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OK. So in searching for something new to play that will run on my antiquated PC - looks like Morrowmind will do it.

The reviews are unabashedly positive and it seems like one of those games where you lose yourself for a while.

Anyone here had experience with it? Is it as good as the hype says? Gimme some examples of what you get up to.

The 'gold' copy that has 2 expansions included (Blood - something and Tribunal) is available cheap, but i thought i'd ask opinions before buying. :)

MorrowWind, is one of the long line of Elder Scrolls games. I've followed the series since Arena: The Elder Scrolls. Morrowind is probably my favorite iteration of the game simply because it does so much right--yet a few things wrong.

I much preferred the pre-Morrowwind combat. How you swung your mouse direction determined your weapon swing--thrusts being more accurate but least damage and an overhead chop/smash being the opposite. Yet in the end MorrowWind was in many ways the most visually unique of the games, and included so much STUFF that made it feel truly vast for a small island.

I suggest you get some of the custom content (primarily, the one which makes the flyers whose name I forget sometimes passive, or you will be constantly fighting them.)

The game is vast on its own, a bit emptier for some people than they'd like, but still full of places to explore, things to see, and jump to and fall from, and swim around and so on. The custom content is huge as well.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is that you can join many different organizations, make a custom class, make custom magics--the latter has been true since the first game, and that is TRULY a fantastic thing. (Albeit I miss the wall melting/floor dissolving spells of the first game, I understand why they were removed..)


The world is fun, huge, alive in many ways, the people react to you based ona  huge number of factors. You can become a Vampire, get cured, and with Blood Moon, become a werewolf and gain control of it--not to mention the quests that have you facing all sorts of terrible plague creatures, magic wielders, and other enemies.

Plus of course if you are really bored like me you can attack any NPC in the game and start something up. (Yes even the "gods", you do not want to know how hard much patience it takes to beat one of them to death with your bare hands....:D)

I've loved the series--Morrowwind was my most played one. I'm trying to get through Oblivion off and on now, which is gorgeous--and fun--but seems to miss some things (weapons) that limit my concepts I'd done in Morrowwind and previous games.

Sounds groovy! I always misread it as Morrowmind, it's Morrowind isn't it?

I've heard that you can do pretty much anything you want to within the game world without it interfering with the overall plot. Is that really the case?

Quote from: One Horse Town;222440Sounds groovy! I always misread it as Morrowmind, it's Morrowind isn't it?

I've heard that you can do pretty much anything you want to within the game world without it interfering with the overall plot. Is that really the case?

Yeah, I do too..which is why I tried to emphasize it. You can do most anything--only a few lynchpins stop you in the overall plot in the main area. Even then you can mostly ignore the plot and have fun.

I love Morrowind and the series in general.  But the in game freedom is it's biggest problem.  It's far to easy to skip off the main storyline and just run around.  Then by the time you get back to the story line it's typically boring as hell.

On the other hand playing through following the story line is it's own trick because it's really - really easy to jump off track and once you do, it's even more difficult to get back onto it.

But that aside you can still put many, many hours into this game playing it however you want.

Well, for £3.98, seems like i can't go wrong really!

Pentium 4 2.4ghz
512mb Ram
32mb graphics.

Is that good enough to run the game? It meets the minimum reqs that i've seen, but i also see that there are some crashing problems on lower spec systems.

should be enough, just adjust the graphics and stuff,

Keep in mind the game very main design philosophy is freedom. Dont expect to be told what to do, its for you to find out the options and choose. To be honest, i didnt enjoy that much freedom for i expect the game to give me reasons to play it not the other way round, but i am probably the strange case since the game was an extraordinary success. If you feel like an explorer without a rush to wrap things up fast, it will surely fit your taste.

Make sure to download stuff like the improved faces and all the clothing packs and stuff.  It's fun.

I loved Morrowind and highly recommend it.  Find some of the well rated mods when you get a chance and want some added variety.

Any PC that can run Morrowind isn't antiquated... it can do nearly all office work well...

The graphics are dated but it is the nearest thing to a sandbox RPG - the game world is vast, there is a mind-boggling range of quests and organisations and it is good for literally thousands of hours of play.

There is a linear main quest where you save the world but you will probably get creamed in its later stages unless you do some side quests to level up first.

One tip: get the two expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon as they add a lot but make sure you find and download a Dark Brotherhood Attacks Delayer mod immediately after you install Tribunal.    

Second tip: find a multimark spell mod as it allows you to easily teleport around and avoid those pesky Cliff Racers.  

The banking mod is also a must if you can still find it.

On your spec it sounds a lot like my old Dell desktop which ran Morrowind fine at quite high graphic settings (and which I still use for everything except gaming) - but the key is your graphics card.

Thanks for the input guys!

The tribunal and bloodmoon expansions are part of the 'gold' set, so i'm getting them all in one package.

I loved it. I never finished it, because I kept going off track to look for the vampire nests, or smugglers, or find some more treasure.

I should start it up again.... Sad part is I'm almost done!

Oh, and my mods were a stronghold (because I like a nice place to keep my crap) and one that improves the inventory.

Oh, and here's a tip:

Whatever skills you plan on using, DON'T make them your Primary Skills! The Primary Skills are what nets you XP to level, and the game's difficulty is always geared towards whatever level you are at. If you race through the levels you'll eventually find the game retardedly difficult. Also, this allows you to control when you level, since, say you want to level up, you simply go out and use the Primary Skills a bit (y'know, the skills you never use except for leveling up). Otherwise the end of the game might be too hard.

For example, when I make Fighter/Thief types, I put all the spell skills as my Primaries, i.e. the spells I never use. So when I want to level up I just start using my Destruction or Enchantment spells for a bit and then level.

Also: I agree. Get Tribunal and Bloodmoon as well. Some of the mods might require a better computer than you have but nab some of those as well. There's STILL mods for this game out out every week.

-=Grim=-

Get the Fashionable Merchants mod. It fixes a small but annoying bug where every time you sell a piece of armour to a merchant, he put it on and wears it. Soon you have these fine haberdashers, pawnshop brokers and other nice townsfolk standing about in full armour, which is a bit stupid.

As others said, better bodies and faces, as well as any other visual enhancement mods are good.

Get the official mods from Bethesda. A few minor quests and the like, but can't hurt.

Important tip: Don't try to learn and thoroughly understand how the leveling up system works. If you do, you'll soon find yourself sliding down a pit of unwilling munchkinry, resorting to "practice cantrips", jumping and running around for half an hour realtime and extensive tables with checkmarks as you try to squeeze your levels for better ability improvements. Just don't.

Morrowwind sucked away many, many hours days months of my life.

Make sure you get the body and poly updates (Better Bodies was one I seem to remember) and I did love the one that got rid of the flyers by giving you a quest to kill the queen.

Other than that it was a well awesome game =)

You will come to despise Cliff Racers (Flyers). At least, if your route goes near mountains/hills often.

They are suicidally aggressive. They are many. And the pathetic flying routine means they can take minutes to seconds to sneak up behind you.

Only good thing is they are so slow (Racers??) you can generally outrun them.

But really, that and the 2d dungeon mapping (Daggerfall had 3d!) are the only real downsides.

A couple of mods I recommend picking up are the Ogre Merchant (he pays you full price for things, and keeps them in inventory in case you want to buy back later).  Another is a house mod.  I used one that had exits to every city, which was extremely handy for traveling.

Also, if you make a thief type, it is easy to get green glass armor and weapons right off the bat if you go to the right place.  That actually makes the game too easy, because those items really outclass the lower level stuff you start off fighting.  But you can put the handy new glass armor in your multi-city house and use it later.

I never finished the main storyline, but I enjoyed being the "Avenging Avenger Who Wreaks Vengeance Upon the Drug Lords" (TM).  There is a very nice house that has a big drug manufacturing operation going on in the basement.  That became my home until I found the multi-city house mod.  It was awesome seeing all of the weapons and armor I picked up laid out upon the furniture in the house.

With a bit of Googling, you should be able to find some abandoned software to suit your needs.  I found some old games I used to own that I have enjoyed playing again.  I mention that, because downloading games you didn't previously own is wrong.

