I don't get the appeal of mods

[Undeniablybiased]

I don't get the appeal for a first playthrough or for new games. But the older a game gets, the more meaningful and interesting the idea becomes. Stuff like randomizers is a great example. Breathing new life into and old game. And of course all the stuff that's been going on with marvel va capcom games.

 

[empo]

I can't remember the last time I used a mod that wasn't some kind of QoL thing

but I also don't care that Alatreon Genitalia (Cock or Pussy) exist

 

[Lotus]

Man I hear you but those 7th heaven mods for FF7 is dope.

Click to shrink...

Messing with this right now as we speak. As someone that didn't really care to use mods (but wasn't a dick about it like OP wants to be apparently), I get the appeal now as a first time dabbler.

 

[Lamine]

Imagine playing skyrim without mods

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Skip the Fade

You're welcome.

 

[chrominance]

One of the most popular games in the world started as a mod.

I'm talking about Team Fortress 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about DOTA 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about Counterstrike.

 

[CognitiveAtrophy]

In terms of additional content, I tend to agree. It's often poorly written and tonally dissonant.

QOL mods and fan patches on the other hand are lifelines. If I couldn't set up buffing macros in Pathfinder, I'd probably never play the game again.

 

[Edward]

Generally outside of performance/bug fix fan patches i generally like to play games in their vanilla form but then some games like Project Zomboid and Rimworld can be significantly improved with mods (i generally stick with Vanilla+ mods) and mods gave us GTA RP which is probably my favorite thing to happen in gaming in the last 20 years.

Also Counter-Strike.

 

[aisback]

Mods here aren't that bad...

Seriously i like them especially when they fix issues with games

 

[Melhadf]

Play on CD on win95, with software renderered, in a 320x240 window, using invasive anti-cheat like the developer intended.

Seriously OP, that is a very biased poll.

 

[AIan]

Most mods clash too hard with the original vision. It doesn't feel right. Even when the devs include the mods it feels wrong.

 

[Gelf]

Black Mesa is an excellent fan made remake of Half Life 1. For most of its long development life it was "just" a Half Life 2 mod. Did it suddenly only become an acceptable product once Valve gave them the ok to sell their work? Now only because money is exchanging hands we can accept all this work as developer intention and not "janky content"?

I swear some people have a weird reaction to knowing that hobbyist content that they don't have to interact with in any way exists.

 

[AuthenticM]

TC, I guarantee you that there are some romhacks out there for old console games that, if you tried them, would make you think to youself "I can no longer play the game without this mod".

 

[Scarface]

nice poll options.

you do realize that mods can exist to FIX jank, right?

there are dozens and dozens of unofficial patches out there.

 

[Xando]

There are some incredible mods for game likes rimworld or the paradox games

 

[Fnnrqwin]

You have my sword, OP.

 

[Devilgunman]

I truly understand stand the appeal of mods but at the same time I can give 0 fck about them. I don't have time and patience to tinker on games. Instead i just keep playing as many games as possible.

 

[diablogg]

Ohh another one I forgot about, randomizing where Pokemon spawn. Part of the appeal of Pokemon games to me is not knowing what Pokemon you're gonna find in a grass patch (doubly so if you want to play with Nuzlocke rules) so it never really made sense to me to replay the handheld games since I had a pretty good idea of what was going to spawn where.

Now I do a run about once or twice a year.

 

[SofNascimento]

I'm sorry OP. Polls are sacred, and you have sinned.

 

[Burt]

all the best games are mods

 

[Kinthey]

Baldurs Gate 3 has great custom hair options but why wouldn't i want even more hair options? And they blend in perfectly with the rest of the game

 

[KainXVIII]

* They aren't what the developers intended

Click to shrink...

Why should we care? And developers can fuck up a lot of things that modders can easily fix 🤣

 

[NefariousDragon]

Terrible poll options lol

Frankly, I don't understand folks who put developers on such pedestals as to think everything they do or conceive is extraordinary or divine. Take stamina bars for example, or rather don't since they're a most horrendous addition. What do they actually add to the gaming experience? Literally their sole purpose is just to slow down the fun. Horizon Zero Dawn didn't have but its sequel did and is the worse game for it. But given the copy cat nature of the industry, it's showing up everywhere now.

