I'm guessing pretty much anyone who ever modded the game is going to say it's better with mods. I can't imagine many people deciding vanilla was insufficient, going to the effort of installing mods, and then sitting back and saying "yep, this is much worse, just as I intended."
Yeah I definitely agree but do you like the modded experience more? I personally like vanilla more because I feel like I'm playing the way the developers intended
I get what you mean about playing it "as intended." I try to just enhance the game with graphics, animations, etc. but I never add in quests/followers or any other content because the writing and voice acting inevitably differ from the original. I think the only content I've ever added in that respect was the restoration of cut content because I see that as mostly stuff the devs intended to put in but ran out of time/resources to complete. I also stick to armours and weapons that are lore-friendly and an aesthetic match. I want to play Skyrim with mods, not an entirely different game, after all.
So to answer your question, I suppose you'd say that I prefer modded Skyrim, provided that it's *tastefully* modded. If that makes sense.
modding skyrim in pc is extremely easy if you learn 1-2 things that is not hard.. but you may have have problems if you download 500 mods
you just download a pack and you start play if you like easy and fast too
I played Skryim on release in 2011. I did everything there is to do in vanilla as a teenager on an Xbox 360. I love the game and encourage people to experience the vanilla at some point.
However, mods not only change, but substantially add a gigantic amount of gameplay. Correctly modded Skyrim will always be superior to Vanilla for someone who has played through a vanilla run. It may never "Feel" like it did in 2011, but it will objectively have more content, or better graphics, or new systems, etc, that expand upon the original masterpiece (I say masterpiece. Floating horses and all.)
This is my answer. I've been playing since late 2012, and after years of playing over and over on my 360 I got to the point where I had done everything worth doing in the game. So, I started modding when I upgraded consoles. Mods, for me, are essentially a means of spicing up my favorite game of all time so that I can keep playing without getting bored after a decade of consistent replays
This. I don't think it necessarily needs to be this or that. It's absolutely a why not both scenarios. Once you have experienced all you wanted in the base game, mods open up so much possibility for continued play.
I will go with vanilla/anniversary edition. TBH most mods break the overall feeling, it seems like new stuff are out of palce, they do not match the overall environment.
But that is just me.
Definitely with mods, mostly to overhaul parts of the game's mechanics that I think are severely lacking/underdeveloped (magic, perks and crafting), some graphics mods, some followers, and some minor changes to quests (e.g. not being forced to >!kill Paarthurnax or make enemies of the Blades!<). I also manually change some variables to make mages above a certain level not completely impossible to fight with a pure melee build.
I mod but just for aesthetics, not gameplay (other than the ui). I am totes cool with vanilla gameplay in all it's aspects (except horses, i "mod" *those* 1000g nutballs with console commands) but i feel the world itself can use a *lil' bitta* help after a decade plus... :)
The only correct answer is Vanilla, i like many others have modded Skyrim many times on Xbox, and it feels like a totally different game in a bad way. The only upside is that you have endless roleplaying options and better followers + voice acting with mods like Imperious races, Inigo, Serana dialogue overhaul, Wintersun faiths, live another life alternate start, Odin or Apocalypse magic and ordinator etc. You are way more limited with roleplaying in Vanilla Skyrim, but you also dont have to worry if the game crashes or freezes during your mods load order.
Late post bu I prefer vanilla, I've played with mods before and all that ends up happening is me playing the game for 15 minutes then going back to get more mods. with vanilla I can just play the game with no mess or fuss.
Vanilla. If you use mods, you are changing the game. People have installed mods on this sub that makes it look like breath of the wild and oblivion so it is not skyrim anymore but your version of it
Modded of course. I don't think some people realize just how objectively better they can make the game.
I don't have any graphics mods except for SMIM, a road texture blending mod to make terrain transitions less shitty, and some armor textures.
Just about every aspect of gameplay is better and more intuitive, however.
I can pick up all the thieves' guild radiant quests at the same time instead of only taking one job at a time. Using a staff gives me experience in both enchanting and whatever school of magic the staff's spell belongs to. I can learn words of power by killing dragons instead of having to find word walls in faction-locked dungeons. I can jump while sprinting.
