Morrowind - Part 17 - Veni Vidi Vivic

Morrowind continues, as we explore the huge city of Vivic, and gather some crucial information for Caius, which somehow means I have to help a cat evade their taxes, resolve an anti-lizard-hate-crime, and deal with some extremely over-zealous librarians...
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[@etherraichu]

Jon, you're being affected by a game bug that is very dangerous. The silt strider guy is about to fall off his platform, and he won't survive. Next time you go to Balmora, open the console and type in 'ra' this will reset actors in that cell to their original position. For whatever reason whenever you load a cell in Morrowind, all the NPCs move a tiny bit to the right. Normally this isn't a problem, but silt strider people never move on their own and are on a high platform.

[@weq3ei8u42]

this sounds kind of important for him to see. (and for myself to remember, when i finally get round to playing morrowind for myself)

[@davidray8123]

Can you use the console to respawn the guy?

[@theamazingbatboy]

@@davidray8123 "ra = reset actors" and is the correct command for this. Unfortunately, along with "tcl = ToggleCollision", it's a necessary console command to keep in the back of your mind for when the Morrowind clockwork breaks down. Thanks to three essential bugfix mods, the Code Patch (engine/systems fixes), Patch for Purists (content/quest/script fixes) and the Morrowind Optimazation Patch (3d model/collision fixes), this stuff happens a lot less often. Even OpenMW still requires two of this holy trinity.

[@theamazingbatboy]

ra = reset actors and is the correct command for this. Unfortunately, along with tcl (ToggleCollision), it's a necessary console command to keep in the back of your mind for when the Morrowind clockwork breaks down. Thanks to three essential bugfix mods-Morrowind Code Patch (engine/systems fixes), Patch for Purists (content/quest/script fixes) and the Morrowind Optimazation Patch (3d model/collision fixes), this stuff happens much less often. Even OpenMW still requires two of this holy trinity.

[@cobalfrostwyrm]

Well spotted.

[@ModernWhoFan5B]

You live in one of the largest cities in your country, in a fairly nice penthouse suite. Your door is open, because this is a nice part of town. You don't have to worry about much. A random orc dressed in full battle gear comes barging in. You've never met them. You instantly regret leaving your door unlocked. The orc starts talking about how naff your penthouse suite is. The orc picks up a book you were clearly reading (the book was open!), and starts muttering, "oh, so *that's* how I use armor!" The orc promptly leaves. Maybe Vivec isn't that great, you think.

[@ellaisplotting]

Watch Aria single handedly decimate property prices in Vivec 😆 the impending doom rock isn't enough to make us leave, but this Orc with no boundaries is.

[@tinyman1144]

"are you naturally unpleasant? Or do you have to work at it?" god the npcs in morrowind when they dont like you are BRUTAL

[@Jovian999]

The Telvanni hate you because you're in with the Imperial Cult, Imperial Legion, Tribunal Temple and particularly the Mages Guild. Remember how you had to deal with that Telvanni wizard for Ranis? Yeah, the two don't like each other.

[@thomaswillard6267]

Jon really went and joined everyone the Telvanni hates 😂

[@bgggsht]

​@@thomaswillard6267Telvanni hates everyone anyway 😂

[@tinyman1144]

@@thomaswillard6267 Which is to say he went and joined everyone. Including the Telvanni

[@Pancake_Nix]

Hi, Jon, I literally installed Morrowind just to confirm this: bribing trainers a little bit can go a long way, especially if you're using one regularly. You can get the gold you spend for bribes back in a single training session at higher skill levels. It might be a bit dodgy with your personality, but it's worth a try. It can save you a lot of money in the long run.

[@ManyATrueNerd]

Now that's an interesting idea...

[@jacobe2995]

what was hilarious to me is late game when you are swimming in money you can pay someone to train you to pick pockets then pick the money back you just spent to get trained.

[@varthaner4617]

@@jacobe2995 If trainer is merchant too, you can get your cash back with barter. Pickpocketing and Sneaking are chancy in MW.

[@hitomisalazar4073]

Worth remembering too that even if you fail the bribe, they don't take the money. So Bribes are a fairly safe option. Not like they'll take your money and hate you anyway.

[@fredhurst2528]

Don't trainers that are also merchants have the money you paid them in their inventory? Been a while since I played but I seem to remember training then selling stuff like filled soul gems to get the money back.

[@Kryptnyt]

Fun fact: If you pick a fight in the Black Shalk Cornerclub, Huleeya actually destroys those guys all by himself. So he can take them, he just doesn't want to.

[@JB-xl2jc]

Yep, the Morag Tong instills a distaste for unnecessary murder into all of its members. It has to do with Mephala- as mentioned in the books and dialogue from the Tong, they worship her; she is the webspinner, the matron of lies, the prince of lies, murder, secrets, and sex. But she somewhat frowns upon a senseless murder as opposed to one that is part of a web of lies, political intrigue, planning, etc. And so the Morag Tong sell death, but almost always for intricate political reasons. Random slaying is treated as unnecessary and sloppy. It's a pretty fascinating ideology- it kind of reminds me of Jaqhen from A Song of Ice and Fire, who is a professional assassin, but deeply frowns on a life being taken (or not taken) out of turn, and will even work to set the cosmic scales right. End result though, you end up with absolute units in terms of quickly dispatching enemy combatants... who are also calm, well read, and will do everything in their power to de-escalate instead of use their strength.

