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General discussionThrowback Thursday: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind(107 posts)(107 posts)
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Posted November 11, 2021
This week’s Throwback Thursday features a title from one of the most recognizable RPG series in the history of gaming – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition.

Elder Scrolls is the ultimate freeform adventure with epic tales of knights, thieves, dragons and magic. It is where enormous open worlds await and offer you a blank slate to make your own story. Morrowind is no exception and takes you on an epic adventure to explore a unique world full of strange and deadly creatures, different quests and stories where you make decisions that matter.



Let's hear from one of the GOG team members what are her's experiences with the game and why she loves The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Recommended by Anna, Product Communication Manager at GOG

[i]Morrowind is a game that started my love for cRPGs. I discovered this game by chance as a kid - I was wondering what to play next (and I’ve just begun my lifelong adventure with PC gaming) and this game was added to my newly bought graphics card. I installed it and after the first minutes in Seyda Neen I knew that it was it - unique setting, weird monsters, and the freedom to just walk around Vvardenfell, visit different cities, read (a lot of) books, and do quests for different factions.

I go back to this game quite often (appreciating the music in the game even more) and go on an adventure with a newly created character. Morrowind is definitely a must play for everyone who loves cRPGs or looks for an unique open world setting and I hope that you will like it as much as I do. Just watch out for the cliff racers as they really want to follow you wherever you go ;) [/i]

Check out Piran Jade playing and streaming the game on GOG’s Twitch channel later today (Thursday, November 11th at 8 PM UTC).

The Throwback Thursday series is done in cooperation with The Video Games History Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating and teaching the history of video games. If you want to support them, we encourage you to check their donation page
Posted November 12, 2021
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victorchopin: hey Anna, nice article, thanks! ;)

let's say if you wanna dig morrowind in 2021... vanilla or modded? why? thanks again
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radosnagraczka: Hi!

I usually use at least a couple of mods, focusing on the complex ones, so I don't need to manage a lot of smaller mods and worry about their compatibility with each other. The vanilla game is still great, although after seeing how mods can enhance the experience - I would recommend using at least 3-4 mods of your choosing :)

During my playthroughs I usually use those mods (not always at the same time): Morrowind Code Patch (patches a lot of bugs and minimizes the number of game crashes), Morrowind Scripts Extender (enables many mods to function) Morrowind Comes Alive (adds over 1,200 NPCs), Better Dialogue Font (a must-have, especially when you have a big screen and play on higher resolution), Real Signposts (replaces existing signposts textures to the ones with the real names of the locations) Morrowind Rebirth (a lot of new content within the main game), Morrowind Graphic Extender (graphical improvements) and Arukinns Better Books and Scrolls (books and scrolls get higher-resolutution textures).

I don't remember the name of the mod, but the last time I've played the game I've also had an UI improving mod (maybe it was Skyrim Ui overhaul?).

Tamriel Rebuilt, one of the biggest mods created (a lot of new, lore-friendly lands), is still on my list to play.

I think that the upcoming winter might be a good time for me to go back to the game, so if you have any interesting (lore-friendly) mods that you highly recommend - let me know :)

