Poll: PC gamers: How long before you mod a Bethesda game?

[AngryBritishAce]

Well I was watching a video by the Yogscast where they were covering the Skyrim gameplay footage. Whilst watching it, they observed both pros and cons about the demo, however, when they saw something they disliked (for example, the Font and the UI looking too futuristic) they would often say "well we'll just have to mod it out later." Sure, modding BAD things out of a game is good, however, it did make me think about how many of Bethesda's fans actually play their games for JUST the game.

Now this idea did not just come from two men talking about faults in the vanilla game, nor am I anti-modding, I love to mod Oblivion and Fallout, but this thought has stayed with me for quite some time. A few months ago, I was watching a fallout 3 video. On the comments section, what seemed to be a troll claimed Bethesda's games were total shit, and that they are only good because they can be easily modded. I replied saying that Bethesda's games were great, however soon I was flamed by three or so more users claiming how bad their games are.

As well as this, I always come across people who share the same or similar views, and I sometimes question whether people really like bethesda's games, or just what other people can do to change them.

Thankfully, only a hand full of people share those views, and like I said, I'm not against modding. But I think it's stupid how some people can just install the game and imediatly mod it so much soon it's hard to recognise the game.

So be honest; how long before you HAVE to mod a bethesda game? And do you believe that they NEED to be modded to get complete satisfaction?

Here's the link to the Yogscast video if you are interested. If any Yognau(gh)ts are watching, I am dave, ect ect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlLVlRFTgr0&feature=channel_video_title

 

[Ryotknife]

I have yet to mod a Bestheda game, and i have Oblivion and FO:NV

 

[New Troll]

I modded the heck out of Morrowind after I gave up trying to finish it through all the bugs. That game crashed on me sooo very many times pre-mods. Never modded any others. Never felt the need, nor desire. Voted when I get bored for it sounds the most like me.

 

[Spaghetti]

I'm not really one for modding anything, not just Bethesda's stuff. I know that Mods can improve on things and open up new stuff to do in a game, but I like my games how I like my ice cream: Vanilla.
[sub]Actually I prefer Stracciatella Ice Cream, but my point remains the same[/sub]

 

[jpoon]

Generally within the first couple days or a week or two at the most and I will start looking for mods. I generally don't wait till I beat a game. Also the fact that every single Bethesda game is made 100% better with the right mods.

I will never understand then "I only play it the way devs intended." mentality, that's just limiting the game and the enjoyment too much for me.

 

[Rawne1980]

I can't help myself.

I start playing then see something I want to change or I feel like adding some of my own armour or a new house somewhere.

I spent 6 months on Oblivion going through every single NPC and changing things up on them to make them more "unique".

Once I start making mods I struggle to stop myself.

I add a few mods made by the other guys at the Nexus aswell, some of them are really good.

I can never play a game like that just for the game. Modding it is most of the fun for me. And that is why I don't buy many games. If a game comes out I can't mod or "tweak" up a bit then I probably won't buy it at all.

I like games where I can do whatever the hell I want and go wherever the hell I want. With games like Fallout 3, New Vegas, Morrowind and Oblivion you can add all kinds of things. From new lands to HD textures down to little things like a new Sword or changing the UI a little bit.

There are no restrictions to what you can do.

I do try to play the game mod free first but i've only managed it with Morrowind. Not because I wanted to play it through first but because I was only just learning mods at the time and playing as I made them so got through the game before i'd finished my first one (which was only an armour set but took me ages to get it how I wanted ... and then get it to work in the game ... in hindsight I should have used tutorials).

I didn't get far into New Vegas or Oblivion before I started. With so many bugs and patches not coming through quick enough for me I started to fix them myself, then added a few things, then added some more. It builds up pretty quick. By the time i'd got anywhere in the game they no longer resembled the original games completely.

And thats why I love those games. It's why I appreciate Bathesda releasing them and allowing us to do what we do.

We enjoy the games but we like to add our own touches, not many games let you do that.

For instance, the Oblivion I play will look nothing like anyone elses. My armour is my own, my weapons are my own and my house is my own. The NPC's have all been changed, new towns, buildings and creatures have been added and the textures have been vastly improved.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

I don't even get any of their games until they've been out for long enough that they have a bunch of official patches out plus a bunch of unofficial patches/mods out to fix the inevitable slew of bugs/quirks/things that irritate me at launch. I consider their games unplayable at launch and barely tolerable a couple years later after much patching, and then mildly amusing with a metric squidload of mods, so I wait until their next game is nearly out before even buying the previous one on sale. I think I installed 20GB of mods for Oblivion before I even started playing.

 

[Sam Eskenazi]

I only mod to get rid of the whole leveling system in Oblivion because, quite frankly, I could never get to grips with it.

Also, I am Dave, Yognaught, and I have the balls.

 

[Irridium]

I mod 'em after I beat the main story. Mostly.

If the game is really poorly optimized and crashes all the damn time, like Oblivion, you bet your ass I'm installing whatever crash-prevention mod I can.

After I beat the main quest, I mod the hell out of it.