[@DibsAtraiyu]

Ya... Even killing people before your ordered gets you scolded v.v A few of those groups it was self defense dang it.

[@Soren015]

I, for one, am incredibly excited for Jon's inevitable moral panic and dilemma, when he finally gets to Sadrith Mora to join the Telvanni.

[@XDieKillDieX]

I just hope he actually sees all the slavery before just rushes to join them.

[@smollgoodman4085]

I love how morrowind has so many books they want you to read to learn the lore and how there are so many different sides to the story of the Nerrivar. Great world building, when modern games would just exposition dump with a cutscene

[@fredhurst2528]

Morrowind was made for people into CRPGs, even the combat is dice rolled. We are a dying breed.

[@varthaner4617]

@@fredhurst2528 I think BG3 proves it is not so, we are starved, but not defeated yet.

[@andreasmeier-v4k]

a exposition dump is a exposition dump. I only agree if said cutscenes are not skippable.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

An explanation for Jon regarding the logic of the Morag Tong, why they're so easy to find and what their deal is. They're basically a legal Dark Brotherhood, so they operate more openly. Why are they legal? Because considering all the rivalries between the great houses they realized that instead of having civil wars with lots of innocent victims, it would be more civilized to just have assassinations. That way ordinary people stay safe AND the conflict gets solved. It's about minimizing collateral damage and having an orderly, controlled conflict.

[@majorwesjanson]

So think Assassins Guild of Discworld

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

I love seeing Jon starting to piece together whats going on. Elder scrolls lore is incredible and Morrowind does the best job delivering it of any game (except maybe eso i haven't played that)

[@Silverhawk100]

Moreover, it's fascinating watching him realize reading some of these books can provide hints about how to find stuff in game. Later TES games essentially treat almost all of its books as background fluff.

[@Bethgael]

ESO's Clockwork City has some _really_ interesting lore straight from Sotha Sil's mouth about which of these may be closest to the truth of Nerevar's fate. As does Vivec's poetry/sermons, if you read it really closely. Dareloth also did a really good overview from SS's VP uploaded just a few days ago if it interests you. No spoilers/hints from me. ;)

[@XDieKillDieX]

ESO "lore" is all BS. I consider it all non-canon. Fan fiction.

[@Rift2123]

Tend to agree here as for ESO its main story is subpar no surprises with that one but the world an lore is fantastically done an the DLCs for ESO only made the story an lore more fleshed out

[@derekskelton4187]

Jon please don't forget there's a shrine that will give you 30 minutes of levitation just down the road. Will make your life so much easier

[@Jboy2000000]

Jon, now that you've started diving in the murky waters of the Almsivi's history, you should find another copy of Vivec's 36th Sermon and read it very, very carefully.

[@abox7825]

Moments like this is why i think Morrowind can be a hard game to make work in a let's play format. But Jon, you make it worth it and entertaining. A lot of this game's quests can be moments you'd edit out in other games, but you have a way of making it all work

[@rosshall6475]

I cant wait for the next episode. My absolute favorite series right now

[@DennisFreyBooks]

I was so happy when Solstheim got mentioned - I love this DLC ❤

[@JulesVonBasslake]

Just imagining the reaction of these dunmer to Aria just barging in to their houses, looking around, critiquing your whole house, reading your book at a glance, saying "I'll get out of your hair" and leaving, all in the span of two minutes.

[@chartreux1532]

So happy Jon finally decided to play Morrowind! Hope he plays "Gothic" and "Gothic 2" sometime! The best RPG Open World Games in my Opinion and many others. Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

Same if they ever finish the remake he could try that one

[@Sirfinchyyy]

I'd love to see John play Gothic 1 or 2. It's a whole different beast from most rpgs.

[@skinlesschickennugget2411]

They have no doors 🤷‍♀️

[@skinlesschickennugget2411]

Ich bin nie warm geworden mit den Gothik Spielen. Letztens hat ein Freund Elex gespielt und es ist absolut albern nur leider nimmt es sich selbst ernst dabei. Er meinte auch, das Studio habe bei JEDEM Spiel dieselben 3 Fraktionen: Wikinger-Natur-Burschen, Hightech-Religiöse-Fanatiker und die Hyper-Anarcho-Kapitalisten in Madmax-Optik mit kostenloser Drogenabhängigkeit... naja wers mag👀

[@colourspray]

Nah. Gothic sucks.

[@Cahejo]

The dangerous person in the sewer is definitely something you want to deal with right now Jon.

[@Lowco5]

Day 5 of asking Jon to please help old Hentus get his pants back.

[@shawncat]

Hentus should have his nethers (re)covered ... Justice for Hetus' nethers!

[@Lowco5]

@@shawncat Justice!

[@theamazingbatboy]

And the water gets _cold_ way up north there

[@gimok2k5]

"Vivic might be a dystopian nightmare" So, where is the issue here, Jon? You CONSTANTLY build them in every city-builder and empire-management game, you should feel right at home!