It's ordered and should be here tomorrow or Saturday. Should i load up the expansions at the same time as the main game or wait until i'm some way along the main game? Does it make any difference?

If you install Tribunal along with the basic game, you will be hounded by dark brotherhood assassins from early on. They are tough customers for a low level character, but are also wearing very good and expensive light armor. This means no money troubles.
I would also recommend the master index mod. It contains a quest, that will yield you a teleportation device.

It's in my grubby mits!

I hereby bid farewell to the world for a month or so...

Return with tales of glory.

Like the time I killed a god, with my bare hands. (Shh. In game, don't tell anyone...they get all weird.)

Quote from: Silverlion;241575Return with tales of glory.

Like the time I killed a god, with my bare hands. (Shh. In game, don't tell anyone...they get all weird.)

Well, my first tale of glory is that it has loaded ok and seems to run alright on my PC - hoorah! However, the very first person i talked to once i got out of the census office where you make your character crashed my PC. Boo! Hopefully it won't be that common an occurence.

So, sorted some smugglers out, bought some decent armour with the proceeds. Couldn't afford the siltstrider, so i walked to Balmora, just to see what the experience was like. I liked it! Went into a rather boring mine along the way and approached the city via a mountain ridge instead of using the road. Foggy vista ahoy!

Yeah, i like it already...:hatsoff:

I'm playing a Redguard Crusader. Thought i'd stick to the basics to begin with. Managed to make my first potion though - Resist Poison.

Quote from: One Horse Town;241796I'm playing a Redguard Crusader. Thought i'd stick to the basics to begin with. Managed to make my first potion though - Resist Poison.

Ha!  I remember playing Redguard.  Interesting-ish game, even with the buggy stuff.  It had some cool graphical glitches, too.  If you swam all the way to the edge of the map by the islands, the screen started going really funky, but it was pretty.

Quote from: One Horse Town;241796So, sorted some smugglers out, bought some decent armour with the proceeds. Couldn't afford the siltstrider, so i walked to Balmora, just to see what the experience was like. I liked it! Went into a rather boring mine along the way and approached the city via a mountain ridge instead of using the road. Foggy vista ahoy!

Yeah, i like it already...:hatsoff:

I'm playing a Redguard Crusader. Thought i'd stick to the basics to begin with. Managed to make my first potion though - Resist Poison.

Yeah, don't expect to melee the god, just yet.

:D
Potion making, guild joining, magic stuff is a lot of fun. So try different characters when you get the chance.

One of my first characters was killed by a Scrib.

My last character regularly did *slaughter-runs in Daedric ruins against the high-level guys.

Players level too. :D

* Run in, slaughter everything, grab any useful souls. :D

How the hell did you get killed by a Scrib? :)

Diary 1: Forgot to mention that as i left Seyd? by foot this bloke fell from the sky! Got a magic sword from him and 3 scrolls of 'leaping'. Given his display, i figured i'd sell them rather than use them. The mine i entered, unknown to me was part of a mission from the Fighters Guild - more later. Got to Balmora, joined the Fighters Guild - haven't looked for the guy i need to give a package to yet. Got a mission to kill some rats - did it with few problems - got promoted. Got another mission - the mine one. So i broke off the discussion, then started it again and got 100 gps and another promotion! Hurrah. Bought a new spell and a funky Trollbone helm which upped my overall armour from 8 to 10 points. Got another mission - this one in Caldera, killing 4 tellani in the mines there. Got mage transported and just arrived. Made 2 new potions, a healing one and a Detect Keys one. For some reason i can't run, so my athletics is going to stay static, whatever i do. Shift doesn't work in getting me to run and when i kept trying my computer didn't like it and exited the program. It also seems that i can only thrust with my weapon - dunno how to slash or crush - can't seem to do it. 40% to getting to level 2 at the moment, working on getting armourer, destruction & alchemy up as at the moment only block & long blade have advanced.

Phew! I'm sure my diary will fade as i lose my initial interest in the game, but i'll try to update every now and then.

High wisdom score. Check.
Didn't use scrolls of death leaping. Good.

Diary 2: Couple of hours today - didn't get far. However, the first attack by those shadow assassins provided me with enough money to upgrade my armour yet again. Armour 16 now. Made my way to the mines, but can't for the life of me find those pesky tellani - found an ancestral cave, which i left alone, but i wandered round the mine area for ages with no luck in the actual quest. I'll head back to town and start out again in case i missed them - or i might head back to Balmora and sign on with the mages guild and get that package delivered...60% towards levelling up.

Diary 3: Lazy Sunday afternoon spent finally finishing off the mine mission. I found the bloody place on my way back to town - i got to the mines in the dark, so i reckon i missed it in the gloom. Also got a code book back for the fighters' guild. Joined the mages' guild but haven't started working for them yet. Delivered the message and also joined the blades! Haven't done anything for them yet either. Armour is now 20, have a groovy robe that heals 10 hits at a time, got a soul gem with a rat in it and a few new spells. Decided to take a walk to Pelgeriad for the hell of it. Left it there.

ooh, nearly forgot - level 2! Leveled up whilst repairing my armour - groovy.

I somehow kept failing every single save vs. paralyze and got nibbled to death.

The way you swing is auto-set to do the best damage. Since most weapons do the best damage with a specific swing - Well, that setting is pretty much borked.

Dunno about the running thing.

Leveling gets faster once you gain a few levels, mostly because you can adventure for longer. One thing I tend to do, because I'm impatient, is go round half the coast. That tends to get me to about level 5.

Oh, yeah - There's a mudcrab who buys and sells at 100% with 10,000 gold on the coast. Hard to find, though. (No fooling - Check out a guide)

I recommend editing the shops to 10x or more gold, otherwise it just gets too annoying to try to sell stuff later on.

Lack of run is screwing me up - but i've survived so far....

Diary 4: 1st mission for the blades complete and the hardest, and most lucrative, so far. Old dwarven mines = loads of old coins worth 50 normal gold each. Got about 40 in total. Since i got that haul, i've been mage travelling around the cities trying to spend the money. Bought a kick-ass Duke's Imperial Guard Cuirass - armour now 25 (whether that means much, i have no idea!). Bought yet more spells that i'm crap at casting, bought an amulet of recall and a single scroll of Mark. If it does what i'm thinking then hopefully i can mark somewhere to recall to - but only once it seems...unless i can track down someone selling the spell. Got a groovy new sword that does an extra 1-25 points of damage. About 60 or 70% towards 3rd level, i think. Still got 20 dwarven coins to exchange for goodies - so some more globe-trotting before i get back to business. :)

Why can't you run? Are you stealthing everywhere?
Or...?

If you are playing it on computer, use Shift, IIRC to run

Quote from: Silverlion;242718If you are playing it on computer, use Shift, IIRC to run

Doesn't work - tried both shift keys and no running for me.

Try changing the keybindings.

Also, I can't quite remember, but I think you may only have to mark once. Unless you load a mod, you also can only have one mark at a time.

Quote from: One Horse Town;242719Doesn't work - tried both shift keys and no running for me.

You have to hold down shift. And you need to make sure you aren't in Stealth. I'm not sure what else could be up, but look up the options and make sure the controls are listed right (or re-assign them..)

Are you playing on a laptop? I seem to recall issues with laptops..but its been a while. (It may simply be new OS' confuse it.)

I haven't used Stealth once yet - i keep forgetting about it.

Yeah, i'm playing on a lap-top.

Diary 5: Went to Gnisis, because i wanted to enroll in the Imperial Legion. Sadly, you have to wear, what in my case, is inferior armour to get info from imperial guardsmen and having that and my better armour is eating my encumbrance up - boo! Went on an adventure around Gnisis. Did some mountain climbing, then fell into the river and had to swim to a level spot! Got attacked by some vicious fish. Found several caves and enclaves in the hills around the place. Entered one and got killed - higher level stuff - entered another, fought some skellies, got a huge amount of gold and a dwarven hammer worth 600 gold. Couldn't go further because the locks were too good - another higher level place, i think. Still, i'm now walking around with 1000 gps and 12 of the dwarven coins (worth 50, i'm selling them for about 20, each). I'm planing to create an enchanted Open (50) ring, to get those pesky locks open, so that money will disappear in a flash. Reached 3rd level - this time when my medium armour improved by me getting bashed by an aligator. Endurance 80 - huzzah!

