Wow! That's a lot of great advice, thanks a ton!
No problem!
I fondly remember playing Daggerfall (not when it came out, though - I'm not that old!), so that series sounds right up my alley. Should I just go for the most recent one, or do you recommend one in particular?
Well, TES games kind of vary.
3, Morrowind, has a slow pace with mechanics often based on percentages. Chance to hit, chance to pick the lock, chance of spell failure, and so on. The game world is entirely hand crafted and features non-respawning named bandits, hand placed loot, and a relatively small amount of random loot. The landscape is very alien and the local Dunmer/Dark Elf population has a very well developed and odd culture. The only game where the Fighters Guild, for instance, is a job first and plot second (there is a story line that's tied to several other factions, but it's not in-your-face like the other games). This is the one that showcases the lore the best. However, many people hate the 'dice-roll' combat, the draw distance has not aged well (though MGE can fix this), there's not much content for high-level characters, and it doesn't have a compass to lead you to your objectives, instead relying on directions given by NPCs which aren't always clear. It's also the most crash prone. If you get this one, be sure to get both the Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions since they fix the journal and add some nice content for high-level characters. You'll also want a Tribunal delay mod since it's supposed to happen after the main quest.
4, Oblivion, removed the vast majority of the random chance stuff and replaced it with things like always hitting in melee and a lockpicking minigame. The world was procedurally generated, then touched up by hand. The hyperlinked text dialog was replaced with fully voiced dialog, though there is less of it. Dungeons are huge and filled with semi-random enemies with semi-random loot and equipment. The most common criticisms of Oblivion are its art direction, over-reliance on level-scaling, questionable writing for the Guild plot-lines, and not featuring much lore while also contradicting more of the previously established lore than any other game. Probably the most controversial and very much a love-it-or-hate-it game. If you get this one, the Shivering Isles expansion is actually my favorite part of the game.
5, Skyrim, scrapped the old magic system and built an entirely new one. Along with the new magic system comes a new weapon/spell equip system that allows you to choose which hand you want something in. For instance, I like to play with a sword in my right hand and a spell in my left. You can also use two weapons or spells or a shield with a weapon or spell. Attributes (strength, endurance, etc.) have been removed in favor of perks and choosing whether you want to increase health, magicka, or stamina at level up. Easily the most stable game. Usually criticized for the very short faction quest-lines, lack of alternative ways to complete quests, and removal of several existing mechanics, including NPC disposition, gear degradation, several spell effects, and attributes. If you get this, the Dawnguard expansion adds new factions and overhauls vampires and werewolves, Dragonborn adds a new landmass with plenty of content, and Hearthfire lets you build a home from scratch. Also, if you have the game and all expansions on Steam by October 28th of this year, you will get Skyrim: Special Edition for free. SE features a 64-bit exe, new graphics, and includes all the expansions. We'll know more about it in a few months.
If you get any of these, be sure to get the Unofficial Patch for the game. I really can't stress that enough. DLCs also feature their own unofficial patches.
Oh yes, the Civ games are pretty neat. I played Civ3 a lot, good times. I'll look into these.
I think 3 was what I started with. The biggest change that Civ5 made was that they removed most of the unit-stacking mechanics. After playing against Russia in 4 and their super-stacks, I can see why. Combat has been appropriately overhauled to make up for it.
If you get Civ5, be sure to pick up the Complete bundle. The expansions have some nice improvements and the cost of buying the game, the expansions, and all the DLC individually is around $100 USD. Complete is currently at $12.27.
For BE, the linear tech-tree was replaced with a radial tech-web that you're free to explore in whatever direction you like. Late-game factions might share just a small portion of their tech. The affinity system is also pretty interesting. It's basically your philosophy to life on this planet. Purity is about retaining Earth culture and the original human genome, Harmony is about going native to an extreme and using genetic engineering to adapt to the planet, and Supremacy is about technological superiority and cybernetic-based trans-humanism. You also get to customize your faction. Just a few options when the game starts and more as it goes on. The expansion replaced the diplomacy system. It has some interesting features, but it still needs some work, in my opinion. I haven't played without the expansion so I'm not sure what else it changed.
Yeah, I've heard good things about the series. Do you happen to know if the older games still work on Win10? My XP system is slowly dying and I don't want to have to rely on it...
I have had no issues getting 1 and 2 to work on my Win10 system. I installed them and they worked right out of the... well not box, but you know what I mean. They have widescreen support, too.
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