[@majorwesjanson]

At least this dystopia's green parks remain unburned down

[@Sp4rt4nSl4ya]

Coming from the guy that adores ancient Rome, it's funny how uncomfortable he sounds realizing the reality of Vivec city. 😂

[@skinlesschickennugget2411]

50:22 Thats a nice Theory you got going on there, Jon. But no, bc you see the Morag Tong is an official guild. They do honoured executions therefore no need for those sneaky stuff.They are not the Dark Brotherhood

[@skaphanatic5657]

I don't recall an Oblivion style Arena questline in Vanilla Morrowind, but there are certain people who will challenge you to duel them there if you threaten their authority or honor. And the Altar of Mephala in the Morag Tong hideout in the Arena Canton functions similar to other Daedric Altar statues that you have encountered. You might want to examine it again.

[@raifthemad]

I remember having fought one of the Redoran lords and Trebonius the mage guild grandmaster in there.

[@TheBalthassar]

And so begins the murderhobo arc.

[@crazyworld54321]

Jon, please don't run away from fights you can win with just a few bits and bobs you're currently carrying around and not using. You've got a plethora of potions and scrolls.....use them!!

[@TippisBRC]

Quite. WIth the way the game showers you in potions and scrolls, the intent is probably for you to constantly go into your inventory to chug things and to select insta-cast spells. There literally are no “rare” one-use items outside of the odd quest-related stuff (that you are meant to deliver, not use up) so spam away. The game is trying to kill you - the least you can do is try to kill it right back. :P

[@varthaner4617]

Also, it would be useful to learn racial traits. Dunmer are resistant to fire, Nords to Ice (and a bit of shock), Argonians and Redguards to poison, Bretons to non-elemental. Altmer are actually vulnerabloe to elements and moreso non-elemental magic.

[@theamazingbatboy]

@@varthaner4617 So much this. Wanna guess why the annoying little goblins from Hell were so tough against your Firebite spell?

[@raifthemad]

@@varthaner4617 Going through the fist smuggler cave next to Seyda Neen as altmer is its own kind of hell. That fire mage can one-two shot you every time.

[@ianhorn5466]

@@varthaner4617 Yes, the one time Jon was going to use a scroll it was Hellfire on that Dunmer in the Underworks.

[@smollgoodman4085]

I love watching John discover Vivec city for the first time, brings back the memories of 2004 when I first was wondering the Foreign Quarter Cantons. Vivec city is a REAL PROPER CITY. Skyrim has some Towns and settlements, but no CITIES. You can get properly LOST in Vivec, although half of it is due to having 100+ doors.

[@Sp4rt4nSl4ya]

I hope the next game has cities roughly the size of oxenfurt in the witcher 3. It's not that much bigger than skyrims cities, but it would be packing way more into roughly twice the space.

[@Mobysimo]

I dont remember what exactly the game explains about Numidium so I’ll give a quick non-spoilery explanation for you Jon. Numidium is essentially a giant Dwemer Mecha so powerful it can destroy armies. It was the central plot-point of Daggerfall, since it had been rebuilt and it was up to the player to decide who go to control it. It was originally built by the dwarf Kagrenac and when the dwarves dissapeared it came into the hands of Tiber Septim who used it to conquer Tamriel and set up his Empire

[@hitomisalazar4073]

In game they explain in one of the books that Numidion was how Vivec bought peace with the Empire back in the day. Gave them what they thought was a useless giant robot (It was meant to be powered by an artifact that Vivec lied about not having). Turned out that the Court Battlemage, Zurin Arctus, found a way around not having it then used Numidion to crush the last province that had not fallen in line for the Empire, Alinor/Summerset/Summurset/etc (they keep changing the spelling of it). Though Zurin Arctus had a falling out with Tiber Septim about the Robot, had a duel with the Robot, and in the course of doing so realized he couldn't destroy it. So he did the next best thing, banished its power source from the world turning it into an inactive robot. Eventually someone finds the lost remote control (seriously) for Numidion and it starts the events of Daggerfall, and a way to find the power source that Zurin Arctus cooked up himself (which it turned out, was using his own soul). But the game mostly explains in one of its lore books that handing over Numidion is a big reason why Morrowind got some level of local autonomy and preservation of their culture. As well as the fact that at the time most Legion generals thought that fighting a campaign in Morrowind would be horrible due to their well known fanaticism and natural abilities as warriors (with high fire resistance, free necromancy, and magic barriers). Turns out that in the end though that the Dunmer were far from ready to actually fight that war. With two houses (Dres and Indoril, not really present in game) having sworn to fight to the death and planning some guerilla campaign in the interior of the province, ceding the initial defense. Redoran's territory WAS the border so they wanted to fight a conventional defense there (and would be alone), Hlaalu was asking for diplomacy, and Telvanni saying "Not my problem" and sitting it out as the Dunmer inside Morrowind were literally fighting skirmishes over who's strategy was going to be taken. As well as rounds of assassinations, etc. Most people in power realizing that the Legions could have goomba stomped the Dunmer in an open fight and thus why they really accepted Vivec's declared treaty (barring... Indoril I believe who committed mass suicide over it).

[@Skycroft1000]

9:15 Actually kinda surprising that Jon has played multiple Elder Scrolls games but never heard of the Numidium before. It's a pretty big deal in the setting... but I guess neither Oblivion nor Skyrim mentions it save in some rare books.

