TF2: The Best Casual/Pub-Focused FPS Out There

A couple of months ago, I got back to playing an old favorite of mine, Team Fortress 2. I initially purchased the game back in 2007 as a part of Valve's The Orange Box, and played it quite a bit. As such, I've played TF2 from the very beginning, back when it only had six official maps, only the stock weapons, no hats (!), and tc_hydro was actually a commonly played map. Basically, in the TF2 circles I'm not really an old fag, but an outright ancient fag nowadays. With that little bit of background info out of the way, I am here to tell you why TF2 is the best casual FPS to be played on public servers (i.e. not in a competitive environment).

Now, make no mistake - TF2 has numerous problems regarding some of its game modes, maps, class design, and especially weapon balance. I am not going to delve into the negatives here, because doing so would make this post ridiculously long. Rather, I'm just going to get the positives out of the way, and possibly return to discuss the negatives in the future. That being said, on to the positives!

1. The Aesthetic

TF2 has some of the best aesthetic design I have ever seen, in any media. Everything in the game, from the character models to the environments and the voice work, is positively dripping with flavor. The cartoony visual design gives the game an instantly recognizable look, and creates a wonderful setting for gory but always light-hearted fun. Unsurprisingly, the visual look of the game garnered high praise from both critics and consumers back on release, and has become iconic by now. Landing on the ingenious final design, however, did not just naturally occur, but was rather a result of an extensively long and troubled development cycle. The game was first announced all the way back in 1998, but it took nine years of development before the game finally saw release. During the those nine years, the visual style changed drastically. The original vision was for the game to feature a pseudo-realistic military style, as depicted below.

An early design of TF2. Picture taken from
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_2>

Of course, as we all know, the final product looks completely different:

The modern look that we all know and love. Picture taken <from http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/team-fortress-2>

The stellar visual style is perfectly complemented by the excellent audio design, which makes up the second half of the game's overall aesthetic. When mentioning TF2's audio, undoubtedly the first thing that comes to peoples' minds is the quirky and funny voice acting of the different classes. Although, from a purely gameplay perspective, the voice acting serves relatively little importance, it adds an immense amount of character in to the game. As a matter of fact, TF2 is very noteworthy for utilizing heavily characterized and personified classes in what is strictly a multiplayer game. The voice acting really brings the classes to life and gives each of them a distinct personality, all without featuring any type of narrative whatsoever. The only other game that I can think of which does something similar is Tripwire Interactive's Killing Floor. Interestingly enough, both are class-based multiplayer only FPS games.

2. It Facilitates a Number of Different Playstyles

TF2 is an exceptional FPS in the sense that it is very strictly class-based, and the classes are all completely different from one another. The heavy emphasis on class-based gameplay has a couple of important consequences. First of all, teamwork is practically mandatory. Teams who refuse to pick classes in at least semi-reasonable manner (i.e. going five Snipers and four Spies, as seems to be the standard in Valve servers) stand no chance against better team compositions. Secondly, the different classes have different jobs to do: Engineers build defensive sentry nests, Demomen destroy said sentry nests, Medics heal their teammates, and Heavies and Soldiers act as frontline meatshields. What is more, the different classes also play out completely differently: Scout is a blazingly fast, hyperactive class well suited for people with ADD; Medic suits people with nurturing instincts and an eye for strategy and the flow of the battle (or perhaps people who just want to win); Sniper is made for MLG pro 360 no-scope Call of Duty rejects (or people who are otherwise very good at clicking at stuff quickly and precisely); Engineer is perfect for people who absolutely cannot aim at all; Demoman is the go-to class for people who hate Engineers; etc. The point is, TF2 offers something for everybody, regardless of what type of gameplay you happen to enjoy. There is even a stealth class that hardly does any shooting at all, and must instead try to blend in among the enemy team to score backstabs!

Gentlemen.

It is also interesting to look at how the different classes interplay with one another,  in some cases forming smaller metagames inside the bigger picture of the battlefield. Probably the most obvious example of such a metagame is the largely self-contained battle between Spies and Engineers (with the occasional PyBro getting involved as well), where the Spies try to kill the Engineers and destroy their buildings, and the Engineers try to defend against the Spies.

Ideally, most of the players are focused on playing the objective, be that pushing the cart or capturing control points. Some classes, however, operate more independently from the rest of the team, focusing on doing other stuff instead. Spies are certainly the most independent class in the game, and they spend most of their time getting to good positions behind enemy lines and picking off key targets. I suppose that's why they seem so attractive to new players, and why nearly all servers are filled with spies (most of who get very little done). Some other examples of classes that can work well independently are the Scout and the Sniper. Scouts can cause havoc running behind enemy lines killing unaware stragglers and just generally being a nuisance. Snipers, on the other hand... well, snipers usually kinda just hang back and do nothing. That is, unless you meet one of the few good ones, who actually consistently hit headshots and thus cause tear-jerking and anus-clenching fits of rage among the opposing team.

