Alright. I'm redownloading it from steam as I type this, as I've decided to give Morrowind a 50th chance (like a battered wife with an abusive husband) However, this time I want to ask you people of the internets what the best way to enjoy the game is (and if your answer is "Wander around, get lost, and then die and have to reload from your save that you made 2 hours prior", I will consider that the wrong answer) I don't necessarily want to play as a straight up fighter, but are mages and stealthy characters too gimped at the start? Any mods that you might recommend? Any sort of advice of what to do in the early parts of the game? Any help on this issue would be appreciated. Any berating would be less than appreciated.

The best way to enjoy it is to not play it. Seriously, if you've tried it already and didn't like it, its probably not for you.

I've always liked playing as a thief/stealthy type. 
 
Join House Hlaalu and the Thieve's Guild as soon as you can. Both factions have bases in Balmora, which is convenient since it's one of the first cities you're going to be spending a lot of time in.

Find a mod that removes Cliff Racers from the game.

I generally play as a light warrior style play. I go straight to the cave just out side of the town your in. I do a few quests around that area then find myself at the fighters guild doing missions there. After a while those mission take a while to do

" @President_Barackbar: I can clearly tell that there is an enjoyable game to be had in Morrowind. It's just the part where I can never get past the first few hours. "

First off, don't just be a warrior.  The best parts about this game is exploiting the power of the magic schools along with your general role direction.  Sure with money and potions you could be a fair warrior and do the usual warrior-esque combat patterns and mannerisms that most people use given the class-type, however being a master of all trades (yes this is possible) will be the best experience you can have in Morrowind.
 
Depending on how patient you are, there are two ways to go about this.  If you think you are impatient, choose major and minor skills that you would enjoy using the most.  I like to summon monsters to distract, as well as use paralyze from illusion to disable opponents.  Also I like to learn the soultrap from mysticism to gather enemy souls in gems, and either enchant weapons and armor with them or sell them for some sweet cash (Oh yea look for the Creeper in Caldera if you want to sell, as he always sells base price.  He is in one of the houses).  
 
If you are very patient, make sure "none" of your favourite skills are in the major or minor skill lists.  Why would you do this you may ask?  Well since you like using them often, you can have the freedom of levelling them up as much as you like and only level up via the skills you dislike.  This gives a huge advantage when wanting to go for the 5x multipliers for increasing attributes per level, as you can level up two of your preferred skills 10 times, then just level up one of your major/minor skills 10 times to level up.  Make sure the three skills to level up match up to three different attributes for the maximum attribute bonuses.
 
Also, learn Alchemy!!  Morrowind lets you stack up alchemic effects, so you can do crazy things like increase intelligence a few times with a potion, only to make more intelligence potions.  Repeat the process to gain an insane amount of intelligence, then you can enchant some almost-game-breaking effects into your weapons and armour such as restoring health per second, or enchanting several armour pieces for 100% chameleon, literally making you invisible and able to kill anyone without being spotted.
 
Lastly, do the guild quests and if you have them, the expansions.  They generally always reward you with interesting loot that you can take advantage of when you go about completing the main quest.  I enjoyed the traversing of the world a lot though to be fair the dated graphics can only be overcome by nostalgia.  If you wish to make the game look a little more pleasing, just look around for that morrowind mod compendium and install as per the instructions.  It is pretty easy to install and manage mods though make sure you read the instructions just in case.
 
If my advice doesn't sound like stuff you might enjoy, then you are probably better suited just waiting for Skyrim, whilst playing some other games to pass the time.  This game is still great, however it doesn't make it easy for some players to go back to.

I enjoyed the game a lot.  I think if you just stick it out, you'll find that it can be enjoyable also.

Cheat, bring up all your skills, thats the only way to make that game fun, at least for me.

Read some FAQ's so you have an idea of how to play the style you want. I'd say caster is probably the most fun, but for my first playthrough of the elder scrolls games I always just bash stuff as an orc.  
 