[@crafterofdoom]

i do hope there'll be some history nerds in TES6 that are trying to uncover the true events of the Warp in the West

[@primusofcatarina4910]

Something unique about the Morag Tong is that their quest givers are interchangeable. They all give the same writs. So you can go to the guild hall in Balmora or the other big cities instead of walking all the way to their secret clubhouse.

[@PostNukeProductions]

Wait, really? I didn't even know there *were* other Morag Tong quest givers. I wish I'd known that when I was going through the quest line for myself.

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

Don’t you have to start here in viivic thou

[@RavingNutter]

@@aerialmacaroon6312 Yes, but you can only do the Webspinner quests at the HQ. Everything else can be done at any guild hall.

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

@ fair enough

[@generrosity]

"Almsivi is the religion" - "vi" for Vivec, took me ages to realize their three names combined

[@prinnywizzard9608]

I've got to say, I didn't realise at all until your comment (thank you) 😅

[@DibsAtraiyu]

Same... It makes since now, lol

[@FrancoisRoy]

Deeply disappointed not to see Jon crash into the ground like a meteor. Maybe next time..

[@Sp4rt4nSl4ya]

It's Jon, it's only a matter of time. 😂

[@OddlySpecificGaming]

Equal chance it is never used ever again

[@armchaircivilian3076]

Thank you, Jon, for being so awesome as to even play this game :) This and Oblivion offer probably the most unfettered mischief and individualism in Bethesda mechanics, and i beg you to please keep expanding your sandwich-making empire - it can feeed into Aria's Godhood through magic use :) You inspired me to try a new run as an altmer atronach, and let's just say Aria can kick a LOT more kagouti :P

[@lukeblake91]

A whole bag of scrolls and you choose the one fire damage scroll you have. To use on a dunmer. Who have something like 75% fire resistance.

[@SuperRedNovaDragon]

I think jon just forgot dunmer have fire resistance, its like the second or third time he's tried to use that scroll on an enemy dark elf

[@mcclickbait4943]

Just making sure you are aware that you can only join 1 great house. No backsies once you’ve made a choice.

[@Seventh_Bean]

"Right, basically, everything in Vivec is very, very big." Vivec agrees ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@drummerstud13]

It makes me chuckle how Jon keeps mentioning the Ashlanders as someone he should go and talk to when he's murdered the only Ashlanders he's met up to this point.

[@PierreLucSex]

For a hat.

[@TippisBRC]

For the record, Jon, all those scrolls that you will never use by your own admission count as “books” according to the game logic and can be sold at book sellers for a decent pile of cash. Jobasha is a good place as any for it and he had the book you stole for sale for a reasonable price. You could easily have given him a fair trade with the junk you carried around rather than steal from the poor lizard. :( e: Oh and… 54:00 For situations where you have something in the fore- or background that makes it hard to pick the right item to interact with, there's a fun quirk with the inventory system that you can use. If you open up your menu, you can still interact with world objects. So if you move your windows out of the way, you can pick up items and immediately deposit them somewhere else in your line of sight, moving them to where they no longer block your “live” interactions. Just note that this still counts as “picking up” the items, even if you don't put them in your inventory, and guards (and item owners) will object to your rearranging their stuff.

[@DebatingWombat]

“Freezing” time by opening your inventory to pick up things via the inventory is also incredibly useful for the “telekinetic thief” approach. I found this approach by far the most viable for most low level stealing: 1) Hide behind some object while still in view (but not in reach) of the loot. 2) Crouch to check that you’re indeed not visible to anyone. 3) Cast telekinesis, then immediately open your inventory. This also means that even a very short duration telekinesis spell will suffice, though you do need to consider its range. However, the “standard” version for sale seems to work fine for most purposes. 4) Load up on all the loot you want.

[@TippisBRC]

@@DebatingWombat Telekinesis is an underrated effect, I feel. Not only does it let you cheaply steal things from the other side of the continent (the magicka cost and difficulty per effect level is marvellously low) but it also lets you ignore all those pesky door- and chest traps. Can't get a fireball in the face if you're not even in the same post code as the door it's attached to :P

[@DebatingWombat]

@@TippisBRC I think that telekinesis and levitation are two examples (others are alchemy and the possibility to boost stats off the charts) of what makes Morrowind more “hackable” in terms of exploiting the diverse game mechanics to find alternate solutions to various problems. I must admit that I find that the “streamlining” of the mechanics in the subsequent TES games made them feel “flatter” to me, exactly because many of these alternative solutions were removed along with the more complex mechanics.

[@TippisBRC]

Also the way they actively set out to make the actual problem solving "tool agnostic" - you can rely on skills, if you have them; or spells, if you buy those; or scrolls, if you can be bothered to carry them around; or potions (well… for most things, a potion of unlocking wasn't quite in the cards yet). Just a myriad of effects you can have on the world, and another myriad of means to create those effects and combine them to your liking. Today, the design seems to be more geared towards making sure the player sees this cool thing, rather than letting the player do whatever cool thing they can conjure up with the tools at their disposal, and so what if that bypasses all the fancy moments the designer has created. The only actual addition that I can think of that Morrowind didn't have or didn't do better is poisons (or negative effects in general) as something you can apply to others rather than purely a side-effect you try to avoid in alchemy.