Playing the game is fun. But modding it, transforming it, morphing it into something your own, something wholly unique, something to specifically suit your tastes... getting all the different mods to finally work together...

I make it mine, truly mine.

There's just nothing better.

I still play as the developer intended. For the first time. After that, it's open-season.

I can't help myself.

I start playing then see something I want to change or I feel like adding some of my own armour or a new house somewhere.

I spent 6 months on Oblivion going through every single NPC and changing things up on them to make them more "unique".

Once I start making mods I struggle to stop myself.

I add a few mods made by the other guys at the Nexus aswell, some of them are really good.

I can never play a game like that just for the game. Modding it is most of the fun for me. And that is why I don't buy many games. If a game comes out I can't mod or "tweak" up a bit then I probably won't buy it at all.

I like games where I can do whatever the hell I want and go wherever the hell I want. With games like Fallout 3, New Vegas, Morrowind and Oblivion you can add all kinds of things. From new lands to HD textures down to little things like a new Sword or changing the UI a little bit.

There are no restrictions to what you can do.

I do try to play the game mod free first but i've only managed it with Morrowind. Not because I wanted to play it through first but because I was only just learning mods at the time and playing as I made them so got through the game before i'd finished my first one (which was only an armour set but took me ages to get it how I wanted ... and then get it to work in the game ... in hindsight I should have used tutorials).

I didn't get far into New Vegas or Oblivion before I started. With so many bugs and patches not coming through quick enough for me I started to fix them myself, then added a few things, then added some more. It builds up pretty quick. By the time i'd got anywhere in the game they no longer resembled the original games completely.

And thats why I love those games. It's why I appreciate Bathesda releasing them and allowing us to do what we do.

We enjoy the games but we like to add our own touches, not many games let you do that.

For instance, the Oblivion I play will look nothing like anyone elses. My armour is my own, my weapons are my own and my house is my own. The NPC's have all been changed, new towns, buildings and creatures have been added and the textures have been vastly improved.

Oh look, someone said what I was trying to say and did much better. Awesome.

Yeah, pretty much what he said. And the best part of all this is that it is optional. That's the true strength of the PC, you have options. You can go all-out and mod everything, changing them into whatever you want. Or you could not, and just play as-is. Or anything in-between.

That is why I love playing on the PC.

 

[sextus the crazy]

There's so much content in bethesda's games that I don't ever get to a point where I feel modding is necessary.

 

[Dimitriov]

Aside from Bethesda's official mods? Not at all really...

In Morrowind I tried some housing mods and tried to make some extra content areas myself (they were horrible).

In Oblivion... Spell delete. That's it, and I certainly don't need it, it's just more convenient.

 

[babinro]

I don't use mods with few exceptions for convenience.

Dragon Age 2 I used a mod that added auto-run and toggled items I could pick up rather than holding the key. Features that should have been in the game to begin with. I'll apply similar mods to Skyrim if necessary. Otherwise I always prefer the game as the developers intended.

More likely I'll use cheat codes to save time when playing the game. For example I frequently use a cheat to enable near unlimited encumbrance as I find there's no fun at all in bringing equipment back and fourth from dungeons to cities.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

When I finish my run on my PS3 copy, upgrade my PC, rebuy skyrim for PC and get less crappy internet, then I will mod Skyrim.

For oblivion I didn't mod until around 300 hours of play, then I modded to hell and back and started a new game... 200 hours and counting (Should I be ashamed?)

I modded Morrowind with Morrowind-2011 mod compilation. Awesome stuff.

I never modded Fallout 3 though in comparison to Oblivion, I only played it for less then half the time (100 hours, maybe less).

I modded New Vegas (yeah I know, it's Obsidian but whatever) just to get some Clint Eastwood Western themed weapons and clothing. But that was after 40-50 hours of play.

I mod eventually, more often then not and they ARE worth it. But I savour the flavour of the vanilla version first. It makes the mods all the more sweeter.

 

[ViralBiae]

However long it's gonna take to get a Dragon Rider mod.

 

[sms_117b]

I like one play through on Vanilla, but most of the mods I get arn't very intrusive on the main game, few new items, new textures, new quests and I'm happy. If I find one half way through and I think, "oh wow!" I'll download it, caalogue it in my mods folder (because i'm that cool) and apply it later

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

However long it's gonna take to get a Dragon Rider mod.

hah yes, exactly my thoughts.


OT: If i get the game on release, then i play the game without any mods first, just to enjoy that initial vanilla experience...

but after that?

i mod that thing so damn much you wouldn't even be able to tell it is THAT game.

 

[The Lunatic]

Varies really.

Generally after first play through, or until I get bored or want something changed badly.

 

[evilneko]

Why bother playing on PC if I'm not gonna mod it? Leaving aside the fact that I don't even own a console...

I played FO3 modless until I discovered the nexus. I don't quite remember how long that was. I don't think it was very long, maybe a couple weeks at most.

Oblivion I modded instantly because I heard the experience/leveling system sucked. [small]Unfortunately it's not the leveling system that killed the game for me...it was the dull as fuck environment and combat.[/small]

NV I modded right off the bat because I wanted to recreate my FO3 character.