Diary 6: Did my first mission for the Imperial Legion - get some land deeds from a poor old widow. Went there with violence in mind, then learnt that her husband had been murdered and skull-duggery was afoot! So, to the mines i go to find evidence of foul play. Half an hour later i found them - what is it with me and finding mines? I didn't even have darkness as an excuse this time. Anyhow, i enjoyed this one. Small place, took a wrong turn and got killed by some rampaging monsters - then got accosted by an Orc. I bypassed him - not wanting to engage in murder (you can't kill someone unless they attack you first) and got to a lake where the poor murdered husband was lurking as a ghost. The Orc did it! I had to find his axe in the lake, which proved to be a diverting dive & search mission - liked it. Got the evidence and saved the widow from giving up her lands. Hurrah!

Then i went back to the blades to get another mission from them. Back in familiar territory, at last. Boy, these missions are the toughest! Had to go to a burial site to get a skull - nasty undead, including skeleton archers, who killed me 3 times because i can't run to close them down! (have to change that). Anyway, nice magic dagger from that when i succeeded at last. Bought the Vitality spell, which should help me out in future (even though i only have about a 20% chance of casting it). Got to 4th level - pretty quick this time, i paid for a few training sessions and my level-up was after being trained in the armourer skill (that's 2 for 3 on armourer, i'm turning into a bit of an armoursmith).

Got to get my Willpower up or my main Destruction spells won't be improving much.

Break for a day or so now. Been 3 hours a day since i got it, at least. Back to life for a bit!

I never every beat the storylines in these games... though I just might in Oblivion (the worst of the lot...Grimjesta was right about the world leveling, just wrong about which game... its so fakking dumb. My Grand Champion of the Arena was unable to survive a walk between cities by level 16 on my last attempt.... ugh...holding at level five and a Master of the Blade and Alchemy... life is sweet...but stupid none the less).

Daggerfall was where I started and still remains a favorite for implementation, despite the horrible, horrible bugs. Morrowwind (which I can only speak about from teh perspective of the Xbox...) was a lot of fun but significantly more restricted, sadly.  STILL, however, the best example of a modern RPG videogame.

Quote from: Spike;243844Daggerfall was where I started and still remains a favorite for implementation, despite the horrible, horrible bugs.

Arena was my first exposure, and its flexibility for the time (Spell building) amazed me and its open exploration.

I've played through most of them, but get annoyed at the "unfinished" ness of them compared to some iterations--I want to be a fighter who doesn't use swords, or axes. I want to be a mage who can barehanded kill gods.


Yes. Bring all that back!

I want my choice of strokes to matter (like Arena and Daggerfall.)

I want to build spells right as soon as I joint he Mage's guild!

I'd avoid Oblivion then. It's pretty, certainly, and its still identifiably and Elder Scrolls game...

... but its the smallest (Battlespire seemed bigger to me...) and more restricted. The Main Quest appears to be the shortest of all (I should know, I've got the book for it, I barely tried and I"m more than halfway done...), though somewhat more epic (You get to go, repeatedly, to Mehrunes Dagon's 'world'... sadly somewhat dull and repetetive after the first couple trips...).

BUt its the 'world leveling' that ruins it. Aside from the fact that your own levelling means you essentially tread water in terms of respective power (that is, objectively you never catch up to anything, and you never pass anything... you are as good or bad as you will ever be at the start of the game), but the difference between individual levels/skills can get extreme very quick at higher levels. I always wind up with a high Alchemy skill in these games (making potions, gathering ingredients everywhere I go...), which means it can't be a 'class skill' or you outlevel the game... I was regularly dying to what used to be rats but were now epic mountain lions wandering the countryside... painful.

Now, I'm a Master of the Blade (100% skill), at level five and everything is chump easy despite a slightly suboptimal 'build' and a wonky custom class (full of skills I'll never use accidentally... excepting sneak...).  Of course, I'll also never use Ebony or glass weapons, etc, as at level five the best drops seem to be silver (not even 'fine' silver...)... though I did hold, briefly, a really awesome sword that was a quest mcguffin, trading it in for the equally awesome shield quest reward...

But that weird 'gaming the world' levling thing just throws everythign off. Can't just play for fun, you have to actively monitor your level and skills pacing to keep the challenge even (thus I'm now 'levelign the game' to provide enough challenge...)

And you have to WORK to get access to the Mages Guild proper... and work harder to make full use of it.

Paying to train actually levels you too fast in Morrowind. Especially if you use hacks to increase how much stuff you can sell at one time.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;244111Paying to train actually levels you too fast in Morrowind. Especially if you use hacks to increase how much stuff you can sell at one time.

Yeah, it happened a bit too quick this time. I think i paid for 3 training sessions in my main skills. From now on i'll only get trained in my miscellaneous skills for the stats that i need to raise (Willpower, at the moment).

Have you joined a Great House yet? Good benefits and quests there.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;244118Have you joined a Great House yet? Good benefits and quests there.

No, i'm going for House Redoran at some point though. I went to where they hang out but some wierd sandstorm meant i couldn't see anything, so i gave up looking and went back south. I'll head back once i've spent a while finishing off a mission or 2 for the Fighters Guild, I'll give the blades a miss for a while, as they are pretty hard. Might start off my mages guild career too while i'm in Balmora. I can't see myself rising too far in them though, as my skills don't really match up with the requirements. i should be able to get an advancement or two from them though, before i have to call it quits.

Teleporting or taking a silt strider there can help with locating it; then you just use the map to get there or back.

Also, my version came with a map of the island, which helps.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;244121Teleporting or taking a silt strider there can help with locating it; then you just use the map to get there or back.

Also, my version came with a map of the island, which helps.

I did take the silt-strider! I couldn't see jack though and i wandered about for ages. In the end i got fed up and left again. Yeah, no map here, so things are a little baffling until i speak to the right people at the right time to update my in-game map.

Dunno how i got my current sword either. It seems to cut through most enemies like a knife through butter - i have a feeling that it is designed for someone of a higher level than me, but i'm not complaining! 1-25 extra damage.

IIRC, you start on a four-story ramp. Go down the ramp and just keep going forward and you'll find some buildings, cleverly disguised as dead giant crab shells.

Probably because they're made from dead giant crabs. :) Redoran like to live in them.

Next time i'm there, i'll do that. Thanks!

So far, i've resisted the temptation to go to Vivec. I have a feeling that it's going to be huge and baffling. When i run out of places to sell and buy stuff, i'll take the plunge.

It's about three towns worth on its own and certainly wins on the massive scale.

Diary 7: Got quite a lot accomplished. Cleared up some debts for the fighters' guild, then killed an outlaw for them - got my own house to dump things in now - woot! Used my scroll of mark inside the house. That's all the fighters' guild have for me here, i have to travel elsewhere to get more missions.

Found out that someone in the imperial legion wanted to talk to me. He wanted me to find an outlaw bothering travellers and sort him out. Did a trek from Balmora to Hlal Ode and found him. He hits pretty hard, but i dispatched him when i still had half my health left, so not too bad. Got my reward and found out the same guy wants me to sort out a criminal gang who are bribing an official. Hmm. Before that happened i got attacked twice by shadow assassins. Collected their armour and travelled to Suran to get some better armour. Bought a helm for 2500 gold. My armour rating has gone up to 29. 60% to 5th level. I've got my eye on a piece of ebony armour (armour rating 88! :eek:) in Suran, but i need another 3000 gold first! Boy, do those assassins come in useful.

My Morrowind characters invariably ended up as silver-fixated kleptomaniacs. Every time they saw a silverware plate, bowl, candleholder or jug, they just had to have it. Then once they got some place to stay, they'd arrange their silverware candleholders all around the room to provide glorious illumination for the piles of silverware on display. All of them. For some reason.

...I think that would have more to do with you than your characters. :P :D

The scrolls of leaping death are great if you can land in water. I had a save with a insta-level mod that was damn near maxed and she could leap from the top of a mountain and land on her feet and live.

She also killed vivec.

And all my houses had a bowls with skulls. AKA skull-i-o's. :D And as many candles and books I could find.