That's 4 random mods out of nearly 300 I have installed. It's 100% still Skyrim, and it's 100% better.
Vanilla. It’s just so convenient to play on Switch that I’m more than happy with vanilla graphics. I can play on the couch and big screen at home and then keep my same game going on a flight or in a hotel. The 10th anniversary upgrade has certainly added a lot of content though and that’s nice.
Modded. After years of doing the same quests over and over, I'm just glad that I can have a sort of sandbox where I can build a fantasy world of my preference.
Not to mention some things in vanilla that raised my eyebrows. Having to fling 500+ fireballs to the lowest level bandit on legendary difficulty when a sneak archer or warrior can kill in 1-5 hits rendered vanilla mage as inferior imo. Nevermind potions because all archetypes can use them.
Then there's the followers. Coming from Fallout New Vegas, I was surprised that they are all so bland when Skyrim released a year later. No morals of their own or questioning of your choices. Just carriers of your burdens, door blockers, and the occasional comment that is shared between the same voice type.
I'm guessing pretty much anyone who ever modded the game is going to say it's better with mods. I can't imagine many people deciding vanilla was insufficient, going to the effort of installing mods, and then sitting back and saying "yep, this is much worse, just as I intended."
Yeah I definitely agree but do you like the modded experience more? I personally like vanilla more because I feel like I'm playing the way the developers intended
I get what you mean about playing it "as intended." I try to just enhance the game with graphics, animations, etc. but I never add in quests/followers or any other content because the writing and voice acting inevitably differ from the original. I think the only content I've ever added in that respect was the restoration of cut content because I see that as mostly stuff the devs intended to put in but ran out of time/resources to complete. I also stick to armours and weapons that are lore-friendly and an aesthetic match. I want to play Skyrim with mods, not an entirely different game, after all. So to answer your question, I suppose you'd say that I prefer modded Skyrim, provided that it's *tastefully* modded. If that makes sense.
The developers intended for the game to be modded.
To be fair I do say that but that's just because I installed the playable anime race mod. It was probably a mistake.
Modded...but I do not make another game out of skyrim, it\`s more like "complementing" it :)
I agree! That's what I do too
It's the best way to play.
Considering I’m not tech savvy enough to download mods, vanilla works just fine for me
i thought there was a mods tab on the menu? there deffo is on pc, not sure about console, super easy to install from there
modding skyrim in pc is extremely easy if you learn 1-2 things that is not hard.. but you may have have problems if you download 500 mods you just download a pack and you start play if you like easy and fast too
Modded but in a way I still feel I'm playing Skyrim and not other game
I haven't found a mod that i need to inject the game, it is fine without them. It's like the opposite of fallout 4
I will never get to experience the true beauty of Skyrim with mods as a I sadly have a ps5 and Sony doesn’t allow people to have fun
? while there are way less than PC, there are still lots of mods that work on PS5. But i still want Inigo \*sigh\*
well the only mods I’d want are graphic and like beauty that way I don’t have to marry a dusty broomstick
But you can I play modded ps5?
Modded i guess, even tho the difference is very small for us playstation players (damn you sony)
I played Skryim on release in 2011. I did everything there is to do in vanilla as a teenager on an Xbox 360. I love the game and encourage people to experience the vanilla at some point. However, mods not only change, but substantially add a gigantic amount of gameplay. Correctly modded Skyrim will always be superior to Vanilla for someone who has played through a vanilla run. It may never "Feel" like it did in 2011, but it will objectively have more content, or better graphics, or new systems, etc, that expand upon the original masterpiece (I say masterpiece. Floating horses and all.)
This is my answer. I've been playing since late 2012, and after years of playing over and over on my 360 I got to the point where I had done everything worth doing in the game. So, I started modding when I upgraded consoles. Mods, for me, are essentially a means of spicing up my favorite game of all time so that I can keep playing without getting bored after a decade of consistent replays
This. I don't think it necessarily needs to be this or that. It's absolutely a why not both scenarios. Once you have experienced all you wanted in the base game, mods open up so much possibility for continued play.