Anna (the author of the Morrowind recommendation)
hey!!
Thanks a bunch! I've only played of vanilla and didn't use any mods whatsoever but the overall thing has been great. maybe I'm too spoiled but I love the game as it is. but oh boy checking some ultra hd stuff on YT made me drop the insta-jaw and then your article came etc. Great content as usual; when the time comes (maybe in the next ice age) I'll have some free time to properly enjoy some modded Morrowind and your tips will be much welcome-ed! ;)
Posted November 12, 2021
I still don't like morrowind kinda crashes too much even with morrowind code patch and some Morrowind Patch v1.6.6_beta i think, not sure if it's added or it's called mpp, remember that i once fall through the floor and straight into lava which killed me and i though what was that i fallen through and there was no way to escape and the i realized this should not have happened.
I restarted playing the game several times but always came to a halt with my high elf character who specializes in magic and some swords, spears for endurance.
Also i don't know how to abuse the game in certain ways that other do and alchemy is kinda failing too much or i don't understand how it works.
In the game i am close to beating the main quest but stopped playing think i was half at nerevar trails. The hitting mechanic doesn't bother me. The directions are still manageable.
Maybe this just isn't the game for me.
Posted November 12, 2021
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Fonzer: I still don't like morrowind kinda crashes too much even with morrowind code patch and some Morrowind Patch v1.6.6_beta i think, not sure if it's added or it's called mpp, remember that i once fall through the floor and straight into lava which killed me and i though what was that i fallen through and there was no way to escape and the i realized this should not have happened.
I restarted playing the game several times but always came to a halt with my high elf character who specializes in magic and some swords, spears for endurance.
Also i don't know how to abuse the game in certain ways that other do and alchemy is kinda failing too much or i don't understand how it works.
In the game i am close to beating the main quest but stopped playing think i was half at nerevar trails. The hitting mechanic doesn't bother me. The directions are still manageable.
Maybe this just isn't the game for me.
Have you ever installed OpenMW?

I have never had a crash with OpenMW at all.
Posted November 12, 2021
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Fonzer: I still don't like morrowind kinda crashes too much even with morrowind code patch and some Morrowind Patch v1.6.6_beta i think, not sure if it's added or it's called mpp, remember that i once fall through the floor and straight into lava which killed me and i though what was that i fallen through and there was no way to escape and the i realized this should not have happened.
I restarted playing the game several times but always came to a halt with my high elf character who specializes in magic and some swords, spears for endurance.
Also i don't know how to abuse the game in certain ways that other do and alchemy is kinda failing too much or i don't understand how it works.
In the game i am close to beating the main quest but stopped playing think i was half at nerevar trails. The hitting mechanic doesn't bother me. The directions are still manageable.
Maybe this just isn't the game for me.
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Johnathanamz: Have you ever installed OpenMW?

I have never had a crash with OpenMW at all.
Haven't tried OpenMW yet wonder if there are any specific system requirements for it?
And it's been four years and i still haven't beaten the main quest since i always stopped playing, it would be best to finish my character at least as i've never been this far in the main quest.
Post edited November 12, 2021 by Fonzer
Posted November 12, 2021
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lupineshadow: In the same way that Daggerfall would have been better than Morrowind if not for the bugs and the limitations.
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drm9009: One thing to Bethesda's credit has been not-taking-down projects such as Daggerfall Unity and OpenMW. (Maybe I'm ignorant to the history if they have done that to any fan projects, but compared to more notorious companies they seem to have a lighter fist when it comes to takedowns.) As the company has moved on to other projects, the community is still doing wonderful things with these classic games. :-)
It's more that OpenMW is a clean room implementation which is legal so Bethesda would loose if they took it to court, the GTA engine that Take Two had taken down they just decompiled the PS2 version of the game to reverse engineer which is illegal.

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Johnathanamz: Have you ever installed OpenMW?

I have never had a crash with OpenMW at all.
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Fonzer: Haven't tried OpenMW yet wonder if there are any specific system requirements for it?
And it's been four years and i still haven't beaten the main quest since i always stopped playing, it would be best to finish my character at least as i've never been this far in the main quest.
OpenMW supports native Linux, Mac, Android and WIndows.

On Linux or Mac you just run innoextract on the GOG installer then point the OpenMW setup wizard to the extracted game directory, on Windows run the offline installer than point OpenMW setup to the same directory.