@Hailinel said:

" Find a mod that removes Cliff Racers from the game. "

I only enjoyed Morrowind and Oblivion by making some goals for myself, totally separate from the actual missions and objectives in the game.  For instance, I decided to make a pair of gauntlets once, one to create a city sized fireball around me, and the other to render me invulnerable to said explosion.
Another character, I decided to collect every silver dagger I came across in the game and give it a different enchantment so that I had an armory of 20 or so knives that did everything from drain magic to melting the weapons out of your hands.

High...best way to play Morrowind is high as a mofucka...

 I started playing it again about 3 months ago myself. I play it at random intervals between other games to break up the monotony.  First time I played it I was a mage. Now I’m going the warrior way and finding it much, much easier hacking and slashing my way through.   Just completed the Fighter’s Guild.  I recommend playing with headphones to enjoy the amazing soundtrack in this game. As tired as I sometimes get of the scenery I never get tired of the music.   

By playing Oblivion, and, or waiting for Skyrim.

after a good sesh.... 

Shifty Magician really nails it well.  Personally, I think enchantments in the game are pretty spectacular.  Creating some items with permanent enchantments like levitation and a regeneration factor can be immensely useful, so keep an eye out for grand soul gems, high powered conjuration spells, and the soul trap skill.  Beyond that, I like a mix between a warrior and a mage, though a thief is pretty viable if you have the patience to go that route.  
 
Usually, if I go that route, I'll concentrate my skills on sword, medium armor, conjuration, and the skills for healing and enchantment.  For my secondaries, I like to toss in alchemy and a second weapon and armor set, just as a kind of backup. 

Download the Morrowind 2011 graphical update. People in the scene are complaining about the mod using other peoples work, yet I don't care. It's every graphic mod combined under one download, with one installer, and then tweaked so there isn't any problems.

" Download the Morrowind 2011 graphical update. People in the scene are complaining about the mod using other peoples work, yet I don't care. It's every graphic mod combined under one download, with one installer, and then tweaked so there isn't any problems. "

" Download the Morrowind 2011 graphical update. People in the scene are complaining about the mod using other peoples work, yet I don't care. It's every graphic mod combined under one download, with one installer, and then tweaked so there isn't any problems. "

"

Forget the main quest.  Screw around and do whatever you want.  Wanna be powerful?  Console cheat.  Wanna Kill everyone and strip them naked?  Do it.  Want them to really be naked?  There's mods for that.  Decide you wanna play straight?  Play straight.  Do whatever you want when you want.  When you get bored, quit and play something else.  It's just a game, not a job.

Download this:
  

@Caegn

" Forget the main quest.  Screw around and do whatever you want.  Wanna be powerful?  Console cheat.  Wanna Kill everyone and strip them naked?  Do it.  Want them to really be naked?  There's mods for that.  Decide you wanna play straight?  Play straight.  Do whatever you want when you want.  When you get bored, quit and play something else.  It's just a game, not a job. "

" By playing Oblivion, and, or waiting for Skyrim. "

I always have to min/max Morrowind and Oblivion. So I keenly remember times where I spent an hour just casting fireballs until the associated skill goes up by 10 for the level up or sneaking behind a guard constantly.

Pick a guild or faction you like and do their quests.
 
There's no reason to wander aimlessly unless you want to.

" @MonetaryDread said:

" Download the Morrowind 2011 graphical update. People in the scene are complaining about the mod using other peoples work, yet I don't care. It's every graphic mod combined under one download, with one installer, and then tweaked so there isn't any problems. "

Yeah, it's almost 4GB worth of download, but very much worth it. Anyways, what the hell is a "cliff racer"? "

My own thoughts... be careful with content mods.  I mean, this was just me, but personally I ended up inundating myself with mods and never completed the actual game because I was having too much fun with the mods.

with a lot more lube

"

At least get the Morrowind Graphics Extender for the sake of a proper balance between draw distance and performance. In vanilla, it kills my performance sooo hard when I crank up the draw distance to look like modern games. With this mod, it both looks and performs better than vanilla.