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[vladdamad]

I am only 7-8 hours into Morrowind so I can't judge it properly yet (and I haven't played Arena or Daggerfall), but out of what I have played:

Morrowind: best integration of quests into the lore. A lot of fetch quest stuff at the early stages of the guilds but this is realistic within the internal logic of the world, i.e. you have to prove yourself with the guilds before you are given larger responsibilities, etc. I'll have to play more to find out if the later quests are more involved.

Oblivion: quests feel like standalone short stories that don't contribute to the overall narrative, but are extremely charming and have interesting unexpected twists. Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild are of course the highlights. The writing disguises the fact that the things you are tasked with are 'retrieve item X from person Y' or 'clear out dungeon Z', which makes the same-y gameplay feel fresh (most of the time).

Skyrim: writing feels a little bit worse, so the quests really do feel a little more same-y, especially the miscellaneous quests. There's a little more choice allowed here, as well, although the choices are mostly superficial. Guilds are shorter and don't seem as involved as the ones in Oblivion. Daedric quests are probably the highlight here.

What does everyone else think?

 

[OnionPowder]

Not playing the first 2

Morrowind > Oblivion > Skyrim

 

[AntiFacebook]

Daggerfall

 

[Markitron]

I have only played Skyrim and Oblivion, and I thought Oblivion's quests were far better. The main plot in Skyrim was particularly weak.

Still think Skyrim was the better game overall though.

 

[RedRum]

ESO by a longshot.

 

[SolarMystic]

Probably Morrowind or Oblivion for me. Played a lot more of Oblivion though. The Dark Brotherhood was a particular highlight.

ESO by a longshot.

Genuinely curious about what you like about the questing. I've been trying to get into it since it came out as buy to play, but just can't get into it. Incredibly frustrating as I'm a huge Elder Scrolls fan and really enjoy the lore.

 

[RedRum]

Genuinely curious about what you like about the questing. I've been trying to get into it since it came out as buy to play, but just can't get into it. Incredibly frustrating as I'm a huge Elder Scrolls fan and really enjoy the lore.

While the main quest line leaves a lot to be desired, the fact there's multiple large areas to explore all their own makes it feel like less of a grind to me. Perhaps I got tired of the solo/npc quests of the other games, but I play ESO with a tight knit group and taking on quests with others of the same level, same quest progression plays a lot into it as well.

 

[playXray]

Interesting question, as while the games go Morrowind -> Skyrim -> Oblivion for me, I actually think Oblivion has some of my favourite quests. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of any of the main questlines, I just love the worlds and side-quests.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Having only spent a lot of time in Oblivion I do think it has great side quests compared to what I've seen in Skyrim. Never spent much time playing Morrowind though.

 

[Breakfast at Noon]

Oblivion for me.
Haunted house and the house party

 

[Cropduster89]

Oblivion by a mile, they were the only thing it did right, but they were the best in the series as far as I'm concerned, with a lot of variation in the objectives. Dark Brotherhood and thieves guild were the highlights, that murder house party was amazing.

Morrowind quests succeeded due to good writing and the context behind them, but were still quite hit and miss. Skyrim's quests all seem to boil down to "I left something at the end of this dungeon, can you get it?".

Morrowind = Best setting, world and writing.
Oblivion = Best quests.
Skyrim = Looks pretty, and is less bland than oblivion.
Daggerfall = "I'm stuck in the wall again"

 

[adamsapple]

Skyrim's wold is better than the others, but Oblivion's quests are more memorable.

Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood is better than Oblivion's IMO.

But i'm really fond of the one paint-canvas quest in Oblivion, nothing in Skyrim is that creative.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Morrowind for me. Morrowind also my favorite TES in the whole series and always will be.

 

[CloudWolf]

Morrowind.

Oblivion gets a favorable mention because of Dark Brotherhood, that painting quest and Shivering Isles.

Fuck Skyrim's quests.

"Hey, you get to choose sides in the Civil War. Yeah, the quests are exactly the same, but CHOICE"

"Hey guys, with this DLC you have to choose between being a badass Vampire Lord or being a cool Vampire hunting knight with crossbows. Oh yeah, you can totally also become a Vampire Lord if you go with the Vampire hunting knights because we all know you want to try that and who wants to play through things twice, right?"

 

[Lingitiz]

I'm partial to that ridiculous DB quest in Oblivion where you had to "infiltrate" a party and kill the members one by one. It was so funny how they never suspected the guy armed to the teeth and dressed in Daedric armor as the killer.

 

[Yrael]

If DLC counts, then the quests on Oblivion's Shivering Isles.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Oblivion had some great unique quests, like the aforementioned house party, assassinating a mark by dropping a mounted deer head on him or instigating the Khajiiti apocalypse to please the whims of a mad god.

Skyrim had less of these, but there were some memorable ones that come to mind. Waking up hungover in a temple and having to retrace your steps, including the ever-popular goat escort. Traveling inside a dead emperor's mind and setting him free from his madness. Overall, though, the quest variety falls short of that in Oblivion, even if the main game plays a lot better.

