A mod ruined Skyrim for me.

[aozgolo]

I don't get people against mods, I really don't, I can understand choosing not to use them. I've never modded Minecraft despite several awesome ones out there, because vanilla Minecraft still mostly offers what I want from it.

The Elder Scrolls however? Ha! I've easily topped over 100 mods running at once on Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. They definitely enhance the experience, but I will admit they take another layer of understanding to make them work properly.

For running a modded game of TES with over 100 mods you have to use multiple tools like Nexus Mod Manager, Wrye Bash, TESEdit, BOSS, and even then you need to understand about conflicts, dirty edits, load order, dependencies, cleaning, backing up files, and probably more I've forgotten. It's quite a jump, and I can understand someone unfamiliar with these as I initially was being infinitely frustrated by how badly you can butcher your game with mods. However I feel it's all become totally worth it.


OT: I totally agree some mods can make other parts of the vanilla experience very lacking by comparison. There's a companion mod called Vilja for Skyrim that adds a companion with over 1,000+ lines of voiced dialogue. She comments on everything from the random barmaid you just talked to, to the quests you're currently doing, and has her own very extensive quest chain. She's also romanceable and in the latest update, marriable. While it's an incredible mod I can't see myself playing without, it makes playing with vanilla companions like Lydia who has the personality of a doormat, or marrying any of the vanilla spouses who show no sense of empathy towards your character really hard to do.

I remember a mod series for Morrowind that actually enhanced NPC dialogue in every single city, they released it one town at a time, but it overhauled the dialogue in ways that gave every NPC real character and life, and sometimes even their own quests you could help them do. Unfortunately with Oblivion and Skyrim's voiced dialogue, overhauls like that are somewhat less possible, though I wouldn't mind a mod that redid everyone's voice if it gave every character the depth of range that Interestng NPCs did.

 

[Tiamat666]

Yes, Interesting NPC's is a great mod, but it doesn't hurt my perception of standard Skyrim NPCs. I see it as in real life: with some people you have more involved relationships and you talk more because the "chemistry" is right. With most people out there you don't talk much at all.

OT: I totally agree some mods can make other parts of the vanilla experience very lacking by comparison. There's a companion mod called Vilja for Skyrim that adds a companion with over 1,000+ lines of voiced dialogue. She comments on everything from the random barmaid you just talked to, to the quests you're currently doing, and has her own very extensive quest chain. She's also romanceable and in the latest update, marriable. While it's an incredible mod I can't see myself playing without, it makes playing with vanilla companions like Lydia who has the personality of a doormat, or marrying any of the vanilla spouses who show no sense of empathy towards your character really hard to do.

I recently started my 2nd -all mods in- Skyrim playthrough, after getting all the DLC. After playing through almost all of Oblivion with Vilja, I obviously had to install her for Skyrim. I let her tag along at the beginning, but now I find myself frequently leaving her at home, opting for standard followers or "Interesting NPC's" followers, because she will just not shut up. I set her chatter time to the maximum with the settings, but she still comments on anything from her hairstyle to the creepyness of a dungeon every 30 seconds. It's aggravating.

It doesn't help that, while the mod is certainly very well made, her voice is unfortunately somewhat annoying.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I don't get people against mods, I really don't, I can understand choosing not to use them. I've never modded Minecraft despite several awesome ones out there, because vanilla Minecraft still mostly offers what I want from it.

The Elder Scrolls however? Ha! I've easily topped over 100 mods running at once on Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. They definitely enhance the experience, but I will admit they take another layer of understanding to make them work properly.

For running a modded game of TES with over 100 mods you have to use multiple tools like Nexus Mod Manager, Wrye Bash, TESEdit, BOSS, and even then you need to understand about conflicts, dirty edits, load order, dependencies, cleaning, backing up files, and probably more I've forgotten. It's quite a jump, and I can understand someone unfamiliar with these as I initially was being infinitely frustrated by how badly you can butcher your game with mods. However I feel it's all become totally worth it.