Diary 8: So today i joined House Redoran and had to help someone with a crab problem! (ouch) Cue lots of rambling around in the dark trying to find the place, followed by more rambling around after i finished the deed. My rambling did find me a tomb to enter and i had to fight 4 vampires! If i hadn't have cast my scroll of vitality i would have been toast. Managed it and got some nice treasure. When i got back to house redoran to tell them i had completed the mission, there was a glitch. They acted as though i had already been assigned the next mission - which i hadn't. Hopefully, i'll do it and things won't be any the worse. 5th level now. I think this will be my last mission before i head back to the blades for that next installment.

Diary 9: A couple of hours play today. Delivered a potion to someone up north past Gnisis (nice walk that one - enjoyed the countryside!). Met someone who called themselves a 'dreamer' and told me about some nasty bloke coming back - he must have heard of me looking for info. Gulp! As i was in the vacinity i thought i'd see what the Imperial Legion wanted me to do for them. Go back to the mine and cure the kwama queen! Had to buy a scroll out of my own cash - boo! A coulple of hard fights in the mine with kwama warriors who had magical attacks! Drained me of about 1/2 my health, but i managed to do the deed. Got a promotion from the Legion and from House Redoran. So my faction list now reads - Fighters' Guild (4 Swordsman), Legion (2 Trooper), House Redoran (2 Oathman). Somehow reached 6th level after such a short period. I didn't buy any training this time round - i guess i must have had quite a few skills near to improving when i gained my last level. Had a rest at my house beforing receiving my next mission for the Blades - Go to Vivec and talk to 3 informants! Next time i'm going to the big, bad city.

Like I said, leveling gets faster at higher levels. :)

Quote from: One Horse Town;244125Dunno how i got my current sword either. It seems to cut through most enemies like a knife through butter - i have a feeling that it is designed for someone of a higher level than me, but i'm not complaining! 1-25 extra damage.

My morrowwind game on my Xbox (may it rest in peace) had two interesting missed opportunities...

Once I cleared out a random temple I stumbled across in teh Ashlands where everyone used glass weapons... I ran around for a little while with some bad ass glass weaponry that totally altered my game play until I worried that I'd just killed a bunch of people I would one day have to talk to about quests, so I unsaved... later I realized i was being paranoid and stupid.

Oddly enough, that same run into the ashlands, after the unsave netted me a Daedric weapon... you know the ones that people usually summon for a minute or two. Heavy as shit, but apparently dremora very very rarely drop their weapon permanently... or it was a glitch. Gave me literally the best weapon (unenchanted) in the game.  But I wound up unsaving for some idiot reason, and spent days re-running the mission, killing the same dremora over and over again hoping for the weapon.  Talk about vicious, however, it cut through EVERYTHING.

Morrowwind, as I recall, isn't really designed nearly so level dependent, however... the glass weapons temple wasn't 'level appropriate', so much as I just happened to have a very good, patient, brutal run through the guards in an area full of nasty high level monsters. Unless the PC version is different from teh Xbox...

Quote from: Spike;245469I ran around for a little while with some bad ass glass weaponry that totally altered my game play until I worried that I'd just killed a bunch of people I would one day have to talk to about quests, so I unsaved... later I realized i was being paranoid and stupid.

Yeah, i keep speaking to people and little things crop up that i'm sure are related to missions, so i just move on so as not to bugger something up later down the line. I ignore most caves and stuff too, although i've found that most ancestral tombs seem unrelated to missions, so i occassionally run through one of those. Stupid really, tip-toeing around all the fun bits & bobs you can do. I decided that for my first run through, i'll play it by the book and do what i'm told. Then on my next run-through i'll play a thief or agent or something and just go around doing what i fancy, when i fancy. As i'm a fighty type in this game i'm not joining the thieves guild and i'm largely leaving the mages' guild alone too - also there's 2 houses of missions to look at in other games.

Loads of replay value - especially as this game included Tribunal and Bloodmoon as well. Dunno when i'm going to start investigating the possibilities there.

Diary 10: So, i played for another hour or so last night before bed. Vivec sucks. I got so hopelessly lost that i ended up going round in circles for an hour - in one canton! I couldn't get to the upperworks and i couldn't find a way out. I was wandering around all levels of the waistworks and canalworks until, for the first time since getting the game, i gave up in exasperation and Recalled to my house...

I'll make a note of where i get in and stuff next time and hopefully have a better time of it.

They are all the same on the outside, save for the placement of bridges, so you have that going for you.

The inside middle is also roughly the same on all of them.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;245706They are all the same on the outside, save for the placement of bridges, so you have that going for you.

The inside middle is also roughly the same on all of them.

I must have been tired, 'cos it's bloody easy. The ramps going down to the bridge & gondola levels are right next to the entrances. I must have sped past them without looking and not taken notice when i first got there.

Diary 11: In the 1 hour i played this evening, i managed to find all 3 informants and report back to the blades for 200 gold. Told to go away for a few days, so i've got a new mission from the fighters' guild - to help someone clear out a nest of necromancers. Scary! Also bloody miles from anywhere i've been before. I'll tackle that another day...

I always join everyone and rise through the ranks as best I can... and I generally play fighty dudes too.  For the most part its pretty easy, as often the quests don't establish HOW you have to complete them, only that you do.  As I recall, I've taken bribes from quest targets to look away and still managed to rise up...

Caves seem to be always safe. Never need to chat with anyone in a cave. Butcher everything and it won't matter...  its actually fairly hard to screw up the quests as I understand it, though there are some rare items that if you lose/use them up you might struggle later. (Glow Dust in oblivion is only available in three places unless you are at the exact right level where wisps populate the world, and is needed for at least one quest. Its dead easy to collect it, not realize its needed for the quest and use it in a potion... poof! no more Azura's Star for you!)

I'd consider that a bad descision on the companies' part and just cheat myself some.

If, that is, I'm not told beforehand by the game that I need it.

I normally don't cheat at all when I'm playing seriously, but if the game is designed in such a way as to shove me into a dead alley with no warning, that's the game designers' fault and then I cheat.

Diary 12: Disaster followed by awesomeness. So, i'm hiking for ages up north past Gnisis towards Khuul - then the plan is to go east until i can swim out to the bloody island where the necromancers are. Sigh. So i'm making my merry way and i decide to check my journal to make sure i've got it right. Shock, horror! There's no journal entry telling me about the mission. Then i remember that the reason i finished earlier was because my PC crashed. I lost the mission. Well, instead of recalling and doing the whole trek again, i decide to keep going to Khuul - maybe i'll check out the island where Bloodmoon takes place. I get there and they tell me about some smugglers operating to the NE. So off i tromp. I find a cave easily enough and enter. This was a bloody tough one. I died twice in there - once from a mage swinging a magic axe and again in a duel with a heavily armoured woman. I prevail in the end - boosting my Strength up to 108 for the duel.

Wow. This place was chock full of treasure. Loads of soul gems, loads of open scrolls (need those), loads of magic rings (i've lost count of how many i got there) and the woman had a pair of ebony boots! (armour rating 104!) No wonder i found it hard to hit her. Anyway, i made a huge pile of stuff, picked it all up and recalled back to my house. I equip the boots to get my overall armour rating up to 40, sell stuff i don't want and then blow the lot on a shield that's an upgrade on the one i had. Sadly that only upped my armour to 41, but never mind. Got to 7th level. Decided against getting the necromancer quest again and instead got a new mission from the Blades. More information gathering...

Quote from: Spike;245754Iits actually fairly hard to screw up the quests as I understand it,

If you ever kill anyone whose death actually prevents the main quest from being completed, you immediately get a message saying so and suggesting you reload an earlier save. No such safety net for optional quests, though.

Also, if you ever kill someone called "Crazy Batou" in some... cave, or tomb, don't remember, and get the message I mentioned above, ignore it. It's a bug, because the guy is totally irrelevant to the main quest.

Wow. So tonights 2 hours = going to Ald'ruhn to get info. While i'm there i decide to see what House Redoran want of me. Rescue a missing merchant. Fairly easy - got another couple of magic items. I decided to ask them again, this time i had to get a helm back - and it's in Balmora. Cool. So i get the info from the bloke in the town, then recal back to Balmora. I get the helm, get my reward from House Redoran (a promotion), then go see the Blades again. This time they give me some sobering news. I might be special. To prove i am, i have to see some ashlanders. This should be fun...

