The Elder Scrolls: It's the IX Divines, you milk-drinkers

[DigoDragon]

And it was at this point I really really understood necromancers. Because the urge to put my enchanted axe into the gatekeepers skull, capture the soul in a black gem and bring it along to show them that I could indeed friggin well use magic without using Healing Hands was almost overpowering.

That was an amusing little story. :D

Have you tried to FusRohDah the gatekeeper off the bridge? That's like magic, and as they plummet down the cliff they can consider investing in some glasses. XD

[Malistrae]

I'm going to begin a Morrowind LP tomorrow, assuming the game arrives, and was wondering if anybody had suggestions for really good mods I should install.

Tamriel Rebuilt is a must. It is perfectly lore-friendly, adds the eastern part of Morrowind Mainland, introduces joinable mainland factions and lots of new quests and areas to explore. Here's their site: http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/ Here's their current development map: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/...ress-small.jpg The eastern parts outlined with purple line at the bottom are fully done (exterior, interior, npcs, quests, factions, etc.) , the rest is only accessible if you use the alpha file alongside the release file, but as you can see on the map, those are in various stages of completion. Here's the combined release+alpha in-game map with locations shown on it: http://images.uesp.net/8/8b/TR3-map-Locations.jpg
The Magistrate Compilation is also pretty essential: http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/42377/? It allows you to command faction members below your rank and do unique things as a faction's leader (for example commission shrines as a patriarch).
Rise of House Telvanni is a very excellent addition if you plan on joining Telvanni: http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/27545/?
Great House Dagoth is great if you want an alternate main quest, where you allow your corprus to remain uncured and progress towards divinity with the aid of Dagoth Ur: http://mw.modhistory.com/download-33-8052
If you plan on being a vampire, I suggest using Vampire Embrace, which allows you to bite people in combat and drink their blood, enslave people as thralls and turn others to vampires: http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/42300/?
Magical Trinkets of Tamriel makes magic much more enjoyable and interesting with a variety of very unique items as well as proper Necromancy and Conjuring: http://mw.modhistory.com/download-37-11729
And last, but far from least, Illuminated Order, the perfect mod for would-be liches and evil mages seeking a proper secret conspiracy to call as their own: http://mw.modhistory.com/download-53-6954

Okay, I think I just managed to motivate myself into reinstalling Morrowind. Hope you enjoy the above ones.
Edit: Note that you might need Morrowind Script Extender (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mwse/) for some of the mods.

[Feytalist]

So I had to share this because I thought it rather amusing.

NPC reputation blindness is a minor but constant annoyance in these games. How difficult would it be to include a script for "Oh yeah, we've heard of you. Normally we would require a test of your abilities, but I'm sure it could be waived for someone of your talents. The College/Companions/Thieves Guild/whatever would be proud to have you as a member." Or similar. With a trigger depending on your cumulative skill level in whatever Path. Or similar.

It's less of a problem with more linear games, since you're expected to be at a certain level at that point in the game, but TES is generally good at this sort of thing. Guards even comment on your armour in certain cases.

Oh well. One more thing to mod, I guess.

[Artanis]

One day I'll be arch-mage and I'm going to fire that gatekeeper. Out of cannon. Forged from the bones of dragons and hearts of deadra their still-beating heart and soulgems filled with the spirits of everybody he's ever loved. With the help of my fire-magic. And the last thing they'll hear is "We both knew I didn't need to take the test (Persuasion)".

Fixed

I'm going to begin a Morrowind LP tomorrow, assuming the game arrives, and was wondering if anybody had suggestions for really good mods I should install.

One of the model-improvement mods, like Better Heads And Bodies (or whatever like that is out there nowadays...it's been a loooooong time since I played Morrowind).

[veti]

One of the model-improvement mods, like Better Heads And Bodies (or whatever like that is out there nowadays...it's been a loooooong time since I played Morrowind).

What irked me slightly about Better Bodies was the underwear. You could set it so that stripped bodies were totally naked, or leave underwear on them - but with the latter option, the underwear was just too good. These ragged bandits and cultists were all wearing stylish Calvin Klein togs or frilled bras that would not look out of place in any modern store. Really bugged me.

To the question: Morrowind Graphics Extender is the only real must, IMO. I think it requires the Script Extender too.

[Flickerdart]

These ragged bandits and cultists were all wearing stylish Calvin Klein togs or frilled bras that would not look out of place in any modern store.

Why do you think they're ragged? They spent all their money on stylish briefs.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I'm a huge fan of the Morrowind Graphics and Sound Overhaul. Makes the game sometimes look better than a game that came out last year. Especially the water reflections, hollllyyy. Is also completely customizable.