OT: I totally agree some mods can make other parts of the vanilla experience very lacking by comparison. There's a companion mod called Vilja for Skyrim that adds a companion with over 1,000+ lines of voiced dialogue. She comments on everything from the random barmaid you just talked to, to the quests you're currently doing, and has her own very extensive quest chain. She's also romanceable and in the latest update, marriable. While it's an incredible mod I can't see myself playing without, it makes playing with vanilla companions like Lydia who has the personality of a doormat, or marrying any of the vanilla spouses who show no sense of empathy towards your character really hard to do.

I remember a mod series for Morrowind that actually enhanced NPC dialogue in every single city, they released it one town at a time, but it overhauled the dialogue in ways that gave every NPC real character and life, and sometimes even their own quests you could help them do. Unfortunately with Oblivion and Skyrim's voiced dialogue, overhauls like that are somewhat less possible, though I wouldn't mind a mod that redid everyone's voice if it gave every character the depth of range that Interestng NPCs did.

I dunno I'm trudging through setting up a few mods with Skyrim at the moment with a friend and while he's having fun tinkering, I am not in the least.

To me the payoff has to be less of a struggle to understand the concept of how something works, not so difficult my brain would explode from the tiniest shred of understanding, because to me that is in no way enjoyable and in turn sours my overall experience, I don't feel as if I'd conquered modding a game, I'd feel more of "why the bloody hell did I just have to go through all that when it could have been structured in a more simple manner?".

I don't always love playing games with mods since certain games can provide good and decent experiences on their own, playing your games without any form of modding is fine and in no way bad or awful or terrible and that's not wrong at all to not want the game to be modded, I don't get why some people press their opinions in saying mods are the only way to game on your games since that's all down to personal preferences.

I enjoy playing vanilla Minecraft, yet someone somewhere on the internet whether it be 1 to 10 people will lay claim that playing modded Minecraft is the only way to play minecraft while claiming it "enhances the experience", yet to myself I feel it does not and I'm in no way wrong because it's my own personal preferences and not a rule to obide by.

Also I shouldn't need to have to mod any of my games in the first place, saying we should use mods technically proves we hardly accept developer rules or what the devs could even do since you're already not happy in any way shape or form to accept any vanilla gameplay, I accept Vanilla minecraft and Skyrim and I shouldn't have to mod the game to enjoy what it has to offer, that's not how I play and I shouldn't be told otherwise.

 

[Seracen]

I wouldn't say the mods providing a better experience was a problem for me. However, I will say that there are a lot of games I simply can't play on console.

KOTOR, KOTOR 2, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dragon Age, and Witcher, among others. Not always just for the mods, loading times are also a factor.

 

[major_chaos]

To me the payoff has to be less of a struggle to understand the concept of how something works, not so difficult my brain would explode from the tiniest shred of understanding, because to me that is in no way enjoyable and in turn sours my overall experience, I don't feel as if I'd conquered modding a game, I'd feel more of "why the bloody hell did I just have to go through all that when it could have been structured in a more simple manner?".

First of all, dial back the victim complex, no one is saying you are bad and wrong for not using mods. That said, there is absolutely nothing complicated about modding 99.99% of games that support modding Skyrim included.

OT: The complete mods make vanilla STALKER unplayable by comparison. As for sequels ruining past games I can't play the first Dead Space anymore because it just feels so clunky compared to DS2.

 

[Olas]

Snip

What a strange coincidence, I just installed the same mod myself yesterday. The only difference is I was very much aware of how bad the npcs were already which is why I sought out the mod to begin with. Vanilla Skyrim barely even qualifies as a finished game as far as I'm concerned, and the characters you run into are just the worst.

"I work with my mother, to sell fruits and vegetables. It's fun most days, but hard work"

"Yes, I know, you run up to me and say that EVERY TIME I enter Whiterun."

She runs past me then backs around.

"I work with my mother, to sell fruits and vegetables. It's fun most days, but hard work"

"STOP SAYING THAT! I DON'T CARE! I NEVER CARED! GO AWAY!"

"I work with my mother, to sell fruits and vegetables. It's fun most days, but hard work"

"Then why don't you do that instead of chasing me around telling me about it, you annoying brat. I'd punch you except if I so much as graze a hair on anyone's head by accident the guards in Whiterun will all immediately start attacking me like I've just declared war on the town."

