raevol on 17/9/2008 at 09:11
Sorry if this is old news, but this is my first time going through Tribunal, and it makes me want to shut the game off. It's just a big, poorly designed advertisement for Oblivion. They obviously fired the genius who designed the content for Morrowind, because Tribunal is a completely different flavor.
Is bloodmoon this bad? Or should I just reroll again so I can get back to the good stuff?
baeuchlein on 18/9/2008 at 16:13
Well, I don't know what you did not like about Tribunal, but I think Bloodmoon is more similar to the original Morrowind than the Tribunal expansion.
In Tribunal, you mainly run through a few city houses and a massive underground cave system below Mournhold. You never see an open landscape as in Morrowind. Furthermore, there are one or two things the designers really did not quite get right with Tribunal, such as the in-game map not working correctly. I still liked my trip to Mournhold, though.
Bloodmoon instead comes with what you know from Morrowind: An open landscape (and a functional map once again) with some towns and several dungeons. You encounter some new enemies, get some new reagents to play with if you're interested in alchemy, and a new "main" quest as well as a few side quests and even one or two longer quest lines not connected to the main Bloodmoon story.
The Bloodmoon landscape is different from Morrowind's landscape, since the new island is covered in snow. You meet mainly Nord there instead of the Elves and Imperial humans from Vvardenfell, and animals and other monsters more fitting to an icy landscape as well on this new island. Some of the opponents are tougher than the average Morrowind badass, but after a while, gameplay should approach what you know from Morrowind.
There are fewer towns in Bloodmoon than in Morrowind, not just because the new island is much smaller than the big one you know from Morrowind, but because it's a less inhabitated area than Vvardenfell. So instead of running around in a city and its dungeons, like in Tribunal, you will run through much wilderness in Bloodmoon. There are frequent encounters with the alien or hostile opponents there, but just a bit more than in Morrowind.
Furthermore, you'll get some new cutscenes (one of which should still be available for download on the Elder Scrolls homepage), which I believe were not present in Tribunal as well.
Bloodmoon is shorter than original Morrowind. I needed about four months for that while Morrowind took about nine months on my first play through. Tribunal kept me occupied for maybe three or four months as well, but somehow it felt shorter. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Oh, and make sure you download the appropriate Bloodmoon patch for that expansion. If I remember correctly, there was at least one nasty bug somewhere in the main Bloodmoon quest line which is corrected with the patch.
Sounds interesting? If you're still not sure, ask again, and I will try to give you the information you need to decide whether Bloodmoon can satisfy you or will be another nuisance like Tribunal became for you.
raevol on 18/9/2008 at 19:24
Hmm, sounds cool. The frustration I have with Tribunal definitely comes from the level design and quest design. Both are very bland and uninspired, and the quests feel like railroad tracks.
I'll definitely give Bloodmoon a try.
PeeperStorm on 18/9/2008 at 21:31
Tribunal has its moments, particularly in the side quests, but it's still the weaker of the two expansions
gunsmoke on 19/9/2008 at 12:59
Bloodmoon is my favorite of the two expansions. THe new wilderness, and creatures, are great, and the main quest is actually interesting.
infinity on 13/10/2008 at 09:33
Yes, Tribunal is weaker, but it still has its merits. I still enjoyed it. Bloodmoon was very enjoyable, but it is really overpopulated creature-wise.
Sometimes I wish they had not done Tribunal or Bloodmoon, but instead spent all their time making a single expansion with the whole Mainland of Morrowind. That would have been sweet, and totally worth it, even if it pushed back the release of Oblivion by a while. Oh well.