It doesn't use the old game exe file and engine its a whole new engine re-implementation, like Arx Liebratis is for Arx Fatalis and GemRB for the Infinity Engine games.
Post edited November 12, 2021 by Frogmancer
Posted November 13, 2021
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jackster79: However I knew even then that there was something special going on, so after a time (a few days to a few weeks, I cannot recall) I gave it another go. This time I discarded any biases I brought to the game and just allowed myself to experience it as it was. And now I can never go back to the before-times. The biggest change I loved was the ability to create custom spells and the ability to spec a character with whatever skills I wanted. From that point on I could never look at JRPGs or any based on a system like D&D the same ever again. From that point on unless they gave customization options like Morrowind I considered them inferior when it comes to customizing one's character. It is through that prism I analyzed all RPGs since. Even subsequent Bethesda offerings. Spoiler alert: the subsequent offerings offer less :-(
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dtgreene: Worth noting that this comes at a cost: Morrowind is unable to offer the player a consistent challenge, as it's way too easy for the player to do things that could not have realistically been considered by the developers when balancing the game. In other words, the customization comes at the expense of balance.

Compare this to Final Fantasy 4 (2D versions), which have a much tighter control of balance, allowing the game to always have a reasonable level of difficulty. With that said, this comes at the expense of the customization that you enjoy in Morrowind.

Game design has its trade-offs, and there are places for both types of games.
I agree.

And I would argue that that is the point. If one plays Morrowind as intended (i.e. not do exploits or console cheats) one of the best feelings is naturally growing a character powerful enough that you finally come up with a creative way to overcome challenges, and if it makes your character overpowered, then, well, you have earned that privilege. Breaking game balance via player agency, done right, can be a very rewarding experience.

I found it so liberating being able to do this, balance be damned. From that point on rigidity with respect to magic, characters, etc always felt so suffocating, at least in the D&D world for sure. Though that may be more the fault of the design of the magic mechanics there than anything else...
Posted November 13, 2021
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dtgreene: Worth noting that this comes at a cost: Morrowind is unable to offer the player a consistent challenge, as it's way too easy for the player to do things that could not have realistically been considered by the developers when balancing the game. In other words, the customization comes at the expense of balance.

Compare this to Final Fantasy 4 (2D versions), which have a much tighter control of balance, allowing the game to always have a reasonable level of difficulty. With that said, this comes at the expense of the customization that you enjoy in Morrowind.

Game design has its trade-offs, and there are places for both types of games.
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jackster79: I agree.

And I would argue that that is the point. If one plays Morrowind as intended (i.e. not do exploits or console cheats) one of the best feelings is naturally growing a character powerful enough that you finally come up with a creative way to overcome challenges, and if it makes your character overpowered, then, well, you have earned that privilege. Breaking game balance via player agency, done right, can be a very rewarding experience.

I found it so liberating being able to do this, balance be damned. From that point on rigidity with respect to magic, characters, etc always felt so suffocating, at least in the D&D world for sure. Though that may be more the fault of the design of the magic mechanics there than anything else...
Take a look at the epic level rules from 3e Dungeons and Dragons (which you will find in the 3.5e SRD). There's rules for epic spellcasting, and the rues alow for creating your own spells, which in turn allows for breaking of game balance to Morrowind levels. (For example, you can create a spell that boosts your intelligence, which will allow you to meet the DCs needed to cast more powerful epic spells, including more powerful intelligence boosts.)

Unfortunately, no D&D game, to my knowledge, implements epic spellcasting with custom spells (you can only use the spells the game designer put into the game).

Then again, D&D 3.5 has a build known as "pun-pun", which uses an exploit to acquire a special abilities that was not written with player use in mind, and using it allows the player to break the game wide open. I would compare this to arbitrary code execution exploits in computer games; once you can get the game to execute your code, you can now do literally anything the platform the game is running on allows. (Note that this isn't quite the same thing as modding the game to run your own code, at which point you're basically taking the role of the game developer.)
Posted November 13, 2021
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dtgreene: Worth noting that this comes at a cost: Morrowind is unable to offer the player a consistent challenge, as it's way too easy for the player to do things that could not have realistically been considered by the developers when balancing the game. In other words, the customization comes at the expense of balance.

