Very true. Sadly game dev is a risky endeavor at the best of times. Steam/other storefronts are very noisy environments for devs with little spare change for marketing. On the flipside, digital distribution and storefronts mean that it’s way more feasible to self-publish than it was twenty or thirty years ago. At least, as far as I’m aware. I know there were standouts like Cave Story in the early days.

Some YouTube videos came out that launched both into wider discussion. Both never had proper sequels or successors, so they stand as unique experiences even twenty years later. I don’t say this to diss modern Bethesda, but that they are both distinct enough from Oblivion and Skyrim to have staying power in their niches.

Daggerfall Unity makes that game playable and smooth on modern hardware, and Morrowind modding projects like Tamriel Rebuilt and Project Tamriel (just released an Anvil expansion!) bring in new and old fans alike. OpenMW does for Morrowind what Unity does for Daggerfall, although stock GOTY Morrowind still runs fine IIIRC.

AAA may be all but dead, (so far gone that even E3 died) but indies have been in a perpetual golden age since Shovel Knight and Undertale came out. And if boomer shooters and Morrowind/Daggerfall can have a modern renaissance, it can happen to other games/genres too.

I bought it on GOG and it worked out of the box, but I might just be lucky.

Fallout New Vegas, finally getting around to playing it!

Ah yes, the crown jewel of the Ouya!

In my experience with TF2, many popular community servers have common-sense rules like no slurs, cheats, etc. The great thing about a player-run server is that, if you want, it can be stricter than official guidelines, as Valve for example is pretty hands-off beyond the obvious in-game cheats. It allows pockets of the community to shape the experience they want to have more adeptly than official servers ever could.

Oh, whoops. That’s what I get for skimming :).

If you found HL1 dated, there’s a good remake in source: https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

Even as a purist (HL1 is my favorite FPS period), I love how Black Mesa handles the source material. It’s on sale for $5 right now too. Besides Valve’s other games, check out F.E.A.R (2005), Doom series and the Bungie Halo games.

Especially considering that a particular Final Fantasy game has one of the most famously spoiled twists. You’d think they of all people would know.

Check out Tamriel Rebuilt too! It’s a mod to add the mainland that, while incomplete, already has 100s of quests. Good quality control too.

Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind lets you fly around, jump over whole cities, and kill most NPCs with one high powered spell. It’s a very unique game, but if it clicks with you there’s nothing quite like it. Vibrant modding scene too.

The base game is certainly playable, but if you want modern resolutions and some vanilla-friendly bug fixes OpenMW is an open source recreation of the engine, there’s instructions on their website.

Civ 3 had some killer modern music.

The Mombasa Streets music made me stop in my tracks a couple times.

Sifu is a fun martial-arts focused game. If you liked the combat of Sleeping Dogs and Batman Arkham, it might be your kind of game. It’s currently on sale for $20: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138710/Sifu/

Vita… now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a very long time.

Many slaves have the “go free” dialogue option, which allows you to free them if you have the appropriate key from that area. Not all can be freed this way, there might be a mod for that but I’m not sure. Happy hunting!

Welcome! This is a pretty fun question, because it shows both the strengths and limitations of the game. On the one hand, there’s no full quest line to abolish slavery in Morrowind, although some slaves can be freed. There are some mods for adding quests, but I haven’t looked into them very deeply.

On the other, since no NPC is essential you can end slavery through brute force and kill every councilor that supports it, every slave trader, etc. Bloody, but still arguably in line with the “might makes right” philosophy of the Telvanni.

So while there’s no “official” way, the game leaves the door open to roleplaying if you’re playing a character who would take matters into their own hands.

If you kill an NPC needed for the main quest, the game will give you a “the thread of prophecy has been severed” message. It’s still possible to get the necessary equipment to fight the final boss of the main quest even if you kill, say, Caius, but I wouldn’t recommend killing any main quest NPCs until after it’s completed.

The built-in failsafes aren’t explained in-game, and are buggy. It’s more so just a cool last resort for repeat playthroughs where you play, say, a traditionalist who refuses to work with the Empire to solve the blight storm crisis.

It’s one of the coolest things about the game. Even though I’d never consider methodically killing everyone on the island, the knowledge that you can do it makes the decision not to much more impactful from a roleplaying perspective.

DRG. Rock and Stone!

No, but enchant skill in Morrowind is kinda weird so I honestly wouldn’t worry about leveling it for a first time playthrough. I never leveled it and was still able to enchant some exquisite pants with enough stamina restore to negate fatigue entirely, for example.

If you talk to an Enchanter NPC, the option to enchant will be in the dialogue list like a shop owner or spell crafter. Since you’re in the Mages Guild, the easiest to reach would probably be Galbedir in the Balmora Mages Guild.

If you need more specific info the UESP wiki (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page) is a great source. Just be weary of spoilers. I personally use it to check racial attribute spreads whenever I start a new game.

Yeah, resting whenever the stamina bar hits half is generally what I do lol. The Mages Guild definitely throws you to the wolves with that quest, when I did it I failed the speech check and had to fight her.

I’ve never tried a conjuration build, but I definitely remember falling back on my dagger regularly when I played a Dunmer mage. The Mages Guild has an item chest with magika potions you can use freely.

You can also enchant a ring or amulet to conjure, so even if your magic/Intelligence is low you can consistently summon minions if you can afford the cost of the enchantment. A big difference from Skyrim is that enchanted items recharge automatically when you rest.

This makes a build where you carry around summoning rings/amulets to use before every fight not only possible, but incredibly strong from what I’ve heard.

Morrowind is one of my favorites! Graphic Herbalism is nice, but the DB and Sosltheim fixes are the only necessary ones, atleast for OpenMW.

Have fun! You’ve probably already heard this if you’re aware of the bug fix mods, but if it seems like you’re missing every other attack, check your stamina and make sure you’re using a weapon you’re character has the skills in. A low stamina bar affects every skill check, and that iron dagger in the census office often trips people up if they try using it without taking short blade as a major skill, as an example.

I love Morrowind, but it doesn’t do the best job of walking you through how combat works unless you read the manual, so I thought I’d mention it just in case :).

Oneshot, Undertale, Mother 2 and 3 are games I think about years after playing them, great worlds and characters. Super Metroid too, the ambience alone still strikes a chord with me.

I’ve heard 3 is good too, but challenging so maybe not for a first entry.

Star Wars: Empire at War is a classic with more nontraditional gameplay and light 4x elements (no diplomacy). The modding scene is rich too, with Thrawn’s Revenge for the EU and multiple Clone Wars mods.

Skyrim was a lot like a magic trick, amazing and unforgettable the first time but it wears off as you notice the world isn’t as deep as it is wide. After doing the same formula with Fallout 4, and the disastrous launch of 76, even though Starfield is built to create that magic experience again it’s not as effective because we’ve seen it before.

I won’t preorder TES 6 if it ever comes out, but I will be rooting for Bethesda to shake things up, especially after BG3 showed a more complex RPG can still be a bestseller.