I never used any mods in morrowind, mind you that there werent many mods for morrowind back when it was still new.

The only mod's I've been using for skyrim are:

Unofficial Skyrim patch - for bug fixes etc
SkyUI - Just makes the UI PC friendly, I don't feel like it has an impact on gameplay.
Categorized Favorites Menu.
Realistic Lighting with Customization - Just affect how the game looks slightly.

But then there is, tons and tons of other mods that I feel affect the actuall gameplay and balance and for and after my last playthrough I've been looking into some of them, but I get this feeling and I don't want to use them.

I know it is a singleplayer game - thing is, no matter how much I love RPG's, I'm not a true roleplayer person - as in I enjoy the rpg element of games, creating a character - making the choices as you progress etc - And obviously I'm a big fan of fantasy.

Basicly I'm more gamer then I am roleplayer. It's hard to explain but the way I see it I basicly play games because I want to experience a title, and I want to beat it and ofcourse have fun along the way. Not sure if any of this makes sense lol.

Lets put it this way - I could never enjoy playing my own game if I was a developer. When I've been playing MMOrpg's I have never really came to the forums to try and ask the developers to change the game to my liking - I want their product and I want to the best I can using their rules. For example if a certaint class is not considered very good for pvp but I want to play that class, I'm not gonna go on the forums and ask them to change it, instead I want to manage to play it well.

I'm aware of that all this might be considered slightly irrelevant but I have no better way of explaining it, this is what I came up with trying to understand why I have a hard time using mods.

I guess if I was more of a roleplay person I could enjoy myself in an RPG no matter what.

Lately I've also installed Deadly Dragons and Plutos Improved Skyrim Experience - both which aims to make the game harder.

With my new character I'm trying to play a bard (the way I see them in fantasy RPG's) - And I know I could install playable instruments and armed to to teeth so I could run around with a lute on my back. But playable instruments alters the game balance, it adds a weapon and it adds other ways of using illusion magic - something that I would really have liked to see in vanilla tho as I'm a big fan of bards.


Yet again another long post with lots of background information and personal thoughts. Maybe somone feel like reading.

The only mod I use that adds content is the Moonpath to Elsweyr.
I use a lot of mods to make the game harder like the legendary dragon mod, deadly dragons and duel - combat realism. Duel is probably my favorite mod because it makes the combat very realistic and fluid. It's faster and the enemies actually block, and try to effectively stagger you, and power attack when you block excessively.

edit: I think you're being a bit 'silly' as you put it with the "altering the game balance" bit, it's just a lute on your back.

I can relate to this. I have Oblivion on PC, but steer clear of modding the game too heavily. There are a number of 'Overhauls' avaliable for the game, but my mods don't extend far beyond a portable tent and a new hairstyle!

I feel like the game is best played in it's 'vanilla' state. Mods, to me, should add to the game but not alter it.

You're not silly. It's a game. You play it the way you get the most fun out of it. I'm almost the opposite of you--I'm very into roleplay, mods, and have no interest whatsoever in beating the game. So I mod and roleplay, because that is what I find fun. Enjoy it the way you like it.

It is up to you really, I feel it is a bit silly not to take a look and try some out... but then I just look for extra content stuff, like quests and dungeons and check comments to see how it has affected other gamers, and a house mod- I don't use mods which affect the gameplay - there's a massive choice, use what you feel comfortable with - try looking for a house mod that would suit your bard... there's loads of them from cozy small homes to really big ones. I use Barad Mithost myself, and the game wouldn't be the same without it...

It all comes down to choice, The overhaul mods for Oblivion for example (OOO,MMM,Francesco's) added a fantastic amount of content, fixes & changes but i had to put in the effort to make it work, It could easily break your game as well as enrich it enormously.

These days i have my must have mods, Body replacers, unofficial patch & weapon fixes/balance/crafting balance mods, no level scaling mods, better followers, RCRN, Then i add subtle mods that keep the experience faithful to the original but a magnitude better & these include extra armours & weapons, No god stuff & absolutely none of the anime/manga nonsense.

It's as much for personal enjoyment as sampling the superb work that modders can create, It is in no way silly not to mod Skyrim but it would be folly not to take a look at some of the mods out there & make subtle changes to the core experience.

Graphic and interface enhancement mods are often installed on my Oblivion and Skyrim installations. A lot of other mods just feel over the top. Especially magic mods that add a ton of gold-flashing 100 feet aoe spells are way over the top for me or new house mods with purple furniture...

Other than that, there are some interesting castles and houses available as mods that I would easily pay for if I had to.
Favorite Oblivion castle I would gladly pay for as a commerical mod: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2UNn6PDyuI

Makes perfect sense, and there's nothing wrong with it either. Sometimes, that's exactly what I do - play a game just to experience it and beat it.

I only use two Skyrim mods (that other people have created): Sounds of Skyrim, and an excellent weapon pack that has superb scimitars (though I can't remember the name right now).

For other tweaks (like fixing the Proudspire Manor door and treasure chest, or adding arrows and certain armors to the crafting menu), I do that myself.

This

I have no problem with playing a mod that aims to create a new game (stand-alone) using another game / engine. Because then, to me it's just another game.. also I don't mind added content as long as its isolated from the vanilla world, lets say a third party expansion.


I figured roleplayers enjoyed mods. Being a huge rpg fan but not a true roleplayer - I aproach games as a challenge, and RPG's are just perfect for this as you can play the game in so many ways. To me, most mods feels like cheating. Games are to streamlined and easy as it is nowdays in my opinion.

But I can absolutely see how mods can add to roleplaying for people that are in to that.

I remember trying to roleplay with friends back when EverQuest 2 first came out, wasnt my thing lol - quests took at least twice as long to complete.

I did however write very detailed descriptions for my character back when I was playing MUD's (Multi User Dungeon - text based rpg's for thoes that don't know) and tried to play them accordingly.

Yes you're silly. With mods any TES game is so much better

I only run 3 small mods, No NPC Greetings, House Teleport and Crates and Barrels. Other than that, the game is stock.

For oblivion i only used a few mods that would either improve performance or gameplay.Not a big fan of complete overhaul.

To each their own.

Personally, I mod my games quite heavily. I find it to be one of the most appealing features of Bethesda game, in fact. It allows me to personalize my experience. And not just for roleplaying. It allows me to make the game harder in ways the difficulty slider can't and that simply makes the game more enjoyable. And that's on top of the graphical, audio and UI mods that also enhance the experience. On top of that, they allow me to expand the games beyond what just the DLCs will provide. I can add quests, towns (new and expanded), dungeons, etc.

I find it just makes the game much more enjoyable.

As for roleplaying, I've always felt that true roleplaying is a group activity. It just isn't the same in a single player game.

You are totally selling yourself short. One of the best features of the PC version is the extension of story and game-play virtually doubling or tripling total play time. My current rig can't handle Skyrim so I got it for PS3 and was saddened when new fun ended in March. Of course I went back to the modding fun of Oblivion and the FO's until the GOY edition forSkyrim comes out. Gettin me a new rig then.