Memorable Gaming Moment 2002: Morrowind

2002 would mark the beginning of the end of PC gaming for moi. Those who know me nowadays would probably be surprised to hear tales of my “hardcore-ness” in the PC gaming crowd, but there was a time when I played PC games exclusively. 2002 featured quite a few great games, but it never felt quite as crowded as 2001. That may be a true statement, or it may be due to the fact that I only played a few titles during the entire year. The game I played more than anything else (and likely more than any game in my short lifespan) was The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I can safely say I spent well over one thousand hours in the game; a game with absolutely no multi-player component at all.

I’m a rare breed; I am one of the few gamers who actually believes that Morrowind is a better game than Oblivion. Morrowind felt like such a bigger world and a much more diverse world overall. Oblivion was forest, forest, more forest and maybe a little snow here and there to mix things up, but it just didn’t feel anywhere near as large (or unique) when compared to Morrowind. I can’t say that the story in Morrowind was better than that of Oblivion, but anyone who plays TES games for the story has likely suffered from some sort of brain trauma in their past. I’d apologize for offending people with brain damage, but they probably already forget I even mentioned them.

Holy crapannoli! I didn't know Big St3ph3n was in Morrowind...

Morrowind also felt like more of an exploratory game than Oblivion; I felt much more rewarded for exploring the world of Vvardenfell. I was always amazed when I’d find something completely new after already playing the game for hundreds of hours. One aspect that really helped Morrowind’s longevity was the mod community, a community that I happened to be a part of; Morrowind is the only game that actually drove me to build substantial mods (though I never made mine public). There were so many great mods, but none of them stayed with me like the Havish mod. This specific mod added an entire new city with an actual working bank (interest will make you rich), dozens of new quests, plenty of gambling choices, and much more. Havish is just one example of the many great mods that kept Morrowind interesting and a place you didn’t want to leave.

I’ll never understand how (or why) I spent so much time in a single-player game, but every memory I have is a good one and I can’t complain about that. Morrowind is a game I still go back to play every year and I am still able to have fun and find something new even to this day. It should also be noted that Morrowind featured two fairly large and great expansion packs: Tribunal (released later in ’02) and Bloodmoon (released in ’03). While I really enjoyed Oblivion, Morrowind is still the greatest TES game that I’ve ever played. Here’s to hoping that TES5 is able to take the cake (and eat it too …fuck you GLaDOS, you lying bitch).