Yes, any criticism leveled at Morrowind's combat is valid and I completely understand. It is frustrating to start out and see your sword clearly passing through enemies due to low stats and RNG; I get it. But, and maybe this is blind fandom forgiving poor implementation, there was a sense of satisfaction in seeing that blend away as stats grew high enough through that frustration to all but negate it, i.e.: once you "git gud," the game really opens up imho.
Another reason why Morrowind succeeded where subsequent titles failed me is while there was an overarching story of cementing your place as the Nerevarine, there were several, substantially deep questlines for Houses, Guilds, and the expansion stories with Tribunal and Bloodmoon that just made the whole world feel like one you carved your own path in instead of riding the rails until "The END." You could "finish" the game to your own satisfaction without even starting the main quest. Shivering Isles was a nice expansion for Oblivion, but it still felt markedly separate from the main game, like a game unto itself to play in addition to Oblivion. And that's all well and good, but Morrowind just felt like it added to it's existing world and lore with its expansions.