[Triaxx]

I can't imagine playing any Bethesda game without a Script Extender.

I've actually been watching Veriax and Sorceror Dave both play modded Morrowind, so checking their modlists can't hurt either.

[LibraryOgre]

A mod that dramatically reduces the aggression of cliff racers.

[Ailurus]

A mod that dramatically reduces the aggression of cliff racers.

You can't just turn Saint Jiub the Eradicator of the Winged Menace into a mod.

[Artanis]

A mod that dramatically reduces the aggression existence of cliff racers.

Fixed that for ya

[veti]

Fixed that for ya

There is at least one mod that does away with cliff racers entirely.

But it's a double-edged wossname, because cliff racers, as well as being incredibly annoying, are also one of the easiest sources of ingredients for the incredibly-useful Levitation potion.

[Artanis]

There is at least one mod that does away with cliff racers entirely.

But it's a double-edged wossname, because cliff racers, as well as being incredibly annoying, are also one of the easiest sources of ingredients for the incredibly-useful Levitation potion.

I just enchant an amulet with Levitation *shrug*

[veti]

I just enchant an amulet with Levitation *shrug*

If there's one lesson Morrowind taught me more clearly than any other, it's that there's no such thing as too much Levitation...

[Mystic Muse]

There is at least one mod that does away with cliff racers entirely.

But it's a double-edged wossname, because cliff racers, as well as being incredibly annoying, are also one of the easiest sources of ingredients for the incredibly-useful Levitation potion.

There's a merchant with a glitch that allows buying infinite racer plumes, so I wouldn't be worried.

[LibraryOgre]

You can't just turn Saint Jiub the Eradicator of the Winged Menace into a mod.

Yeah, but you can pretty easily replace the default Cliff Racer with one that has a 0 default aggression... i.e. won't attack unless attacked first. It keeps them around, without the constant harassment.

[snowblizz]

That was an amusing little story. :D

Thanky you, I was going to relate my annoyance to a friend but he stayed off-line for a long time so the story started to live a life of its own...

NPC reputation blindness is a minor but constant annoyance in these games. How difficult would it be to include a script for "Oh yeah, we've heard of you. Normally we would require a test of your abilities, but I'm sure it could be waived for someone of your talents. The College/Companions/Thieves Guild/whatever would be proud to have you as a member." Or similar. With a trigger depending on your cumulative skill level in whatever Path. Or similar.

It's less of a problem with more linear games, since you're expected to be at a certain level at that point in the game, but TES is generally good at this sort of thing. Guards even comment on your armour in certain cases.

That's sort of the thing that makes one notice it more. In Solitude they respect the Restoration school apparently and recently in Markarth I was trying to discover some alchemy effects and the guards started talking about maybe getting me to make potions for them. And I only have like 30-somethign alchemy. Or maybe I am misunderstanding the Whiterun guards who want my female character to enchant their swords? Do I perhaps need to teach them a lesson about talking to a proper lady (especially the heavily armed and dangerous kind). Heck the guards even start muttering suspiciously when I step by them with a bag of ill-gotten gains they can have no reason to suspect me of *ahem* borrowing.

But walk up to the college of magic and they are all like got spells noob? Or the Thieves Guild that my friend the master thief recently joined. He should probably have been made guild leader on the spot on account of having stolen more than the entirety of the guild have managed for years from the looks of it.

It is almost as odd as the dialogue options I some times see where my character apparently knows more of what is going on than I do.

Of course it's difficult to get stuff like that going in a game that makes such a big deal about being non linear, and I'm usually surprised at how well it is done. Still the gatekeeper at the college needs to watch their back, is all I'm saying.

[Recaiden]

Yeah, but you can pretty easily replace the default Cliff Racer with one that has a 0 default aggression... i.e. won't attack unless attacked first. It keeps them around, without the constant harassment.

Horrifying mobs of cliff racers are an integral part of the Morrowind experience.

[Artanis]

TBH, since I usually played archer-type characters, Cliff Racer attacks were never that big of a problem for me. All it meant when a Cliff Racer showed up was that I'd roll my eyes and spend a minute or two turning arrows into Racer Plumes. The bad parts for me were when Cliff Racers would show up, aggro, and then just sit in the sky ignoring my arrows and screaming at me like I was some sort of Stormtrooper-slash-reverse mime until I spent ten minutes dragging it around trying to get it to actually come at me. It was those *snip two paragraphs of chain-swearing* incidents that drove me to the worship of Saint Jiub.

[Sajiri]

I feel like I should really try Morrowind again sometime, it just looks so...dated. I dont normally mind that but Morrowind's characters look particularly bad. It was one of the first games I played (...even though it came out when I was 13, I wasnt allowed to play many video games back then) and I just...I had no idea what to do. I think I made a thief type using a staff. Also I think my total number of kills was...2 rats. Ever. For some reason I just could not handle the controls and couldnt kill a thing, yet I still managed to play it for a long time. Pretty much just exploring and running away forever.

