Hi guys!

I've played through Skyrim a few times (well about half of it in total, kept getting side tracked making and adding mods).

When I first played through half the game, it was vanilla. Then I started adding various mods and the game was fresher and more enjoyable. I couldn't imagine playing the game modded from the start through, I feel I would have missed out on the originality of the game. As in what Lydia looks like, how she walks as a man, all the little charms and oddities to love and hate about a game when it's just come out.

I haven't played Morrowind yet and my hubby tells me not to mod it too much, I agree with him. If I don't know what the game is like, how can I decide for myself what needs changing?

A final word. I've noticed that Fallout 4 has a ton of mods to its name already. So the question remains, should people play (at least half of the game) vanilla before deciding to make changes. How do you know you wouldn't love the game as it is if you don't give it a chance to captivate you with its awesome vanilla flavours?!

I believe that we cannot make informed, intelligent choices about which mods to use until we have some experience with a game. The more we know about a game, the better able we are to know what we want to change via modding. The worst thing a player can do is dump a boatload of mods into a game simply because other people use them or recommend them.

There are a few exceptions for players who have experience with other games in the series. For instance I knew that Skyrim's timescale of 20 was going to be too slow for my taste and that I would want to slow it down. I didn't need to play Skyrim to know that.

But, in general, I believe that mods should be added surgically, precisely, to correct specific features we don't like. And to know what we don't like about a game we have to have played it for awhile.

A really valid point When I think about when I first played Skyrim, very few things annoyed me. I didn't notice the 'blocky faces' or 'lack or hairstyles'. I just got on with it and learn't about it. Maybe this was because Skyrim was the first Elderscrolls game I played. When it comes to Morrowind and I'm looking at all the suggested mods for it, I feel like I want to experience the original vanilla vibe first, not various interpretations on what others feel the NPCs should look like

So I defo agree with you

What he said. Agree completely.

I totally agree with Pryson, you need to know what it is you want to mod before you can make an informed choice.

I played for 3 + yr's on 360, so I knew exactly what I wanted to change as soon as I got my PC. Every ones different and likes different things, Other than the Unofficial patches, the majority of my 1st downloads were face & body textures and armors.. why cause to me those were the things I wanted to change most. Scenery or other things might be more important to you, but you have to play before you know.

Amen to this. Not only do you need to know the vanilla game to know what you want or need to correct, but once played, you will know what you would like to enhance and what will 'fit' in your game world/rp.

I don't just play through once without mods, I play it with the default character, to see what the developers had in mind. Only when I find myself disagreeing, or wanting more, do I add mods.

The second game is likely to be a naked, axe-wielding, female Orc barbarian, just because.

Is it even legal to agree completely with P.W.?

Yeah, I do too.

And that's in Fallout!

You can save yourself a lot of embarassment if you can tell apart vanilla from mods before you post about issues with your game.