Morrowind

Mogosagatai · Post by **Mogosagatai** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:43 am

...is where I've been for the past two weeks. Man it's good.

I had never played RPG's or other geek-type computer games before. Some friends convinced me that Morrowind would be a good place to start, and yeah, it is.

The incredibly rich backstory is what really does it. You're just going around in this world and finding out tons of information on it. The various religions, politics, histories, and general opinions of the different races, guilds, political structures, noble houses, etc., and how all that comes together and interacts in the present day are staggering. And really well written. And there's something like 300 books that you can actually read, although they're short and usually more like excerpts than full books. But still. Wow.

And the nonlinearity thing: there a quite a few stories to unravel, including a big Main Plot, but you don't have to do any of that if you don't want. They do kind of gently guide you towards the Main Plot though, which is cool because it's a pretty great one. Still, there are about a billion ways to get there.

Also, the game can be just plain intense on occasion. I had several heartpounding moments, especially since I did a lot of running around and stumbling into dark places. "Holy shit it's a vampires' den! Oh fuck what is THAT!?" as I walk through a fancy room littered with corpses where a polite slave told me her name is Cattle and that she lives only to serve to lords.

Love it. If you haven't played it, play it. Or even just watch someone else play it. I had an audience of one for most of the many hours, who loves it almost as much as I do.

And uhh... watch out it's pretty addictive. I've more or less beaten it all now, and it's supposed to take months. That's because I did pretty much nothing else, forgetting to eat and sleep, for two weeks.

WeaselSlayer · Post by **WeaselSlayer** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:00 am

Play Fallout 1 and 2. Fuck fantasy shit. Post-apocalypse, man.

catch · Post by **catch** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:22 am

WeaselSlayer wrote:Play Fallout 1 and 2.

Yes! Good man.

Mogo: Are you playing the most recent instalment?

Mogosagatai · Post by **Mogosagatai** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:33 am

I dunno. Probably? Got it from a friend.

Tonamel · Post by **Tonamel** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:43 am

Yeah, Morrowind's good stuff, but the world always felt kind of soulless and empty to me. I much prefer Gothic 2, which is similar in scope and openness, except the people populating the world seem more like people rather than city-filler.

Of course, I'm still going to get Oblivion, when I get the chance.

And I'll agree that the Fallouts are excellence of the open-ended RPG type. I have the feeling you'd really like Planescape: Torment as well. Less open, but the story is the best I've ever seen in a video game.

catch · Post by **catch** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:20 pm

Tonamel! Finally, the mystery is solved!

I watched Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 yesterday and had the weirdest sense of deja vu. Lo-and-behold, he was your avatar all along.

Paul Robertson is my hero. Is he working for any particular game developer nowadays?

jute gyte · Post by **jute gyte** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:15 pm

My all-time favorite RPGs are, in no particular order: Fallout, Fallout 2, Daggerfall, and Morrowind (with mods).

Also" fuck Oblivion, which plays like the X-Box port it is, and fuck Bethesda probably further destroying the Fallout series with their upcoming Fallout 3.

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:57 pm

I only just managed to kick myself of playing Oblivion. I got a couple of mods that dialed down some of the xboxeyness of it (like making the inventory and stat menus a little less bulky).

I have been considering getting Morrowind, but at the moment, I am hooked playing this.

catch · Post by **catch** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:05 pm

sausage boy wrote:I have been considering getting Morrowind, but at the moment, I am hooked playing this.

On their site, do they mean "Out of This World" rather than "Another World"?

I mean, it does remind me of it.

WeaselSlayer · Post by **WeaselSlayer** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:10 pm

I think there were two titles depending on where it was distributed.

bz£ · Post by **bz£** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:24 pm

Oblivion is not too bad but it probably isn't worth the new graphics card you'll have to buy to run it. I'll second the vote for Planescape Torment; there is nothing to compare to it and it's something you just have to experience.

Another nice world is that of Arcanum, if you can find that game anywhere. It's something like a cross between classic fantasy and mid-1800s western; huge world, lots to see, compelling story.