*** Official Morrowwind (X Box & PC) Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[JasonK]

I played for at least 6 hours over the weekend, and just barely got to level 2.

Wow Dave, you sound like me! I started my own character class, and after about 6 hours of play this weekend my character is *still* at level one.

Why? I only just now read that to 'level up' you have to focus on using your major and minor skills. Well, I had been using a ton of Misc. skills without realizing it.

I'm also used to console RPG's, and the format of 'walk to town, get quest info, fight monsters, level up, repeat.'

But I'm doing quite well for myself at level 1. I've joined the Thieves Guild, and the Fighters Guild.

I went into some ruins and got a Jewel Case (or something) for a fighter guild member. Now, I have to continue getting info for 'The Blades' by doing tasks for the mages guild, on top of other tasks I've been assigned.

I've 'persuaded' an employee of a rich man in Balmora to give me a key to his house for Sugar Lips Habisi. (I love that name.) Then, rather than give the key up right away, I used it for myself and ganked the rich snob's clothes! (The first time, I actually killed the rich man, disposed of the body, and stole his key, but ol' Sugar Lips wasn't gonna pay me, since killing the man made things 'difficult.') I've learned that saving often in this game helps.

Plus, I was just reading about what you guys have done in Seyda Neen and need to take a trip back there and bust up the smugglers ring.

This game is addictive as hell, and will be taunting me as I start my summer classes tomorrow. (The lovely class that is Logic.)

 

[Dave F]

Unless a game supports 16:9, I play most games in zoom/stretch mode (Wide Zoom on Sony, TW1 on Toshibas). If the proportions are weird, i'll play in the "normal" 4:3 mode. With Morrowind, I'm playing 4:3 to reduce the jags. A bigger issue to me is the textures & lighting. Outside, it can be incredibly bright, but one step inside & I almost need to adjust the brightness settings in order to see. And the textures are pretty poor - pretty bland & they look pretty disjointed at the seams. All in all, the smaller the screen, the better that Morrowind looks.

Gameplay is pretty cool (I've only played a little bit), but I'll have to agree with the others that the fighting sucks. It sucks like a bucket of ticks. If there was some sort of sense that you were making contact, it'd be much better. My character is an archer, so hopefully this won't be as much of an issue later on.

-Dave

 

[Dave Falasco]

Dave F, I don't know how it works with ranged attacks, but in a melee battle you can tell when you hit the enemy: you can hear the impact of your blade, a flash of red will appear on the enemy, and usually they will let out a grunt or a squeal. Now, as far as knowing when you are going to hit the enemy, there's no way to tell that. I just keep hacking away, and right now around half or a little less hit.
I've also read that ranged attacks are brutal in the early part of the game in that you miss FAR more often than you hit. I'm sure that gets better as your skills improve.
I think I found my first bug...I joined the Imperial Legion in Gnisis to get some experience, and the very first task I was given involved talking to a widow about a land deed. The idea is, I talk to the women about the deed, she tells me to investigate her husband's murder, I go the egg mines, mayhem ensues, and I get the deed from her and a nice reward from my boss. Well, for whatever reason, the subject "Land Deed" doesn't come up in my conversation topics with the widow. I have talked to her about everything in the list, and I have talked to a bunch of townspeople about her as well, just to see if something triggers the land deed topic in my list, but nothing. I had a friend check the strategy guide for this mission, and it looks like "Land Deed" should appear in my conversation topics with her, but it doesn't and I can't force it to, so I'm stuck. I either forget about the Imperial Legions, or stick a sword in her and take the deed myself.
Anyone else join the army and encounter this?

 

[ChristopherS]

I am having a problem finding this game in Gatineau Quebec. I called Future Shop, Toys R Us, WalMart, Blockbuster, and my local video gaming store. None of them have received this game yet. I am going to have to try calling stores in Ottawa later today.

Chris

 

[Peter D]

Dave - talk to the Imperial Legion boss in Gnisis about the mission after you've completed it.