I walk past a guard

"Let me guess: someone stole your sweetroll"

"Fuck you"

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

First of all, dial back the victim complex, no one is saying you are bad and wrong for not using mods. That said, there is absolutely nothing complicated about modding 99.99% of games that support modding Skyrim included.

OT: The complete mods make vanilla STALKER unplayable by comparison. As for sequels ruining past games I can't play the first Dead Space anymore because it just feels so clunky compared to DS2.

I was never trying to prove a victim complex, just pointing out.

Claiming they are 100% easy is like saying a 5 year old should know how to do everything humanly possible, not everyone can understand everything with ease you should realise.

 

[oversoon]

Interesting NPCs is great. It's like playing a whole new game layered over the main game. It I still like the normal game, but you're right that the mod characters and quests have a totally different level of depth. It's a lot more like getting to know Mass Effect style characters. Also, anyone who likes interesting new characters, you just gotta try Inigo... His situational awareness is awesome, he whispers if you talk to him when sneaking, and he's just got tons of cool features and tuff to say, with the best voice acting I have heard in a mod ever.

 

[Easton Dark]

First of all, dial back the victim complex, no one is saying you are bad and wrong for not using mods. That said, there is absolutely nothing complicated about modding 99.99% of games that support modding Skyrim included.

OT: The complete mods make vanilla STALKER unplayable by comparison. As for sequels ruining past games I can't play the first Dead Space anymore because it just feels so clunky compared to DS2.

I was never trying to prove a victim complex, just pointing out.

Claiming they are 100% easy is like saying a 5 year old should know how to do everything humanly possible, not everyone can understand everything with ease you should realise.

Well then start with something simple.

Texture replacement.

Drag and drop the texture folder into the game's data files folder. Done. Your game is now modded.

Move up to more folders from there, like meshes folders. Then learn what to do with load order. Then you know everything you need to with modding.

 

[jehk]

First of all, dial back the victim complex, no one is saying you are bad and wrong for not using mods. That said, there is absolutely nothing complicated about modding 99.99% of games that support modding Skyrim included.

OT: The complete mods make vanilla STALKER unplayable by comparison. As for sequels ruining past games I can't play the first Dead Space anymore because it just feels so clunky compared to DS2.

I was never trying to prove a victim complex, just pointing out.

Claiming they are 100% easy is like saying a 5 year old should know how to do everything humanly possible, not everyone can understand everything with ease you should realise.

Well then start with something simple.

Texture replacement.

Drag and drop the texture folder into the game's data files folder. Done. Your game is now modded.

Move up to more folders from there, like meshes folders. Then learn what to do with load order. Then you know everything you need to with modding.

For load order just download BOSS [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/6/?].

Its one click to download the mod from the nexus. A double click to activate the mod. Another double click to run BOSS. That's really all it is for me.

EDIT: I also have to click the okay button after the mod is activated.

I think it took more work to post this edit.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

First of all, dial back the victim complex, no one is saying you are bad and wrong for not using mods. That said, there is absolutely nothing complicated about modding 99.99% of games that support modding Skyrim included.

OT: The complete mods make vanilla STALKER unplayable by comparison. As for sequels ruining past games I can't play the first Dead Space anymore because it just feels so clunky compared to DS2.

I was never trying to prove a victim complex, just pointing out.

Claiming they are 100% easy is like saying a 5 year old should know how to do everything humanly possible, not everyone can understand everything with ease you should realise.

Well then start with something simple.

Texture replacement.

Drag and drop the texture folder into the game's data files folder. Done. Your game is now modded.

Move up to more folders from there, like meshes folders. Then learn what to do with load order. Then you know everything you need to with modding.

For load order just download BOSS.

Its one click to download the mod from the nexus. A double click to activate the mod. Another double click to run BOSS. That's really all it is for me.

I know nothing about how to mod. Using the Nexus and a couple of Youtube videos, my game is now heavily modded and runs fine. Seriously, anyone could do it.

 

[thefascistpig]

I cannot play Vanilla Skyrim anymore and I have not been able to play Fallout 3 since playing Fallout New Vegas. I just like Fallout New Vegas so much that going back to play Fallout 3 just bugs me because I miss playing FNV, unoimsayin?

