I know(being a huge ES fan myself) that this series would not be where it is without mod capabilities. Being a single player game for around 20 years, it was never a huge issue to have this included. Now with ESO, things get a bit more complicated. Having UGS and mods becomes difficult in an MMO because of the nightmarish regulation that would be required, and the rigid "balance" of a multiplayer game. As has been discussed on the forums, having purely aesthetic client side mod-ability really should be included(If they didn't include this, another idea would be to hold item design contests, where the community votes on a design submitted by a community member to be later added). It has zero impact on actual gameplay, and only the mod user would view the changes. Modding past aesthetic/ui changes becomes tricky. If you look at Neverwinter, they have a pretty good idea of how to do it. If you take neverwinter, and disregard its foundry, its nothing more than an average looking fantasy MMO with real time combat. But, the foundry offers tons of additional playtime, and gives eager modders out there the ability to create their own dungeons/quests/ and enemies. As we've all seen in ES games, there are some really talented people out there capable of creating amazing content that can sometimes fill the gap that devs can't. I don't believe that such a system would be in a launch, if it existed yet I'm sure this is something ZOS would have mentioned at this point. But as a future update, this is something that definitely should be added in the later months, and could probably be coupled with player housing.

There will be some mods such as coloring mods and user interface and that is all they will allow as far as they have said so far.

i wouldn't mind seeing user generated quests and/or public dungeons. i think it's something that could add to the longevity and elder scrolls feel of the game. but it should stay within the confines of the content created by the devs. i do not want to see warhammer 40k skins or theme in the game.

Well the thing is, I'm sure something like that would make some happy, so all the skins/different textures appear only to you(the mod user). Besides, for anyone else to see the actual skin, they would probably have to download the mod as well.

Nope, wont happen. Its elder scrolls but its online (Paul Sage). There are certain limits coming with that fact

I would say the best bet we have for things like this would be when a player name gets stamped on something they crafted because they are a grandmaster crafter, or if they put player written books into the game. If they allow books that players can write in then the player has the chance that his or her book will be good enough that someone will keep it in their player book library for a very long time. This allows for the possibility that the players name would still be talked about long after they have left the game, which in a sense leaves their "mark" upon the world.

Books that players can write in also allow players to use books as notes in quests to relay information to the players so they know they are on the right track to complete the quest. RP guilds can then create quests that players must complete if they want to join their guild and the quest appears somewhat legit because there are documents/notes to support the quest storyline.

what? im not talking about modding skin texture. im talking about someone writing a few sentences of quest text. or possibly being given the tools to design a small public dungeon. where they can set the layout and put the mobs they choose in it. i don't consider armor texture content.

None of the mods would be public. They couldn't do that. Every piece of generated content would be instanced or client side(meaning only the person using the mods is even aware of it). Then people could put up their mods on like the nexus or something, and if people like it they use it. Having public modding wouldn't work. I've been talking about private from the start of this thread if I wasn't clear about it. I didn't even consider allowing user to make custom architecture, I was thinking more along the lines of a dungeon editor with all the game assets.

i don't know why you are so hung up on mods. you can have user generated content without mods.

Mods are user generated content.....The term "mod" doesn't necessarily mean it has to change something, it merely adds something to the game, or it changes something about the base game. I suppose if ZOS built their own user user creation kit, the additions wouldn't necessarily be mods. To me mods=user generated content because they are created by the user.

the term "mod" is short for moddify. it suggests that the something is changing. user generated content does not have to moddify any game content.