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Subject: Well, I played morrowind for the first time in a long time..
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I made a new character, killed some crabs, completed a quest or two in the first town, Seyda Neen, and took my first quest for House Hlaalu. Wow. This game is a lot better than I remember. Or rather, than I don't remember. I hardly remember a damn thing about the game, so now, I guess, I can have the new game experience. I never had that. When I first bought the game for Xbox in February of 2002, my friend was over and spent the entire time explaining every aspect of early gameplay to me. It made the beginning a lot faster, but a lot less fun. So I've decided to document here, for the first time, my first Great House quest since July of 2004. I was to go from Balmora to Ald'Ruhn to intercept some Great House Redoran orders/plans, and I'd be damned if I used a fast(instant) travel method, like Silt Striders or Mages Guild teleportation.

My character, bow drawn
I don't remember why I took this. It's at the very beginning of the trip, so I guess it counts as part of the documentation.

A beautiful picture of the cloudy night sky, with the largest moon of Nirn, Masser, in sight.
In case anyone here is a beginner in Morrowind and doesn't know what "Nirn" is, it's the planet that Vvardenfell is on. Vvardenfell is a district of Morrowind, which is a province of Tamriel, which is the central country/continent of Nirn, which is nicknamed Arena.

Another fairly early picture of an Imperial town known as Caldera.
Caldera is a short distance north of Balmora. It's an important town for the Imperial mining industry, which has a small camp in the mountains near the town.

Looking down a mountain
Sunrise, looking down one of the hills in the West Gash region. According to Elder Scrolls lore, West Gash used to be like the Bitter Coast. That is, it used to be a swamp. The gods had a mighty battle there, and it left a mighty wound in the region that caused it to be a twisted and strange place.

I've entered the Ashlands, and no dust storms in sight.
The Ashlands are the lands scarred by the volcanic activity of Red Mountain in the center of Vvardenfell. It is split into three sections: The Ashlands in the north, and Molag Amur in the south, and Red Mountain in the center. Red Mountain is the center of evil, and where the end of the main story part of the game takes place. There are only a few civilized settlements in either region, like Ald'Ruhn, Fort Buckmoth, Maar Gan, and Molag Mar.

So much for no dust storms.
Speaks for itself.

A sludge pool in the Ashlands
Some sort of sludge. I'm not actually too certain on why these things are here, but they're all around the volcanic parts of Vvardenfell.

Aw man, I am so freakin' lost. Where the hell is the base?
I had been wandering around for 15 minutes before I finally found that sign in the distance and regained my direction. I lost track of the road.

A Nix Hound!
Originally, this was to be another "lost" picture, but with my sword in it, and I was going to include a little rant about how I heard a Cliff Racer, the most annoying creature ever, etc. But then after I took it the Nix Hound charged at me and I realized I now had a picture of a low-level monster.

A Silt Strider in the distance!
Things started looking up at this point. My 45 minute journey was coming to an end.

By the time I reached the gates of Ald-Ruhn, the sand-storm had ended.
You may notice a radical difference in architecture here. See, there are a few different factions in Morrowind. There are 5 different Dunmer(Dark Elf) Great Houses, Hlaalu(thieves and economy), Redoran(War and honor), Telvanni(Magic and killin' folk), Dres(Agriculture and slavery, you never meet them), and Indoril(Religion and worship, you meet them in the Tribunal expansion but can't join them). Each of these has a different style of architecture. There are also a few other factions that have different types of architecture, like the Imperials(who control Tamriel, and concern themselves with charisma and such, thing Rome), the Skaal(A Nordic faction you meet in the Bloodmoon expansion), and the Ashlanders(A Dunmer cult that lives in the Ashlands). Most of these own a city or a settlement, so sometimes you'll see two cities that look similar, and others two cities will look wildly different.

A Redoran Guard.
Yes, that's a skirt. That guard is female.