Definitely. The Three-Dog conversation perfectly encapsulates the problem with Bethesda games. New Vegas just kicked 3's ass.

What was the conversation about three dog about again because last time I play fo3 I either killed three dog or skipped over his quest entirely and yeah fnv killed fo3 in writing

 

[thefascistpig]

I don't get all the praise for mods. I really don't. 9 times out of 10 they've been left half-finished for 2+ years. Most of the time they never get fully finished. They are unprofessional, and can hardly be called QA tested. They increase CTD occurrences. Even the big 'fan made' 'unofficial' big patches actually break things even if they fix others. Also, when looking around at mods, there aren't really any significant ones, only naked-women mods and eye candy ones (more plants! but your computer might melt...).

I can list off some things that would be awesome, but don't exist as mods.

Skyrim:

New skills.
More things to do in the world (collectibles, gatherables, treasures, etc.)
New races.
Random encounter bosses, and/or some static bosses that are incredibly difficult.
New gameplay mechanics.
A paper map, like in Oblivion.

What do you see though, when you look at major modding websites? UI improvement mod, naked big boob mods, Sex animation mods, and armor mods that never get finished and are glitchy.

STOP PRAISING MODS, WHEN THEY'VE DONE NOTHING WORTHWHILE FOR A DECADE OR MORE!

Actually the nexus has mods for those just look it up its usually one of the most popular mods there. Ex. Falskar, skyre, perkup, more perks, a better map, moonpath to elsywer. (Yeah I know I spelled it wrong but your pretty much covered so stop hatin yo

 

[Adventurer2626]

I went deep, deep down that rabbit hole. There's no way back for me other than to make an underground bunny kingdom and remember sunlight fondly in my dreams. Mods are a royal pain to wrangle and get to cooperate but it must be worth it for me because I keep doing it. I feel your pain OP.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I cannot play Vanilla Skyrim anymore and I have not been able to play Fallout 3 since playing Fallout New Vegas. I just like Fallout New Vegas so much that going back to play Fallout 3 just bugs me because I miss playing FNV, unoimsayin?

Definitely. The Three-Dog conversation perfectly encapsulates the problem with Bethesda games. New Vegas just kicked 3's ass.

What was the conversation about three dog about again because last time I play fo3 I either killed three dog or skipped over his quest entirely and yeah fnv killed fo3 in writing

"I'm won't help you till you help me. Yeah, those dialogue choices that don't agree with me just lead to me yelling at you and putting you back on the railroad."
Not only that, you as a player are railroaded into the choices where you have to say you actually care about your dad and you have to suck up to the jackass.

 

[Soulrender95]

I'm currently replaying Oblivion a game I really wouldn't touch without mods especially to deal with it's badly implemented level scaling and I found myself constantly looking for more mods during the first two to three days.

the problem isn't the mods are ruining Bethseda games it's the opposite it's adding depth and beauty or just fixing small gripes which seem like obvious fixes or improvements to us as players that I feel we sometimes forget the time it took just to put the basic game together and get all the basic content done.

Of course now the skyrim engine update/rebuild/whatever is done they should be able to spend less time on that for ES6/Fallout 4 and look to the most popular mods to see what could be changed, improved or added.

Should, but won't.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Should, but won't.

>Pretty much all of Skyrim's base game and DLC were based on popular mods/fan requests
>Bethesda doesn't listen to modders/fan requests!

Of course now the skyrim engine update/rebuild/whatever is done they should be able to spend less time on that for ES6/Fallout 4 and look to the most popular mods to see what could be changed, improved or added.

You are aware they said, before even Skyrim came out, that they were going to scrap Creation and make a new engine after using it for only two games?

Creation was only ever intended to be a temporary engine for a game or two while they work on the "new" engine.

 

[ForumSafari]

So I installed the Interesting NPCs mod which is pretty awesome.

Just thought I'd say thanks for that. I installed it just after reading your post and soon bumped into Hjoromir who is kind of funny, I then bumped into Griffith and I honestly don't think I can play this game without the mod now, apparently there's around seventy other NPCs like these two.

Thanks for the heads up on this mod.