I like mods because I enjoy playing with them. It's as simple as that. I was done with Skyrim after about 150 hours. Mods will salvage it for me.

That's a bit of a harsh statement, I don't think people would bother modding a game where they don't like the core experience. SkyUI is a bit of an exception I suppose because you spend a great deal of time interacting with the interface.

Because then I might actually garner some of the entertainment I should have gotten originally.

Your not a RP'er then. You won't understand...

on the surface i fully agree with this statement. but what needs to be taken into consideration is what exactly is being modded? most mods i see (and have used) are for expanding on the game world. expanding on the game world is a sign people want more of the game. this is a good thing.

it's when mods adress fundamental aspects of a game the developer needs to take notice. when a criticism of content or depth arise and the response is 'wait for mods' this is a failure on beth's part. when it takes mods to fix bugs and other issues that must've been obvious in testing, this is a failure on beth's part.

when the most popular mods are changes to the core game mechanics, then i agree, the reliance on mods reflects a poor product. when the most popular mods are expansions and additions then i would say that is a sign the game is extremely well liked and the consumer wants more.

Let me break down why mods are awesome.

Someone released a mod called "Glowing Ore Veins" so they are easier to spot. People loved the mod and downloaded it.

If Bethesda had released Skyrim with ore veins glowing someone would have released a mod "Non-Glowing Ore Veins". The fact is, no matter what Bethesda does, different gamers have different opinions on what they do and do not like.

Therefore mods are the empowerment of the gamer. And I embrace it.

That's exactly it. Bethesda provides a game that they think will appeal to their audience, and they have to make choices. But any individual may have their own ideas of what they like and what they don't like. That's where mods come in.

Mods that add something like New Vegas's hardcoe mode, where you have to keep track of hunger/thirst/sleep levels. Or make the game harder in other ways. Or add new companions and quests. There'll be tons of player house mods, for people not satisfied with the currently available houses.

It allows you to customize the game to your liking, and adds a ton of replayability because you can completely change how the game plays, or simply add more content to play with.

Some things Bethesda just doesn't have the time/resources for. Like developing one super in depth companion with lots of quests, thousands of fully voice acted lines, and packed with all sorts of cool features. Bethesda can't justify spending that amount of time and resources to make a single companion, because companions aren't the focus of the game. They will never create a companion with the depth of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOoXNfKg9s&feature=related for Oblivion. But modders can.

Modding is like a game in itself. The game is great and everything, but modding is something more than playing a game. Modding is like being part of the games production without having to answer to a director.

If you ever got a set of legos just to make the castle you already built even cooler, then you know what I'm talking about.

ever play oblivion? ever play shivering isles? remember you could order a dancing girl to jiggle about for you in the throne room? i made myself a mod that made her naked. why? because i could. mods and modders are why morrowind is still alive today. you can play that game for years and have it be a different experience every time.

Of course modding is highly illegal, that's why software companies give us the means to modify their programs, like the CK or GECK. Because it's illegal.

I use mods to make the graphics and ui better, because the vanilla graphics are low-resolution (for consoles) and the vanilla ui is consolised.

Okay, but can you post a link to some of those other threads? Having trouble finding them. Thanks.

It is, but I think there's a ring of truth to it too -- even if not the whole of it.
I've lost count on how many times I've seen people state (pre-release) that they won't be buying if the mod tools aren't coming along, count in all this [censored]ing here about how broken and shallow the game is, and the neverending pleas for the modtools release so that people can start fixing things, and you can definitely say that the core out of the box experience is lacking.

Yep, entirely the point. So far I've seen several posts that entirely do not understand modding, so I'm going to throw a few ideas out there.

First, your example. I really enjoyed the start of the game. I've done it 3 times. And now I'm just about done with that part. 2 or 3 years from now, when I've picked up the game again (after taking a break for a year or so), I might want to redo the introduction. But the next few times I play Skyrim, I don't need it, I don't want it, it's turning into an annoying scripted, no-control half hour of my life that I want back. Mods can fix that. How is that not a good thing? (BTW, mods being what they are, eventually there will be options to skip the intro and still do the MQ, or to skip the intro and MQ entirely).

Second, random other examples. Mods can bring the graphics up to 2012 standards or beyond. Mods (will) fix thousands of bugs that BGS will never address. Mods will be built by people with actual experience in medieval combat to enhance the combat experience. Mods may be built by people so that it's possible to really play a pacifist character if that's what you want.

Mod will add hundreds of new armors and weapons to the game. Many will be atrocious, some will be better than anything in the vanilla game.