Seriously, I doubt Bethesda's intended vision was for their games to be janky, buggy, broken messes but they are. And without selfless modders doing what the company won't, which is to say, fix the mess, some of their games would be nigh on unplayable. And that's just one example.

 

[Bizkit Krueger]

I got deep into reading about/playing super metroid romhacks recently and it's like a whole other world out there

people are basically wizards, it's amazing

 

[poptire]

Sometimes mods are imperative. Like I couldn't imagine trying to play Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines without fan patches/mods.

But yeah, content mods are mostly something I stay away from. I love fan enthusiasm but enthusiasm =/= talent sometimes.

 

[JG_Lionheart]

Do romhacks like getting Mega Man 5 GB color support count? Or making Breath of Fire 2 SNES more bearable with it's insane high encounter rate? Then sorry OP, no, I love me some modding.

Like I'm sorry if it wasn't for mods, we wouldn't have gotten Horse Armor.

 

[JG_Lionheart]

I got deep into reading about/playing super metroid romhacks recently and it's like a whole other world out there

people are basically wizards, it's amazing

Click to shrink...

oh if you can point me towards some good Super Metroid romhacks I'd appreciate it!

 

[ghibli99]

I like setting them up and getting everything just right vs. actually playing them. It's kinda like hacking/homebrew. I like the process, but spend a lot less time actually enjoying the results of the effort. 😂

 

[Sabortin]

It's funny you mention that mods are often buggy. Most of the mods I download are to *fix* bugs in the game. You can also just not download the weird mods.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[viral]

One of the most popular games in the world started as a mod.

I'm talking about Team Fortress 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about DOTA 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about Counterstrike.

Click to shrink...

In addition, the highly popular survival and battle royal genres wouldn't exist either without starting out as mods first

 

[dom]

One of the most popular games in the world started as a mod.

I'm talking about Team Fortress 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about DOTA 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about Counterstrike.

Click to shrink...

Also the Battle Royale genre.
Minecraft Hunger Game mods and ARMA III BR mod

 

[texhnolyze]

There a lot of lore friendly mods, while some other mods can fix the game which actually make it more playable, stable, and perform better than vanilla.

Mods are like expanded options for games, you choose what you want out of your game.

 

[M. Wallace]

Mods are great. I don't care what the devs intended.

 

[mordecaii83]

Mods can make an older game like Skyrim look like a game made this decade, they can fix bugs the developers never bothered fixing or add QoL features that are greatly beneficial, and they can add new content and massively extend the life of the game. Sure there are lots of bad mods but there are also a ton of really great mods that in some cases match or exceed the quality of the main game.

OP sounds like someone with a grudge against mods for some reason. Also the poll wording is dumb.

 

[KujoJosuke]

OP you should let this thread die and maybe try posting it again in 3 days

 

[Rosebud]

Imagine playing skyrim without mods

Click to shrink...

300 hours, no regrets

 

[carlsojo]

I'm the same way OP. Mods just feel weird to me.

 

[nsilvias]

its netherrealms creative vision to have cutscenes with 32 kbps quality audio that sounds like its haunted by ghosts becauae of all the audio artifacts from the extreme compression in the steam pc version leftover from the physical release of Mortal Kombat 9. it would be sacrilogous to mod the ps3 bluray quality cutscenes into the game

 

[Nessus]

* They are often buggy
* You have to worry about mods breaking or even breaking the game when said game is officially updated
* They make the game feel stitched together and usually have inconsistent visuals
* They aren't what the developers intended
* They are the equivalent of fan fiction
* Caked up anime women in Fallout

Click to shrink...

Most recent mods I've used were for Fallout 4 VR.

The first one adjusted my player height so I could play while sitting down. The developers intended that you had to always be standing the entire time and abandoned the game before they bothered to include a height adjustment slider.

The second was to make night time darker in the game. The developers intended that night time look almost as bright as day time.

The third was to make the Pip-Boy flashlight behave like an actual flashlight. The developers intended that the Pip-Boy flashlight behave like an amorphous green glow radiating out from your player character in all directions, not casting any actual flashlight beam.

