You aren't missing anything with Morrowind, game is a pain to get running with all the mods and it leaves you underwhelmed if you didn't play it way back in the day.
Just a few things about my tastes before I go on. I just recently (3 years ago now) started playing WRPGs so it has been a constant game of catch up for me, most if not all of the games I like hold up well today as a result. My limit for an old game is the mid-late '90s because right around Baldur's Gate the games became considerably less obtuse and are easier to enjoy as a result.
Check out:
Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines: Troika's best game. There is no experience for killing enemies, picking locks or passing speech checks. The XP you get is for quests actually give more experience the more creative you are. There are a myriad of ways to tackle any given situation which makes it great. My first run was a brutish Brujah and this run is the Smooth-talking Toreador and both work out well.
Baldur's Gate Trilogy (1,2 and Throne of Bhaal): Yes the ruleset is obtuse, you need to understand the DnD rules if you want to enjoy the best games this genre offers. The narrative and epic scope is the draw here with some banter between party members and exploration thrown in. You go from a level 1 who can barely kill anything to a god among men in the span of 150 to 200hours. Use a mod to connect the games (I use BGTutu) like they should be. This is my personal favorite game of all time (a lot of people consider the saga one game).
Planescape Torment: Another game with the DnD rules but mucheasier since you can't actually die. In fact the game is sort of about that. Be prepared to read, a lot. You will be exploring some of the most off the wall stuff but a large portion of the game is reading. Best story in a game, period.
Deus Ex: Plot revolving around real life organizations and some created by conspiracy theories all trying to take over the world. Sounds generic but how the game executes these things is brilliant. Has the same multiple approach Bloodlines does.
Arx Fatalis: A game more focused on exploration and a unique magic system. The interactivity is unmatched in recent games and the art style makes the game look amazing (minus low-res textures) today.
Out of all of these I would start with Deus Ex, Arx Fatalis, or Bloodlines because they don't have much of a learning curve to them. The others aren't really hard but just take some getting used to.
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