How much a mod's popularity affects your decision to download it?

[Adam Jensen]

Truth be told, this isn't much of an issue here, given that we don't have a popularity system (If we have one I haven't seen it), but nevertheless I find the topic interesting.

 

When I first started playing Skyrim on PC, I used to only download mods that were on the Nexus' top 100. My reasoning was that these mods would give me little to no issue and that they would work seamlessly with the game (silly me).

 

But the thing is, as time passed by, I started to see that some of these mods do not appeal to me at all or are just a mess to run. Curiously enough, I also found some obscure mods that to me are in the must have category (Summer Solstheim is one of them, hate that ash texture).

 

So here I am, curious as to whether you guys had a similar experience to mine or not.

[Deep Red]

Here on LL, the number of comments left behind by users gives me an idea of a mod's popularity, but I usually give said mod's description a read before I start using it anyway. On the Nexus the number of endorsements lets me know how good a mod might be. Typically I download and use the more popular ones because they tend to be the most polished or stable ones. The last thing I want is to break my game yet again...

[Adam Jensen]

Curiously enough, some of the more popular mods have given me the most trouble. Example, Frostfall, great mod, but it almost killed my poor Papyrus.

[kingkong]

i alway read the description and read me    if it is not enough i read also the comments that people leaves  it give some idees of problemes we can encounter     but sometimes the mod is not what we expect than direct to the bin  i do not need to spend time on something that does not suit me  but  i respect the amount of work that the modder gave.

[gregathit]

Zero.  I don't give a crap about the "opinions" of others.

[Adam Jensen]

i alway read the description and read me    if it is not enough i read also the comments that people leaves  it give some idees of problemes we can encounter     but sometimes the mod is not what we expect than direct to the bin  i do not need to spend time on something that does not suit me  but  i respect the amount of work that the modder gave.

 

I read the comments sections to know if a mod is working. I almost installed see yourself sleep, last night. Had I not read the comment section, I would probably be pretty frustrated right about now.

[sbire]

i'm following the opinion of my own.

[Roachboy]

I read up on a mod ... what do others say, what problems - if any - have they got etc. Then I decide, based on what I've read and what I think about the mod. If it is something that interests me, I might try it out no matter what others say. Mind you, I do not base my decision on "ratings", but comments - and I have been around the Nexus long enough to have a feeling which comments are valid and which are not.

[BruceWayne]

I think while the no. of endorsements, downloads is usually a good indicator about the quality of the mod, it's not the best way for making a decision if it's good or not. I usually go by: overall appeal, quality of OP (says a lot about the quality of the mod in 90% of cases), endorsements/downloads, last five pages of commments.

 

There are some mods that try to sell you with shiny screenshots and fantastical descriptions, but often that's just fluff. Especially with Skyrim, where every other mod author seems to have figured out how to use photoshop.

 

Most important thing for me, if I like the overall appeal of the mod, is going by the information gathered in the OP. The more there is, the more the mod author actually cares about you being able to play it.

Rarely have I ever downloaded and enjoyed a mod with descriptive adjectives in the title (ultimate, best, mega, etc...). As always, there are some rare exceptions to the rule, of course. 

[Iatrolia]

Generally i found public's opinion pretty accurate, so yes popularity does affect my decision to check out a mod, if possible i would love to check out every single mod there is, but there are just too many :/

[Demonhunter]

i thinks it sucks that people go off the popularity of a mod. ive downloaded plenty of way underrated mods, and to me some of them were way better than some of the well know mod authors. One of the most underrated mods imo on the nexus is the loners sword. It was awesomly made excellent textures excellent model heaps of down loads and next to no support, recently i saw probably one of the ugliest mods ever to be released by a popular modder and BAMMMM it had thousands of downloads and alot of support.

 

WTF???

 

I guess what im trying to say is " Don't judge a book by its cover " 

 

You maybe pleasently supprised by what you find, instead of going off of the " Best Mods"

 

 

[Adam Jensen]

This has happened to me a few times as well. Sometimes I scratch my head trying to wonder how some mods became so popular.

[Demonhunter]

To me its all about the name of the modders.  

[Jay1646]

Only time I care about a mod, is if it strokes my intrest 

[quin666]

i thinks it sucks that people go off the popularity of a mod. ive downloaded plenty of way underrated mods, and to me some of them were way better than some of the well know mod authors. One of the most underrated mods imo on the nexus is the loners sword. It was awesomly made excellent textures excellent model heaps of down loads and next to no support, recently i saw probably one of the ugliest mods ever to be released by a popular modder and BAMMMM it had thousands of downloads and alot of support.

 

WTF???

 

I guess what im trying to say is " Don't judge a book by its cover " 

 

You maybe pleasently supprised by what you find, instead of going off of the " Best Mods"

Mod name?

[mdkmaster]

Popularity is a useless measure of how good a mod is. I prefer looking at age. An older mod with more recent updates indicates, to me, that the mod is still being worked on. A good indication that bugs that may currently be in the mod, will most likely be worked out.