I'm sniper, I'm helping!

3. The Gameplay Experience Is Unique

This point somewhat ties in with the previous one. In a market completely oversaturated with modern military shooters (the Call of Battlefield, Postmodern Offensive syndrome), all of which boil down to American special forces mowing down hordes of people of various skin complexions, TF2 is a breath of fresh air. Or perhaps rather a breath of musky, old-school air that brings back memories of ye olden days of the arena FPS. Although TF2 is a much more accessible game than Quake 3, for instance, TF2 still retains certain elements of the classic arena shooter gameplay: it tends to play quite fast, it utilizes both projectile weapons (rocket launchers etc.) and hit scan weapons (sniper rifles, pistols, etc.), combat usually takes place over medium to short distances, and classes aside from the Scout have enough health to survive a few hits from most weapons, which emphasizes aggressiveness, teamplay, and tactics over twitch shooting and camping.

If you don't really feel like playing, build a sentry gun to play the game for you!

TF2 also takes class-based gameplay to much greater heights than other class-based shooters, such as the Battlefield series, for example. Switching between classes makes a considerably larger difference than switching to a different weapon loadout, because the classes have different movement speeds and health pools. More importantly still, most classes have unique gameplay mechanics, such as being able to construct buildings, backstab enemies for one-hit-kills, rocket jump, or double jump. Out of the above mentioned examples, I want to particularly highlight rocket jumping, because it is such an essential part of the gameplay in TF2, and something that is (understandably) not really found in many games.

If you get good at rocket jumping, you can pretty much fly from one end of the map to the other.

4. The Objective Is Usually Obvious

A huge advantage in TF2's primary game modes (Payload, Attack/Defend, 5 Control Points, King of the Hill, and Capture the Flag) is that they are all fundamentally very simple, and therefore easy to pick-up even for new players. What is more, many of the maps tend to also be quite easy to navigate, and they mostly naturally help players find where to go. As such, the essential problem that players face is not "what am I supposed to do", but rather "how should I go about doing it".

The maps have arrows to point you in the right direction.

The two most enjoyable game modes in TF2 are certainly 5CP and Payload. Although I find 5CP to be the most balanced game mode overall (every class is useful in it), Payload still tends to be the most functional in terms of public play. The disadvantage Payload has compared to 5CP is that it is more focused around brute forcing your way forward, without worrying too much about flanking the enemy or picking them off individually. This results in the Scout being somewhat less useful than the other classes, because he is designed to be a fast-moving flanker. The advantage of Payload is that the objective is so simple and obvious that even the most retarded mouth-breather can understand what to do, and thus contribute on at least some level; literally all you have to do is follow the tracks that go across the map, and you will inevitably end up right where you should be. That, right there, is ingenious game design.

Just follow the tracks and you're good.

5. F2P

The final edge TF2 holds over most of its competition is that it's free to play. There really is no reasons not to give it a try try. I don't really have anything else to add to that.

Who doesn't like free stuff?

Summary

So, to recap: TF2 is the best casual FPS because it is reasonably easy to get into for a new player, it features a wonderful aesthetic that adds a ton of flavor to the game, and the variety of classes available means that there's bound to be something for everyone. Also, fear not if you do get into TF2, but are afraid that it has no depth for skilled players - there is a lot of room for skill lying under the light-hearted surface, and very skilled players can single handedly wreck a pub server.

Top 5 Most Awesome Enemies in Dark Soul

To compliment my previous list of top five most annoying enemies in Dark Souls, I decided to compile a list of the five most awesome enemies as well. I have to say, it was much easier to come up with particularly annoying enemies than it was to think of enemies that really stood out in a positive way. I actually had to cut out some contenders from the previous list to keep it short, wheres for this list, only the top two entries were immediately obvious to me. One final thing to point out is that these enemies were chosen primarily because of their interesting, cool, or goofy looks. Now, without further ado, here are the top five most awesome enemies in Dark Souls.

5. Scarecrows

Oh, I'm a skeletal gardener, and I'm okay, I sleep all night and I work all day

These are undoubtedly some of the quirkiest enemies in the game. They look kinda funny, they move funny, their attacks are haphazard, and they have the classic dive attack that always provides luls. I think they honestly feel a little bit out-of-place in this game, but I suppose the meadows of Royal Woods need to be gardened by someone. You can find them wielding either a pitchfork, like the guy in the picture below, or giant gardening scissors. They are weak on their own, but can pose some danger in groups. Furthermore, they are often watched over by a stone Guardian, and those big boys can really wreck you if you aren't careful.

