Just got Morrowind for Xbox

First, I'm not going to trudge through 15+ pages of the official thread. It would probably never get read and my frustration would not be sated.

I waited a while on this one and finally decided to get it. After about 15 hours into it, I can honestly say I'm sorry I bought it. The fighting engine is crap. You swing a 100 times at an enemy and maybe hit once. Maybe this has something to do with your skill level for each weapon, I don't know. Either way it sucks. It took forever to kill a stupid little worm-thingie because many swings that would have hit in any other game missed here for some reason.

I also dislike the fact that getting punched knocks you down, thus allowing some dumbass naked traveller to pummel you to death with his fists, while you never get the chance to even swing your sword. Of course, you'd probably miss anyway.

Another gripe I have is that the game is basically "walk here, do this" with emphasis on the walking part. Everyone wants a favor that requires you to go all the way to bumfuck egypt to get it done.

Does it get any better? Please tell me it does. If not, it looks like this will be returned as "defective".

The combat system gets less irritating when you improve your abilities. You'll hit more and do more damage, so it won't be quite as tedious.

I guess most of the quests require you to go somewhere and do something, but I don't know how else they could have set it up. Although, you can always just go off on your own, scurry around in dungeons and look for good shit.

If you don't like it thus far, I don't think you'll grow into it. But I dunno. Personally, it was one of the best value games I've picked up in a while (outside of GTA3 and Animal Crossing) because it kept me busy and entertained for so long. Even after all this time, I'm afraid to boot it up because it will get its hooks into me again.

I might get around to playing this thing again if I'm really, REALLY bored. Seriously, I actually fell asleep while playing this POS. I don't know why everyone raves about this thing and the people who play it religiously are mostly cheaters anyway.

With each day that passes, I am becoming a bigger fan of non-linear games. I really need to get around to trying Morrowind.

Morrowind is not an action game -- maybe you really should consider trudging through the official threads.

Personally I found my enjoyment of the game increasing as I spent more (and more) time with it, but I have to agree with Dacaz. If it's failed to grab you after 15 hours, I doubt that will change.

Melf, did you even know what you were getting into? Hype on the boards is not always your best friend...

the freedom that the game gave you is awesome, but like Melf say the fighting suck :(

I think you should've read the thread first. It went over the fighting system, the complaints others had (like the ones you have), and explained why so many of us liked it.

If you're missing a lot, you should look at your stats. Find out which weapon type you are most proficient in and use that particular weapon. If your short sword rating is 50 and your long sword rating is 20, you're going to be missing a shitload more with the long sword than if you used the short sword. In the first 15 hours, you shouldn't be missing your attacks more than 2/3rds of the time, maximum.

Being punched reduces your fatigue meter (the green one) instead of your health meter. When your fatigue goes all the way down, you get knocked down and then your health gets drained. Don't let them get your fatigue down and you'll be fine.

Also, when your fatigue is low, your attacks miss a lot more. Don't attack unless it's full or close to it.

I might be telling you something you already know, but you didn't mention some of this, so there you go. I do agree that the fighting engine is crap though.

Yup, combat in Morrowind sucks horribly. The way I see it, combat in RPGs where you control a single character can either be stat-based, in which case it should be deep and strategic, or reflex-based, in which case it should be fast and exciting.
Bethesda aimed somewhere between the two combat types, and what they got is a stat-based clicking fest that's neither strategic nor exciting.

Still, Morrowind is an ok game. I can't say I ever had fun with it, but the huge scope of the world and the incredible freedom makes it addictive.