Under Skar!
That giant building is the rich, or "manor" district of Ald-Ruhn. It is called Under Skar, and like all Redoran structures, is made of a giant crab shell. Most of the Redoran buildings are made of King Mudcrabs, which are about the size of an elephant. Under Skar was made out of an Emperor Mudcrab, which was about the size of a cruise boat. It's huge. Luckily, King and Emperor Mudcrabs are extinct, all we have now are regular Mudcrabs, which level 1's can fight and are about the size of a cat.

Alright, well, I'm not doing that again. Taking the silt Strider back.
Silt Striders cost a small fee and can take you to a few nearby towns. In real time, the journey takes a few seconds, but in game time, a few hours pass.

Balmora at sunset.
Well, the end of my journey has come, and I got a nice picture of Balmora's Hlaalu architecture.

The journey was about 1/4 the size of the island length-wise, and it took 45 minutes or so.

[Edited on 1/3/2005 12:53:22 PM]

  • 01.03.2005 12:47 PM PDT

It was a cold day near the southern base in Blood Gulch. Cortana and I were relaxing over a game of Go Fish, WHEN OUT OF NO WHERE 700 BANSHEES CAME FLYING IN!!! I GRABED MY SPARTAN LASER AND LET HELL REIGN DOWN UPON THEM. I HOPPED IN THE NEAREST WARTHOG AND TOLD CORTANA TO GET IN.

Nice. I have it, and I'll play it for a few weeks, put it down for a few months, then pick it back up again. One of those games where there's always something new.

  • 01.03.2005 12:57 PM PDT
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Yep. I should dig up my old copies of Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire, and Redguard. Redguard came with a really awesome map of Stros M'kai, which they burnt the edges of to make it look more real. It's a collector's item now, I'm very lucky to have something Mr. Todd Howard personally took a torch to.

[Edited on 1/3/2005 12:59:39 PM]

  • 01.03.2005 12:59 PM PDT
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I beat it. Yeah, I logged over 150 hours into it. My character is immortal. I killed Vivec....easily. I own most of the buildings. My Daedric dai-katana can kill almost anyone in one shot.

  • 01.03.2005 1:01 PM PDT
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Tanikaze, r u playing it or site seeing, i just want to know

  • 01.03.2005 1:06 PM PDT
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Posted by: madcow2021
I beat it. Yeah, I logged over 150 hours into it. My character is immortal. I killed Vivec....easily. I own most of the buildings. My Daedric dai-katana can kill almost anyone in one shot.


With some smart battle tactics, Vivec can be beaten by literally any character that can move. I've poured 1500+ hours into the game, and I've perfected a lot of arts. I know an enchantment combination that can make a puny little 1-16 damage Ebony Staff do 355+ Absorb Health damage per shot.

I'm not quite the Hamish Sinclair of the Elder Scrolls(I think Qwerty has that title..) but I know a hell of a lot about it.

Posted by: amazedsatsuma
Tanikaze, r u playing it or site seeing, i just want to know


That was actual gameplay(I didn't document most of the battles), but there wasn't much fighting. Most of the monsters don't start spawning until you're beyond level 1. But the world is pretty damned huge and pretty damned beautiful, so playing and sight-seeing have a tendency to become one in the same.

I'm going to get some images of different architectures and stuff from the editor that comes with Morrowind later on. It's good stuff.

[Edited on 1/3/2005 1:42:35 PM]

  • 01.03.2005 1:13 PM PDT
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I have it for PC, and man do I have some cool mods. I have s squad of mercenaries, castles, a floating house, a girlfriend (oh yes, I'm that lame.) We were planning on getting married, but I haven't played it since the new hotness. Oh man, I'm gonna play it now... and 1500+ hours is all you played it, jeez, and a couple more zeros to that for me...

  • 01.03.2005 1:52 PM PDT
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i have it....a freind is borowing it tho..and as soon as i et it back im playig it..prolly for about 3 weeks..it is an adicting games....then i will play halo for a while..then play morrowind......how do u do the screen shot stuff..that is cool.

