunmer for generations? They shoulda just let bygones be bygones--my Dunmer Spellblade has freed dozens of slaves already.

(Forgot to mention, I haven't played Oblivion yet. When I said "undoubtedly surpassed by Oblivion" I just went with an assumption, since this is the first Elder Scrolls game I've been playing. However I guess some people didn't like Oblivion quite as much as Morrowind, so apparently the graphical upgrade and bigger world didn't quite add up to a better product, even if it was still pretty great)