 

[Dave Falasco]

Hi, Peter. The problem is, I can't start the mission! I don't want to just kill her, but I can't get the land deed topic to appear in my conversation list with her. Usually there is some kind of trigger event that causes these things to appear, and I would expect that receiving the order from the Legion boss would be that trigger, but for some reason even though I have talked to him several times about this mission, I can not talk to the widow about it.

I guess five feet of steel will have to do my talking for me.

 

[Ricky Hustle]

.

 

[Peter D]

Dave -

As I look back through my game journal, I think the reward from the legion is all you get from that quest. By exposing the murder of her husband, she gets to stay put.

 

[Dave Falasco]

So you completed the quest successfully, then? You're the guy I need to talk to then! Do you remember how you got her to initiate your quest?

Let me set the stage for you--when you first get to Gnisis you have to talk to the Imperial master guy to join the Legion. Okay, so you talk to him and join, and he gives you your first order--go talk to the widow and "convince" her to give you the deed. Now, I think this is supposed to trigger something so that when you talk to the widow you will be able to ask her about the deed, so she can refuse and tell you about her husband's murder. My problem is, I can't talk to her about that. It isn't an option in my conversation box. So she never talks to me about her husband's murder, and as a result I never get charged with investigating in the eggmines, etc. Do you remember how you got the widow to tell you about her husband's murder? That's the crux of the problem for me--I need her to tell me about it so I can go solve it for her.

My guess is that when you went to talk to her, among all the other topics (latest rumors, little secret, Morrowind lore, specific place, etc) was something like "land deed". And asking her about that led her to tell you about the murder. I just can't get that topic to appear. Grrr...

 

[James St]

Dave, I joined the Legion as well but haven't taken any orders yet. They refuse to speak to me as long as I'm out of uniform. I put on this extravagant pimp robe over my armor early in the game and have been roaming around lookin phat. I'll give the mission a try tonight to see if anything specific needs to be done.

 

[Peter D]

Dave -

I dunno - I just remember:

The big orc in the mines was the murderer, but I killed him before I discovered that (he attacked me). Her husband's corpse was relatively near the orc, and it had proof that I showed to the legion commander.

 

[Brian E]

If you guys want hints on the multitude of quests you might want to check http://www.elderscrolls.com Most of them have been gone through in their forum.

 

[Ron Gilbert]

Okay, I've got an issue you guys might be able to help me with. I decided to take the long way back to Balmora from Ebonheart and ended up in this depressing Shantytown on the Bitter Coast called Hiad, or Ola Hid(sic). I took a job from a creep I'm pretty sure is Commana Tong - He asked me to escort a slave back to Balmora and deliver her to a man named Valor. Valor's house is right next to the spymasters, but it has a level 30 lock that I can't penetrate yet. Now there are other characters walking around who are never at their house, so I figured I might be able to run into him, but I can't seem to find him anywhere. So now I'm stuck with this slave, who seems to act stupider with every passing day. Now, I do have an option to "free" her at a certain town, but I like to honor my jobs, even if they are reprehensible. So I'm off adventuring, with her tagging along and frequently getting stuck or in the way, until I get sufficient skill to pick the lock, but I was hoping for another solution.

Overall I'm enjoying the game, and while I don't suffer from the 'Japanese-games-are-better-than-Western-games syndrome,' I do wish for some JP quality art direction. Incidentally, do any of the NPCs gathered in taverns, etc. ever venture out on their own? One of my pending jobs is to eliminate a group of "bad people," but all of them are together in a bar, and when I attack even one of them out of sight of the others, they all soon gather as one to beat me down. I was hoping for an ambush instead.

 

[Andy Sheets]

You might try to track down an Unhinging spell or scroll to get in that door. I get the impression that you need lots of training before you can become dependable at lock-picking.

Incidentally, do any of the NPCs gathered in taverns, etc. ever venture out on their own? One of my pending jobs is to eliminate a group of "bad people," but all of them are together in a bar, and when I attack even one of them out of sight of the others, they all soon gather as one to beat me down. I was hoping for an ambush instead.