  • 01.03.2005 1:54 PM PDT
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I WANT MORROWIND! I cant find it anywhere, and I cant buy it online =( (xbox version by the way)

  • 01.03.2005 1:55 PM PDT
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Posted by: Ares823
I have it for PC, and man do I have some cool mods. I have s squad of mercenaries, castles, a floating house, a girlfriend (oh yes, I'm that lame.) We were planning on getting married, but I haven't played it since the new hotness. Oh man, I'm gonna play it now... and 1500+ hours is all you played it, jeez, and a couple more zeros to that for me...


1500 hours is 62.5 full days. Add another 0 and that's 625 full days, almost two years. I somehow doubt you've played the game for two full years straight, considering it's only been out for about 4 years.

Keep in mind that my time played in no way counts the 3 weeks I had borrowed it from my friend for Xbox, but I suspect I only played about 100 hours during that time.

[Edited on 1/3/2005 2:25:12 PM]

  • 01.03.2005 2:24 PM PDT
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Yea I borrowed the PC version from a friend, and I like it way more than the Xbox version. Messing around with the construction set that somes with can add infinite possibilities. I think it is funny, my friend told me that the game world is built on an infinite plain of water, and the game just loads up the sector of the map your in. If you had the time and the skill, you can make another continent larger than Vvardenfell (sp?) itself.

  • 01.03.2005 3:17 PM PDT
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Posted by: Woc Cixelsid
Yea I borrowed the PC version from a friend, and I like it way more than the Xbox version. Messing around with the construction set that somes with can add infinite possibilities. I think it is funny, my friend told me that the game world is built on an infinite plain of water, and the game just loads up the sector of the map your in. If you had the time and the skill, you can make another continent larger than Vvardenfell (sp?) itself.


Absolutely. The water itself isn't infinite, but what happens is after a while, you reach a place called "Wilderness" if you west, south, or east, or "X" if you go north. In these places, it replicates the same water cell over and over as you move.

Each section of the world is called a "cell". There are two types of cells: interior cells and exterior cells. Exterior cells are "outside". They are considered to be collectively one giant world, and move nearly seamlessly from one to another.

Then there are interior cells. Interior cells are indoor places, and each one is its own self-contained, self-sufficient world. Only global scripts apply to interior cells, and scripts contained within the cell itself.

The doors that connect interior to exterior cell, and interior to interior cell, are called "teleport doors". Regular doors will open for you and you can see into the next room, but teleport doors bring you to a short loading screen, then bring you to where you want to go. They're also very hard to make, and rely on Door Markers to place the character and choose which way they face. You can have a door completely away from the actual door marker, so long as the door marker is in the same cell as the door.

Jeeze. I can't believe I remember all this stuff.

[Edited on 1/3/2005 3:50:53 PM]

  • 01.03.2005 3:47 PM PDT
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Morrowind is amazing. I set out to become grandmaster of as many guilds as you possibly can for one character. (Hlaalu, East Empire Company, Fighters, Mages, Temple, Thieves, Blades, Imperials legion, Imperial Cult, Morag Tong). After completing all possible quests for those factions, I tried my hand at becoming a vampire. I joined clan Bern, and am in the process of killing random vampires for Raxle. But I suppose that advancing in this clan is impossible. Anyways, awhile back I looked in my menu screen and noticed in the Ashlanders faction, that I had become a Heartfriend, as opposed to a Clanfriend. To those of you who are also Heartfriends, how or when did this promotion occur?

  • 01.03.2005 3:47 PM PDT
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It happens after you become Nerevarine/Hortator. However, just like being a Blades operative, there are more ranks in the TESCS that you can't reach.

  • 01.03.2005 4:02 PM PDT
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Ahhh I see, well then, asides from Telvanni and Redoran, there doesnt appear to be many more quests to complete.

  • 01.03.2005 4:07 PM PDT
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About 50% of the game's quests are random miscellaneous quests. Traverse the roads, try releasing the three naked nords, all of whom were paralyzed and stripped by three different witches.

  • 01.03.2005 4:26 PM PDT
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I used to love Morrowind...Still one of the best games on Xbox, IMO.