[@DebatingWombat]

@@TippisBRC I agree that poison mechanics would’ve been welcome in Morrowind. But something I’d like to see even more, if the more complex/open mechanics and play style of Morrowind was to be reimagined, would be more skill checks á la the Fallout series or, more recently, Baldur’s Gate 3. Indeed, it seems that Tamriel Rebuilt has taken this route to some extent. To me, it seems like a very natural accompaniment to the more complex skill tree in Morrowind, as well as fitting well with the play style more generally, and its absence was something of a missed opportunity in the original game.

[@imbenarion8579]

Honourable really just means you have a writ. It’s better if no one sees you (or reports it, which is different) but it doesn’t really matter. Having good illusion can make a huge difference for all the obvious reasons, as well as other fun things you can do, so you may want to postpone it to give you a little while to train. With regard to flying, you might want to have a look into dispel, can be situationally useful.

[@driedchameleon4586]

Jon's -1 perception can be strange sometimes, like how he notices that all the cantons have different lighting to differentiate them which is something I've never noticed, but he still thinks the city is called "Vivic" with two i's.

[@kylerowley8248]

You have read the progress of truth, you must now make your pilgrimage to the red mountain to answer the summons of your loyal friend of a past life, dagoth ur of the house betrayed.

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

Important to know about the morag tong; they are far more paper happy, like a business or such and require filling out paperwork and such Temple is werid as you can lock yourself out I believe

[@varthaner4617]

Important difference from other factions is, if you kill quest target first, and then pick up quest, most factions will be impressed and like you more. MT will be like: "You did not follow proper process! No money for you!"

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

@ yeah really sells the differences

[@skinlesschickennugget2411]

As a bureaucray-lovin german the Morag Tong was and is my favourite Faction by far😅

[@PierreLucSex]

​@@skinlesschickennugget2411 the ever loved just following orders german (no offence)

[@theamazingbatboy]

The interesting thing about the Morag Tong, is that they're still expected to maintain a veneer of plausible deniability-part of Mephala's positively viewed 'webspinning' ideology. You are expected to execute your target with subtlety, without witnesses or a crime being reported (so, 'honorable' for the client basically). The writs are official documents and can be shown to guards, if you _are_ caught, to avoid bounties. It's still embarrassing for the Morag Tong and the client though and is sub-optimal for executing the writ.

[@XDieKillDieX]

You can also just hold onto all the writs and use them as a "get out of jail free" card for literally any crime.

[@DibsAtraiyu]

Ya. You didn't get the rep boost if you get caught. Also as a side note on his 'political assassination" but... While true... It's also the primary reason that keeps the houses from just straight up starting open was on each other. There required to go through the, I assume, extensive paper work to do things... So it's effectively a rope holding back the tides,lol.

[@tomwol]

Hey, I wonder if you remember about teleportation service in the mages guild. It's pretty handy

[@matek9975]

I think you were too harsh on Morag Tong. Huleeya told you that there are less civil wars in Morrowind due to traditions and Morag Tong. They are employed by all the houses to wage sneakier, more “elegant” and arguably less bloody war against other houses, instead of open conflict.

[@gileswhitaker9656]

I love the way you found the Morang Tong from the vague clue! I'm pretty sure I found them a lot later in my playthrough when I got some much more explicit directions.

[@GedUK]

Yes, that was very impressive!

[@EasyGameEh]

@@GedUK yeah, this playthrough is so smooth it's hard to believe it is organically blind

[@PierreLucSex]

​@@EasyGameEh Despite the 1 perception meme about Jon, he is excellent with clues and figuring out where the game wants you to look upon.

[@boisdearc0]

If local law enforcement won't bring a criminal to justice, then citizens bring in the Morag Tong. Everything is legal and by-the-book. The Morag Tong are actually kind of heroes that help the oppressed.

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

Bloodmoon or soslstim is not like other expansions in Bethesda games as you can get there without riding the specific route

[@CoolStoryBro455]

Hope he does them too

[@FilippEXE]

The thought that I can't escape lately is that I kinda hate Morrowind's leveling system, but the actual RPG part seems to be so far ahead of what we're getting these days It's such a shame to see how low the industry has fallen

[@peterclarke7240]

Morrowind was made back when gamers were a rare breed. Now, everyone under the age of 40 is a gamer, and their expectations are pretty graphics and visceral combat. They don't care about rpg elements until a game like balders gate shoves it in their face.

[@varthaner4617]

@@peterclarke7240 That's the common view, but is it true? Look at BG3 vs DA:V, former was cRPG and smashing success, latter was quintessential modern RPG and flopped. Despite Veilguard having prettier graphics and more visceral combat. Reminds me of Disney Star Wars the Acolyte. After people bitched the show reversed usual trope of Jedi being light, and Sith being dark, part of marketing was a vid that had bunch of Acolyte fans repeating "There are more of us". Cancelling of the Acolyte revealed that there was more OT Star Wars fans compared to Disney Star Wars fans. I bet it's the same for cRPGs vs mRPGs.