4. Bloathead Sorcerers

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"

These weird-looking, Cthulhu-esque, lanky creatures with freakishly long arms definitely made the list based purely on their looks. In terms of their attack patterns, they pretty much just spam Dark Orbs. As such, fighting them is hardly interesting. In contrast to some of the other entries on this list, there really isn't anything funny about their looks. They do look really cool, though, in a twisted and tormented way. I've been hoping to get their head as a drop (which, according to Dark Souls wiki, has a phenomenal 1% drop rate...), but haven't had any luck thus far. The head would make for some pretty wicked cosplay builds. Maybe one day.

3. Mimics

By golly, I wonder what fancy loot I'll find there

Wait, wat?

OM NOM NOM NOM

Dark Souls

I'm sure that for everyone who went into Dark Souls blind, the first time they encountered these sneaky buggers left quite an impression. I have to say that these are some of the most memorable enemies I've ever seen in any game; their looks are deeply distrubing, but the way they wobble around and try to kick you is actually pretty comical. It's also very fitting that the first time you encounter these is in the infamous Sen's Funhouse, with all of its pressure plates, swinging blades and bottomless pits. In some ways, these enemies very much characterize the entire experience of playing Dark Souls: they have the potential to kill you with one successful bite, which may raise some protests for the famous "artificial difficulty", but they can easily be detected by treading carefully and paying attention to details.

That's a seriously disturbing design

2. Skeleton Babies

Creepy or cute - you decide!

These were by far my favorite enemies in the game during my first playtrough, but that's because I actually completely missed the number one enemy until my second playthrough. These little fellas ride the line between really creepy (they are, after all, baby skeletons) and weirdly cute. Although I, like pretty much everyone else, hate Tomb of the Giants, Nito and these guys manage to make going through the place totally worth the trouble. I just can't help it - seeing these babies run around in the water always brings a smile to my face. The smile does admittedly fade if they manage to attack me, because they cause the ever-so-deadly toxic status effect. Perhaps it's best to just giggle at them from afar.

1. Mushroom Children and Parents

That daddy has a mean haymaker

These are definitely the most sympathetic "enemies" in the game. The children especially are just simply adorable, just wandering around and minding their own business. Their footsteps also make a funny tapping sound. As a matter of fact, I hesitate to even call them enemies, because although the daddies will attack you if you kill the babies (can't really blame them here), or tread too close to them, it's generally best to just go around them and avoid the fight. As I mentioned above, I managed to completely miss these during my first playthrough. I doubt I'm the only one, though, since these guys can only be found in three areas of the game - Darkroot Garden, The Great Hollow, and Ash Lake - all of which are completely optional. Ever since I stumbled on them in the deepest parts of the Darkroot Garden, however, they have claimed the title of being my favorite enemies in the game.

Honorary Mention

An honorary mention goes out to the Black and Silver Knights. They not only look cool and imposing, but are also a lot of fun to fight against. They also definitely establish the fact that parrying is insanely effective against a lot of enemies.

BRRRROTHER!

The Black Knights are, together with Sir Artorias, the poster boys for the Prepare to Die version of the game, since one is featured together with the logo in Steam's store page. The Black Knights are found in various locations around Lordran, most notably in the Kiln of the First Flame. They wield four different types of weapons, including the ever-so-popular Black Knight Halberd. When killed, they drop various upgrade materials and may also drop their weapons.

The Silver Knights are only found in Anor Londo, where they guard the castle from invaders. They can wield either straight swords, spears, or greatbows. Speaking of Silver Knights wielding greatbows, you are now remembering the Anor Londo archers. That segment, starting from the bottom of the great staircase, past the Bat Wing Demons and up to the infamous ledge with the archers is by far my least favorite bonfire-to-bonfire gameplay trip in the entire game. At least you meet Brolaire, who is as fabulous as always, by the Castle bonefire...

Since I managed to get this post out in a surprisingly timely manner, it can pretty much conclude the year 2014 for me. Happy New Year!

Top 5 Most Annoying Enemies in Dark Souls

This time around, I want to write about one of my favorite games in recent memory, and a strong contender to be included on my Top-10-Games-of-All-Time list, Dark Souls. I’ve got a few ideas for Dark Souls related topics I want to write about at some point, but I think I’ll start with a fairly straightforward one: the most annoying enemies in the game. It seems like everyone and their grandma has done a list about their favorite and least favorite bosses, but similar lists of regular enemies seem to be at least a little bit less common. I chose the enemies to include on this list based on how difficult they are to deal with and how rage-inducing they can be. In the end, all of the entries scored pretty high on both accounts.

