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#21 NiGHTMARE

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Posted 17 September 2004 - 04:58 PM

Because they decided to have a realistic population level, and hence didn't the time/resources to make every individual character appear as a unique individual, people complain.

Yet if they had instead decided to include a smaller numer of characters who were more fleshed out, people would still have complained because the towns and cities would have appeared underpopulated.

Some people are just never happy unless they're complaining, are they?

#22 -Notmrt-

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Posted 17 September 2004 - 10:39 PM

Theres an old saying which applys i belive
"You can please some of the people some of the time and the others can go immitate a lemming" well i may have alterd it slightly lol
If you dont like the charichters in morrowind then feel free to flesh them out yourself.
the game was made to be modified :D

#23 -Canis, Corpus-

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Posted 18 September 2004 - 06:09 PM

if you dont like the style of play and the exploration and reading of books required for morrowind then you wont like it simle as


How does the style of the game, reading light 'books' and exploration have anything to do with the delightfully wooden, pre-fabricated, run-of-the-mill, tedious NPCs?

Because they decided to have a realistic population level, and hence didn't the time/resources to make every individual character appear as a unique individual, people complain.


They bit off more than they could chew, it's okay, you can say it. Squandered ambition and the likely repetition of this with Oblivion is something worth complaints.

Yet if they had instead decided to include a smaller numer of characters who were more fleshed out, people would still have complained because the towns and cities would have appeared underpopulated.


Hypothetically, if Bethesda did this, what would likely happen? People would die of shock, just think, interesting characters! A plot that doesn't induce strokes! An enjoyable game! Clearly, this is not going to happen, Bethesda is Bethesda.

Regardless, I imagine many would find interesting characters/smaller locations a less jarring, grating issue than the huge, world and many similar settlements/wearisome inhabitants factor of Morrowind. With both games claiming to be RPGs, it gives pause for thought that the latter option was the one that was chosen.

Some people are just never happy unless they're complaining, are they?


Some people are just blissfully, blissfully, blissfully happy with the success of the campaign against the tyranny of choices, aren't they?

Flippancy aside, why should poor decisions on the part of game designers rest unchallenged? As I see it, to stand idle, to remain silent is only consigning oneself to a future of sub-standard, streamlined tripe.

If you dont like the charichters in morrowind then feel free to flesh them out yourself.
the game was made to be modified


Modding System Shock 2 and creating Thief 1/2 FMs is taking up my time, at the moment, sadly. Nonetheless, is it too much to expect something so basic from the game to begin with? If the answer is no, brace yourself for even more toolsets marketed as games. Just think, you get to pay to create your own game! Fantastic!

#24 neriana

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Posted 18 September 2004 - 10:18 PM

Morrowind did not have "realistic" population levels, nor could it. (There were also no children.) I don't care about that, and I've never heard of anyone who did -- about the population level at least. What I want is a reason to give a damn about the game, and in RPGs that's story and character, both of which were seriously lacking in Morrowind.

Even a few lines of difference between the wandering NPCs would have been something. Or they could have done what they said they were going to do, and made interesting NPCs with personalities. Not one NPC had any personality. They were all just there as quest and clue givers, or people to kill. That was a giant step backward in RPG development.

If I thought Morrowind didn't have great potential, I wouldn't care.

#25 Stone Wolf

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Posted 18 September 2004 - 10:24 PM

Looks like whoever bought this month`s 'Game Informer', has the priviledge to read a 12-page article about Morrowind`s sequel.

I just got that in the mail today (I'll be damned if I know why I keep getting it, but that's another matter). It looks fantastic from what I've seen. They're saying it'll take less time to play than Morrowind, which could be good or bad depending on your point of view. The graphics just blew me away though... :thumb:

#26 Archmage Silver

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Posted 19 September 2004 - 06:57 AM

The graphics just blew me away though... 

And that leads us to the specs... its gonna be a new Pc for me then.

#27 khay

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Posted 19 September 2004 - 10:50 AM

For me Morrowind seemed much more non-linear than BG2 that`s why I liked it (and still like it). I finished BG2 about 10 times.. Wait, no, it was 11 times and I only played Morrowind for like 10-15 hours in total (because my PC can`t really handle it), so I can`t say I like Morrowind more than I liked BG2.

But I don`t think it`s fair to compare them, comparing Temple of Elemental Evil with BG2 is much more fair, in my opinion. One`s a 1st person game, the other isn`t; one`s based on Elder Scrolls, the other on Dungeons & Dragons; one`s to be played all alone, the other supports and recommends party play. There are huge differences between the two and comparing them isn`t really viable.