None of these mods are buggy. None of them make it feel stitched together.

 

[Nyaghoggua]

There's plenty of mods that are so well integrated, they feel native to the game. I'm not a fan of mods that stick out like a sore thumb but they're not all like that. Specific to Bethesda's surface-level implementation of some mechanics, it's modders that properly utilize them and flesh them out to the extent that they deserve.

Also I would love to know if the people saying that they don't see the point of modding are console players. Of course modding is less impressive when you don't have access to the script extenders that are necessary to run the more elaborate ones.

 

[FamilyTeam]

I wonder what OP thinks about games where the ENTIRE point is modding/community created content, like Garry's Mod and Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart.

 

[Scarface]

One of the most popular games in the world started as a mod.

I'm talking about Team Fortress 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about DOTA 2.

Actually wait, I'm talking about Counterstrike.

Click to shrink...

and one of the other most popular games in the world, League, wouldnt exist without said mod.

 

[rzks21]

Meanwhile I, a visionary: playing Elden Ring the first time around with the full co-op mod because screw artistic vision, I just wanted to have fun with my brother.

 

[VariantX]

Honestly, I'm starting wake up to the idea of revisiting past games with a host of player-authored additions/QoL improvements outside of Beth creation engine games.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

I 1000% agree with you OP and every single point you made. I've never understood their broad appeal tbqh. They typically do nothing for me at all and they may as well not exist for the most part in my eyes.

For the most part, I also don't really care for the vast majority of 'user-generated content' out there that floats around games either.

Mostly, I just see this kind of stuff as junk that isn't worth the time or energy. Great for the people who love the stuff though I guess.

In general, from a philosophical perspective, I think that barriers to clear for content are actually a good thing on the whole.

 

[Lukar]

Mods are letting me play as Ahsoka in Battlefront II, so I fucking love mods.

 

[CupOfDoom]

Most mods clash too hard with the original vision. It doesn't feel right. Even when the devs include the mods it feels wrong.

Click to shrink...

Really just depends on the mod. And also, sometimes you don't want the developer's original vision or want to spend time with a well made total conversion or mini-expansion.

I try not to install mods on a first playthrough, but on subsequent playthroughs they can be great fun.

For example, I have no patience for base Minecraft anymore (find it to simple), but I love all the cool tech mods that people make. You can essentially turn Minecraft into a Factory building game, with the right combo of mods. And its a great time, even if it goes against the developer's "original vision". There are also mods to add more stuff to explore, or a magic system, or more in depth farming, or beekeeping, ect.

 

[Seaneko]

Glad people enjoy them and obviously they don't affect my vanilla playthrough of a single player game, but damn, I just don't understand the appeal of them. Just give the game as the developer intended.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I too do not understand why anybody would want to use mods that:

-fix bugs that were left in the final version of the game
-reimplement large swaths of cut features like in KOTOR2 or VTMB
-implement widescreen and higher resolution support for old PC games
-restore multiplayer functionality for old games whose services were shut down
-straight up keep numerous games' communities alive and thriving even decades after release

Just play the game as intended!!

 

[Bizkit Krueger]

oh if you can point me towards some good Super Metroid romhacks I'd appreciate it!

Click to shrink...

I'm still pretty new to it all, but I thought Super Duper Metroid was fantastic. it's very exploration driven, but for me it was the closest thing to playing the game again for the first time. lots of customization options (default physics or new physics, randomizer, mirror mode, palette swap) and it's the kind of thing you can take slow and really sink into or get real wild with the speedrun tech if that's more your vibe

metroidconstruction's a really good resource if you're not already familiar though, just poking around their top hacks section you can probably find more than enough to keep you busy no matter what your preferences are


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C60E2cRmm8

 

[Waggles]

Mods always sounded really cool when i was young and only had consoles (and was stuck with a mac).

But once i had my own pc and tried some mods out across different games, i realized they just kind of took away from the actual game. The only ones i ever enjoyed were my brief stints with left 4 dead 2. Zombies teletubbies or storm troopers was good fun for all of five minutes.