I became a gamer at the young age of 7. I remember the day clearly . My Dad asked me if I would like a Nintendo 64 for my birthday. Naturally I said yes, but I had no idea what I was getting. Soon I was playing any game I could get my little hands on, Which was really anything that Nintendo made. I would play pc games like StarCraft and Command and Conquer whenever I could, but that wasn't very often. I didn't own any other systems than the 64 until much later in my gaming life.
The year is 2002 and I had just gotten an Xbox. I was mostly playing Halo and other shooters. Than one day while I was perusing my local video store I stumbled upon The Elder Scrolls, Morrowind. At first glance I wasn't that impressed (I was 12 and naïve, forgive me), but a few weeks later my buddy brought it over to my house so I decided what the heck, right? Little did I know I was about to step into another world. One where I was no longer Jack, the human 6th grader, but Velo, the Dark elf warrior destined for greatness.
For almost a year straight I desired no other games, hobbies, or even sleep as I explored very inch of Vvardenfell. I wasn't deterred in the least when I was utterly convinced that my game was broken after failing several times to find one of the first crucial quest items, the Dwemer Box, rendering me unable to progress through the main story at all. I didn't actually fulfill the Neravine prophecy until my seventh play through. But that didn't bother me. I loved the world so much that I was willing to die numerous times as I tired to learn this strange game. I had to wrap my head around concepts I had never dealt with, such as class customization or experience bars. Having to navigate a dangerous world, often times with vague directions, was a blast. I would get sidetracked for hours, looing over every shelf, crate or corpse for any kind of treasure or secrets. I was very bad at the game however, and mostly ran for my life and stole anything to survive. I would dread going into tombs or dungeons, not knowing what you would find down in the darkness, but ultimately risking it all in the name of adventure was entirely new to me.
Looking back, being in Morrowind was an amazing feeling. The stories that would come from the choices made and roads travelled were staggering, and it was all up to me how I wanted to experience that. Morrowind helped shape me into the gamer I am today, and while I love Video Games of all kind, I will always have a special kind of love for Role Playing Games.