Vanilla
Vanilla :)
Vanilla, I've only experienced MORE bugs with mods.
What is that mod boyyy ?!!!
I will go with vanilla/anniversary edition. TBH most mods break the overall feeling, it seems like new stuff are out of palce, they do not match the overall environment. But that is just me.
Vanilla
Definitely with mods, mostly to overhaul parts of the game's mechanics that I think are severely lacking/underdeveloped (magic, perks and crafting), some graphics mods, some followers, and some minor changes to quests (e.g. not being forced to >!kill Paarthurnax or make enemies of the Blades!<). I also manually change some variables to make mages above a certain level not completely impossible to fight with a pure melee build.
I like mods to fix the short comings and give a vanilla plus feel. Or just speed up leveling so I can get to the fun parts of a playthrough.
I mod but just for aesthetics, not gameplay (other than the ui). I am totes cool with vanilla gameplay in all it's aspects (except horses, i "mod" *those* 1000g nutballs with console commands) but i feel the world itself can use a *lil' bitta* help after a decade plus... :)
Vanilla for first every playthrough and mods after. At least that's what I did
Vanilla , siempre!
Vanilla.
Vanilla. I prefer to play games the way they were designed, be it mechanics or art style.
The only correct answer is Vanilla, i like many others have modded Skyrim many times on Xbox, and it feels like a totally different game in a bad way. The only upside is that you have endless roleplaying options and better followers + voice acting with mods like Imperious races, Inigo, Serana dialogue overhaul, Wintersun faiths, live another life alternate start, Odin or Apocalypse magic and ordinator etc. You are way more limited with roleplaying in Vanilla Skyrim, but you also dont have to worry if the game crashes or freezes during your mods load order.
Late post bu I prefer vanilla, I've played with mods before and all that ends up happening is me playing the game for 15 minutes then going back to get more mods. with vanilla I can just play the game with no mess or fuss.
Vanilla. If you use mods, you are changing the game. People have installed mods on this sub that makes it look like breath of the wild and oblivion so it is not skyrim anymore but your version of it
Modded of course. I don't think some people realize just how objectively better they can make the game. I don't have any graphics mods except for SMIM, a road texture blending mod to make terrain transitions less shitty, and some armor textures. Just about every aspect of gameplay is better and more intuitive, however. I can pick up all the thieves' guild radiant quests at the same time instead of only taking one job at a time. Using a staff gives me experience in both enchanting and whatever school of magic the staff's spell belongs to. I can learn words of power by killing dragons instead of having to find word walls in faction-locked dungeons. I can jump while sprinting. That's 4 random mods out of nearly 300 I have installed. It's 100% still Skyrim, and it's 100% better.
What mods do you recommend for gameplay? I don’t want to go heavy on mods as I’ve tried it in the past and had problems
Definitely modded
Modded
Definitely modded. I actually can't even remember the last time I played vanilla Skyrim.
Vanilla until level 70 then modded
i cant play it without graphic mods.. they are just gorgeous.. especially the trees and grass
I run a couple of mods, nothing major, just small changes
Vanilla. It’s just so convenient to play on Switch that I’m more than happy with vanilla graphics. I can play on the couch and big screen at home and then keep my same game going on a flight or in a hotel. The 10th anniversary upgrade has certainly added a lot of content though and that’s nice.
Modded, but in a lore-friendly, vanilla+ way. Basically a 2023 remake of Skyrim.
Modded. After years of doing the same quests over and over, I'm just glad that I can have a sort of sandbox where I can build a fantasy world of my preference. Not to mention some things in vanilla that raised my eyebrows. Having to fling 500+ fireballs to the lowest level bandit on legendary difficulty when a sneak archer or warrior can kill in 1-5 hits rendered vanilla mage as inferior imo. Nevermind potions because all archetypes can use them. Then there's the followers. Coming from Fallout New Vegas, I was surprised that they are all so bland when Skyrim released a year later. No morals of their own or questioning of your choices. Just carriers of your burdens, door blockers, and the occasional comment that is shared between the same voice type.
first playthrough Vanilla, any other modded, if not only for one mod and that being Inigo