[NEO|Phyte]

The graphics aren't the only dated thing, as much as people complain about condensed weapon types and less armor/clothing slots, the combat in general is far improved in the later games, because they moved from 'your weapon skill determines if you hit' to 'your weapon skill determines how well you hit'. Plus active blocking instead of just a random chance of blocking as long as you have a shield equipped, and probably some other things as well.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

The things that bother me about Morrowind are the bugs. Especially the Alchemy bug. The uncanny valley I-have-no-knees walk bothered me for quite a while too, but I eventually got over that.

The bad parts for me were when Cliff Racers would show up, aggro, and then just sit in the sky ignoring my arrows and screaming at me like I was some sort of Stormtrooper-slash-reverse mime until I spent ten minutes dragging it around trying to get it to actually come at me. It was those *snip two paragraphs of chain-swearing* incidents that drove me to the worship of Saint Jiub.

^This. I never had problems with Cliffracers so long as I could take them as they came, but when they got 'stuck'...then I started running into five or six at a time once they got un-stuck. Part of that might have been that my weapon of choice was the long blade, but most of it was terrain. :\

For some reason I just could not handle the controls and couldnt kill a thing, yet I still managed to play it for a long time. Pretty much just exploring and running away forever.

That was the game not you. There's only like a 10% chance of hitting with a weapon you're not good with, but you don't get better if you don't hit. Once you get good with the weapon you can carve a bloody swath through all in your path.

[Sajiri]

That was the game not you. There's only like a 10% chance of hitting with a weapon you're not good with, but you don't get better if you don't hit. Once you get good with the weapon you can carve a bloody swath through all in your path.

Was it that way in Oblivion too? Because I could never manage melee in that either, although I did just fine with archery (better than in skyrim, had no trouble shooting on the run in oblivion)

[Triaxx]

No, I believe Oblivion switched to hitbox detection of impacts, rather than calculated hit chances.

On the other hand, I never found Oblivion's archery to be that much fun. I typicaly only used it once if playing a thief and not at all for any other character type. It always felt as if it was meant for much shorter ranges than I was trying to use it at.

[Sajiri]

Maybe its just the specific type of controls elder scrolls has, the direction with the mouse movement with the keys, I was never able to do that in games, but then I have to just use gamepads for anything I can now so I never experience that with Skyrim.

I think with archery between the two games though, I play more sniper in skyrim, but in Oblivion I did tend to be using it rather close range and mobile. Maybe thats why I enjoyed archery more in that one..aside from the NPCs that see you bring out an arrow, then all their heads turn and they dive in front of your bow. I could never get through Kvatch without hitting most of the guards- turn right around and I swear they'd still drop what they were doing to mad rush into my line of fire.

[Dhavaer]

I could never get through Kvatch without hitting most of the guards- turn right around and I swear they'd still drop what they were doing to mad rush into my line of fire.

Argh. I hated that in the fort attacks in Skyrim. You should have had an option to tell the troops to stay back and let you handle it, like you could in the broken cart mission, but no, we can't let you use chain lightning in the perfect situation for it, can we?

[Triaxx]

You know who really loves that? The Dawnguard. The guys who went out of their way to bring the Crossbow back so they didn't have to get close to Vampires. Who instead decide to charge straight into the middle of the melee instead of filling them full of pointy things. Yeah, makes it really hard to use Chain Lightning unless you're quick enough for an Alpha strike.

That said, I find Chain Lightning to be less useful than Ice Storm. I can lay out paths of ice storm that slow and hurt enemies, instead of Chain Lightning, which requires them to be both in range of the bolt and close enough for the chain effect. Otherwise it's just an expensive Lightning Bolt.

I never actually tried running and... bowing? In Oblivion. I always treated it as something to shoot as a first attack then close in. A sneak attack flattens most mages in one go, which is where I wanted it to work. Didn't. Might try it as a short range weapon.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

For Morrowind datedness, I still say that the Morrowind Sound and Graphics Overhaul does WONDERS at least on the graphics side of things, if not gameplay. They have a video trailer of their latest build there, but for ease of access, here's a nice huge picture of beautiful swamps.

Spoiler

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[DigoDragon]

The guys who went out of their way to bring the Crossbow back so they didn't have to get close to Vampires.

There is something satisfying with the ka-chink mechanical sound of loading and then firing one of those.

[Sharoth]

The Ebony Warrior wasn't that hard. ~whistles and fails to mention having maxed smithing, enchanting, and alchemy~