[@eusouocarameuirmao]

_"I kinda hate Morrowind's leveling system"_ Why though? Unlike in Oblivion, levelling in Morrowind is not something you have to worry about it at all

[@FilippEXE]

​@@eusouocarameuirmao I would say, same issue as Oblivion, you have to pay close attention to what skills you're using and grind certain skills if you want to have a properly balanced character. I prefer a system like in Fallout 3/NV where on each level up you get a certain amount of skill points that you are free to distribute however you see fit

[@eusouocarameuirmao]

@@FilippEXE Except that you don't because the world doesn't level with you in Morrowind. In Oblivion you have to worry about balance/optimization due to the level scaling but in Morrowind you can just level in whichever way you want (and you're going to hit 100 points on all the stats you want eventually regardless of how how play). Seriously, i **mean** it, stop worrying about it, you're making your experience less enjoyable for no reason. Take it from me, i've finished this game a dozen of times (with the difficulty slider set at max difficulty) and i never cared or bothered about the way i was levelling at all.

[@hitomisalazar4073]

Well Jon, the fun with the Morag Tong is you get writs of Execution, and your pay kind of depends on it (based on what I remember off the top of my head). The Writ of Execution basically says if you outright murdered someone you can hand it over to a guard to say "This is my get out of jail free card" and go because it was a "Lawful Execution" (though you'll get a slight disposition debuff to faction members because you had to use the writ and impacts some quest rewards?). Now there's a lot of Legal Ways to Murder someone. Stealth is the obvious option as they try to hint. If no one saw you do it then it's obviously not a crime. The other is Taunting. If you talk to someone (not all Morag Tong targets will let you, but most will), you can basically call them names until they decide to attack you. Then it's not Murder, it's self defense and not a crime (as one of the tips you can get from Random Advice topics suggests). The other other, is that you can buy a Frenzy Spell and cast it on someone. Because in Morrowind horrific nightmare actions like controlling someone's mind to do something they don't want to do is not a crime (unlike in Skyrim where it was). So you can cast a Frenzy Spell then put them down legally. The other other other is the hilarious hack of just talking to people while you're naked. Being naked so pisses people off they'll also attack you on sight (and as equipping things is instant in the pause menu, you can get away with it).

[@ellaisplotting]

Okay, so obviously the Naked Assassin is the path we all want Jon to go down. It's far too funny not to.

[@jrester8444]

Yeah, the Morag Tong were surprisingly different than what I expected back then. At least you have real weapons! All I could do, was punch everyone and slowly whittle them with an Ebony Shortblade.

[@benk50000]

Soslstim is for the Bloodmoon DLC you did go there in Skyrim as well. Feel free to start the DLC there when you think you are ready, none of the Morrowind DLCs lock you to the DLC area so you can come and go as you please. Difficulty wise, the DLCs are notably harder than the main game so be ready for that. Imo Tribunal, the other big DLC, is harder than Bloodmoon. Though the very end of Bloodmoon is arguably harder than the end of Tribunal.

[@fredhurst2528]

A few of those side quest enemies in Tribunal, wow. I like that you have to die to them before you figure out how to beat them.

[@benk50000]

@@fredhurst2528 Much of the difficulty for Tribunal comes form the overpowered weapons the genaric enemies have. The goblin club is comparable to a daedric warhammer for example. Then you of course have the bosses which can feel insurmountable if you don't know what their exact buffs are. I've been working on a mod that rebalances daedra to be closer in strength to the dlc enemies. Goblins don't really have crazy stats, their weapons are just so much better than most of the main game enemies. One thing my mod does is it gives humaniod daedra bound weapons which bridges the gap a lot. They still die to club goblins tho. Daedra can have daedric weapons normally but it's just a chance, this makes it consistent without giving the player a ton of free daedric weapons. Technically, the mod is done now I have over 50 hours in playtesting it. However, I footlessly made a separate mod for each daedra type and I haven't gotten around to compiling them all into one mod.

[@jamaisarriere4556]

finally an hour long episode!

[@EasyGameEh]

for that pilgrimage quest get the blessing of longass flying from another shrine in vivec and then toggle run and just fly across the whole island. this will be chill af. ps: get enough anti air missiles before you go though, hehehe

[@Rateus_Johanson]

A finding bookshops episode? It's like this was written for Claire!

[@spoonz202]

The telvani are generally distrusting of everyone. Well worth joining however. The Arena, in order to join it you literally just have to talk to 1 guy and he's like ok sure.

[@AaronCorr]

Credit where credit is due, even if Jon's mispronounciations are legendary, at least he tries. I read names once, then remember them horribly wrong. That Khajiit in the sewers will always be Addiranni for me. And the high elf blade agent in Balmora will forever be Tymmermail in my head

[@jacobe2995]

about the rock floating in the sky above the city. it's actually not floating. A spell was cast that has frozen time itself for the rock which is actually an asteroid and if Vivek's magic ever fails then time will resume, and it will destroy the city.

[@XDieKillDieX]

And does!

[@jamesr1371]

Jon's horror at the idea of prisoners fighting in the arena is great, given that happens in oblivions :D

[@somerando1073]

Did prisoners fight in the Arena in Oblivion? You join freely, and I assumed all the other gladiators do too.

[@jamesr1371]

@somerando1073 I might be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure one of your matches is against a trio of prisoners promised freedom if they survive

[@somerando1073]

@@jamesr1371 Maybe so, it's been a while for me too, so my memory is fuzzy. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

[@SteeleGolem]

Yes that’s true. Although I think the implication is that they were criminals who agreed to fight for a chance at freedom. That’s a bit different than slaves being forced to fight, which Morrowind would have no trouble with.