Oh, had some more dreams and am already up to 8th level. 113 health! Huzzah. Battles are becoming harder now, though. Things are starting to get serious. :(

Soul trap and enchant some good stuff; that'll help.

I do understand that even if you screw up the main quest there are fallback methods (much harder) to get back in line.  But then again, I never made it that far into the real quest, as I said earlier.

Why bother when you are head of the Fighters Guild, AND the Theives guild... AND House whatever (I'm not sure... I think you become head... been so long...)

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;246403Soul trap and enchant some good stuff; that'll help.

With my mighty enchant skill of 9!

...Well, that would be a problem.

I have a fuzzy, vague memory that you may be able to pay people to enchant for you.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;246479...Well, that would be a problem.

I have a fuzzy, vague memory that you may be able to pay people to enchant for you.

Yeah, you can, but something that you'd pay a hundred gold for in a shop turns into thousands when you have someone enchant it for you. Which is the idea behind enchanting your own, i suppose.

No matter, i'm a fighty type. I'll use what i find!

In fact, thinking about it, i'm shit at everything except beating people up and mending my armour. My security sucks, my sneak sucks, my merchant & speechcraft sucks, and even though i've been using alchemy a lot - that sucks too, still at 18, i think. You should see me try to cast a light or opening spell. I think my chance is about 10% Lucky i can buy (or find) lots of opening spells for all the pesky locks. Wierdly, i have yet to fail at disarming a trap, even though my security is only 10 or 11.

Never mind, my long blade skill is now 74, and i can wear lots of heavy armour.

Oblivion added minigames for lockpicking and speechcraft skills, there is a benefit to a higher skill in little add-ons that make the games easier (or in speechcrafts case, also makes the total effect higher (the make standing you can get, expressed as a percentage).  There isn't really a merchant mini-game, but speechcraft helps the haggle system. I've been unable to really 'grind' merchant... but my goal is eventually 100 in all skills (I always hit it with primary weapon skills...)....

Yeah, gotta get my Morrowwind up on the 360 now... got nostalgia for the better iteration of the game.

Diary 13: Oh dear. I had my first marathon tonight. 6 hours or more. Cleared out 2 lots of caves - got scared in a big ruin when this bloke came at me covered in a globe of sparkly stuff. Killed him but legged it. At another big ruin thing this big flaming whatsit came at me and killed me (twice) before i decided not to tackle it again. Best 'till last - i got told to retreive a bow from an ancestral tomb. Big place and just had to be explored all in one sitting. Sadly i didn't have more than one levitate potion (and no spell), so i missed out on loads of treasure up high. Never mind, i did get a magic sword called Magebane, which is big , green and awesome and protects me against magic. Found a cool bit of armour at the bottom of a pool too. Armour now 48.

Cool. And yeah, Levitate is teh awesome.

They removed it in Oblivion, which says a lot.

Diary 14: Got told to clear out a base of baddies in some place i've never heard of before. Spent a bit of time rambling around, got a mission from the Legion to get some scrap metal. I already had some and this was the easiest 500 gold pieces ever. I have now created 3 of my own spells! All Restore spells, which turned out to be a hell of a lot cheaper than any other spell i've thought about making. Restore 20 for 3 Magica points and a 50% chance of success - not too shabby. Only cost me about 40 gps each too. After that huge dungeon and today, i've found myself at 11th level with a Longsword skill of 87! Next up - clear out that Sixth House place...

Ah, the Sixth House...*Evil Grin*

*Wanders off whistling*

That's going to be an interesting read :D

Diary 15: Well, that was a piece of piss. I romped through those wimpy sixth house guys. Bit disappointing that. The head honcho didn't wound me at all and went down in 4 blows - bastard cursed me, of course ,with corprus disease, which i now have to get cured of. Anyhoo, cleaned up in treasure. Gauntlets of Doom! (+20 to Strength & Agility. Armour rating 180 odd). A few dwarven weapons, some glass boots and a hammer that weighs a ton. No way i'm going to be able to sell the boots, which is a shame (8000 gold!)

So, currently, i'm 11th level, have a Strength of 107, an armour rating of 63 and have 5000 gold in the bank and another 10000 gold in items to sell somehow. Maybe i'll get something enchanted with the cash. A Levitate item is favourite at the moment.

Just wait until you meet the guys who look like upright slugs...

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;247281Just wait until you meet the guys who look like upright slugs...

Well, he did warn me that he was the least of the sixth house mob, so i guess things will get tougher. Some bloody ash zombie attacked me after i rested too, which is a new development. I prefer the assassins - much more money to be made! :D

The disease should be the fun part :D

Or, more accurately, finding a cure...

Ooh, yeah, corprus. Missed that. :D

Plooot...

Diary 16: So i got to the wizard's tower where i'm supposed to get a cure. I spoke to him and i have to get some magic boots from some bloke in the dungeons below in order to get a potion that might well kill me...Oh, the disease got worse the moment i set foot in the tower, even though i restored all my stats back to normal. Cheating! So next up is the corpsorium (or whatever it's called).

Bad! No cheating! Ruins game experience!

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;247728Bad! No cheating! Ruins game experience!

I had just made my stat restore spells before i got the disease, so i thought i'd try them out. They worked and my stats returned to normal. Had no idea i was going to be a leper at that point!

It's fun bartering with someone who says "Uh! You have corprus. Get away from me!" and then barter with you anyway.

The game cheated by making my stats go down again!

Ah, ok.

Yeah, the beauty of the Morrowind conversations is in the detail and richness.

The interface is...Functional.

Well, it is railroading you a bit, yeah, but I've seen much worse in other games. I can ignore the stat drop bit.

Quote from: shewolf;247979Well, it is railroading you a bit, yeah, but I've seen much worse in other games. I can ignore the stat drop bit.

Yeah, me too. I'll get back to it in a day or two - too much on at the moment to carry on.

Incidentally, one thing that i'm wondering - what about saved games? At the moment i have a save game and quick save game. What happens if i want to start another character, do those saves get overwritten with the new character saves?

The quick save gets overwritten; the save game doesn't, as long as it's a manual save.

I keep my saves in folders by character name to keep them sorted.

I usually quick save during the game and manually save every few hours or when I shut down the game.

I do that since I have a 10 year old that likes to play the same games as me :(

Although I have to do some cleanup as I now have my saves and my hubby's old stuff on my computer - he gave me his games HD.

Diary 17: Got the boots easily enough from a robotic dwarf - strange and got cured. Hurrah! Went back to tell the blades the good news, then discovered that i'm now in charge - oh dear. On the plus side, i got some nice money and items to tide me over. Now i have to find the priest i spoke to in Vivec a while ago and get the prophecies to that annoying tribe that takes ages to get to...past the ruin with the scary folk in it...

I'm now sitting on those glass boots & 6000+ gold pieces. Nothing to spend it on!

I'm not sure whether i'm going to pursue the priest first, or do a few more missions for the Fighters' Guild or House Redoran. We'll see.

Diary 18: Decided to help out my buddies in House Redoran first. Kill some bandits, they said. Out i go to the difficult to find guar farm again. Whilst i'm rambling, i come across a cave and go in. Kill some rats and a couple of blokes that went down in 1 hit each. Got some minor treasure. Found the farm and spoke to the woman. Those blokes were the bandits! Job done. Next up i had to guard a nobleman who had assassins after him. The minute i stopped speaking to him, up they popped - 2 of them. This was an interesting fight, as the man i was guarding was attacked directly by 1 of them and me by the other. They were pretty tough. In the end, the bloke i was 'guarding' killed the second assassin - lucky for me. Anyway, another job done. I'm on a roll. Let's do another one. This time, the guy who i was guarding wants me to spirit his son away from his captors, hmm, tricky. And so it turned out. Finding him was difficult enough - a door hidden behind a tapestry! Then when leading him out i got attacked by folk. I got out, he didn't and i was warned that unless i loaded a save game, the main quest was fucked up. So i left it there. I'll have another go at getting him out tomorrow. Still 11th level - been a long time here, longest yet, i reckon.

