Morrowind is better than Oblivion
Morrowind is one of the coolest games I've ever played, but Oblivion frankly bores me.
Here's why:
In Morrowind, throughout the entire game, you have a spooky otherworldly atmosphere - everything is different: the wildlife, the environment, people's houses. The world is new, interesting and engaging.
Playing Oblivion feels exactly like wandering through our own world. The wildlife is familiar, the landscape is nothing new, and no matter where you go the towns look the same. Subtle architectural differences don't make me say "Awesome!" like the organic homes of the Telvanni.
Adventuring soon gets pretty boring too. Every cave or stronghold I'm sent to or come across in the wilderness is exactly the same as the las one. It drives me mad.
What's the point of all those fancy graphics if they're never used to show me anything awesome?
The only improvements Oblivion has over Morrowind are technical, like having a journal you can actually find things in, or actually getting potions more than oncee every ninety attempts if you have a low alchemy skill.
End rant
Here's why:
In Morrowind, throughout the entire game, you have a spooky otherworldly atmosphere - everything is different: the wildlife, the environment, people's houses. The world is new, interesting and engaging.
Playing Oblivion feels exactly like wandering through our own world. The wildlife is familiar, the landscape is nothing new, and no matter where you go the towns look the same. Subtle architectural differences don't make me say "Awesome!" like the organic homes of the Telvanni.
Adventuring soon gets pretty boring too. Every cave or stronghold I'm sent to or come across in the wilderness is exactly the same as the las one. It drives me mad.
What's the point of all those fancy graphics if they're never used to show me anything awesome?
The only improvements Oblivion has over Morrowind are technical, like having a journal you can actually find things in, or actually getting potions more than oncee every ninety attempts if you have a low alchemy skill.
End rant
I partially agree. If one would ask me which one the better game is, I wouldn't know. They both have a LOT of flaws. But they are so massive, so engaging, I absolutely love the games. A perfect RPG would be a blend of Morrowind and Oblivion in my opinion:
Oblivion has better graphics, music, it has speech (although corny), characters have lives (roughly), better AI and fighting (Morrowind fighting is the worst in any game), gameplay is somewhat more engaging and it has technical improvements over Morrowind like the journal you mentioned.
Morrowind is larger, more original, has a better level-up system, a lot more items and is more complicated (which is good, to a certain extent).
I look forward to The Elder Scrolls V
Oblivion has better graphics, music, it has speech (although corny), characters have lives (roughly), better AI and fighting (Morrowind fighting is the worst in any game), gameplay is somewhat more engaging and it has technical improvements over Morrowind like the journal you mentioned.
Morrowind is larger, more original, has a better level-up system, a lot more items and is more complicated (which is good, to a certain extent).
I look forward to The Elder Scrolls V
Let the flamewar commence!
Of course, I could go into a detailed analysis of your post here, pointing out why your opinion sucks (and therefore you too, as is the rule of any flamewar), but I won't. Why? Because I agree. The Daedra in Oblivion are cool, though. No doubt about that.
Caves and such in Morrowind were also the same, by the way. Don't forget that. There are a few points considering these caves that I find better in Oblivion than in Morrowind, and vice-versa. Let me begin:
In Oblivion: NPC enemies level with you. I like this. In Morrowind you could just decide not to enter Addamasartus and get back when you're über-level. The loot will have leveled with you, but the enemies won't.
Then again, I find that I'm fighting the same enemies over and over again. Leveling is no use if the enemies level with you. I guess I'm contradicting myself here. Oh, well.
Also, somehow I like names of NPCs like "Red Livia" better than "Smuggler Scout", or whatever. I can understand that respawning them is easier with names like "Smuggler Scout" than with "Red Livia"; fighting 3 incarnations of Red Livia just makes no sense, not even in a fantasy world. Something with suspense of disbelief.
Physics engine of Oblivion... I don't know. I hate it that when I just walk around at random and bump into something, everything falls down on the ground. No way to pick it up, because that'd be stealing.
I can't work with the Oblivion journal at all, but that might just be because I've been playing Morrowind for over 4 years now, and Oblivion only two months. I like the way skill levelups are implemented. "unlocking" a new move for reaching lvl25, 50, 75 or 100 somehow works.
So yeah. Gameplay mechanics of Oblivion are definitely better, but the atmosphere of Morrowind owns all.