5. Skeleton Dogs

Image taken from
<http://www.nuk3.com/gallery/
images/comedy/full/108.jpg>

Tomb of the Giants seems to generally be regarded as everyone’s least favorite area in the game. There are two main reasons for this: The first one is that the place is practically pitch black, and hence requires the player to use a source of external light. Unfortunately, there are only three options available in the game – a Cast Light sorcery for the magically inclined, a lantern that takes the place of your shield, or a special illuminating headpiece that you need to find first. Needless to say, the darkness can pose a challenge for the unprepared. The second reasons are the Skeleton Dogs that lurk in the darkness, and let me tell you, the weird panting sound they make while laying in ambush is deeply disturbing. They are huge, deal tons of damage, attack in erratic patterns and have a lot of health. A royal pain in the backside, in short. On the upside, I have to say that their design is quite memorable. Maybe that will provide some small comfort when they maul you to pieces in the impenetrable darkness that is Tomb of the Giants, where no one can hear you scream.

Nice doggy...

4. New Londo Ghosts

I think New Londo Ruins is a pretty cool location; it has interesting (and tragic) lore behind it, a unique progression mechanic where the area is initially flooded and you have to find a way to drain the water to access the lower levels, an unexpected “shortcut” to Valley of the Drakes, and a cool boss fight at the end. New Londo Ruins is also one of my least favorite areas in the game. Why, you may ask. Because of these goddamn ghosts, that’s why. They are a unique enemy because they cannot be attacked normally: in order to kill them, you have to either be cursed (and being cursed halves your total HP, so this isn’t a very viable strategy), use a special consumable which allows you to temporary attack them, or use one of the three cursed weapons in the game (which can be a pain in the ass to acquire, depending on your luck). But believe it or not, the minor challenge of not being able to attack them without taking precautions is actually the least of your worries when dealing with these spectral rump ravagers. Due to the fact that they are ghosts, they can move freely through walls, floors, and ceilings, or stay hidden inside them and attack from there without you being able to retaliate. As if all of that wasn’t enough, they also have a tendency to hang out in these ghastly ghost posses and gang up on you, should you venture too close. Oh, and did I mention that when you do manage to kill them, you get hardly any souls for your troubles? Gee, thanks From Software! So, all in all, fuck these ghosts and fuck Spooky Londo Ruins.

2spooky4me – somebody call the damn Ghostbusters

3. Blowdart Snipers

These asshats really make me scratch my head. When you think about it, a lot of enemies in Dark Souls teach you something about the game. For example, Silver Knights teach you that parrying is king, and the Slimes in the Depths teach you that some enemies are vulnerable to certain types of damage (case in point, they are weak to fire). I’m not really sure what the Snipers teach you. They generally start shooting toxic darts at you before you even see them (and the darts are also difficult to see), so on your first playthrough, you’re simply going to get hit without even realizing what happened at first. The toxic darts, as the name implies, inflict a toxic status effect, which is essentially poison on steroids. Basically, if you get hit by the darts and become toxic, it’s game over man, game over, unless you, for some inconceivable reason, happen to have a stock of Blooming Purple Moss Clumps at hand. Maybe they were supposed to teach that you shouldn't just hang back and play passive all the time, but rather close the distance and get the job done. What they ended up teaching me, however, is to just do suicide runs to kill them, since they are one of the few enemies in the game that do not respawn. I’m not entirely sure if that’s what the developers intended. Anyways, they certainly deserve their spot on this list.

What's not the like about Blighttown?

2. Bonewheel Skeletons

The upsides of Bonewheels:

1. They are only found in two places in the game.
2. There are no more upsides.

These are truly some of the most terrifying enemies in the game. Not only do they inhibit some of the darkest and most claustrophobic places there are in Lordran, they, like the New Londo Ghosts, like to hang out in deadly posses. These are probably even worse, though. It’s like they’re some morbid and twisted version of biker gang thugs, pulled out straight from the depths of Seven Hells. As everyone who has played Dark Souls knows, what makes Bonewheels iconic is their deadly rolling attack where they zoom at you at the speed of a fighter jet – bless the poor soul who gets hit by them. If you do get hit by the rolling attack, chances are pretty good you’re dead. If, instead, you get hit but manage to block, enjoy all of your stamina being drained in a couple of seconds, unless you happen to use a greatshield. During my first playthrough, my body became conditioned to clench my butt cheeks real tight whenever I heard the unmistakable sound of these wheels of death revving up and zooming towards me.