Even though I love Morrowind to death, I have trouble remembering a lot of sidequests in that game. The Naked Nords come to mind, but those were all pretty same-y.

Morrowind.

Oblivion gets a favorable mention because of Dark Brotherhood, that painting quest and Shivering Isles.

Fuck Skyrim's quests.

You can't continue the Dawnguard questline if you're a Vampire Lord, you need to get yourself cured first. But I do see your point, and that's the main problem I have with Skyrim, and Oblivion to a lesser extent. Bethesda wants to enable you to do literally everything with one character. Save the world? Check. Become a sneaky assassin? Check. Prince of thieves? Check. Gandalf? Check. Vampire lord? Check. Vampire hunter? Check. You could annihilate the population of every town in the game, pay your bounties and the surviving NPC's would still greet you as Skyrim's lord and savior.

 

[ZehDon]

ESO by a longshot.

I actually agree. I find myself more interested in the small story lines in ESO than most of the stuff in any of the mainline games. Rivenspire's story line involving a

Spoiler

Vampire civil war

was a real highlight, imo.

 

[Deleted member 518153]

Not playing the first 2

Morrowind > Oblivion > Skyrim

.

 

[Taker34]

Oblivion>Morrowind>Skyrim (ESO's quests are so bland that I won't mention them)

Why? Some memorable Oblivion quests:

The Ultimate Heist
--> Was mentioned before, but I'll say it again. Really felt like a "final quest" sort of adventure. Where you had to break-in to supposedly high-security areas. Having several elements from previous quests come together into practical usage (like the boots and the arrow) was really awesome. The revelation at the end of the Thieve's Guild was expected, but only because of my liberal pick-pocketing practices...

the Manor Dark Brotherhood quest (Whodunit)...the one to kill all the guest without them knowing your the killer

i also liked the missing painting quest. i liked it because you have to find out who stole it and you have your own suspicions about who did it. i thought it was the castle caretaker but i was wrong.

An Unexpected Voyage: The Bloated Float Inn has been hijacked by brigands while you slept!

Cheydinhal Mages Guild recommendation - find a Ring of Burden an Associate recently lost. He suspects it was thrown down the guild well. You'll learn you're not the first one to get this task. Vidkun - the previous Associate - disappeared while trying to find the ring. you'll find poor Vidkun's body inside with the ring. The ring has a weight of 150 which will lead to drown players if they can't use a feather spell in time.

A Brush with Death - a famous painter has gone missing and you find out that you enter his painting where is is being held in.

Paranoia - upon entering Skingrad and you will meet a Wood Elf named Glarthir, who behaves in a disturbed way. He will stop you in the street and ask you to meet him behind the Great Chapel of Julianos at midnight. Once there, he will explain to you that he believes there is a conspiracy against him.. The rest is history.

Those are just very few examples of excellently written quest in Oblivion but that game had a ton of good ones which are much better than anything in Skyrim (hundreds of "find object A in cave B" variations and the same puzzles over and over again). Morrowind had excellent writing but the game engine at the time didn't allow things which were possible in Oblivion.

 

[SuperBanana]

Morrowind and Oblivion had some great quests. Skyrim's quests were dull as dog shit. Such a disappointment. I think Oblivion might win because of the Dark Brotherhood.

 

[Iriscomeback]

Oblivion had some pretty cool quests, like the ones for the Dark Brotherhood.

I also liked that one where you go into a painting to rescue someone.

 

[vladdamad]

For the people that say Morrowind, do you have any recommendations for quests to do? I'm still very early game, joined the Temple at Vivec and the Thieves Guild in Balmora. Any other guilds I should look into that have the best late-game quests? I hear that the main quest is great here so I will be focusing on that for the next while.

 

[Dingens]

part of me still wishes that a more fleshed out version of the dark brotherhood side story in oblivion should have replaced the main story... I quite enjoyed that one

 

[Phreakuency]

Morrowind for sure.

Most memorable. Find this guy a wife. Specifically, " find him a bride, and not just any bride, but a high-born Telvanni; pretty, plump, with big hips."

You then talk to someone who suggests you just buy a slave girl, dress her up as a Telvanni. You buy the fancy clothes, perfume etc and present her to the guy.

Classic.

Morrowind was so much more memorable than anything else after it. Remember the guy falling from the sky?

 

[Creaking]

I'd say Oblivion, especially the guild quests. Especially the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood. And the Mages guild (though gaining recommendations from each city is the best part).

 

[Fractal]

I never properly finished Morrowind (will give Skywind a go), but Oblivion was definitely the best for me, plenty of great quests there. Highlights are the guild quest lines as already mentioned, but I also very much enjoyed the dark humor of the Daedric shrines. Aside from that, I fondly remember the painted world quest which sure surprised me the first time.

Oh, and I also forgot the greatness of the Shivering Isles, which was a great expansion to an already great game.

