[This page is outdated! See instead the wiki page: https://wiki.project-tamriel.com/wiki/Writing_and_Dialogue_Guidelines#Dropped_Dialogue]

What is dropped (or fallen) dialogue?

Dropped dialogue refers to dialogue records that were unable to find their previous linked entries, and fell to the bottom of the list. See below at (1), notice the start of Map 4 Greeting 5. The asterisks indicate this dialogue is in the active file. Then notice (2) where this dialogue is at the very bottom of the list.

Why does this matter?

Morrowind dialogue starts at the top of the list of responses and works its way down until it finds a response that fits. When dialogue drops to the bottom, often times generic responses will be chosen instead of the unique responses.

How can I prevent this?

Always load mainland when working on a section file. When you load a section file with dialogue, and don't load mainland, you will always cause dropped dialogue. If you save the file in that state, dialogue will be permanently dropped with no easy way to restore it.

How can I easily check for dropped dialogue?

Check Greeting 5, look for the section file-specific responses, and ensure that they are near the top of the file. If they are at the bottom, either you or someone before you has failed to load mainland. Greeting 0, 1, and other topics will usually not show dropped dialogue.

Is there a way to repair this?

Deleting dialogue records and importing them from a version of that section file without dropped dialogue should fix it. This is a major hassle. Please load mainland.