They see me rollin', they hatin'.

1. Giant Mosquitos

These are definitely the least dangerous enemies on this list, but they are also by far the most annoying. The first of their quirks is that they spawn endlessly and hunt you down almost everywhere you are in lower Blighttown; you just can’t get away from them. Oh, and did I mention how they sound precisely as annoying as real mosquitoes do? BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ – oh, sorry, what was that? I couldn’t quite hear you over the sound of my BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. The worst part about them, though, is that they fly (no shit, mosquitoes fly?). The thing is, Dark Souls’ lock-on system apparently was not created with flying enemies in mind, and as a result, the mosquitoes are often impossible to hit with a melee weapon. Then again, maybe that was a conscious design choice to emulate how swatting real-life mosquitoes is an exercise in frustration? Damn, From Software, such immersion, much wow! As a side note, I have to point out that two of these five enemies dwell in everyone’s favorite town in Lordran, Blighttown (more like Delighttown, amirite?). No wonder people always just skip it.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Honorary Mention

An honorary mention goes out to the Basilisks. While they pose little challenge for an experienced adventurer, they can thoroughly devastate an unsuspecting victim. They are made even more dangerous by their relatively unthreatening appearance – I’ve even seen some people describe them as being cute! Personally, though, I have to question those people’s sanity – just look at those freakishly large, bulgy eyes. These bastards always give me the heebie jeebies... The reason these frog-like fiends made this list is, naturally, their ability to blow out a cloud of miasma that kills and renders the victim cursed, should he or she stay in the cloud for too long.

In my first playthrough, I stumbled on one of the pitfalls in the Depths, which drops you down to the basilisk-infested sewers. I promptly got gang raped by a mob of these and turned into a pretty statue, catching a curse for my troubles. So, I had to backtrack to the Female Undead Merchant in the Lower Undead Burg to buy a Purging Stone for a whopping 4000 souls (it felt like a fortune back then) to cure the condition. I was then able to return to the Depths, where I immediately fell down into a different pitfall, and got molested and cursed. Again. Back to the merchant with me. At least I didn’t fall down a third time, but the experience scarred me for life. I no longer go down to the sewers.

Watch out for those fumes

And there you have it; a list of the five enemies in Dark Souls that caused me the most anal anguish during my first playthrough. Next time, I’ll turn the tables around and list my five favorite enemies in Dark Souls.

Morrowind, part 2: Learning to Get Around in Vvardenfell

Morrowind is a game that can be intimidating and inaccessible for new players. There are many ways in which the game challenges its players: combat, character building, and figuring out where to go to complete quests (there are no quest markers hovering on the screen here) are some examples. In this post, I want to focus on a rather specific, and perhaps somewhat controversial, feature in Morrowind – its fast travel system. Morrowind features a drastically different fast travel system to its successors, Oblivion and Skyrim. In the latter two, fast travel was done simply by opening the map and clicking and the location you wanted to go. By contrast, in Morrowind, fast travel is accomplished either by utilizing a number of “public transportation services” available in the world of Vvardenfell, or by magic spells. The difference between the fast travel systems in Morrowind and its successors is that in Morrowind, traveling is an acquired skill, whereas in the successors, traveling is trivial.

Fast Travel Methods in Morrowind

There are multiple methods of fast traveling in Morrowind: Silt Striders, boats, Mages Guild teleports, Propylon Chambers and a few spells and trinkets that teleport you to certain locations. All of the above mentioned “public” methods of transport and their routes are presented in the map below (i.e. no spells).

A map of all the fast travel routes in Morrowind. Image taken from <http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:FullMap_TravelRoutes.png>

Sild Striders are massive flea-like creatures with very long and thin legs. They are a native species of Morrowind that have been harnessed to be used to transport people and goods. The Silt Strider network covers the West and South coasts of Vvardenfell.

A Silt Strider in Seyda Neen

Seeing how the game takes place on an island, boats are a natural means of transportation. There are boat routes to all of the major cities and towns along the coastline, as well as to a fair number of smaller towns also.

A boat in Hla Oad

The Mages Guild operates in five cities in Vvardenfell, mostly concentrated near the Western coast, although they do have a Guild Hall in the Eastern coast as well. In each of the Mages Guild establishments, you will find a Guild Guide, who can teleport you into any of the other four Guild Halls, provided that you are already a member of the Guild.

The Guild Guide in Ald'ruhn

There are ten Propylon Chambers scattered across Vvardenfell, located in ancient Dunmer strongholds (the dunmer are the native race of Dark Elves in Morrowind, and one of the playable races in the Elder Scrolls games). The Propylon Chambers all contain a large contraption that is used to link the strongholds together, forming a fast travel network.