On the other hand I expect Elder Scrolls IV to be at least as non-linear as Morrowind -- if not twice as 'free'. In BG2 you had a main quest, you simply had to do it to get anywhere in the game, whereas in Morrowind no one really forced you to ally with any factions (Shadow Thieves/Bodhi) or to finish the main quest. With the proper mods, you could go fishing, hunting, collecting herbs and making potions, get a house, plant seeds, chop trees, mine ore, cook food, use a sewing machine to make clothes, practice pottery or carpentry, smith weapons, eat, drink & get drunk, set campfires etc. etc. etc. There are better worked out custom NPCs around and anyone can make his own if s/he wishes.

This is why I like Morrowind and this is why I wait for Elder Scrolls 4. If I want 'well developed NPCs', I`ll play Dragon Age.

#28 GreyViper

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Posted 22 September 2004 - 06:41 AM

So does this mean that they are going to try make it like Daggerfall? In somewhat smaller scale ofcourse. Gee I wonder if the "oldest guild" will make into this one and the half naked dancers. ^_^
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#29 Stone Wolf

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Posted 22 September 2004 - 10:52 AM

Heh, I remember those. :D They were in one of the temples too, iirc.

Edited by Stone Wolf, 22 September 2004 - 10:52 AM.


#30 GreyViper

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Posted 23 September 2004 - 01:59 AM

Yeah well they were part of the guild that didnt make in, but some of the stuff is still in the files.
Democracy is three Dragons and a Cow voting on what's for dinner!

"A handsome young Cyborg named Ace,
Wooed women at every base,
But once ladies glanced at
His special enhancement
They vanished with nary a trace."

Barracks Graffiti
Sparta Command

#31 Caswallon

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Posted 24 September 2004 - 03:56 PM

FAQ on TES IV: Oblivion:
http://morrowind.ttl...vion/ofaq.shtml

It sounds as if they took the "lifeless NPCs" critique seriously.
How it turns out, remains to be seen.

More life to NPCs is always good.
Generally, however, I'd prefer to have the "just look around, story is optional" approach of MW preserved.

Edited by Caswallon, 24 September 2004 - 03:58 PM.


#32 Feanor

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Posted 03 October 2004 - 11:35 PM

Actually, the website said it's "in-game art", which could mean it's either in-game graphics or a still-picture that appears in-game :).

If it is in-game graphics though, woah!

If it's in-game graphics, is WOW, but also worrying... :wacko: I'll need an upgrade... :(

#33 Tom

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Posted 04 October 2004 - 01:10 AM

3DMark 2005 has been released, and it is insane. On the test on lowest settings I averaged 1.7 fps and scored a massive 318! This was on a P4 2.8ghz with geforce fx 5600 256mb, and if that is anything to go by then I'd say you would need better then this to make the game run with any sort of smoothness. Morrowind was a similar story when it was released wasnt it? Way ahead of its time with respect to the requirements I mean...
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#34 NiGHTMARE

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Posted 04 October 2004 - 03:42 AM

I strongly suspect ES4 will be a joint PC/X-Box 2 game (maybe even one of the XB2 launch titles), so the PC versions' required specs shouldn't be too much higher than whatever the specs of that console will be.

#35 Archmage Silver

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Posted 04 October 2004 - 04:07 AM

Might be so, but the specs of the X-box II are lower than pc's at the time its released, so does this perhaps mean that the game is limited to have only graphics that are ok with x-box II?

#36 NiGHTMARE

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Posted 04 October 2004 - 04:14 AM

Not at all. What I meant is that the bottom end of the graphical options (resolution, anti-aliasing, antistropic filtering, and all the other 3D gubbins) on the PC version will be at least the level of the X-Box 2 version, if not worse. However, you'll undoubtedly be able to turn most if not all of the PC version's settings up much higher (if you have a PC capable of handling it that is).

For example, IIRC Morrowind on the X-Box runs at 640x480, but on the PC version you can bump it up all the way to 2048x1536 (well, possibly higher, but I don't think there are any 3D cards that support more than this yet ;)).

#37 Archmage Silver

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Posted 04 October 2004 - 07:19 AM

Got it.

#38 Tom

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Posted 11 October 2004 - 12:45 AM

I strongly suspect ES4 will be a joint PC/X-Box 2 game (maybe even one of the XB2 launch titles), so the PC versions' required specs shouldn't be too much higher than whatever the specs of that console will be.

Ah yeah thats true I suppose, but running a game on the lowest possible settings just makes it a lot less enjoyable... especially if its 640x480. And this is especially so for games like morrowind with the rather spectacular scenery
Forward he cried from the rear
And the front rank died
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.