 

Age again, but looking from the most recent. I like new stuff. Modders putting out newer mods have a larger base of information to draw on, and more freedom to get cute and create more interesting things (not that older mods aren't interesting) - just that the history of mod development acts as the great teacher for modders producing new/different/interesting/strange results.

 

Type of mod. Sometimes I just need a new pair of boots, some clothes, a really shiny mace, or that kick ass glowing bow. So who cares that an old or newer house mod is more popular? I want a pair of boots/some clothes/shiny mace/ or a kick bow. Screw popularity.

 

Ok, ok. Popularity isn't all bad. But you need to view a few different angles before you start finding your niche of mods. You need to have a few different ideas of what you're looking for, find a bunch of them, read the descriptions and if that doesn't help - hell just install them and find out what it does. Sometimes you like it, sometimes you don't. Worse case scenario, you're doing a reinstall. I'm pretty sure we've all been there.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[ambria]

I normally check the top few comments to make sure there are no serious complaints or issues.

Plus look over the instillation and compatibility in the description.

 

If everything checks out then I don't care how many endorsements it has.

 

[psammeticus]

Recently I tend to search for specific mods to add something to my game that I'm looking for, but I still browse the new releases. The comments section tends to make the final decision for me. I've walked away from a few mods that seemed interesting due to problems other than the "doesn't work because I didn't read the installation instructions/what's load order?" type of posts. Compatibility and script load are also bigger factors than they used to be (there's some nice looking mods that change perks, but I refuse to give up SkyRe).

[Demonhunter]

 

i thinks it sucks that people go off the popularity of a mod. ive downloaded plenty of way underrated mods, and to me some of them were way better than some of the well know mod authors. One of the most underrated mods imo on the nexus is the loners sword. It was awesomly made excellent textures excellent model heaps of down loads and next to no support, recently i saw probably one of the ugliest mods ever to be released by a popular modder and BAMMMM it had thousands of downloads and alot of support.

 

WTF???

 

I guess what im trying to say is " Don't judge a book by its cover " 

 

You maybe pleasently supprised by what you find, instead of going off of the " Best Mods"

Mod name?

 

I dare not say the name, or be scolded by the whole community.

[quin666]

 

 

i thinks it sucks that people go off the popularity of a mod. ive downloaded plenty of way underrated mods, and to me some of them were way better than some of the well know mod authors. One of the most underrated mods imo on the nexus is the loners sword. It was awesomly made excellent textures excellent model heaps of down loads and next to no support, recently i saw probably one of the ugliest mods ever to be released by a popular modder and BAMMMM it had thousands of downloads and alot of support.

 

WTF???

 

I guess what im trying to say is " Don't judge a book by its cover " 

 

You maybe pleasently supprised by what you find, instead of going off of the " Best Mods"

Mod name?

 

I dare not say the name, or be scolded by the whole community.

 

pm me name. 

[Adam Jensen]

 

 

 

i thinks it sucks that people go off the popularity of a mod. ive downloaded plenty of way underrated mods, and to me some of them were way better than some of the well know mod authors. One of the most underrated mods imo on the nexus is the loners sword. It was awesomly made excellent textures excellent model heaps of down loads and next to no support, recently i saw probably one of the ugliest mods ever to be released by a popular modder and BAMMMM it had thousands of downloads and alot of support.

 

WTF???

 

I guess what im trying to say is " Don't judge a book by its cover " 

 

You maybe pleasently supprised by what you find, instead of going off of the " Best Mods"

Mod name?

 

I dare not say the name, or be scolded by the whole community.

 

pm me name. 

 

 

Me too! I'm curious as well!

[TheoryoftheDead]

To a certain degree I suppose. I've never downloaded a mod simply on the basis that it's "popular". Most of the time I just stick to what appears to be interesting and/or fun. However, neither do I really fancy downloading brand new mods(That is, Mods with 0 comments or feedback). I prefer to read through the feedback of other players, preferably by multiple players, before I download a mod just to get a concept of what I'm downloading.

[Rayblue]

I wait first for any user feedback, so that I can read and see what's the ups and downs with the mod.

[Gᴀʟᴠᴀɴɪᴢᴇ]

I just started skyrim modding a little under a month ago, in the first week I only downloaded mods in the top 100, thanks to some great videos from Gopher I have casually proceeded to using ENB mods, now I have casually meandered to lovers lab and this site is fantastic!

[Bootaka]

None, but I don't read shit till its broke and I'm annoyed! Since I take it upon myself to DL anything and everything I come across, no matter if I really care to check it out or not. And since me and my 147gigs of downloaded mods are constantly adding to the pile, I can hardly remember what I downloaded, let alone if it was popular. I guess not unlike a lot of men, I download, bitch, yell, throw things, threaten inanimate objects, have someone point out how dumb I am, then read.