History YMMV / TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind

* FakeLongetivity: To some, the Hortator and Nerevarine quests. Do they make the player interface with the world and the customs of Vvardenfell before you can complete the main quests? Or do they just artificially lengthen the play time? Fortunately for those who think the latter, there is an intended way to skip these quests, but only if you have a high fame stat, which is only gotten by completing other questlines.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Vampirism exists in the game and you can become a vampire yourself, though its quite [[GuideDangIt well hidden]]. All of the mechanics one would expect are present -- a health draining spell, taking damage from sunlight, increased attributes, etc. -- and there are three vampire clans you can join who will provide the only services you can get while a vampire. However, it all feels extremely underdeveloped. Only your clan leader will have unique dialogue, they only give 2-3 quests each, and you can only perform ''eight'' other vampire-specific quests from other sources. 99% of [=NPCs=] (including fellow members of guild and factions) will refuse to speak with you, if they're not outright hostile. The only exceptions are members of the Mages Guild and House Telvanni, but even then, you can only perform the vampire-specific quests they have, not their normal questlines nor use their services. Overall, it feels like a major source of wasted potential.

* CommonKnowledge: The idea that the Sixth House would have been joinable but was not finished or was removed is a prevailing claim in the community. While there are some in game suggestions about the idea of joining, as well as code snippets visible in the Construction Set (and utilzed by modders for various "Join the Sixth House" mods), the developers have been coy when asked and have only implied that it was going to be a joinable faction. Naturally, it remains a prevailing theory/claim is because, in game, there are allusions to the idea that you could have joined them due your status as TheChosenOne, and because Dagoth Ur has a large DracoInLeatherPants status in the fandom, but regardless the widespread acceptance of this idea usually is followed by the idea that the player could have joined him without issue.

* HoYay: In life, Voryn Dagoth was a trusted adviser and close friend to Indoril Nerevar, to the point where some believe he never betrayed the Nerevar even when put to the sword, and only started absorbing power from Lorkhan's heart to get vengeance on his murderers. His devotion come across as a little bit more than ''just'' platonic though, especially when he visits the Nerevarine in their dreams, or lovingly refers to them as "sweet" or "moon and star"...

* HoYay: In life, Voryn Dagoth was a trusted adviser and close friend to Indoril Nerevar, to the point where some believe he never betrayed the Nerevar even when put to the sword, and only started absorbing power from Lorkhan's heart to get vengeance on his murderers. His devotion come across as a little bit more than ''just'' platonic, especially when he visits the Nerevarine in their dreams, or lovingly refers to them as "sweet" or "moon and star"...

* IdiotPlot: It is way too obvious during the main quest of ''Tribunal'' that [[spoiler:Almalexia is becoming insane, yet the PlayerCharacter is supposedly clueless until TheReveal at the very end. Until then, you have no choice but to [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption carry out all of her crazy commands]] if you want the game to progress. Granted, this ''can'' be subverted by [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just killing her on the spot]], but only if you don't mind cutting the expansion's main questline ''very'' short.]]

* [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]], the Sharmat, the False Dreamer, used to be Voryn Dagoth, one of the closest friends of Indoril Nerevar. Whether Dagoth betrayed Nerevar of his own accord or was forced into his current position by the treachery of the Tribunal, the end result was the same; Voryn Dagoth became Dagoth Ur, one with the Heart of Lorkhan and suspended in a strange state of anti-godhood. Dagoth Ur begins an insidious campaign of conquest to take over Morrowind and usurp the Tribunal, spreading his influence through wide subliminal manipulation and cultivating gigantic followings while never even leaving [[KingInTheMountain the Red Mountain]]. Dagoth Ur begins a war of protraction against the Tribunal, cutting off two of the Tribunal's members from their divinity and reducing the final one, Vivec, to an immobile LivingBattery powering the one thing preventing Dagoth Ur's influence from spreading even further. Midway through replacing the Tribunal's theocracy with his own when the Nerevarine finally meets him, Dagoth Ur--even driven insane by the Heart of Lorkhan--is snarky, affable, and an utter genius, greeting the Nerevarine as an old friend no matter how they approach him in turn and endlessly treating them as a WorthyOpponent.
* [[BigGood Vivec]] is one the Tribunal, the three god-kings of the Dunmer, and the only one remaining dedicated to protecting Morrowind from the deadly threat of Dagoth Ur. Heavily implied to have helped the Tribunal betray and murder their friend Indoril Nerevar, Vivec broke his oath alongside them to use the Tools of Kagrenac to ascend to godhood. The warrior-poet Vivec became a skilled general and negotiator who ensured Morrowind [[VoluntaryVassal retained most of its power]] when both the Reman and Septim empires came to conquer, and he used his literary skills to create an extensive and empowering religion centered on the Tribunal. When his divinity begins waning after the resurgence of Dagoth Ur, Vivec orders the Temple to harm and persecute those that threaten the people's faith and orders the Nerevarine to be hunted down on the belief they are an enemy agent. In truth, Vivec fully believed in the Prophecies and knew the true Nerevarine would prove themselves, and recruited them to be his main agent in fulfilling his [[BatmanGambit grand and complex plan]] to defeat Dagoth Ur. Following the Sharmat's downfall, Vivec begins to dismantle the Tribunal Temple and restore the ancient worship of the Daedra to secure a future for the Dunmer.

