Fun memory of mine from playing Morrowind when it first came out...

#1 was having a printed map that came in the game box that got used A LOT. No directional aids in game, and a quest giver would give you directions to a place like going to a southerner's cousin's house before GPS ("go west out of town along the river road, you will pass 2 dwemer ruins on your right and there will be a small path breaking off to the right. Follow that until you see the strange statue and look for a cave entrance to your west." Yea, I needed that printed map and I basically wore it out playing the game).

#2 early on in the main story, the quest giver tells you he needs to look into some information and asks you to come back and check in "after 2 moons have passed". Well, having been forced to read the book "walk 2 moons" in school recently at that point and having my teacher explain that "a moon" was a month because of moon cycles... I was shocked this quest giver wants me to wait TWO BLOODY MONTHS to continue the main story quests... I get to looking and sure enough there is a whole ass calendar system in Morrowind, so I tried to write down what month it was and wait to see when 2 months had passed... I became the top dog for the mages guild, fighters guild, thieves guild, etc... Explored basically the entire continent. Come back to him and continue the quest but now I'm powered up to fight a god on basically day 4 of the main story. I find out after this that the guy wanted me to wait two nights. TWO NIGHTS. not TWO MONTHS. TWO FUCKING NIGHTS. As in he meant "see the moon twice" not see it go through it's entire fucking cycle twice. I never even tried talking to him for 2 entire fucking in-game months.

I should go back and replay Morrowind...

Speaking of the combat, I can’t say i’m a fan. Maybe there’s something i’m missing but it’s definitely a lacking point of it. I just find myself jabbing at the enemies until either one of us drop dead.

One thing that's perhaps not obvious from today's viewpoint, is that stamina affects your hit chance quite a bit.

It is also a good idea to be rather skilled in your weapon of choice.

And of course, the real pro tip is to install a mod which changes the hit feedback. 😅

Maybe there’s something i’m missing

Yeah, you're missing a lot. That's the big problem with the combat system =P

BTW, you might enjoy this.

Omg, the water is so cool in Morrowind, at the time I bought a brand new GeForce 3 & it was the only card that had the shaders for the water!

Good times.

I also have a soft spot for it's rpg fight mechanics, I'm not saying they are great, but it's a certain charm & perhaps era (few years) specific nostalgia.

I'm also currently playing with OpenMW for the first time - it's such an amazing project (also almost/basically finished).

Why walk when you can ride?

The combat makes more sense if you custom class and put your preferred weapon skill into Major. And keep stamina high. A Redguard with Longblade and the appropriate weapon can kill a mudcrab in two seconds at level 1. You ideally want to start with your main combat skill over 40, if not 50-60. The best part: you don't need to min-max since the level scaling is minimal. Just pick your favorite armor type/weapon in Major and the rest can be whatever you want.

The game does NOT make that all clear, unfortunately. It took me a few tries to wrap my head around it before falling in love with the game.

Combat in Morrowind: *whoop* *whoop* *whoop* *whoop* AH!!! *whoop* AH!!! *whoop* *whoop* *whoop*

Fucking love this game. 10/10

I love that first screenshot. Sometimes possible ads for his service still pop into my head:

"While not everyone can spend every waking minute with a flea the size of an elephant, you can experience my joy for just a small fee."

"Not encountering enough nightmare fuel during your arduous journey through the wilderness?! Why not experience a relaxing ride to your destination, with ample nightmare fuel right below your saddle?!"

Edit: One more!

"Sure, you could pay me to lead this montrosity out of your sight. But consider - if you sit down right on it's back, you'll be the only one who never has to look at it!"

The shot reminded me of Elder Scrolls Online at first, and I had that very real PTSD twinge that made my stomach lurch.

When I was going through the worst part of my life, losing everything, burying my family and pets, closing down my business and having my home foreclosed due to family medical issues, I played Elder Scrolls for a couple years for no other reason than to spend time with other people, including someone I cared about a lot. I hated the game, it was exciting for the first couple hours until I realized how far it deviated from the actual franchise and how limited the gameplay really was, how everything was just a funnel towards premium content and skins.

I drank like a fish and laid in trash watching my life fall apart as I sat in Elder Scrolls listening to people chatter and watching them duel, because I didn't want to be alone because I didn't trust myself to be alone.

I did start over and everything is a lot better now, but holy shit, that game ruined Morrowind, Skyrim and the entire game world for me.

Why walk when you can ride?

I started the original Oblivion not long ago, been playing for some tens of hours. First time experiencing the Elder Scrolls, it's an interesting game with quite some depth. I got turned into a vampire and am doing a vampire quest and it's a bit tedious with not being able to stay in the sunlight but other than that it's a good game.

Oblivion doesn't feel too far from modern game mechanics, but what about morrowind?

Morrowind is probably one of my favorites, but it definitely has not aged well. Going the mage route with custom spells can absolutely make you overpowered though. A single Damage Strength spell can cripple most enemies, as they become over encumbered by their few items in inventory.

Welcome to Morrowind, outlander.

Climb aboard. We'll make a special trip, just for you.

I misread game as grave. I was worried there for a second.