Skyrim with No mods?

[Pork Type]

I modded my copy of Skyrim about 20 minutes after I installed it. Can't assign functions to numpad keys? FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

 

AutoHotkey at first, then Skyrim Key Helper later. (I'm left handed.)

 

So no, unmodded PC Skyrim is practically unplayable for me, just because of its thoughtless interface design alone.

 

Up until recently I didn't play it with a whole bunch of mods. I came back to the game a couple months ago, and started tweaking a whole lot of stuff. Mostly just things that got on my nerves, but also eye candy. Mmmm eye candy. I haven't added anything that radically alters gameplay. "Armored circlets" is a good example of the type of stuff I run.

 

My load order has 50 items in it, which isn't really all that much. But a lot of the things in that load order are things I'd not want to play without at this point.

 

[Guest]

I got it originally for the ps3. What a load of shit. The game crashed when I went in water and I couldn't save the game. 

 

 

[Vulon]

I got it originally for the ps3. What a load of shit. The game crashed when I went in water and I couldn't save the game. 

 

Haha, I remember that all too well...

 

Yeah, I got the platinum trophy in about a month on the ps3 version of Skyrim. I played constantly, and it was great. Of course, the ps3 version started to suffer from all sorts of bugs and technical issues that rendered the game nearly unplayable, but I still racked up well over 300 hours on the console version. Then I upgraded my PC just this last Christmas, got Oblivion again, and shortly after, Skyrim. I've spent over 200 hours on the PC now. 

 

Honestly, there are benefits to the console versions, though I'll admit at this point I'd much rather play on PC. I had some good times lazing about on my couch playing Skyrim on the big screen, for example. That's something that's a bit more impractical with the PC version, depending on your set-up. Also, the speakers I have for my TV are just fan-fucking-tastic. November 11th, 2011 was a very, very special night for me. I had been hyping myself up for months on end, and actually playing Skyrim for the first time blew my mind. One moment in particular stands out -- it was night, I had arrived in Riverwood not too long ago, and I was just standing around admiring the beauty when 'Kyne's Peace' started playing. At around the 1 minute mark, I got goosebumps all over and just closed my eyes and listened. 

 

http://youtu.be/1gC-UsVHtg8

 

Haha, a bit irrelevant, maybe, but I don't think the moment would have been quite the same on my PC's much smaller speakers. I'm glad I first experienced Skyrim on the ps3, and I was immersed in the game for hundreds of hours even without mods.

[psammeticus]

I ran two full play-throughs with no mods, but some of the bugs started to get pretty frustrating. So I started adding bug fixes, then bodies and armor, and eventually ended up running around 150 mods. I scrapped my installation today to rebuild from scratch as a sort of spring cleaning, and looking at my prior load list I don't think I can live without 80 mods. The original game was great, but the work of the modding community has made the game epic.  

[skirmish]

To me, modding just adds replay-ability. Play it once or twice with vanilla, then load it up with mods. Mostly graphical mods for me though. Occasionally something more like a city overhaul or something.

[Guest]

Modding is like taking the god awful, dull sword skyrim is and sharpening the crap out of it.

[psammeticus]

To me, modding just adds replay-ability. Play it once or twice with vanilla, then load it up with mods. Mostly graphical mods for me though. Occasionally something more like a city overhaul or something.

 

It's been a while, but I still play Baldur's Gate thanks to mods. I would have moved on from Skyrim by now if not for modding.

[TheoryoftheDead]

Although I've already cleared the game several time vanilla, I'd be perfectly fine going back to playing the game vanilla I think. Currently most of my mods are graphic replacers, so there's been no major gameplay changes that I couldn't live without to my game so far.

 

Don't get me wrong, the mods certainly adds to the game(If they didn't, I wouldn't be using them in the first place), However in a "Play skyrim modless or don't play skyrim at all" scenario I'd still be satisfied with playing vanilla Skyrim.

 

Hopefully this makes sense.

 

 

[Niobia]

With the next gen consoles having much better specs (specs of a mid range PC right now), we can at least hope for (maybe slightly expect) for TESVI to not be so "dumb down" and hopefully the next creation kit wont be either. So maybe a bigger game with cities that are actually the size of cities, a country actually the size of a country, a bigger and realistic population etc etc will happen. That's really my biggest if not only problem with skyrim and oblivion. The cities/towns are super tiny. I got into the FF14 beta and the cities in that game actually feel like cities. they're massive and have a ton of people in them. Oblivion came close with the Imperial City having sections, but even that felt small and under populated.

