» Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:47 am
1. Alternate Start / "I'm Not Dragonborn!" - I list these together because they're pretty much directly related. I want an "Alternate Start," something that just throws me into the character creation and then throws me into the world, no execution, no Alduin, no Stormcloaks, no Empire, just start into the game without having to go through all of that hassle. I also want a mod that makes it so I have the option to not be Dragonborn, i.e., if I kill a dragon or one dies near me, I do not absorb its soul. Likewise, an option to turn off active Word Walls would be nice, because only very few of my characters are going to know the Way of the Voice.
2. Body/Hair Mods - I say "body" because I don't necessarily mean "nvde." I don't mind if the body is nvde or not, but I want a better looking body overall. Skyrim's body looks nice already, but certain areas could be improved, plus, it's obvious that no attention was given to the feet, as they're just masses of flesh with minimal effort to resemble a foot. Then, of course, I feel like hair is probably the most defining trait of a character's appearance in video games, so I always like to have as many hair options as possible. (And, to be controversial, I'd just like to say that I really really hope we don't get a copy of Ren's Hairs in Skyrim. They look terrible and out-of-place and I would not download certain quest/companion/etc mods solely based on seeing one of Ren's Hairs in them.)
3. "Actors in Charge" - Anyone remember this mod from Oblivion? It allowed the player to do any animation that NPCs did, such as eating, drinking, giving a speech, etc etc etc. It had a permanent spot in my mod load order, and it's a very valuable roleplaying tool. It's a must-have for Skyrim.
4. Clothing/Armor Mods - I like looking unique. Any clothing or armor that suits my fancy while still being lore-friendly and appropriate for my character. I'm really picky when it comes to these things though, but it's something I enjoy the most when personalizing my characters.
5. General Immersion Mods - Kind of hard to list exactly what I mean here, but just things that enhance the vanilla game in lore-friendly ways to be more immersive and more geared toward hardcoe roleplaying. This DOES NOT mean mods that force me to eat and sleep, but rather, mods like See You Sleep which allow me to see my character lay down in bed/get up from bed when s/he sleeps, as well as mods like Portable Campsite.
And that's my 5. Honestly, I had to really think to come up with 5. I think Skyrim is a fantastic game and really doesn't need much in the way of modding, and I know when I do start using mods, it'll be just minor enhancements to the vanilla game.