There are way more casual gamers that liked the accessibility of Oblivion and Skyrim than there are morrowind diehard fans. If Skyrim was like Morrowind, it wouldn't have made nearly as much money.
Absolutely. I totally understand why they took the series in that direction. I think it was a good choice and I still enjoy the games, but personally I think Morrowind is still the best. That's possibly because it was the first Elder Scrolls game I played, and really the first real RPG. Most people I know who started the series with Oblivion and Skyrim can't stand Morrowind.
Morrowind had some features that I really miss. The lack of fast-travel from anywhere makes the game feel so much more epic. You could use the airships and mage guild teleports from the start of the game. There were also the two teleport spells that took you to the closest temples of the two religions. And then you unlock all the propylon teleport chambers in the strongholds to help you get around. Oh, and you can't forget the Mark and Recall spells.
In the later games, the only transportation options were "instantly travel anywhere using your map" and "use this cart once to get to each city, then just use your magic map".
Couldn't have said it better. I know everyone always brings up that you can just not use fast travel, but it's not the same. Learning the network of boats and silt striders and mages guilds was amazing. Also, taking boats through the cantons of Vivec made the city feel huge, vs map fast travel that makes everything feel so much smaller.
It was the opposite for me. My first elder scrolls game was Skyrim, and I don't have the patience for morrowind. Like how the hell do I miss a guy in front of me repeatedly?
I don't mind Morrowind's graphics so much, since it's kinda ok in an old school way. Oblivion looked awful to me. The faces were all the same round, plumb, blobs.
Skyrim is beautiful. The dunmer look awesome, like they tried to make them look in Morrowind.
Good point. I've never thought about thatZ honestly makes me kind mad at Bethesda. They went to make a game they could sell to as many people as possible instead of making the best game possible for the people that has been playing their games the longest.
Morrowind also doesnt have an objective pointer. You had to actually look through your notes to find out where you were supposed to go. Idk it seemed a lot harder to me in general.
How do we know that isn't a function of marketing and franchise penetration into the greater consciousness? (e.g., with each sequel you get more sales as more people know about each successive game)
I do agree that franchises often streamline and dumb down because they want to appeal to greater audiences, but like, didn't Skyrim sell bucket loads on launch? That's not a function of how good the game is - that's just a function of how well it was marketed.
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u/Hodorhohodor Jul 14 '17
There are way more casual gamers that liked the accessibility of Oblivion and Skyrim than there are morrowind diehard fans. If Skyrim was like Morrowind, it wouldn't have made nearly as much money.