 

An unmodded Skyrim is hard to swallow for some, but hopefully it wont be the case for the next TES

[BruceWayne]

Don't get your hopes up on less "dumbed-down" games, just because the pixels look more shiny. The goal of the publishers is to sell as many copies as possible, to make as much money as possible. I can't say I blame them for that, the problem is that this leaves people longing for deeper experiences behind, in order to get the casual crowd on board.

 

With that being said, I tremendously enjoyed Skyrim unmodded (PC). I never ran into any game-breaking bugs or stuff that couldn't be fixed with my prior knowledge of Bethesda console commands. I didn't even feel it was as dumbed down as some people make it ought to be. They promised a game where you could do what you want and that they delivered. The game goes out of its way to let you do just that. Sometimes that is perceived as immersion breaking and maybe it is (fast-travel, omni-present and unnecessarily necessary quest-markers, insanely easy, never fail a quest), but I had great fun on the ride nonetheless. I certainly got back my money's worth. And the supply of neverending free user content of all variations, is just the icing on the cake. Just take a look at EA and all the other usual suspects and their policy on modding.

 

And while I slowly remove my head out of Beth's ass, Skyrim definitely has its flaws and is in no way a perfect game.

[Guest]

Did you know Gamestops "genius" invention called pre-ordering, later called money whoring is a gateway to underdeveloped games. Because enough pre-orders means they can send the game out early and make tons of money, which is all they care about. And not enough pre-orders can make the developers say "screw it". I wish Skyrim was 64 bit so I could use more ram. 

[Niobia]

Did you know Gamestops "genius" invention called pre-ordering, later called money whoring is a gateway to underdeveloped games. Because enough pre-orders means they can send the game out early and make tons of money, which is all they care about. And not enough pre-orders can make the developers say "screw it". I wish Skyrim was 64 bit so I could use more ram. 

Yeah, pre-ordering is a trend that needs to die, but it wont because so many people don't realize it's screwing us all over. It will be up to gamers to stop it. But as long as gaming remains a mainstream form of entertainment, the millions of regular joe-schmoes will keep pre-ordering games without ever stopping to think about it.

 

When you really think about it, pre-ordering something is ridiculous. Could you imagine having to preorder a movie just get an exclusive bonus scene? "Pre-order Man of Steel and get a bonus scene where superman is wearing a black cape instead of a red one! Super deluxe exclusive!!!"

[Kimeyra]

 

Did you know Gamestops "genius" invention called pre-ordering, later called money whoring is a gateway to underdeveloped games. Because enough pre-orders means they can send the game out early and make tons of money, which is all they care about. And not enough pre-orders can make the developers say "screw it". I wish Skyrim was 64 bit so I could use more ram. 

Yeah, pre-ordering is a trend that needs to die, but it wont because so many people don't realize it's screwing us all over. It will be up to gamers to stop it. But as long as gaming remains a mainstream form of entertainment, the millions of regular joe-schmoes will keep pre-ordering games without ever stopping to think about it.

 

When you really think about it, pre-ordering something is ridiculous. Could you imagine having to preorder a movie just get an exclusive bonus scene? "Pre-order Man of Steel and get a bonus scene where superman is wearing a black cape instead of a red one! Super deluxe exclusive!!!"

 

 

Yeah, fuck the bad companies, who try to make money so they can pay their employee's. What nobody seems to understand is that making video games is becoming more and more expensive. So if pre-ordering needs to die, then used game sale needs to die too. or piracie. that is screwing us over too but nobody gives a fuck about that. I like to support companyies that I like and trust. So I will continue to preorder games from rockstar or naughty dog.

[Pork Type]

Pro Tip, you can make great games and still be seen outside of the console market. It's called Steam.

 

Oh, I see, you hate that flavor of corporate shit too. Start your own PC-only worldwide distro network, then.

 

Steam is doing more for indie game devs than Sony or Microsoft would ever dream of. Because that ain't their fuckin' business model.

 

[Kimeyra]

Ah, steam, that thing that likes to block or censor my legally bought  uncensored games in my country. How I love it.

[Bootaka]

I still remember the day they told me I have to sign up with this Steam thing and give them my HL key if I wanted to continue playing HL. I've had nothing good to say about Steam ever since... and the assholes still get my $. 

 

Back to the topic... I played Skyrim unmodded the first time, killed Alduin by the time I was 27, didn't touch the game about for 3 months or so, till I found out about mods. I don't play Skyrim unmodded anymore. I play Mod Skyrim. I have more hours into modding my game than I do playing it.

