Skywind and verisimiltude

I love Morrowind. Among the best things of Morrowind is the world itself: it is compelling because it's not just weird but consistent, logical and deep. It's got texture in a way that -- IMHO -- the latter games dispensed with.

Consider Morrowind's introduction, for instance. We're essentially prisoners shipped off to Australia. Exiles. We've lost our home and are brought up on the deck of a ship in a boiling hot, pestilent shithole of a jungle. Oh, there's a miserable ramshackle town nearby, but one that really only serves to underscore how provincial the place is. At this stage, we're truly strangers to Morrowind. We're outlanders. All we really want is to go home.

So we begin at rock bottom, with a tenuous quest that we can't comprehend. But that quest takes us deeper into the island. We encounter Balmora, and realize that this town is nothing like any place the Imperials would want to make Morrowind into, it's not a poor man's Cyrodiil like Seyda Neen or Pelagiad; instead, we see a version of Morrowind that is complex and strange, something decidedly different than what we thought it would be. Gradually, as we're enmeshed into intrigues and friendships, we start to glimpse the true face of Morrowind. We slowly learn its ways, become part of it, we grow invested in this place. We discover Vivec and get to see the heights of Dunmer civilization. We arrive at Sadrith Mora and watch those magnificently arrogant Telvanni towers. We enter Ebonheart to see the Empire of Cyrodiil at its most blunt and pragmatic. And at some point, Morrowind becomes home.

What I'm getting at is, this progression is kinda wasted if the first thing we see when the game begins is Vivec (and if Skywind follows Morrowind's map, Vivec will be big and obvious in the distance). I'd like it if Vivic were somehow obscured from being directly visible from Seyda Neen. It wouldn't have to be completely hidden from every angle, but I feel the story would benefit from that and that it would be a lot more true to the spirit of the original (in the original LOS wasn't an issue due to the low draw distance).

Another thing I'd love to have changed (and this is a larger issue) is the walls. To be perfectly blunt, I'm not sure if Bethesda ever realized what ramparts are for. City walls and fortress ramparts are intended for defense. Defending is kinda hard to do if you build your wall straight into the nearest hillside (Balmora, I'm looking at you) or if a handy cliff face links directly to the top of your fortress walls.

(Of course, changing this stuff may be a lot of work, so people may just opt to let it be as it was. I hope not, though, because it's just an insanely stupid thing to accept).

Hopefully, I'm not the only one who feels this way. If I am, tell me now so I can weep.