[@jamesr1371]

@@SteeleGolem this is true! I'm not sure how much *better* it is for the imperials, but defo agree it's different :D

[@Sp4rt4nSl4ya]

I don't think Caius telling you to get new shoes was him being sassy. Think about it, he has you traipsing all across the province doing work for him, while also encouraging you to network with other guilds to earn money and train skills. All that walking and running around would do a number on your footwear and feet, so he's likely just encouraging you to take care of your feet. Thank you skooma grandpa!

[@garmtpug]

When I went into the sewers looking for Addhiranirr I also ran into the mercenary or guard. She guards something I guess. But she wasn't hostile to me and didn't have much to say. I read that she can be hostile, but it's not a given.

[@antonisauren8998]

There are few fights for honor in various factions taking place in Vivec arena, but that's it. Obviously being Morrowind, there are great mods for both engines bringing gladiatorial fight player can take part in and/or bet on.

[@leebethell7305]

Jon, Dunmer are resistant to fire. Not a good scroll use regardless.

[@L11ghtman]

Jon swore a sacred oath to deliver fine shirts and they’re just sitting on the floor back home.

[@jerrik-415]

Episode name is: "I came, I saw, Vivic." Good job Jon. Technically correct. I appreciate this.

[@interdimensionalcommunicat9750]

I think the False Incarnates are one of the most underrated parts of Morrowind's story. It adds way more impact to the idea of how important being the Nerevarine is when you see how many people tried to fufill the prophecy themselves before you, and makes you feel all the more special once you actually succeed where they failed. The moment where you actually find out about them is arguably the best part of the Main Quest after the meetings with Dagoth Ur and Vivec. Also IIRC for some reason the Main Quest never actually explains what the purpose of those Ash Statues the Sixth House cultists are smuggling are, you kind of just have to figure it out yourself from sidequests.

[@varthaner4617]

Pity that Skyrim proved Nerevarine Prophecy was just load of BS, since the second TES3 ends, Nerevarine just vanishes from Tamriel history, failing to fulfill half of 4 points of the prophecy. Dagoth Ur concludes main quest, and you can settle Tribunal if you want, but Ashlanders and Outlanders parts? Not fulfilled.

[@interdimensionalcommunicat9750]

@@varthaner4617 If you actually look at the text of the Nerevarine Prophecies themselves they never actually mention getting rid of the Outlanders. Defeating Dagoth Ur yes, overthrowing the Tribunal, yes, but nothing about getting rid of Outlanders. And the Ashlanders are better off in Skyrim times, they're now revered by House Dunmer now that everyone's back to worshipping Daedra again.

[@mynameiskevinful0]

@@varthaner4617Quite like in real life, parts of the original prophesy have altered for political reasons. The "drive the outsiders out" part is one of these later additions

[@varthaner4617]

@@interdimensionalcommunicat9750 Well, of course not, empire's presence in MW is actually younger than prophecies. The point I was making, the prophecy kind of goes in 3 phases 1) here is how Nerevarine will be identified (the 7 trials part) 2) here's what he will do (Dagoth Ur and Tribunal) 3) actual conclusion and effect, you could say, a payoff for Ashlanders for keeping faith - which is restoration of good old times (kicking outlanders out is something that clearly got added after Empire arrived, and Tribunal's surrender). Since Nerevarine desintegrates or Fs off the second game ends, he never did anything for 3. Ashlanders did get there in the end, but it had nothing to do with Nerevarine, in fact, they have to thank Argonians for it, for GENOCIDING ALMOST WHOLE ISLAND. Same could be said about protagonists of most TES games actually. I'll laugh at tears of Skyrim fanbois who defend Skyrim's continuation of MW now, but will get theirs after, I bet, TES6 writes Dragonborn off Tamriel's history without single trace.

[@Sirfinchyyy]

There could be an argument that when Vivec lost enough power for the moon to finish crashing into the island, the "outsuders" were indeed driven out...(along with just about everyone else, but that's just a minor detail😂.)

[@the_garlon]

Black Shulk! For those who give a fulk!

[@adragon707]

Jon what he means by honorably is you can't just walk up to someone and attack them even if you have a writ for them. You have to either taunt them into combat, ( horrible mechanic in Morrowind and not worth trying) or Frenzy them with a spell. Go to the mages guild and buy a frenzy spell, then make a frenzy on touch spell for 100 points of a couple seconds long. It will cost a bit but you will make it back in the contracts.

[@XDieKillDieX]

Not really. A lot of the time you can just tell them you're there to kill them and they'll start fighting you.

[@Electric999999]

You monster, how could you steal from Jobasha! Very impressed by how fast you found the Morag Tong though.

[@theodoremalt1513]

Weird. Vivic is spelled "Vivec" throughout the journal... and map... and game.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

He tried to immitate Caesar's saying: "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I won/conquered). So he tried to somehow merge Vivec and Vici and came up with Vivic.

[@pepperspray7386]

yeah, real simple to find the assasins.... if you find them right away i call shenanigans!

[@ChronoSquare]

oh my. Jon. Just wait until you get to the Telvani settlements/cities. Just... save judgement on mad wizards until you see them.

[@RNS_Aurelius]

Morrowind fact #17: Lord Dagoth speaks to those worthy through dreams. Lord Dagoth, Dagoth Ur, Lord of the Sixth House, and savior of the Dunmer people, has awakened. And with him shall all sleepers awaken, and Morrowind shall be cleansed of the stain of false gods and foreign rule. All shall greet him as flesh or as dust

[@Theranis]

Let this comment stand as evidence of Jon's cruel post-fact erasure of the city of Vivic when he corrects the title/description.