 

I couldn't go back to vanilla. 

[Pkatt]

I played Arena when it came out, but don't really remember much.

played Daggerfall, and don't really remember much except how it looked.

played Morrowind modded from the get go, never got very far.

played Oblivion, modded it right after starting, broke it, started fresh, immediately modded, broke it, started fresh again, modded, broke, rinse repeat.  never actually finished it.

played Fallout tried it vanilla, but a virus hit, computer wiped, never finished it.

 

So when Skyrim came out, I was DETERMINED to actually play a Bethesda game without modding and  at least finish the main quest.   I rather enjoyed it.

 

stuck on Fallout NV right now, (modded from getgo) but will get back into Skyrim soon, modded, of course!

[DFSL]

I never played this game without mods. Even for the very first playthrough I already had two or three texture replacers and those earlier non-esp hacked in mods. 

[Adam Jensen]

Playing without mods has it point, it show how bad game was

It is hard to believe how some people can dedicate to it 200h, maybe I'm bored to fast or those people are easy to please.

 

I have to disagree on that. Yes, the game is way better with mods, but by no means it's a bad game without mods. 

 

Of course, I play it for lore, questing and such. Graphics, skimpy outfits, the 200 ridiculous huge houses, 100 Breezehome renovations and all the "improvements" are just the icing on top of the game. If the game was bad, I wouldn't had bothered modding it.

[lordofthedread]

 

Playing without mods has it point, it show how bad game was

It is hard to believe how some people can dedicate to it 200h, maybe I'm bored to fast or those people are easy to please.

 

I have to disagree on that. Yes, the game is way better with mods, but by no means it's a bad game without mods. 

 

Of course, I play it for lore, questing and such. Graphics, skimpy outfits, the 200 ridiculous huge houses, 100 Breezehome renovations and all the "improvements" are just the icing on top of the game. If the game was bad, I wouldn't had bothered modding it.

 

 

I totally agree with that, for example I personally find Oblivion and Fallout boring, I dont even take time to mod them since I dont like the game to begin with (and I am not saying they are bad games, just not something I want to invest time on).

 

So yes there a lot of things that were fixed / improved by mods in Skyrim but still I enjoyed every vanilla aspect of it (except heartfire), the main quest is very entertaining (not so much on your 10th playthrough) and some of the side quests are really fun.

 

Like GrimReaper said, if the game was that bad to begin with I would never had considered modding it, at the end of the day an heavily modded Skyrim is still Skyrim on its core, if you dont like the gameplay of vanilla Skyrim theres no chances you would enjoy it no matter how many mods you throw in.

[Uno]

I have to admit it: from the very first day I modded skyrim just for jiggly boobs, you can call that a vanilla experience with cherry on top (?) Unmodded game is not that bad, just incredible straightforward.

[xNishino]

I did play Skyrim Vanilla on my xbox 360 and its still a great game but after 100h+ I was slightly bored. In the end I also bought Skyrim on computer just for mods and after 450h+ on pc Im still playing.

[Rezard]

Quite frankly , i started skyrim on ps3 , i got bored very fast , after like 15 hours.

Reason ? , that's kinda simple indeed . I couln't get what i wanted or what i wanted to do.

 

Im still playing on pc version (well playing is a big word , but messing around) , I will never get back to an unmoded skyrim , 

[Angrybird]

Skyrim without mods is just a landscape simulator and very few mods actually add any depth to the game, some survival and some of the quest mods are ok but nothing like I've seen for Morrowind or Oblivion yet.

[Pandaman]

If you count the Unofficial Patches as mods, then I would say I could never play Skyrim unmodded. I tried to play the game vanilla when it first came out, but there were just too many irritating bugs and design decisions chipping away at my experience, so all I could manage was one playthrough before uninstalling. The unofficial patches went a long way in bringing me back - as were the better body mods (wasn't a huge issue for me, since the vanilla bodies are much better than previous games), magic and enchanting tweaks, and the creation kit itself (I have a whole bunch of tweaks that make the game more sensible to me, like moving studded armor into the Hide smithing category, renaming the Studded category to Guard, and putting all guard armors in there so it doesn't clutter up Miscellaneous).

 

I'm still waiting for a combat animation mod to replace the terrible vanilla animations (seriously, it's like Bethesda looked up wood chopping, baseball games, and discus throwing on Youtube instead of actual medieval weapon techniques), but at least I can enjoy Skyrim again while I wait for it.