A Propylon Chamber in the Dunmer fortress Marandus

Finally, there are four spells that deal with fast travel: Almsivi Intervention, Divine Intervention, Mark, and Recall. The two Intervention spells are used to teleport the player to the nearest Tribunal Temple or Imperial Cult Shrine, respectively (the two are basically competing religious orders). It takes a little bit of experimentation to figure out which temple you teleport to from various locations in the world. With time, however, using these spells becomes a second nature, and you rarely have to guess where you will end up, regardless of the location you used the spells from – you simply know. Mark and Recall are used in conjunction with one another – casting the Mark marks your position in the game world, and casting Recall instantly returns you to that marked spot. Mark and Recall can be extremely convenient if you have to return to the same location often. Another good use for Mark is placing it to some important location that's awkward to get to, because there are no fast travel options available nearby (hint: Urshilaku Camp).

A Tribunal Temple in Balmora

As I described above, traveling in Vvardenfell is a reasonably involved affair; it involves learning a web of different and independent modes of transportation, and that can certainly prove to be a bit of a headache for new players. In the beginning, simply getting from point A to point B can feel like a daunting task, and that may very well put some people off of the game. Here's the thing, though: I think that the initial headaches are worth it, because Morrowind's fast travel system adds levels of immersion and opportunities for world building that have, at least to some extent, been lost in Oblivion and Skyrim.

Building Immersion

Morrowind's fast travel system is, in my opinion, one of the most immersive ways I've seen the issue handled in any game I've played. In Morrowind, you are never pulled “out of the game” to travel like you are in systems where you open up your map and click a location on it. More importantly, though, Morrowind's fast travel system is based on becoming increasingly involved with the game world and learning how it works. In the beginning of the game, when you first step out of the Census Office in Seyda Neen, you start of as an alien; an ignorant outlander, who has stumbled on a strange land he or she does not understand. At this point in the game, merely traveling in the game world is a challenge. As you play the game, you will kill monsters and complete quests, earning you both experience and better gear. As a result, your character will steadily grow stronger. Even more importantly, though, YOU, the player, will also become more knowledgeable about the various systems and rules of the game world, such as alchemy recipes, spell effects, and, indeed, the travel networks. Whereas in the beginning, it may have taken you a better part of an hour to get from Balmora to Molag Mar, eventually it should only take you a few minutes.

Molag Mar is easily accessible with Almsivi Intervention,
and it also has Silt Strider and boat connections

It's very empowering to realize that something that used to require lots of effort in the past has become practically effortless now, and that is something that I don't think really happens as much in the newer TES games. Morrowind, however, offers this opportunity with its travel system (as well as certain other aspects of the game, but those are topics for another time). In a sense, while your character levels up and becomes better at using a sword, you also gradually become more proficient at navigating through the game world. It's almost as if you were gradually becoming an inhabitant of Vvardenfell – a part of the game world.

Building the World

The fast travel mechanic is used as a world building tool in Morrowind in a couple of cool ways. First, it is integrated seamlessly into the world, and helps make the game world overall more believable. The different travel routes form (at least mostly) a coherent web between the various establishments in Vvardenfell. Silt Striders are like the buss network of Vvardenfell (I wonder how come no enterprising mage has figured out how to build a combustion engine), while boats can naturally be found on the coastline. None of the transportation methods seem out-of-place, but rather they make perfect sense. In the bigger cities, the Silt Strider stops are small empty platforms, while in mining towns they depart from larger cargo loading platforms, indicating that they also haul cargo (most likely to the big cities that are nearby) in addition to just people.

A Silt Strider cargo loading platform in Gnisis

Another well-thought-out feature of Morrowind's fast travel system is that transportation options are not equally available across all regions in Vvardenfell. Rather, certain areas have an abundance of travel routes, while others have hardly any. The differences between the regions are easily explained by geographical and ethnographical considerations, and, in fact, help to further characterize the different regions.

The Western and Southern regions have a relative abundance of fast travel routes, and hence traveling there is quite easy. This makes sense, because these regions are reasonably densely populated, and have some of the biggest cities in Vvardenfell, as well as quite a few smaller towns and other establishments. The West and South are also the most “civilized” areas of Vvardenfell, and hence have good infrastructure to support them.

