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An assessment of Oblivion after having first played Skyrim, then Morrowind

groke

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SAVE THIS CHARACTER? NO.
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Obblobion soundtrack > Morrowind soundtrack > Skyrim hoohaa
This is the only way of stacking these games so Oblivion turns up on top.
 

Plisken

Learned
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You're just being contrarian. Please, provide evidence for Morrowind's supposed mediocrity.

The only things Morrowind does well is:

- Being good at something no other game does (open world RPG).
- The setting and lore.

That's quite literally it. The graphics are awful (compare to Gothic II), the world is dead (compare to Gothic and Gothic II), the music is extremely repetitive, the sound design is bad too (the Morrowind Acoustic Overhaul shows how the game should sound like), the quests are generic (go there, get me that; very few Morrowind quests are actually different), the faction progression is not bad but ultimately pointless (Gothic made a much better job at making you feel important when advacing through factions), the combat is laughably bad and completely broken (you can spam attacks much faster than enemies can, for one), the dungeons are short, repetitive and few hold anything useful, the writing is bad (NPCs are dispensers of info and don't talk like real people AT ALL, ask them what their occupation is and they give you a job resume instead), among other criticisms...

Morrowind's greatness comes from being a mediocre open world RPG has opposed to a terrible open world RPG (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3). I love Morrowind, but I would be lying if I said it is "great". If the Gothic games had the scale of Morrowind, I would devote my time to them instead.

EDIT:

An example of bad writing vs serviceable writing:

Morrowind said:
Commoner - "I am a commoner. I do whatever needs doing -- cooking, cleaning, building, baking, making, breaking. And, by your accent, I can tell YOU are an outlander. Since you're new to these parts, perhaps you'd like me to share a little local lore."

Fallout: New Vegas said:
I hunt geckos, mostly. The meat's pretty good and I can always find a buyer for the hides. I also help keep the town clear of radscorpions and coyotes. Not many people live in Goodsprings, so wildlife is always creeping in.


I keep fucking suspecting that my memory of morrowind being not shit is just nostalgia and it being one of the largest, if not largest game ever made at that time.

Maybe this was always the case - TES games have always been the same kind of shit; a gold wrapper with a fancy bow hiding a nasty turd.
 

Dakka

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They could be, for instance, children or newcomers to the series.
I do not see how this would not affect their worthiness to live or serves as a valuable indication of their tastes being shit.
I'm not suggesting children have good tastes. Of course not. My point is that people change, and it is stupid to judge them so harshly based on such silly things anyway. The children who liked Skyrim (and I'm sure there were many; it was basically made for them) may grow up and refine their tastes, and the newbies may move on to better things when they grow tired of the modern Bethesda formula.
 

Wayward Son

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The children who liked Skyrim (and I'm sure there were many; it was basically made for them) may grow up and refine their tastes, and the newbies may move on to better things when they grow tired of the modern Bethesda formula.
Literally me.
 
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unfairlight

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I really gotta play Oblivion again. Despite everything it's the best TES game. Never used any overhauls though. I always had a lot of autistic item collection habits in the game, video related.
 

Iznaliu

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ays had a lot of autistic item collection habits in the game, video related.

That looks modded (vanilla Oblivion has compass at left of screen next to HP/Magicka/Stamina bars), so it's unfair to compare it to anything else.
 

Dakka

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I really gotta play Oblivion again. Despite everything it's the best TES game. Never used any overhauls though. I always had a lot of autistic item collection habits in the game, video related.
You can't be serious. Collecting janky physics objects? Was the gameplay of Train Simulator 2017 too exciting and varied for you?
 
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unfairlight

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ays had a lot of autistic item collection habits in the game, video related.

That looks modded (vanilla Oblivion has compass at left of screen next to HP/Magicka/Stamina bars), so it's unfair to compare it to anything else.
It is modded. A texture pack, UI mod, bugfixes, anticrash and 4gb patch I think on that install, but nothing that changes the core gameplay.

I really gotta play Oblivion again. Despite everything it's the best TES game. Never used any overhauls though. I always had a lot of autistic item collection habits in the game, video related.
You can't be serious. Collecting janky physics objects? Was the gameplay of Train Simulator 2017 too exciting and varied for you?
100% serious. I might even have that save left over somewhere.
 

Plisken

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Today i decided I was going to reinstall either morrowind, oblivion or skyrim and mod the fuck out of it. I spent quite a bit of time reading threads here to see if there was any cogent arguments for/against various aspects

After doing all that, I am no wiser than I started. The only consensus seems to be that they're all actually shit, including morrowind.
 

SymbolicFrank

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The only one out of those three that is playable unmodded is Morrowind. And it's also the only one that has levitation and allows you to feel like you're a powerful wizard.
 

JarlFrank

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Morrowind actually looks good because of the art design, has cool lore, cool unique items and limited level scaling, and allows you to become super powerful and make your own cool custom spells.

Morrowind isn't perfect but it's fun.

It also allows you to explore properly and get lost in the wilderness, without a compass to point you to the nearest location.
 
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unfairlight

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Morrowind is good even though I haven't played it too much, maybe only 20 hours figuring out what the fuck I should do but I really don't like the setting of Morrowind, it's too fantasy for me and I prefer something a bit more grounded in reality.
 

Plisken

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decided im going to see if i can make skyrim not suck, i know i know but I'm willing to try.

Any suggestions on that front would be appreciated.

So far I'm thinking Requiem mod as a base and then starting to collect various "hardcore" and immersion mods.
 

Dakka

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SymbolicFrank

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I don't get the people who play a game like Skyrim for the challenging combat. If you want an FPS with challenging combat, go multiplayer.

I like games that are challenging in that you have to figure out how it works, where the things / people are you need, how you can interact with them and become very powerful. The "create your own story" way.

That doesn't mean that combat cannot be challenging. The best example are the BG2 mage duels. But that is also in figuring out in advance how to do it. That's how you win.

Anyway, that whole mindset is called "breaking the game", or "cheesing" nowadays. That comes form Everquest 1, the MMO that defined the rules, where playing smart was a bannable offense. Everything should be done "as designed": walk inside the lines and do the allowed actions in the approved way.

And that's how games are made today. You're not allowed to win them, just to participate in the guided tour. With "challenging" combat.
 

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