I liked DA:O.....:P

The game had all kinds of "realistic" racial tensions and gritty stuff behind the scenes. Yes, the environs are a bit generic sometimes but I did like it enough to warrant a 3/5 from me.

sometime this board is incredibly depressing

I didn't say DA:O was bad (though I played the 360 version and HATED it), I fully understand many folks liked it. I just think the whole "dark" thing was played up to a fault. No, the racial tension thing, the dark themes, etc., is pretty standard fair. Actually, outside of any rape themes I'd bet anything in DA:O thematically could be found in Harry Potter.

*hugs Gyro*

Better? :)
Yes but Harry Potter's universe sometimes sugar coated certain terms, especially in the earlier books..same goes for many such games. This game didn't seem to sidestep around certain issue.....etc.

I'm to the point where I read video game news but don't pay attention to the conventions. Am I the only one annoyed at what I like to call "PR Speak"? Developers making their game up to be the best thing since sliced bread then showing a CGI trailer... If you want your game to stand on its own show gameplay and shut up.

This is why I like the more indie developers because its the lower budget that forces them to show GAMEPLAY. They put up or shut up and I love it. Most of the time I ignore a mainstream game until comes out to get player footage. Almost never have to do this with indies.

I really liked the Skyrim gameplay after I muted the commentary. "300 hour game" and "the detail on this flower" are things meant to give substance to something that doesn't need it. The game isn't an RPG, it will be scripted, and the world will probably be copy and pasted to a certain degree.

Why did I like it? The core game itself looked really good because Oblivion told me they want the series to be an action adventures and not RPGs. Judging it by that standard it has good combat, will have a large world to explore, will offer quests to keep me busy (expecting them to be the generic sort but again I'm not treating it like an RPG), and will be heavily moddable so when the core game gets boring it gets put down for 6 months then gets modded out the ass so its fun again. It won't be a day 1 purchase by any means but the game is one of the better ones coming out this year if the gameplay is any indication.

Just a side note am I the only one who couldn't enjoy Morrowind in the least? Its like the only classic RPG from that era that just isn't fun. Yes the world is interesting design wise but what else does the game have going for it? The combat is bad, the character builds are gimped by the environment (the mage was unplayable because of walls stopping the fireballs..), the lack of any direction makes finding quests objective really tedious (look in this area where this item could possibly be), and certain enemies who make playing the game not fun (guess which ones I mean?).

I tend to take threads like this with a grain of salt. GOG, at it's heart, is an gaming extremist old-timey place. So it's not that surprising to see people running around claiming "X mainstream game is terrible" or "derivative" or "not how it used to be" or what have you.

The name of the game is fun. If a game is fun to play, it doesn't matter how boring the setting, or derivative the gameplay is. Hell, right now I'm having a blast playing Dragon Quest 5 on the DS. It doesn't get much more generic then that but it's very fun and in some places challenging.

To Whiteblade:

The assassins? I hear there's a quest in the game to eliminate them permanently.

Also there's a quest finder mod for Morrowwind as well, I believe.

Cliff Racers actually, it felt like they never stopped attacking. I didn't see any quest finder type mods that I was looking for when getting mods (as in it points you in the general location of where the item actually is).

I think there's a quest journal mod that makes it easier to find/complete quests.

I have tried maybe 3 to 4 times to play the game, and each time I endured as much as I could. It just didn't work for me and I'm not entirely sure why. Same goes to another acclaimed rpg : Baldur's gate.

If playing Morrowind made you less excited for Skyrim,....am glad to not have experienced Morrowind until after playing Oblivion. It seems to leave those with rose tinted (tainted? lol) glasses

Getting older does have it's perks.

Amusing (no, not really) but 98% of the posts in this thread just come out to me as "Darn kids, get off my lawn!"

I loved Morrowind for it's warts, in a lot of ways the fact that it's wasn't "complete" in areas (like being able to sit) drew me in because subconsciously I started filling in the gaps with my imagination much like I used to with the old sprite based RPGs of the early 90s (mostly talking about JRPGs). yeah, sure, it didn't have scheduled NPC cycles or horses but there was just something more alive in the world of Morrowind that just wasn't present in Oblivion ... that could just (literally) be my imagination, or more to the point the games ability to engage my imagination.

that said, I do feel you on the Baulders gate stuff. I tried and tried and tried but I just couldn't get into that game ...

p.s. I turn 31 on Wednesday, but no I don't mind if you fuck around on my lawn (provided your of age and I get to watch).