Morrowind lead explains origin behind the third Elder Scrolls RPG’s journal and how his initial concepts could’ve “been the foundation of something cool” – but “never got made and shouldn’t have been made”
By Anna Koselke
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Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
Morrowind lead explains origin behind the third Elder Scrolls RPG’s journal and how his initial concepts could’ve “been the foundation of something cool” – but “never got made and shouldn’t have been made”
Anna Koselke
16 September 2025
“There’s a lot of god damn text in there”
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(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)
The journal system in Morrowind was a big step up from the one found in Daggerfall, the previous Elder Scrolls RPG to come from Bethesda Game Studios – but as lead designer Ken Rolston reveals, it could’ve been even more impressive.
Speaking in a new documentary on Morrowind from Filmdeg Miniatures, Rolston explains that he had a list of ideas for the third Elder Scrolls game – but not all of them fully came to fruition. One such idea revolved around the journal, which he says could’ve been even bigger had his “great idea that never got made and shouldn’t have been made” been implemented.
Describing how it “could have been the foundation of something cool,” Rolston says he had “wanted hypertext for every significant word there, so that the user could bounce around and go back and forth through all the dialogue.” That… would’ve been quite the feat. “There’s a lot of god damn text in there,” as the designer puts it. It would still be amazing, admittedly, and a function players most certainly would’ve appreciated – hell, we still would.
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I hope you like the tamer fantasy of Oblivion and Skyrim: lore master of 29 years says Todd Howard “gravitates not towards the weird stuff” and doesn’t expect Morrowind-grade weirdness from The Elder Scrolls 6
Todd Howard told Bethesda designers that “humor has no place in games,” a rule they didn’t follow in RPGs like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Morrowind: “If Todd doesn’t catch it…”
Skyrim NPCs are only as complex as they are thanks to a literal “napkin drawing” that Todd Howard doodled, reveals ex-Bethesda dev: “It’s actually a napkin story”
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – An Oral History from the Game Developers – YouTube
“You could go through that whole thing, and then you could find anything that you wanted to ask a question about as a user,” continues Rolston. “Almost like an in-game encyclopedia. Or worse than that, a hypertext novel.” The journal could play out differently “nowadays” with the use of systems like AI, however, which could point developers toward connecting keywords with speakers and highlight “what game state variables might be significant.”
As Rolston concludes, “All those things could have been brilliant. This was in the back of my head and nowhere near my action menu. Therefore, there is a completely useless hypertext linking thing in the journal in the original Morrowind” – and although he’s not sure how devs eventually “fixed that,” he thinks “they just hoped that the users would look at it like cows look at jet aircraft and say, ‘That’s nothing to do with me!'”
I, for one, would love to see how Rolston’s concepts could’ve fully come to life in an older RPG like Morrowind. The game was monumental enough as is, considering its 10/10 humor – which Bethesda lead Todd Howard apparently said “has no place in games.”
Excited for other new games? Here’s everything you need to know about The Elder Scrolls 6 after replaying gems like Morrowind.
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Staff Writer
After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms’ clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she’s not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she’s probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she’s spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you’ll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.
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I hope you like the tamer fantasy of Oblivion and Skyrim: lore master of 29 years says Todd Howard “gravitates not towards the weird stuff” and doesn’t expect Morrowind-grade weirdness from The Elder Scrolls 6
Todd Howard told Bethesda designers that “humor has no place in games,” a rule they didn’t follow in RPGs like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Morrowind: “If Todd doesn’t catch it…”
Skyrim NPCs are only as complex as they are thanks to a literal “napkin drawing” that Todd Howard doodled, reveals ex-Bethesda dev: “It’s actually a napkin story”
“The great Todd Howard says that great games are played, not made,” according to Bethesda’s Pete Hines, so Elder Scrolls devs changed Oblivion combat three times and no one spoke about it
Oblivion Remastered proves I was wrong to give up on the original game 10 years ago, but I worry Bethesda has lost the magic that made Cyrodiil’s open world RPG shine
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead says the RPG went up against “one of the biggest remasters” with Oblivion Remastered – but it worked out: “I feel like it makes us even more deserving in a way”
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