Ald'ruhn ravaged by a sand storm (pls no dudududu)

In the Eastern regions, there are considerably fewer options for transportation. What is more, the few options there are are largely concentrated along the coastline. The Eastern regions are controlled by ancient Telvanni wizards, who are native to Vvardenfell. They are very xenophobic, and generally not a very sociable bunch. Furthermore, the Eastern region is made up of many small islands, making traveling there quite difficult (unless you happen to know a water walking spell). As such, there are no Silt Striders (They can't walk on water), and available fast travel options are largely limited to a few boat routes.

Surely one of the strangest sights in Vvardenfell: a Telvanni mushroom tower

In the Northern regions, the accessibility of fast travel is even more scarce than in the East; in fact, there is a sizable piece of land with absolutely no fast travel options whatsoever. The North is the perhaps the most rural region in Vvardenfell, and also very sparsely populated. The only people you will find in the North are Vvardenfell's nomadic Dunmer, who tend to be very wary of strangers. The nomads do not live in cities or towns, but rather in temporary camps. As such, there are no cities or towns in the Northern region, which explains why there are also no transportation services.

Urshilaku Camp: the settling of one of the traditional Dunmer Ashlander tribes

Finally, the central area of the island is dominated by the Red Mountain. The mountain is permanently surrounded by dangerous ash storms, and various monsters roam around there freely. The solution to these problems was to isolate the area from the rest of the island by building the Ghostfence, which is basically a magical barrier, around it to keep all the bad stuff inside the Red Mountain region. The area is extremely hostile, and unsurprisingly, there are no fast travel routes that connect there.

The Ghostgate: the gateway to the Red Mountain region

Summary: The Benefits of Morrowind's Fast Travel System

To summarize the most essential points made in this post, Morrowind's fast travel system may initially appear cumbersome, but I think that it actually has a number of benefits when compared to a more modern take on fast travel. First, it makes traveling efficiently in the world a skill. Secondly, it helps immerse players fully in the game world. Thirdly, the availability or unavailability of transportation options is used to further flesh out the game world in a realistic and logical manner.

Morrowind, part 1: The Barriers to Entry

I suppose a good way to start this blog is to talk about one of my favorite game series, Bethesda Game Studio's The Elder Scrolls. More specifically, I’ll talk about the third game in the series, Morrowind. Morrowind was the first Elder Scrolls game I played, but it wasn’t the one that really got me into the series – that one would be the following title, TES IV: Oblivion. In this post, I'll discuss Morrowind from the point of view of a new player, who has no prior experience with any other TES titles.

The Lighthouse in Seyda Neen

Early Experiences

I tried to get into Morrowind a couple of times; I would create a new character, go through the few introductory quests in Seyda Neen, and take the silt strider to Balmora to go and talk to Caius Cosades, as I was instructed. Once I reach grandpa Caius, however, he decides to throw me a curveball by telling me to just go and explore the world for a little while, and return to him later to continue the main quest. I found this sudden freedom to be quite daunting; I had barely figured out the basics of the game, when I was dropped straight into the deep end and left to fend off for myself. I was alone and lost in a strange world, inhibited by strange people, who mostly did not seem to like me very much. I didn't know what to do, or where to begin my adventure. This is where my first crack at the game ended. On my second attempt, I wasn't able to get much further.

That's one buff middle-aged motherfucker right there.

Technical Limitations

By modern standards, Morrowind offers a remarkably inhospitable experience for new players. Part of what makes Morrowind difficult to appreciate certainly stems from the technical limitations of the game: its an old game, and, quite frankly, tends to look like ass. Fortunately, the excellent art design and the intriguing setting help to alleviate this problem quite a bit, as do myriads of mods aimed to improve the game’s visuals.

Suran, one of the comfiest town in Vvardenfell

The dated visuals are not, however, the biggest hurdle an aspiring adventurer has to overcome to get immersed in the fascinating world of Morrowind. The game was developed at a time when spoken dialogue in games was still not very common. Couple this with the fact that one of the main activities in the game is talking to people, and you will quickly find out that a significant portion of your time with the game is spend simply reading lines after lines after lines of dialogue. In order to enjoy the game – hell, in order to even play it at all – the player has to be willing to put in the effort to read a lot of text. Now, I ain't gonna lie – after being spoiled with fully spoken dialogue in modern games, going back to reading walls of tiny text on screen can feel like a chore.

Prepare to do A LOT of reading in this game

Gameplay Features

In addition to the technical limitations of the game, its gameplay is also rather... old-school in many regards. Some challenges that a new player must learn to overcome include excruciatingly slow movement speed; non-regening magicka (i.e. mana); a somewhat confusing leveling system; a fairly involved, web-like fast travel system (there are multiple modes of transportation, all of which connect to different locations); and, infamously, the melee combat, with its inherent missmissmiss nature. Admittedly, all of the above issues can be modded to be more accessible, but I think it's unreasonable to expect a new player to bother with modding the game merely to make it “enjoyable”. In addition, I don't think that the slightly complicated nature of the fast travel system is an actual problem, but rather an interesting design choice. That, however, is the topic for my next post, and will thus not be discussed further here.