** [[BenevolentMageRuler Master Aryon]] is the [[OnlySaneMan last truly sane]] Telvanni councilor who seeks to save his xenophobic and isolationist Great House from their own self destructive ways. Seeking to replace the self serving Archmagister, he grooms the Nerevarine to one day take the position by using them as his agent and guiding them into becoming a powerful sorcerer. In the meantime, Aryon secures his own position by gathering other mages as allies through skilled diplomacy or impromptu rescue and makes the Telvanni stronger by ordering the assassination of key targets in rival Great Houses and leveraging council support to turn Imperial laws to his advantage. Once his powerbase is secure, Aryon calls on the now magically skilled Nerevarine to [[KlingonPromotion challenge and replace]] the current Archmagister to finally have a leader who shares his values and secure the future of [[TheMagocracy Great House Telvanni]].
*** Alternatively, if the Nerevarine is not magically skilled or didn't join House Telvanni... well, they still need to become Hortator of three Great Houses, including Telvanni, and Master Aryon can take advantage of that fact to have them get rid of the Archmagister too.

** Alternatively, if the Nerevarine is not magically skilled or didn't join House Telvanni... well, they still need to become Hortator of three Great Houses, including Telvanni, and Master Aryon can take advantage of that fact to have them get rid of the Archmagister too.

* UncannyValley:
** In audio form. In various Sixth House enclaves, shrines, and lairs there's a set of bells that the player can ring. There's only half a note difference -- instead of the intuitive whole note -- so something sounds wrong and unsettling about the noise they produce.
** Argonians and Khajiits walk like they broke their ankles. Everyone else walks like they have a stick up their ass (a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdR1X0V7sI pretty blazin']] stick, though). Their jaws flap in a really weird way when they talk...
** The Bull Netch can be this, once you realize ''they have faces''!

* UnderusedGameMechanic: The [[AHomeOwnerIsYou Player]] [[PlayerHeadquarters Housing]] options available through the [[TheClan Great House]] [[SidequestSidestory sidequest lines]] are extremely popular, but still fall short for most players. Unsurprisingly, {{Game Mod}}s expanding them and adding new player housing options have proven to be some of the most popular over the years. Later games in the series expanding upon player housing even more, though Bethesda has yet to truly sate the player hunger for them.

* TheScrappy:
** Nobody likes Cliff Racers. Bethesda responded to the hatred by having [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jiub]] [[TakeThatScrappy drive the whole species to extinction]] by the time of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]''.
** [[ThatOneBoss Gaenor]] doesn't really have any fans, mainly because he'll end up hating you no matter how you deal with him, and because he'll later return with good gear and a high Luck attribute, making him extremely difficult to beat using regular combat methods.

** Cliff Racers, perhaps the most annoying foes in video game history. They make an irritating sound, do little damage, make you flinch when they hit you, drop crappy loot, and ''come in flocks of three to ten.'' And once they see you, they won't stop following you unless [[ArtificialStupidity they get stuck in a tree.]] They haven't figured out doorknobs, but if you go in a door with some following you, they'll be waiting for you when you come back out. And since they fly, they can swoop down to annoy you from any angle. And their [[HitboxDissonance hit detection]] leaves a lot to be desired. To make matters worse, they're also very capable of infecting the player with a disease. [[spoiler: [[TakeThatScrappy When Jiub shows up in later games, he's mentioned as having wiped out their entire population.]] Good riddance.]]

*** What, not love for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR-K2rUP86M Dagothwave]]? Shame on you, sweet tropers.

*** What, not love for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR-K2rUP86M Dagothwave]]?

* ThatOneDisadvantage: "The Lord" Birthsign. It grants a healing spell which is outclassed by Hearth Heal, a spell you can get in character generation for free by having Restoration as a Major or Minor skill. (Failing that, it is also available for purchase from the only merchant in the FirstTown.) The tradeoff is doubling the fire damage you take. Other Birthsigns provide better skills and weaker penalties, making it suicidal to choose The Lord unless you're roleplaying.

** The final boss of the Imperial Legion questline counts as well, mainly because he uses ''both'' an InfinityPlusOneSword and Infinity Plus One ''Armor''. [[ButThouMust That you just delivered to him]]. Somewhat forgivable in that he is the highest ranking legion officer in Vvardenfell and isn't really malevolent in any way, but [[KlingonPromotion you still need to beat him if you want his title]]. This is justifiably considered by many to be the single toughest fight in the vanilla game.

* CommonKnowledge: The idea that the Sixth House would have been joinable but was not finished or was removed is a prevailing claim in the community. While there are some in game suggestions about the idea of joining, very few, if any, developer comments have stated that they were ever going to have them as a joinable faction. The reason it remains a prevailing theory/claim is because, in game, there are allusions to the idea that you could have joined them due your status as TheChosenOne, and because Dagoth Ur has a large DracoInLeatherPants status in the fandom, but regardless the widespread acceptance of this idea usually is followed by the idea that the player could have joined him without issue.

* CommonKnowledge: The idea that the Sixth House would have been joinable but was not finished or was removed is a prevailing claim in the community. While there are some in game suggestions about the idea of joining, very few, if any, developer comments have stated that they were ever going to have them as a joinable faction. The reason it remains a prevailing theory/claim is because, in game, there are allusions to the idea that you could have joined them, and because Dagoth Ur has a large DracoInLeatherPants status in the fandom.