As near as I can tell those guys always stay in the club. And I haven't figured out their behavior when attacked either. One time I went in there, killed the guy at the top of the stairs and no one downstairs moved a muscle, but then they did kill me when I went down there and started in on them. Next time I went in there, I attacked the guy at the top, and the rest all ran up the stairs and killed me right away. I've decided to put off that task until quite a bit later

 

[Ron Gilbert]

I've actually been pretty good at lockpicking, but your right, I do need to work the skill more. I just think its strange that the guy is expecting the slave, but is nowhere to be found. Of course he doesn't really want the slave, but rather what she has inside so that may be a solution.... And yeah, I'm going to hold off on the Council Club for awhile to
As for the art, I'm not looking for anime-inspired art direction, and I'm tired of the spikey hair thing myself I can't put my finger on it, but imagine, for example, if the art team from PDOrta, are even Bungie, designed the game. For me, it does not detract from the great gameplay (combat excepted) I guess I just wish everything was more polished, or prettier perhaps?

 

[Dave Falasco]

Cool, thanks James! Is that the robe you find on the mage that falls out of the sky? I've been strolling around in that as well. I've been looking for a furry white cowboy hat and a solid gold cane to go along with it, but no luck so far...
If you get the chance, I'd love to hear how you make out with the first mission.

 

[Chris Rock]

Anyone care to comment on whether they prefer to play Morrowind on their couch in front of their big screen in 5.1 with lower resolution graphics, or in their computer room on their smaller monitor with higher rez graphics?

I cancelled a pre-order I'd placed a long time ago because of all the delays, but I am thinking of purchasing it.

I have a PC that will run it, but I've played SOOOO much PC games lately that I'm thinking of getting it for the 'Box just so I can play in the living room.

Would I be missing anything major by playing the XBox version? Don't say the expansion pack, because there's MORE than enough gameplay (for me) without it.

 

[Derrik Draven]

I guess I'm doing pretty well for myself.
I've made it to level 16 with my Imperial Barbarian. Guess that's what a solid week of "all-nighters" will do for ya!!!
Gettin' used to the fighting. Doesn't seem to suck quite as much as it did when I 1st started.
Been doing well in the fighters guild, both in Balmora and in Vivec.
After stumbling upon another really cool Daedric ruin on the Bitter Coast, I finally got a full set of Orcish armor. YES!!!! Nothing like Orcish when your major skill is medium armor. And besides, you look like absolutely bad ass with it on.
My only roadblock, so far, is trying to find some place called "Mallapi". Was told in Gnaar Mok that it's nearby and "just to the northeast at bit". My ass. I've scoured the entire northeast of Gnaar Mok. Nothing. I'm tracking down some chicks dead brother for 2000 gold pieces he owes a client of the fighters guild in Vivec.
Aside from "in game" talk, I can honestly say that this is the best adventure gaming I've had since I finished Ultima IV, in the late 80's.
Showing my age.

 

[James St]

I've made it to level 16

DAMN!!! I'm only level 6, halfway to 7. I need to head over the bitter coast where all the smugglers caves are and start kickin some ass.
Dave, I haven't had a chance to start the mission yet. The Vivec interview mission I was on took much longer than I thought. By the time I finished I had forgotten where Darius lived. I'll head back to Gnisis tonight and get started on it. BTW, I think the robe is from the mage who fell from the sky. That and the yellow fur helmet is how I ride out.

 

[JasonK]

He asked me to escort a slave back to Balmora and deliver her to a man named Valor. Valor's house is right next to the spymasters, but it has a level 30 lock that I can't penetrate yet.

Ron,

The exact same thing happened to me. I have no idea how to unlock the guys door, since the lock is 'too complex' for me. I'll have to track down an unhinging spell, I guess.

I'm trying to track down some items for Sugar Lips Habisi, and the guy who stole them is in Ola Hic (?) and denies taking anything. Bastard.

Plus, I'm to go tomb-raiding for a mage at the guild, and of course, deliver the slave.