Diary 19: Got out with the boy at second time of asking. A bit of a glitch when i got him home, as his old man didn't recognise i had brought him back. I got there in the end though. I like my buddies at House Redoran. I went exploring under skar, talked to some folks and hello! what's this? Do you want to build your own stronghold? Why yes, yes, i do. Get a contract you say and hand over 5000gps? Consider it done! So i went on a ramble to Ebonheart (first time i've been there). Got the contract and went back to get my stronghold. What, i have to wait a week for it to start? Boo! Another glitch here - the 5000 gold wasn't taken from my inventory!

So, i'm going up north to finally sort out those necromancers i got asked to take care of ages ago. Hopefully when i get back my new home will be coming along nicely!

House Redoran are awesome.

They are the honorable house.

Diary 20: Best 3 hours of PC gaming i can remember in, well, ever. So, i go up north (what a trek!) and finally find the island with the necromancers in it. I decide not to talk to the woman before i go in - whenever i've had to lead someone else around, it's ended in tears. I go in and clear things up - sack loads of dwarven & silver weapons. Then i speak to her. Job done! Go back and get my reward. Get another mission from the Fighters' Guild. Shit, i have to go back where i've just come from! Trek, trek, trek...

Different island, i loot a tomb on the way - full of nasty critters. Awesomeness 1 - i soul trap the big bad in the tomb (first time it's worked!). It was a storm athonal? Anyway, it was so hard only my greater soul gem could hold it. It took over a hundred of my health before i killed it. Eek.

I get to the outlaws cave. More hard opponents here. I get killed once by a mage on a bridge who kept summoning greater bonelords. So next time up, i use my dispel scroll on his pets and kill him. Beyond him is the man i'm after. Ooh, he looks posh! Another hard fight (although not as hard as either summoner man or the storm guy). I kill him and loot his cubby-hole. I put everything in a pile and get ready to recall home. Then, i figure, that really is a nice looking shirt. Boy am i glad i doubled checked his body - i totally missed this first time round. Awesomeness 2 - he was wearing an ebony cuirass! Put that on and suddenly my armour rating is up to 93. Recall home, sell stuff, get my reward from the fighters.

Then i get a message telling me to check up on my stronghold - hurrah! I check it and it's one of those wierd crabby shell buildings. I can't get in yet and there's still scaffolding up, but i can see it! Awesomeness 3.

So, i've got 7000 gold burning a hole in my pocket. I visit the mages' guild and decide to buy something extravagant. I had an awesome purple shirt for ages and decide to enchant it with the greater soul gem. 6500 gold later, i have Terrada's Floating Shirt - enchanted with 5 points of levitate for 10 seconds. Not fast and not for long - but i guess because of the strength of the soul gem i used, it has 25 charges! Awesomeness 4.

So now, my crusader looks incredibly rich. His shimmering magical purple shirt pokes out in strategic places between his richly decorated ebony breastplate.

Can't see topping this in the near future. :)

Morrowind = Teh coolness.

Diary 21: So today i get another outlaw clear-out mission from the Fighters' Guild. This time near Suran. I take some time finding the place, but get there eventually. I clear them out - my only trouble coming from a guy who paralyses me. I shake it off before he gets me below half health and kill him in 2 blows. Thank goodness for that, as i find out that his staff causes paralysis - i keep the staff! Oh, yes. I get my reward and go back home to sell stuff. My house now has a nice collection of magic weapons glittering away in the spare spaces

Still no word about my stronghold, so i decide to finish off a mission i got ages ago from the Legion - find and rescue a missionary. This involves a trek into places i haven't been before. A long trek. I stop at a tomb along the way and duff up some undead. The final room holds a spell casting nutter with an awesome looking helm. He casts loads of spells, but none of them seem to affect me. I take him down. His helm is awesome - turn undead & summon undead. Only trouble is i get a message telling me i fucked up the main quest by killing him. So i reload, leave the last room alone and recal home again with the loot i did get. No helm! Boo!

After selling my loot i get a message that i should check out my stronghold. So i go speak to the woman and she tells me to hire some guards. To get them i have to carry out a jailbreak - oh dear. I can see that going wrong. I haven't had a look to see if i can get in my building yet. I'll do that next time, before i attempt to break the woman out of jail. 13th level now, about 150 health, long blade skill of 96, Strength 112 (with the gauntlets). 4700 gold. I'll see if i can get another item enchanted soon.

Regarding the guy in the tomb with the helmet - that's Crazy Batou and his Bloodworm Helm. I think I already posted about it several pages before: you can kill him and take his stuff no problem. The message about fucking up the storyline is a bug.

Quote from: Premier;249639Regarding the guy in the tomb with the helmet - that's Crazy Batou and his Bloodworm Helm. I think I already posted about it several pages before: you can kill him and take his stuff no problem. The message about fucking up the storyline is a bug.

Eek! It's in the middle of nowhere!

I might just make that trek again, just to get that helm. The wierd thing is, it's not really the effect it has - it just looks awesome! I have indeed fallen prey to that perculiarity where i collect and lay out pretty stuff just to look at - or equip it and wait until the panoramic view of your character comes up. :o

Teh shiney reaches in through your eyes and grabs your brain.

This is why I downloaded a house mod - I got a perfect place to store shinies!

Although I cheated on one - it had metric fucktons of stuff already in it, so I could have the stuff where I wanted it. I spent too much time in-game decorating it :/ But I loved having my books and crossed swords and skull-i-o's...

Diary 22: A brief hour or so today. I take a stroll to my stronghold and i can get in! Inside there's a guard behind a desk. Behind him are a few baskets, some with ingredients in them. To the right is a storeroom, full of crates & stuff. To the left are 2 flights of stairs going downwards. At the bottom is a common area with tables & chairs. 1 guy is standing around and is a trainer, behind the 'bar' (for want of a better word) is an awesome dude. He has an ebony shield! To the right of this room is a common barracks - 3 beds & chests. There's one warrior in here and another awesome dude, this one has an ebony helm. These guys are better equiped than i am! To the right of the common room is another bedroom. This just holds 1 double bed and is quite large. A row of shelves holds some books & bowls and stuff - but, but...the middle shelf is full of ebony weapons! A longsword, 5 arrows and a few throwing stars. I figure this is my room, so i rest in the bed. No-one complains, so i guess it is. There's even a locked chest in here that i can't get into - i wonder what's in there?

Anyway, that was awesome. I then got to business and went to Vivec to break the woman out. This was easy actually. Reported back and phase 2 of my stronghold is started. Whilst i'm waiting, i take up the main quest again. Funnily enough, this turns into a jail-break too. A very bad one. Levitate up to a floating rock above Vivec? Eek. I get in and 'cos i have few options in sneaking about the place, the guards come looking for me and they are very tough. I die 3 times in there before i've even located the prison block...

I'll try to finish it another day.

Yeah, that floaty one was tough. I loved that your stonghold has people to sell to... and it was a good place to practice making deals :)

Quote from: shewolf;249836Yeah, that floaty one was tough. I loved that your stonghold has people to sell to... and it was a good place to practice making deals :)

I can't barter with anyone yet. Hopefully, that's to come!

I must admit, i prefer the location of my house in Balmora. From my stronghold, i have a fair walk to Al'druhn. Never mind, it's awesome, all the same.

One thing i seem unable to do is actually place my stuff on shelves. Whenever i move stuff from my inventory and place the cursor on the shelf, the item ends up on the floor at my feet. No problem with tables, chests and the like - just shelves. Wierd.

You should be able to stick stuff on shelves. Try clicking above them?

Also, a fast-travel mod for your stronghold is good.

I would jump and be above the specific shelf I wanted things on, then drop them.

There's a mod where you can put books on shelves and rotate them so they stand up and look right. I got that, too.

Diary 23: Urgle, burgle!! I hate the floating rock with a passion. I finally get to the prison level and proceed to die 5 or 6 times as i get utterly swamped by hard guards. I fiddle with scrolls, potions and buffs to get the best chance i can of getting this done. In the end, i am defeated, swallow an invisibility potion and wander round randonly opening locks on cells whilst getting bashed every now and then. I get the right one at last and teleport out - not before i get my first ever bounty - 610 gps. No idea where it came from, i didn't initiate any combats with guards. I'm guessing it's the unsanctioned opening of the cells.

