malkav11

I don't have Oblivion, and it's crushing me. I can't even run Morrowind right now to make a pale stab at making up that lack. (Morrowind's great, but I've been there, done that.)

Yes, that's right, I've been reduced to trying to substitute Daggerfall for Oblivion.
It's...not working so well. Daggerfall has some interesting characteristics, and I really prefer the character designing in some ways over Morrowind (notably, being able to grant your character special advantages and disadvantages.). But it's so primitive. I can get past the unincredible graphics, but what's really killing it for me is the slipshod construction and the incredibly high level of randomization. People fail to know completely obvious things, and the responses don't always make sense. There's basically no meaningful character interaction. Guilds give shop messages when you enter them. And the towns are large but devoid of landmarks and interesting features. You have some basic map assistance, but you have to enter buildings to identify them beyond their basic type. Quests are of horrendously random difficulty. (my level 1 character has been offered quests to deal with lycanthropes and giants.) And so on.

If this sounds terrible..well, there are redeeming features, too. Unlike Morrowind, you can have your own horse, wagon (for carrying loot), and ship. You can fast travel between points of interest. (necessary, because you're dealing with an empire to cross). You can be a vampire or werewolf. (and don't have to get expansions.). The dungeons are 3D mapped in a way that's not always the most useful, but is nonetheless something of a feat. The books are still excellent. And boy can you get up to all sorts of mischief. I've been looting stores lately.