Of course, I could go into a detailed analysis of your post here, pointing out why your opinion sucks (and therefore you too, as is the rule of any flamewar), but I won't. Why? Because I agree. The Daedra in Oblivion are cool, though. No doubt about that.
Caves and such in Morrowind were also the same, by the way. Don't forget that. There are a few points considering these caves that I find better in Oblivion than in Morrowind, and vice-versa. Let me begin:
In Oblivion: NPC enemies level with you. I like this. In Morrowind you could just decide not to enter Addamasartus and get back when you're über-level. The loot will have leveled with you, but the enemies won't.
Then again, I find that I'm fighting the same enemies over and over again. Leveling is no use if the enemies level with you. I guess I'm contradicting myself here. Oh, well.
Also, somehow I like names of NPCs like "Red Livia" better than "Smuggler Scout", or whatever. I can understand that respawning them is easier with names like "Smuggler Scout" than with "Red Livia"; fighting 3 incarnations of Red Livia just makes no sense, not even in a fantasy world. Something with suspense of disbelief.
Physics engine of Oblivion... I don't know. I hate it that when I just walk around at random and bump into something, everything falls down on the ground. No way to pick it up, because that'd be stealing.
I can't work with the Oblivion journal at all, but that might just be because I've been playing Morrowind for over 4 years now, and Oblivion only two months. I like the way skill levelups are implemented. "unlocking" a new move for reaching lvl25, 50, 75 or 100 somehow works.
So yeah. Gameplay mechanics of Oblivion are definitely better, but the atmosphere of Morrowind owns all.
So far I agree with most of the points here, except magicman's preference for the leveled enemies... I liked the fact that certain areas were far too dangerous for a low level character to traverse. You got a real sense of danger the first time you decided to wander into a Daedric Shrine or out into the lava fields of Molag Amur. Thankfully, Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul mod fixes that and takes it a little bit beyond Morrowind, in that you can get some seriously great equipment early on if you're willing to brave the challenges of going off into an extremely dangerous area.
One thing I'd like to add is that I found the main storyline of Morrowind to be far superior to Oblivion's "Demon Invasion" with a "lost heir" theme. Oblivion's was a generic story added to a rather generic fantasy setting, which is really something that the Elder Scrolls should not aspire to. Morrowind's storyline really kept you guessing as to what was going really going on. And how, when I really looked hard at everything that happened, everything I did, and the historical reasons behind the actions I was forced to take, I began to see that there were no real good guys and bad guys in this fight, only winners and losers. And other players came to different conclusions based on what they had discovered on their own during the game. In the end, no matter your intentions, your actions cause both great good and great harm. And you ask yourself... was there really anything else you could done? Despite your power, were you only a mere pawn? I think they tried to do the same in Oblivion, but nowhere to the same level that they did in Morrowind.
Thankfully, it looks like they may trying to bring back some of the fantastic atmosphere of Morrowind and a better storyline with the Shivering Isles. Considering it's the realm of madness, I imagine it'll be far more interesting than Cyrodiil, but probably far less than it could potentially be. Even Vvardenfel was far short of what was in my imagination, but I respect that they did as well as they did with it, which I don't so much with Cyrodiil.
EDIT: Weird, I seem to see an unnecessary scroll box around this post.
One thing I'd like to add is that I found the main storyline of Morrowind to be far superior to Oblivion's "Demon Invasion" with a "lost heir" theme. Oblivion's was a generic story added to a rather generic fantasy setting, which is really something that the Elder Scrolls should not aspire to. Morrowind's storyline really kept you guessing as to what was going really going on. And how, when I really looked hard at everything that happened, everything I did, and the historical reasons behind the actions I was forced to take, I began to see that there were no real good guys and bad guys in this fight, only winners and losers. And other players came to different conclusions based on what they had discovered on their own during the game. In the end, no matter your intentions, your actions cause both great good and great harm. And you ask yourself... was there really anything else you could done? Despite your power, were you only a mere pawn? I think they tried to do the same in Oblivion, but nowhere to the same level that they did in Morrowind.
Thankfully, it looks like they may trying to bring back some of the fantastic atmosphere of Morrowind and a better storyline with the Shivering Isles. Considering it's the realm of madness, I imagine it'll be far more interesting than Cyrodiil, but probably far less than it could potentially be. Even Vvardenfel was far short of what was in my imagination, but I respect that they did as well as they did with it, which I don't so much with Cyrodiil.
EDIT: Weird, I seem to see an unnecessary scroll box around this post.