There will be literally tens of thousands of mods, covering everything that you can imagine and more. Many will be sloppy and poor quality, hundreds, maybe even a few thousand will be unbelievably professional.

I understand that occasionally a mod will come out that fixes something so fundamental that you wonder why BGS didn't do it in the first place, but a lot of it comes down to personal taste. And BGS has time and money constraints that aren't shared by tens of thousands of obsessed modders.

Modding is definitely a core component of the TES and Fallout series by now, that much is true. But a completely hopeless game couldn't be fixed even with mods, unless you were to do a total conversion (Oblivion actually has two very amazing total conversion mods)

THIS. Plus well I think its rather sneaky and smart of Bethesda to crowd-source the finer tunings and enormous variety of customization that some people strive for. I love that I can visit the nexus and find some mod that'll increase the texture detail of the chicken mobs or transform Alduin into Macho man randy savage. This has been probably the strongest thing going for all of the Bethesda titles: That you can play the game as the developers intended and if you want you go out and find all kinds of neat new content, for free, from avid fans who wish to extend the game's experience in all kinds of ways.

from what i can see its to get the game working

because bethesda have released a product whiich is BROKEN

if your reading this and your wondering if you should buy the game

i would seriously advise you to pick something which is not made by bethesda because they have to this day released anything which works good

and i mean nothing

im finished with skyrim im uninstalling and im going to throw the cd in the bin
its useless


utter garbage

Because they can.

I myself don't find the appeal in it. Too much maintenance, requirements and hours wasted on downloading conflicting mods.

LOL... I thought this too, mods are only illegal if you use things you dont own, I own skyrim so I can mod it but I cant rip something from a Dawn of war game and put it in skyrim and release it because I would be giving away things i dont own...
ESP's only change things they dont add things ( you know what i mean by add things) and if they do add any meshes or textures there normally hand made by the modder which the modder then owns and gives for free... once again WRP has awsome hand made text's. and the meshes and texts arnt even in with the esp at the there Separate.

-BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!

LOL No... tell us how you REALLY feel...

-Loth

Why some people mod:

- To fix an annoynce. (for example, Horses jumping into fights when you'd rather then just stay back)
- Disagree with a design within the game. ( Maybe your some historical reenactor who knows how a two handed word behaves when used, or maybe you think something is overpowerd.)
- Fix a bug, or percieved bug.
- To ehance and make the game they love even better. (The devs aren't going to make it perfect in all aspects, the game is just too large)
- For the technical challenge. (Some people just like to tinker and see the results)
- For the reward. (some people like making mods for the fame they get within a community, or they just like helping people to enjoy the game better)

edit: Also, modding a game is not illeagal. Infact, Modding is encourged by developers of many games. In some games, the developers will become actively involved.

Do you like relish on your hotdogs? Ketchup? Mustard? Onions? Chili?

Well, in the game industry they look at percentages. If 60% of potential customers only like ketchup and mustard on their hot dog. They will make all their hot dogs with ketchup and mustard.

Some of us don't like mustard, and prefer onions. We mod a game to remove the mustard(stuff we don't like) and add the chili or onions(the good stuff). For a game like Skyrim which was produced to appeal to the widest possible population with the lowest possible platform capabilities, it is up to the modders to bring the game up to par with current technology as well as customize its "flavor" to each individual.

If you like the hot dog with its factory finish perfectly measured amount of ketchup and mustard, then don't use mods. They aren't a requirement, just don't harp on the people who don't like mustard.

From my experience on alternate start mods, the MQ is still there, it just doesn't start at the beginning. You need to go and start it yourself.


*nods furiously* I wouldn't have bought Skyrim at full price if no modding tools were coming. Beth is great at creating worlds, but not much else unfortunately

Only some companies. There's a couple of games distributors that have a real issue with modding games under their banner, and developers who want to allow it have to jump through hoops.

The issue tends to centre on modifications that may raise the potential censorship rating of the game...for example, nearly a month after release the anti-video game and 'extreme faith' lobbies in Australia started kicking up a fuss that Skyrim was being modded with uber violence, six, drugs and nudity, and several of the law makers in the country stated they would look into it, and perhaps the game needed it's rating reviewed (yes, we are a democracy here, but only when it suits our lords and masters)..so far that seems to have fizzled out though. However, late last year a 'blood pack' dlc was released for Creative Assembly's Shogun 2, which also hit the news as promoting uber violence...Steam pulled the dlc from Australian release.

Sauce for the mod bit? Interested.