Compare this to Final Fantasy 4 (2D versions), which have a much tighter control of balance, allowing the game to always have a reasonable level of difficulty. With that said, this comes at the expense of the customization that you enjoy in Morrowind.

Game design has its trade-offs, and there are places for both types of games.
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jackster79: I agree.

And I would argue that that is the point. If one plays Morrowind as intended (i.e. not do exploits or console cheats) one of the best feelings is naturally growing a character powerful enough that you finally come up with a creative way to overcome challenges, and if it makes your character overpowered, then, well, you have earned that privilege. Breaking game balance via player agency, done right, can be a very rewarding experience.

I found it so liberating being able to do this, balance be damned. From that point on rigidity with respect to magic, characters, etc always felt so suffocating, at least in the D&D world for sure. Though that may be more the fault of the design of the magic mechanics there than anything else...
Morrowind god mode for me comes once you get grand soul gems and summon golden saint scrolls and enchant exquisite clothes with constant effect restore health and fatigue on them, the shirt, trousers and belt can have restore 4 health and 10 fatigue a second split across them so you never run out.
Post edited November 13, 2021 by Frogmancer
Posted November 13, 2021
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Enebias: Ah, Morrowind. Never have I been THIS opportunist in a videogame!
Stealing everything that isn't nailed down, pickpocketing everyone, betraying any faction every time I gained something from it... good times.
Especially emptying the Hlaalu Vault in Vivec and the Indoril armory as early in the game as I could, so much good gear I shouldn't have had access to!
Then we played the game in very similar manner. :)
I just didn't betray anyone, because honor among thieves. xD

Dragging those huge heavy Dwemer cogs to nearest trader even though they are almost worthless...that's how you become a Morrowind millionaire. xD
Posted November 13, 2021
The worst thing of this game is how they implemented the first expansion Tribunal. The expansion was a must have not only for the content but for the features they added to the diary and more details. The problem comes with the night attacks you suffer when resting and the way to stop them, very annoying. Also if you killed any of the assasins you ended up with a very good black set of armor that could spoil the game because it was pretty powerful, and for me this killed a bit some of the fun and flow of the game.
Posted November 13, 2021
Morrowind is easily one of my favorite games of all time. It's one of the most immersive games I have ever played and a masterclass in world-building. They threw away all the typical fantasy RPG cliches and I simply haven't seen any other game world that reaches the same level of creativity/originality, and actually works as a convincing world. It puts all the other Elder Scrolls games to shame - Bethesda clearly didn't understand what made Morrowind great.

OpenMW is an excellent engine remake. I played the whole game through in OpenMW a couple of years ago and it was awesome. I don't think I had any crashes and the only bugs I noticed were content ones left in by Bethesda.

Tamriel Rebuilt is also an incredible mod. One of the best mods I have ever seen. I used that on my playthrough as well and went to a few of the mainland locations (it is way too large to see all of it). The cliffside Telvanni town of Marog is probably my favorite location in all of Morrowind! :D

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Gudadantza: The worst thing of this game is how they implemented the first expansion Tribunal. The expansion was a must have not only for the content but for the features they added to the diary and more details. The problem comes with the night attacks you suffer when resting and the way to stop them, very annoying. Also if you killed any of the assasins you ended up with a very good black set of armor that could spoil the game because it was pretty powerful, and for me this killed a bit some of the fun and flow of the game.
There is a mod that can delay the assassin attacks. Without that, yes I agree they start way too early.

Myself, I wasn't a huge fan of the Bloodmoon expansion. Solstheim is a far less creative and interesting place than Vaardenfell and it seemed generally less well-designed.
Post edited November 13, 2021 by Time4Tea
Posted November 13, 2021
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Time4Tea: Morrowind is easily one of my favorite games of all time. It's one of the most immersive games I have ever played and a masterclass in world-building. They threw away all the typical fantasy RPG cliches and I simply haven't seen any other game world that reaches the same level of creativity/originality, and actually works as a convincing world. It puts all the other Elder Scrolls games to shame - Bethesda clearly didn't understand what made Morrowind great.