I get out, go to the hideout of the dissident priests and learn some stuff. I am a wanted man and everyone seems to know it. I have yet to be taken to account for it though. Some folks disposition has gone down a lot - happily neither the Fighters' Guild, nor House Redoran give a fuck. Hurrah! Talking of which, the second phase on my stronghold is done, so i went and had a look. It has walls! Now my little cubby-hole has a compound and two new NPCs wandering around. Yet another one with loads of magic stuff and the bloke who lives in the guard tower. Cool.

I did a mission for the fighters - kill some orcs hanging out in a ruin. Did that fairly easily. Now 15th level. Have 10 grand burning a hole in my pocket.

Next up, take the prophecies to the annoyingly remote tribe and see what's next in the main quest. I can't build up my stronghold until i'm a Redoran Councillor, so that's of little importance right now.

House Redoran doesn't like the Empire and the Fighter's Guild are mercs. And you're one of their mercs.

You can also pay off the bounty, I believe.

Note on the bounty: you're probably best off if you just go to some guards - I guess Imperial troops might not do it in this case, you want to try the local Indoril guards in Vivec -, and pay it. Just make sure that when you do so, you're not carrying any items in your inventory acquired by illegitimate means, as they'll get confiscated.

Diary 24: So i go to the tribe that cannot be named in the place that cannot easily be found and give them the prophecies. I have to prove myself to them again before they tell me anything. Bastards! So another hike to a big fortress type thing and in i go. Boy, this was fun! and hard...Only got killed once in there, but twice i ended a battle with only 6 or 7 health points left - lucky i have 3 restore health items to keep me going. I met the tentacle/slug people at last and they are tough. Killed a bunch of 'Dagoth' folk and managed to soul trap one of them - this one could only fit in a grand soul gem (my inventory says it's worth 60,000! :jaw-dropping: Anyway, i clear out several ruins worth of folk, including some fire and frost athonals, lots of dagoth people (one who had an awesome belt). i get the items that were required of me as well as a nice ebony spear and a pair of deadric guantlets.

I go back and they tell me lots of riddles. I have to find the cave of the incarnate via a riddle and go from there, really. Cue more travelling than i've ever done in one go, and ultimately loosing a bit of patience...I recal home to sell my goodies. I have 12k in my pocket, about the same again in unsold armour & weapons and those impossible to get rid of gauntlets & spear (combined, they are worth 28,000 alone). So, i buy another enchanted item with my cash - this one, an excuisite ring named 'Rime' causes 10-80 points of frost damage on touch and 'cos it's so hard, it has 30 charges. Huzzah! Now that the enchanter has loads of money, i sell her all my outstanding arms & armour, bringing myself up to about 11k again. I have the spear and gauntlets on show at home.

Oh, 16th level, Strength and Long Blade maxed out.

Capture Golden Saints or a slug guy and they can power a permanent enchantment.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;250842Capture Golden Saints or a slug guy and they can power a permanent enchantment.

I tried trapping a slug guy, but it failed (my spell chance is only about 25%, so i only use scrolls that i pick up). Never heard of Golden Saints - not looking forward to finding out!

I should really buy loads more spells. Not to use, 'cos my spellcasting is shit, but to give me more options when enchanting stuff.

Permanents are wonderful. I usually had a load of jewelry - easy to carry. And a few larger things for those bigger enchants.

Quote from: shewolf;250846Permanents are wonderful. I usually had a load of jewelry - easy to carry. And a few larger things for those bigger enchants.

I'm probably carrying 30 magic items i never use, 50 odd potions, about 20 pieces of good jewellery - you know, to enchant at some stage, and a metric shit-load of ingredients that i also never use. I should probably have a clear out.

Doing loads of potions is a good way to boost alchemy.

Golden Saints? You'll know them when you see them - The name is descriptive. :D

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;250842Capture Golden Saints or a slug guy and they can power a permanent enchantment.

IIRC, Winged Twilights are even better for that than slug guys, as they give slightly more magical juice. They're kind of rare, though. You'll recognise them by the wing and their distinctive sound.

Don't think I got that far in the game. I rarely finish games.

You can combine ingredients and up the alchemy as suggested, then sell the potions for generally a lot more than the individual stuff was worth.

Dairy 25: Finally found the bloody cave. I had explored a huge square chunk of territory with 1 little square gap in the middle. Where was the cave? You guessed it, in that one gap. Anyhoo, i am the chosen one. Reported back to the tribe who tell me i now have to unite all the houses and all the ashlander tribes. Hoo, that's gonna be easy...Started with the Hlaalu (paid my fine first!), bribed 1 guy to support me, he gave me a list of where to find the others. I'll do the 2 found in Vivec first.

I'm away for a couple of days now, so a brief break from posting.

Yeah, Hlaalu are basically Ferrengi.

Diary 26: The Hlaalu aren't really playing ball. I've got 2 onboard and the rest are scattered, so i'll do them as i get to them. I decided to try my mates at Redoran. First got a mission to clear the name of the boy i saved earlier. A bit of to and fro and i manage it. I then take the plunge and try to get the vote from house redoran. With the friends i have cultivated here, it is no problem apart from 1 dude, who i duel in Vivec. I win fairly comfortably and pocket his full ebony armour and ridiculously hard weapon. Recalled home and will try to get rid of the treasure next time...and get my vote for house redoran confirmed.

Diary 27: Before going back to Ald'ruhn, i decide to take the plunge and go to Mournehold for the first time, to see if i can sell some stuff there (i've had a count up and i currently have 200,000 gold in unsold treasure - 120 of that is that bloody deadric weapon). I go there and track down some new sources. I manage to sell my spare 2 ebony gauntlets. I'll go back later with the boots and sell them. I have 14k in the bank. I then go to get confirmed as house redoran's guy. They do so and give me a ring to prove my status. Hurrah! I then get another mission from them to clear out some smugglers near Gnaar Mok. Bit of a trek to get there. I clear out a cave on the way and soul trap a deadroth, using up my last grand soul gem. No-one knows about the cave in the town, so i wander around for a bit. I left it there. Next up, duffing up the smugglers, selling my ebony boots and enchanting another item!

After i've done that i'm undecided whether to pursue house hlaalu for their nomination or stay in Mournehold and see what happens there. Suddenly my reputation has jumped up to 16, my armour is now 143 and it looks like the temple are after my blood, posting bloody notices and stuff!

Diary 28: So i decided to tie up loose ends today. Found the smugglers, duffed them, got loads of nice treasure. Sold it and bought another enchanted item. This one, the Bastard Bone Belt summons a Bonewalker for 30 seconds - has about 10 charges, so not too shabby. Managed to sell the ebony boots, so i'm back up to 14k again - still with 190k of unsold stuff.

Next up, off to a place called Milk to take care of a mad nobleman. I'm running out of carrying capacity. I'm only about 5lbs below it at the start of things. Oops, far too many potions sloshing about. I'll make an effort to quaff loads of them on this mission.

Quaff or sell.

Diary 29: Got to Milk and duffed up the nobleman and his cronies. I fancy i could have gone off on an extended quest to help him get better, but i didn't fancy it, so i went the direct route. Yet more ebony armour. Shit, that's another 70k of stuff sitting in my parlour. Better than all that, i got an amulet of Mark. Huzzah! I then hopped around doing odd quests for other redoran councillors, so that they will recognise me as a councillman and i can build up my stronghold. Collected taxes, chased a lost love, cleared out a haunted mansion. Only 2 more councillors to please then i'm one of the boys!

I think i'll finish Redoran off and then start up again on the main quest. 17th level now, 190 health.

Diary 30: After a bit of a break i spent an hour or two re-familiarising myself with the game controls and getting back up to speed on what i had outstanding in the quest department. Answer = Lots.

So i decided to keep ploughing away at becoming a Redoran councillor. This time i had to find evidence of corruption at the ebony mine in Caldera. A nice simple jaunt where i managed to pocket a couple of pieces of raw ebony. Found the evidence, told my main man back at HQ. Now i have to go back there and close the place down. This could be interesting...