 

[SolarMystic]

While the main quest line leaves a lot to be desired, the fact there's multiple large areas to explore all their own makes it feel like less of a grind to me. Perhaps I got tired of the solo/npc quests of the other games, but I play ESO with a tight knit group and taking on quests with others of the same level, same quest progression plays a lot into it as well.

That's probably what I'm doing wrong then. I've been playing ESO solo.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

Oblivion. Skyrim is the worst of the series. Absolute trash.

 

[Vex_]

Oblivion.

Sorry haters.

 

[Par Score]

Oblivion has the best quests, both overall and individually. I think all of my top 5 favourite TES quests would probably come from Oblivion.

Despite that, Oblivion is still my least favourite: Morrowind > Skyrim > Daggerfall > Oblivion

 

[Stevey]

Oblivion for me.

 

[Earthpainting]

I'm having a hard time deciding between Morrowind and Oblivion. I prefer Morrowind by a large margin as a complete package, but when I think of "Elder Scrolls", I think of the Thieves Guild and the Shivering Isles quests of Oblivion.

Reading through the thread I see that it's pretty much the consensus, if there was one.

 

[Starfield]

If we count DLC, then I'd say: Oblivion = Skyrim > Morrowind

 

[aravuus]

This thread convinced me to reinstall Oblivion and give it yet another try. Always drop it after a couple of hours.

 

[MikeyB]

For the people that say Morrowind, do you have any recommendations for quests to do? I'm still very early game, joined the Temple at Vivec and the Thieves Guild in Balmora.

Several of the Daedric shrine quests are well-written and unusual. The mage guild has some hilarious quests.

 

[vladdamad]

This thread convinced me to reinstall Oblivion and give it yet another try. Always drop it after a couple of hours.

Ignore the main quest, murder an NPC, go to sleep in a bed, and enjoy the best questline of the game.

 

[Starfield]

This thread convinced me to reinstall Oblivion and give it yet another try. Always drop it after a couple of hours.

Sheogorath likes Cheese-Wheels

 

[LicenceToK1ll]

Oblivion for me as well. Didn't play Morrowind tho and Skyrim was boring.

But wasn't there a thread some time ago were everyone took a shit on it? I was surprised by that

 

[LowerLevel]

Oblivion had some really nice quests with the ones that Taker34 mentioned. I love me some (modded) Skyrim though...

 

[Harmen]

I thought Skyrim had the best leveldesign and astheatics. I know the writing is a bit wonky, but I absolutely loved the exploration in that game and thought there were some pretty interestingly designed (also gameplaywise) dungeons that felt truly massive and ancient/mysterious. And that goes a long way for me.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Daggerfall is the only correct answer.

 

[Cropduster89]

Daggerfall is the only correct answer.

Spoken like a true masochist sir.

 

[vladdamad]

Daggerfall

Daggerfall is the only correct answer.

I've heard of people complaining about Morrowind being 'dumbed down' when compared to Daggerfall the same way people complain about Oblivion when compared to Morrowind, but Daggerfall looks so dated now it is difficult for me to imagine people enjoying it today. Although if people can seriously consider that it has the best quests out of the series I may have to play it at some point.

 

[blakep267]

I think Dawnguard had some of the best quest lines I've played.

 

[Cropduster89]

Although if people can seriously consider that it has the best quests out of the series I may have to play it at some point.

I don't think anyone can seriously consider that, they don't make rose tinted spectacles that large. Its a largely randomly generated world with randomly generated, identikit quests. You have to save before each one because there's a 33% chance that it will bug out and become uncompletable forever. You couldn't finish the main questline at launch due to bugs.

DF was considered big broken mess even back when it was current. But seeing as it's free it's worth trying out just to witness the pure unfiltered jenk with your own eyes.

 

[DMiz]

Oblivion.

The quest design really stretches the muscles of the engine at certain points, but it does it with the knowing that they had to mix things up to keep players invested.

I feel like, with Skyrim, they relied a bit too much on Radiant AI, which caused them to focus on dungeons... which were were the least interesting quests take place. Especially since the puzzles weren't challenging or engaging.

Oblivion, on the other hand, had the amazing Dark Brotherhood quests, which took place (largely) in cities and involved quite a few ingenious implementations of the standard mechanics. You can really see 'systems' thinking going on with the way they tried to program those quests versus the ones in Skyrim, which is much more akin to the 'content' filling that Ubisoft open world games uses.

Hopefully we'll see a reversion to the creativity of its quest in Fallout 4 and the (far-out) Elder Scrolls VI!

 

[Shifu-Sushi]

Morrowind

 

[AlimNassor]

Morrowind > Shivering Isles > Oblivion >> ESO >>>>>>>>> Skyrim

ESO had a ton of good quests.

Shivering isles quests were just bizarre and funny.

 

[Novocaine]

Oblivion has the most memorable quests for me so I'm going to say that.

Stealing the Elder Scroll was so fucking cool.