OpenMW is an excellent engine remake. I played the whole game through in OpenMW a couple of years ago and it was awesome. I don't think I had any crashes and the only bugs I noticed were content ones left in by Bethesda.

Tamriel Rebuilt is also an incredible mod. One of the best mods I have ever seen. I used that on my playthrough as well and went to a few of the mainland locations (it is way too large to see all of it). The cliffside Telvanni town of Marog is probably my favorite location in all of Morrowind! :D

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Gudadantza: The worst thing of this game is how they implemented the first expansion Tribunal. The expansion was a must have not only for the content but for the features they added to the diary and more details. The problem comes with the night attacks you suffer when resting and the way to stop them, very annoying. Also if you killed any of the assasins you ended up with a very good black set of armor that could spoil the game because it was pretty powerful, and for me this killed a bit some of the fun and flow of the game.
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Time4Tea: There is a mod that can delay the assassin attacks. Without that, yes I agree they start way too early.

Myself, I wasn't a huge fan of the Bloodmoon expansion. Solstheim is a far less creative and interesting place than Vaardenfell and it seemed generally less well-designed.
The original GOTY XBOX version of the game delayed the attacks till you where a higher level they just never added that to the PC version for some reason, they also removed the Secret Master Lockpicks that were sold by Hecerinde (the master security trainer in Balmora) in the PC version and never put it back in a later patch for some weird reason.
Post edited November 13, 2021 by Frogmancer
Posted November 13, 2021
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Time4Tea: OpenMW is an excellent engine remake. I played the whole game through in OpenMW a couple of years ago and it was awesome. I don't think I had any crashes and the only bugs I noticed were content ones left in by Bethesda.
Are you sure you played the *whole* game, including fully exploring every location and completing every quest? (This includes quests that are mutually exclusive, meaning you need to start new games to clear every single one.) The game is rather large, so it's rather hard to believe you didn't play through all of the game's content.

(Then again, this sort of thing is part of the reason why games like Morrowind are buggy on release; the game is so huge that it's not feasible to test every single thing, so bugs remain undetected prior to release.)
Posted November 13, 2021
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dtgreene: Are you sure you played the *whole* game, including fully exploring every location and completing every quest? (This includes quests that are mutually exclusive, meaning you need to start new games to clear every single one.) The game is rather large, so it's rather hard to believe you didn't play through all of the game's content.

(Then again, this sort of thing is part of the reason why games like Morrowind are buggy on release; the game is so huge that it's not feasible to test every single thing, so bugs remain undetected prior to release.)
By 'the whole game', I mean I played the whole of the main quest line, as well as a decent amount of side-quests and faction quests, for the factions I was allied with (Redoran). My comment about not seeing any bugs was mostly referring to a lack of 'engine bugs' rather than 'content bugs' and was more a comment about the quality and stability of OpenMW. If there were any/many serious bugs in OpenMW, then I would expect to have noticed them during an 80+ hour playthrough.

I did encounter a few content-related bugs, but as per my comment, those would be generally down to Bethesda (or Tamriel Rebuilt), as opposed to OpenMW.
Posted November 13, 2021
A couple questions for those who've played the game and enjoyed it:
* Have you ever played through the main quest?
* Would you have still loved the game this much if it *didn't* have a main quest?

(I've never beaten the main quest of any Bethesda game, and the only ones I've played through part of are Arena and I believe Oblivion (though the latter probably only to allow Oblivion gates to open and get access to the master Restoration trainer).)

(One interesting thing about Morrowind is that, if you kill an essential NPC (which the game lets you do without exploits), the game displays a message that suggests the game may be unwinnable, but still lets you continue playing. Another interesting thing is that there's the "back path" to completing the main quest, if you can't (or don't want to) do it "properly", though it causes you to take a large amount of permanent health damage.)
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General discussionThrowback Thursday: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind(107 posts)(107 posts)
(107 posts)