Horray! You're playing again!

It's amazing how much fun it is to read these types of posts...

Heh. If you've got some of the level 5 soul gems (Forgot the name), do a slaughter-run through a Daedric ruin and see if you can grab a Golden Saint. Think I've said this before, but they can power permanent stuff.

Diary 31: So, i made a juant back to the Caldera mines to see how i could close the thing down. Turns out i don't need to go on a killing spree - all i need to do is free the head slave! Easily done. I return and get the vote of another councillor. Only 1 to go! Sadly, he turns me down flat. I wander about the councillors a bit, before one of them tells me that the Telvanni might be influencing him. Hmm, a trip to my least favourite place. Sadrith Mora. However, now that i've got my floating shirt, i just levitate down from the walls of Wolverine Hall (i always get lost in that place). Turns out that the head honcho is keeping Arobar's daughter hostage. Eek. I save before going in, yet everyone is pretty friendly. Luckily the girl is located right in the entrance hall, so i don't have to fight all the way through the place. Just take the 3 guards present. Duff 'em fairly easily, use my Bonewalker belt to keep them busy while i pile on the pain. They had some decent treasure. I escort the girl to the docks, then recall home. I'm fed up with archers, so i make another magic item - my Anti-Archer Shoes. These drain 10 points from the Marksman skill of the target. Sadly, the game crashes after that and i fancy that i hadn't saved since finishing the battle in the tower. I'll re-do that bit at another point. Hopefully then, i can finish the 3rd part of my fortress, then get back to the main quest.

This is my first time in this thread.  Morrowind is a great game!  I've had hours upon hours of immersive solo role-playing with this game (and Oblivion as well).

Hmm. Last time i played i didn't pick up my main game - i thought i'd start a new one to see what choosing an entirely different kind of character would feel like and whether the game experience was any different.

So i chose an Argonian and made up my own class (which for some reason it wouldn't let me name, so i was stuck as an 'Adventurer'). He was a spearman with alteration, illusion and mysticism as his main skills. He can wear medium armour though.

I was amazed at how much quicker my movement was - even an Athletics skill of 25 and Speed of 50 made a huge difference to speed compared to my first character. Also, for the first time i've noticed my Fatigue bar going down pretty quickly - even when just travelling. I guess that 30 Endurence makes a big difference!

The character is pretty shit and i didn't chose the right combination of skills to make him useful. If i start a proper second game (after i've gone the course in the current one), i'll chose one of the default classes again. I must admit that i fancy playing a Pilgrim, but i think that might need too much of a paradigm shift for me at the moment.

I have to admit that I've never gone in for making magic items much, though I often love the ones I find (necklace of water breathing? YOU are my new best friend!!!)...

And I have found that overall, I'd much rather just charge and kill a stupid archer than waste time on draining skill... but that also means I've never tried it. Might work. My anti-archer device is a solid shield....

Certainly I always wind up with awesome athletics/acrobatics skills... surprised they didn't just level up on you wandering around so you could see the effect (ok, acrobatics means you have to jump and fall alot like a deranged crack-monkey.... but still, super easy to level)

I finished the main game quest using a Dark Elf Adventurer.  I think that he's level 72 or something.  I never explored the magic item making part of the game since my character was a martial type character.  Although, it seems to be pretty cool.  I made a few trinkets, but never actively searched for items to create items.  I mostly just experimented with it.

You need to have a fair grasp of skill selection to make a good custom class.

Diary 32: Got back for a couple of hours and restarted the game where it had crashed. I did what i did last time but decided that i'd enchant my helm with Soul Trapping this time around. If i wanted to do it before, i had to buy scrolls, so having a magic item that can do it is much better.

I finally got to be a Redoran councillor. However, for some reason the main guy at the Redoran council chambers has also given me the advancement so that i'm the Archmaster of the Redoran faction, yet no-one confirms this and just call me councillor, even the guy who promoted me. I then ask to get promotion again, he does it, yet i'm i'm stuck at councillor. Wierd. Anyway, i now need to attract women to my stronghold! Easier said than done. I've persuaded a lady bard to go there - cost me 200 gold, mind you, but haven't found anyone else who wants the job just yet.

It's been quite a while, but IIRC, you could only reach the proper top seat of House Redoran by killing the present leader in the Vivec Arena after a formal challenge. All along your rise to power, you must have heard quite a few bits about how he is a strong but evil leader, and earlier on you even had to rescue another Redoran's child from his residence after the kid got kidnapped.

Quote from: Premier;276906It's been quite a while, but IIRC, you could only reach the proper top seat of House Redoran by killing the present leader in the Vivec Arena after a formal challenge. All along your rise to power, you must have heard quite a few bits about how he is a strong but evil leader, and earlier on you even had to rescue another Redoran's child from his residence after the kid got kidnapped.

Been there, done that quite a while ago. Maybe i did it out of order or something. It's no biggy anyway, i just wondered if there was any in-game fanfare for becoming the head honcho of a faction.

That's beyond where my last game left off, so don't know.

Diary 33: So, i carried on trying to persuade some 'ladies' to go to my stronghold. I went all over the place asking anyone who looked vaguely feminine. Imagine my surprise! I am pottering around Suran and go into that establishment with the lady dancers. They want in! So i have some 'exotic' dancers onboard. I return to see if i have enough settlers and i do. The next stage of my stronghold is underway.

I decide to kill the time by taking up a mission i got ages ago - delivering some potions to a mine in the middle of no-where. I take the scenic route around Red Mountain and discover the Ghostgate! First time i've been there. The Temple people hate my guts because of the neverine thingy, but i explore and get a ring enchanted with light. I left it there, actually hovering by the lever that controls the gate. I am sooo tempted....

18th level now and just hit 200 health.

Stuff you get in the Red Mountain area isn't *infected, so feel free to grab the ring.

* Far as I know. Besides, corprus is permanent...Interesting, that...

Diary 34: Left Ghostgate and continued my reccy around the ghostwall. Went round the whole mountain and finally found the mine to deliver my potions. Sadly, i couldn't find the guy i was meant to deliver it to, so i left frustrated. As i was close to the Zenab camp, i thought i'd pay them a visit about making me their chosen one. The chief wasn't having it, so i charmed him into giving me a quest. Kill a vampire! eek. Anyway, off i go and finally, i find the tomb. The first room was a toughy, with a greater bonewalker sapping my strength. The actual vampire wasn't that difficult - not much treasure. boo!

Cleared out a couple more tombs, one of which was my toughest fight for quite a while. A Bonelord and daedra double-teamed me. I managed to survive the fight with only 20 of my 200 health remaining! I also managed to soul trap the daedra - the greater soul gem it is inhabiting is worth 39K. Groovy.

Next time, i'll go back to be confirmed as chosen guy, and as i'm in the area, i'll go to the other tribe nearby for their vote.

Ooh, almost forgot, got a journal entry telling me that my stronghold is finally complete! Sadly, i'll have to wait a while before dropping by to see how it looks.

Man... I was uber when I was playing but nobody ever offered me no steenkin' stronghold...

.... me sad (says former leader of the Fighter Guild, Theives Guild and Imperial Legion...)...

... of course, that game is long lost with the death of me Xboxy... poor Xboxy

You have to enter one of the three noble houses in order to get Mansion related quests.

I did, I swear I did... even completing their quest chains...

... or at least I think I did... but my Xboxy died three years ago... there is still some pain when I remember the good times. The funeral was nice. There were flowers, but it rained a lot. Seattle weather, you know?

Diary 35: So i go back to the Zenab to claim my place as chosen one...and he wants me to get him a Telvanni wife as a gift first! The bastard. So i get told to go to Tel blah, blah (forgotten the name) to buy a slave and pretty her up a bit. It's a bit of a wander there and i clear out some smugglers on the way. When i get there i get told i have to buy some good clothes first and have to travel to yet another place i've never heard of to buy them - this quest is getting a bit dull. I pay for a boat journey there and wander about a bit before the game crashed. I didn't reload as i was a bit exasperated at this point. I'll tackle the rest later - once i've jumped through all those hoops, i have no idea how i'm supposed to escort her back to the zenab, it's a long swim followed by a long trek. Could be interesting...