Bethesda's new Elder Scrolls game is something to drool over

  • 01.03.2005 4:56 PM PDT
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Posted by: Vella
I used to love Morrowind...Still one of the best games on Xbox, IMO.

Bethesda's new Elder Scrolls game is something to drool over


I'm having a hard time getting excited about Oblivion. With all the amazing graphics and special effects, they may lose sight of what's really important when you've got business in Cyrodiil: Dragons. In Morrowind they were absent because the Cliff Racers drove them out, in Daggerfall they were absent because High Rock and Hammerfall just never had them, and in Arena.. I don't recall one, but I'm sure there was. If not, it was because it was made in 1994. Anywho, there's dragons in central Cyrodiil so we might get to see some.

  • 01.03.2005 5:38 PM PDT
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Someone knows his Bethesda anthology...Yes, having the dragons would be great, I'm sure they can pull it off, in addition to the beatuiful graphics. The Elder Scrolls Bestiary has always been ahead of it's time, hopefully, with some new hardware, time can catch up and we'll see some spectacular things to bludgeon.

  • 01.03.2005 5:45 PM PDT

I am playing it right now

  • 01.03.2005 5:57 PM PDT
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Personally, I have enjoyed everything the Elder Scrolls games have to offer. The Tribunal Expansion was particularly brilliant, for it deals more with political corruption and scandals, and offers a greater challenge for experienced players. I dont know about you, but it was no small task doing away with Almalexia.

  • 01.03.2005 6:00 PM PDT
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Posted by: Kingcream
Personally, I have enjoyed everything the Elder Scrolls games have to offer. The Tribunal Expansion was particularly brilliant, for it deals more with political corruption and scandals, and offers a greater challenge for experienced players. I dont know about you, but it was no small task doing away with Almalexia.


Her Hand Guards that surround her could each individually defeat the previously toughest NPC, Divayth Fyr, so try fighting all of them and Almalexia. That's an incredible battle, especially since unless you use the console or the TESCS, it's impossible to have Trueflame during it.

For anyone who is interested, a 355+ damage staff:

Ebony Staff
90 Point Enchantment(Use a Golden Saint, ascended sleeper, or a god's soul stored in Azura's Star, this takes a LOT of charge)
On Strike
Weakness to Magicka
On Touch
100-100
1 sec

Absorb Health
On Touch
67-67(Or the highest possible with both the minimum and maximum equivelant to eachother)
2 Secs

Should do about 355 or so damage every single time, and it heals you by that much as well. There are only about 2-3 NPCs in the original Morrowind that can survive a single blast. Vivec takes a few, as he has 1000HP, and some of the enemies from the expansions can take a few shots as well. This will not work against many expansion characters, as they have high amounts of Reflect. This is also the reason that pure mage characters are unfeasible during expansions.

You should not, however, have much trouble until you reach Bamz-Amschend. The Advanced Steam Centurions are the first enemies I encountered that really caused trouble.

If you want to gain essential magical immunity, kill King Helseth once you finish the Tribunal expansion. He has a ring that contains Constant Effect 100% Reflect, 100% Resistance to Magicka, and an immunity to a myriad of other things. It's arguably one of the most powerful items in the game, and as such, is entirely capable of making the game too easy.

  • 01.03.2005 8:26 PM PDT
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awesome game. borrowed my friend's copy for 6 months gave it back. and never got around to buying gold edition

  • 01.03.2005 8:35 PM PDT
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Try the vampiric ring, it works miracles.

  • 01.03.2005 9:39 PM PDT
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I have beaten every part of that game, from the main quest to the collection of every single book. It, aside from Skies of Arcadia, is my favorite RPG ever made. The new Oblivion sequel (possible for xbox 2!) to Morrowind will be amazingly good, and I can't wait. The Elder Scrolls, or just Bethesda in general, are just a great company. They never fail to deliver (good companies usually start with a B). Anyway, Bungie for FPS, Blizzard for RTS, Bethesda for RPG :D

If you need help with a quest, and I remember, I'll help you out.

  • 01.03.2005 10:20 PM PDT

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