I remember reading somewhere that there was a single writer behind most of the distinctive, weird setting of Morrowind (and I think the first two Elder Scrolls, too?) and he didn't work on IV and V. The person or people who replaced him didn't have that kind of creativity, or weren't allowed to express it, so we got Generic Fantasy instead of all the delightful weirdness we should have (some of the early lore about other parts of Tamriel is nuts, I wish we'd gotten to see more of it).

You may be thinking of Douglas Goodall, who designed and wrote the majority of Morrowind’s questlines. He left Bethesda shortly after Morrowind’s release.

I don’t know if the general strangeness of Vvardenfell could necessarily be attributed to Goodall, but various central themes and dialog certainly could be.

You have probably received the response you were looking for, but Kirkbride is another of those contributors to Morrowind lore that helped make it special. Sermons of Vivec, Dragon break, etc.

Michael Kirkbride is mostly responsible for Morrowind's unique flavor: https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-mor...

I read somewhere that he would come up with his weirdest lore during all-nighters, delirious from sleep deprivation & some kind of intoxicant which I forget.

This reminded me of something the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wrote on the "intoxicant" part: https://uesp.tumblr.com/post/179903892360/is-it-true-that-mi...

> All of these rumors are false. The truth is that people on the Internet saw someone adding writing beyond a grade school level to a video game, and decided that to produce such a thing required you to be on drugs. Ignoring the dangerous message to budding creative types who may see the message that to be creative you have to be on drugs, it’s also extremely unfair to Michael Kirkbride himself. He’s a real person, with a real career. It’s not the best thing in the world to be a noted professional, and whenever someone googles your name, one of the top results relates to a fictional history with substance abuse.

Kirkbride's description tones it down to just some coffee and bourbon: https://www.imperial-library.info/content/thirty-six-lessons...

> "It was one dev, naked in a room with a carton of cigarettes, a thermos full of coffee and bourbon, and all his summoned angels."

And: https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/hrmdzk/comment/fyd...

> You know that comes from a Photoshopped image, right? Come on now.

> Anyway, that’s all a lie. I’ve already given an account of how the 36 were written: a week of bourbon, smokes, and solitude. I’ve never dropped acid in my life.

Gettin high on skooma no doubt

There’s plenty of weird environments in Skyrim too. Even if you do not necessarily see them during the main quest.

That's good to hear. I sheepishly never made it more than a day into Skyrim but I owe it a fair shot.