Review RPG Codex Retrospective Review: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)

[Tom Baker's Arse]

It has been so damned long since I last played MW. I certainly enjoyed the review -- great job, Deuce ! I do remember progressing very far in the game with a Dunmer assassin, I believe, killing most anything in sight. Good times.

 

[Outlander]

Morrowind sucks cock. Gothic shits all over it.

I thought the exact same thing back in 2002. But then the years went by and except for Gothic 2 (and maybe New Vegas...), the ARPG genre took a plunging nosedive into the abbyss. So I learned to appreciate Morrowind.

 

[Jazz_]

Morrowind had great world-building, the level-scaling and dull npcs were its biggest flaws, still it's the best thing Bethesda ever produced.

 

[CryptRat]

Is there really any level-scaling in Morrowind? I remember encountering hard enemies in the beginning and weak enemies even at high level, I'm also almost sure that the same enemies are not stronger or weaker depending on your level.

 

[Turjan]

Is there really any level-scaling in Morrowind? I remember encountering hard enemies in the beginning and weak enemies even at high level, I'm also almost sure that the same enemies are not stronger or weaker depending on your level.

The random wilderness spawns happen according to leveled lists. The first turnover point is level 6 I think. It's rather mild though and stops early.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[abnaxus]

Very fake news.

 

[Fenix]

You mean the MGE? Morrowind Graphic(s) Extender or something?

Just remember it was demanding to hardware, seamless and you could see volcano without any bullshit, and required python.
Grafixx was superb.

 

[Jazz_]

Just remember it was demanding to hardware, seamless and you could see volcano without any bullshit, and required python.
Grafixx was superb.

It was probably the overhaul mod, MGE isn't that taxing on your hardware, as a matter of fact I remember running it comfortably on my laptop with integrated graphic card.

 

[Fenix]

So if somebody know what mod it was, share.
I know it was very cool - there was video where player used those boots of blinding speed, so he jumped to volcano and was there without loading a segments, and that my GT8600 wasn't enough for that.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

You're probably thinking of MGSO, the Morrowind Graphics & Sound Overhaul. Part of its capability is to allow you to set the number of cells (squares the exterior terrain is divided into) that are loaded at any one time in terms of distance from the player-character's current cell. Of course, as you increase this number, the total number of cells being kept in memory increases quadratically, so if you set it too high it will tax any system.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Morrowind's fast travel is the best travel system ever, IMO. While slower walking speed may be tedious to some, it actually enhances the choices and options to ponder in the game, making things like carry weight and physically getting around elements to consider. Thus it adds more thoughtfulness and planning to the game, great traits for RPGs to have.

 

[Fenix]

You're probably thinking of MGSO, the Morrowind Graphics & Sound Overhaul

Does it need python? Because I remeber that mod does need it for sure.

 

[an Administrator]

One of Daghoth Ur's creatures came to me at a Sixth House base, told me that Dagoth Ur wishes me to be his ally in his mission of purging N'wah. I was very excited that i can side with this cool villain. Then i went pass the Ghost Fence and reached his lair only to realize that i have no option but to kill him. That was the most disappointing moment of Morrowind for me.

 

[Black]

The beauty of the game is its setting

Hilarious.

 

[Turjan]

One of Daghoth Ur's creatures came to me at a Sixth House base, told me that Dagoth Ur wishes me to be his ally in his mission of purging N'wah. I was very excited that i can side with this cool villain. Then i went pass the Ghost Fence and reached his lair only to realize that i have no option but to kill him. That was the most disappointing moment of Morrowind for me.

Well, you forgot that you are one of those N'wahs he wants to purge.

 

[Xi]

Morrowind had static loot placement. This made its world feel more real than the random loot we got with all the games that followed. It makes a second play through more exciting as you focus on specific items / character builds.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[an Administrator]

Morrowind had static loot placement. This made its world feel more real than the random loot we got with all the games that followed. It makes a second play through more exciting as you focus on specific items / character builds.

But this encourages meta-gaming. People search in the interwebz and find out where the good loot is.

 

[Outlander]

Morrowind had static loot placement. This made its world feel more real than the random loot we got with all the games that followed. It makes a second play through more exciting as you focus on specific items / character builds.

But this encourages meta-gaming. People search in the interwebz and find out where the good loot is.

If people can't help to be morons, it's not the game's fault.

 

[Xi]

It is impossible to play a video game, any game for that matter, where you dont meta game. Meta gaming is the reason a game is fun. If you have nothing interesting to think about, then its probably not going to hold your interest for long.

 

[Bohrain]

Morrowind had static loot placement. This made its world feel more real than the random loot we got with all the games that followed. It makes a second play through more exciting as you focus on specific items / character builds.

But this encourages meta-gaming. People search in the interwebz and find out where the good loot is.

RNG based loot is a design decision that only makes sense in an MMO setting since it's a way to build scarcity into an economy where the only truly scarce resource is time spent by players.
You can do it in a single player scenario, but I can't see it doing anything beyond incentivizing grinding. And I sure as hell prefer metagaming with pre-determined loot than metagaming with drop chances.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

If people want to meta-game and look up all the loot placement, stat builds, etc., that's their choice. It's not really a valid reason to not build the world with hand-placed stuff.

If someone plays the game "naturally" without looking things up, chances are they will miss a TON of stuff the first one, two, three playthroughs, even. My dad and I still occasionally find new things in the game and that is after playing the game *heavily* for years. Since most of the hand-placed "secret" loot you generally have to find on your own without a lot of help (no quest markers, etc.), it actually makes it harder, if not impossible for a first-timer to really find everything in a single playthrough, unless it is a very long and thorough playthrough.

 

[Turok]

I remember try to play Morrowind in the 2002 with no luck, i got no good computer with 3d in those days, i end watching a friend playing it but for some reason i hated 1st view games i dropped it (is what people call now "Lets Play xxx game" in youtube), i was stick with isometrics RPG on those years. Years laters i tested Oblivion and Skyrim, both games feel really plastic with generic dungeons, is kinda sad because lot of people have lot of fun with those games.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Released in 2002, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is widely considered Bethesda's last good game before their full embrace of the dark side.

I eagerly await 2025 when the NuNuCodex talks about how Skyrim is widely considered to be Bethesda's last good game before their full embrace of the dark side.

Nah, even in the 'old days' Codex always had a solid Morrowind fanbase - and a fair bit of criticism. But the criticism was half 'this isn't like Daggerfall' and half 'I don't like open world games' (I fall into the latter camp, with Witcher 3 as a sole exception. I'd rather the same time be spent making a smaller series of locations more polished + reactive).

Oblivion hatred, on the other hand, is the closest thing there's ever been to a 'founding + universal principle'. I'd say it's even more important as a 'Codex pillar' than the Fallout worship.