[@VoodooChiliBlues]

Honda Vivic

[@Wrong_dongle]

Hate it when I see Jon play a classic and beloved game of mine... I start up hoping to pace myself to the series... and finish the initial story while Jon's just beginning to meet folks tied to the msq.

[@JamieAubrey]

So how many seconds into the silence pilgrimage does it take Jon to forget and speak the the first person he see's ?

[@vcjuul9190]

Watching Jon just spamming 100s of gold on every little thing is so painful.

[@AaronCorr]

I hope Jon joins and ranks up in a great house before progressing the story too far. Maybe he could get some unique dialogue/ alternate quests from it

[@FritiFirecaster]

It's been a long, long time since I played this (High School) but if memory serves, are not Werewolves a significant part of this, or was that an expansion?

[@SuperRedNovaDragon]

For the vow of silence, go to the location in dagon fel set a mark when you start the quest recall, then proceed to the destination. Dont be like young me, and tryto travel and hop all across vvardenfell

[@otherfanboy]

Jon Solstheim is 1 of 2 of Morrowinds DLC the other is Mournhold(do a level up outside a town)

[@cobalfrostwyrm]

I wonder how Jon will react when he discovers the truth about vivec and chim

[@smallman5509]

Ah I came, I saw.. Vivic

[@DibsAtraiyu]

Jon "people in Morrowind believe in slavery of other races... That's not good" Also jon "oh boy. Telvani sounds like the house for me" I know he's not aware of it but it's still funny. Like ya... They are basically headed by super powerfully old and excintric mages... But it's also the faction of "racist old man doesn't like change"

[@skinlesschickennugget2411]

Jon, the fancy Telvanni live in giant Mushroom-Fortresses - not in Vivec. They re not Hlaalu.

[@Silverhawk100]

The Morag Tong get weirder the more you look at them. They venerate Mephala, specifically Black Hands Mephala, the androgynous Daedric Prince of FOUL MURDER and Anticipation of Vivec (Daedra whose profile was usurped/standing in for Vivec before the age of the Tribunal). Murder in this case can mean a knife to the back, an orgasm, or just a particularly good poem. Except... it's lightly implied that the Morag Tong are actually completely under the thumb of Vivec and really just worshiping Vivec in the guise of Mephala and Mephala is amused at how complicated of a deception this all is and basically just lets it happen. Remember, the Dark Brotherhood broke off from the Morag Tong because the Tong was far too political and didn't worship a pure enough embodiment of chaos. ... Except, there's an extremely well supported fan theory floating around that the Sithis that the Dark Brotherhood worship is actually just Mephala in disguise (more specifically, the Night Mother is actually Mephala speaking to you), in which case she has two assassin guilds who worship her, but they hate each other and will kill each other pretty much on sight.

[@mariosoto2588]

Oh come, come Nerevar. Prostrate yourself before the one true God Daghot Ur and pledge your loyalty to the house unmorrned . I have a dream for you and me

[@Xarestrill]

So I never got far enough to know if the arena holding cells are for slaves or not, but don't forget you found out the arena also uses animals in the battles, so the holding cells could be referencing where they keep the animals.

[@AyaKho]

35:00 that's a fucking jumpscare.

[@HubbaBubba768]

Oh the memories of cheating the AI and hiding behind architecture shooting Ordinators to death, taking their gear and making buckets of gold. If I remember correctly the initial attack is the crime of assault (not ultimately murder) but the gear is worth fifty times what the fine is.

[@chiccaraki]

What's the prediction for final Part Number?

[@QTeaFunny]

Jon, don't say you are uncomfortable with political murders in Elder Scrolls games via the murder guild... you did murder the emperor in Skyrim.

[@charlesfranks1902]

To be honest, I didn't give Jon much of a chance of making this build work. Does he have to learn light armor and blades now?

[@ogrejd]

'Vivec' sounds so weird when you try and pronounce it the Roman way... edit @20:00 - Nah. Cool people don't take the ship from Khuul, they use spells or potions to jump to Solstheim in a single bound. :)

[@varthaner4617]

Even more important is jumping or levitating all over Solstheim, since walking anywhere and you get jumped by collection of possibly most annoying mobs in TES.

[@andreasmeier-v4k]

that tilte had to happen...

[@davidwidner8258]

Jon slavery is completely legal (though only in motoring) during this point in history.

[@DronesClubMember13]

Nerevar died from Kung Fu treachery!

[@willrun4fun]

Trying to attack Dunmer with fire.....

[@crimsonharvest]

Im so interested in whats going on in this episode but the sitting-in-lecture-ADHD is killing my ability to connect one sentence to the next today.

[@Rift2123]

god i hate Vivec i understand why its the way it is but damn moving around is just an endless maze of shitbrown walls

[@somerando1073]

You're a mage, right? You use magic to overcome your weaknesses, so go create a spell. Fortify Personality X for 2 seconds (X = highest number your skill allows you to use reliably).

[@fredhurst2528]

Played all the great houses and I do like Telvanni the best. But for RP sakes, they are hostile towards outlanders and are very much into slavery.