A Short Guide to Morrowind's Combat: M1M1M1M1M1M1M1M1

The gameplay experience of Morrowind consists largely of three main components: talking to people, exploring the world, and fighting. Melee combat in Morrowind is a very simple affair: you have one button for swinging your weapon, and that's it. In theory, there are three different types of attacks: a horizontal swing, a vertical swing and a thrust. Each weapon deals different amounts of damage with these attacks (for example, spears are meant for thrusting, while swords are meant for swinging). In practice, however, there is an option which can be enabled in the game's settings that makes the player always use the best type of an attack for each weapon, hence making the different ways of attacking pointless. You can also equip a shield, but your character uses it automatically, provided that your blocking stat is high enough. In other words, shields add no gameplay whatsoever.

You will grow intimately familiar with you Mouse 1 button

The melee combat system in Morrowind has roots in tabletop RPGs, which is clearly demonstrated in the way the game determines whether or not attacks hit their targets. Instead of determining hits spatially (i.e. by looking at whether the model of the weapon connects with the model of the target), à la basically every action video game ever, Morrowind determines hits by looking at the attacker's and defender's stats and rolling a virtual die to see what happens. In effect, the player can repeatedly swing his or her sword straight through the enemy's character model, and the game will tell the player with a straight face that the attacks missed. Hence, Morrowind's combat boils down to standing in front of your enemy and spamming the attack button until either you or your enemy dies. It is, admittedly, very much an RPG flavored combat system, but it is simply not very satisfying for the player.

Memorable Enemy Encounters

Morrowind pits you against a multitude of different enemies, ranging from local wildlife to mad cultists and undead abominations. Some of the foes you face end up being more memorable than others, for varying reasons. I would venture a guess that the most well-known enemy in Morrowind is the Cliff Racer. Cliff Racers basically look like flying lizards, and they are one of many Vvardenfell's indigenous wildlife species. They are also an outright meme among the fan base. Although Cliff Racers aren't particularly dangerous, they are, quite simply, obnoxious as fuck. They are everywhere, they attack in packs, they can come from any direction, they have a tendency to sneak up on you if you are not paying attention, it’s generally impossible to outrun them, and their “SKREEEEEEEE” cry is undoubtedly one of the most annoying sounds in the game.

Excuse me, good sir, but do you have a moment to hear
the gospel of our Lord and Savior SKREE SKREE SKREE

Another particularly treacherous foe you are bound to encounter is the Bonewalker, or worse yet, the Greater Bonewalker. I vividly remember entering a random ancestral tomb (one of the most common types of dungeons in Morrowind), only to find myself facing a Greater Bonewalker. Naturally, I attacked the monstrosity with righteous fury. It was a rough battle, but eventually I came out on top, and the fiend was slayed. The victory proved to be short-lived, however, as I found out that I was now unable to move. A message displayed on the top-left corner of the screen: “You are over-encumbered”. “What the hell”, I wondered and opened up the stats screen, only to find out that all of my character's strength had strangely disappeared. As it turned out, Greater Bonewalkers cast a spell that drains their opponent's strength, consequently reducing the amount of weight they are able to carry. After the Bonewalker encounter, my character had all the strength of a newborn kitten. Hence, I was stuck in a cave, unable to move under the burden of my gear and other random loot I had picked up along the way. Seeing how I was still new to the game, I had no idea how to restore my strength back to normal. I had choice but to drop everything I carried right there, on the floor of a random tomb, go back to the nearest town to look for a cure, and then come back to pick up all the gear and loot I left behind. Instead of doing this, however, I opted for solution number two: I abandoned the game. Again.

These guys have a nasty surprise in store for anyone
foolish enough to fight them. Picture taken from
<http://social.bioware.com/uploads_user/1880000/
1879525/42743.jpg>

There Is Light at the End of the Tunnel

As you may have figured out by now, Morrowind can initially be a tough nut to crack. In fact, I was only able to overcome Morrowind's initial barrier of entry years after my first go at it. It would take me even longer to truly get comfortable with the game. I would say that I only really got into Morrowind after more or less completing Skyrim. In the end, though, I finally started to understand why the game still had an active modding community and a die-hard fan base. In this post, I’ve mainly established that Morrowind can be a difficult game to get into. In my next posts, however, I’ll go ahead and shift my focus to some of the more positive aspects of the game, which I think make Morrowind a remarkable game even today.