*scratches head* I don't quite understand why people are recommending NWN when he's looking for a freeform RPG. Maybe I have a different definition of freeform.
The sidequests of NWN are pretty lacking, nothing too involving or interesting (neither was the main story for that matter). And you couldn't really play the game in any way you wanted... I mean, playing the game once through (thoroughly), and you've seen pretty much everything. Having a different type of character doesn't change the game too much. Also, the world of NWN is pretty small and claustrobic. I always felt I was looking down on my character, who was sitting on a gameboard, and I was moving him around from above (you can say the same for BG, but for some reason it's more noticable in NWN). I guess that pays homage to tabletop games, but I think it hurts the imersion aspect... Add this all together and you have what I'd call a pretty straight forward RPG, one that isn't freeform at all. You pretty much just play the game, follow the directions for the quests you get, and eventually the game ends.
That's not to say I don't like NWN. I do, but the thing that keeps my coming back is the character building aspects. Its fun, there's a slew of good types of characters you can be, and the gameplay/action is done well.
Contrast that with Morrowind. There's SO much you can do, most of which has nothing to do with the main story. Join guilds, get better at random skills (say, alchemy or bartering or whatever), own some property, collect random shit that you think looks cool (and there's a lot of it)... the list goes on. That's what I'd call freeform.
But it suffers where NWN shines: character creation, balance, graphics (the technical aspects, not design/style), gameplay, interface. I can't really talk about the story, because I've never gotten around to actually beating Morrowind
