Skyrim: An Experiment in Psychology

[RedRavyn]

As Freud once said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

Off-topic: But I have to interject this. This is one of many "urban legends" that have been thoroughly investigated by many people and nowhere is there any evidence at all that he said these words, or anything even approaching them. It's something he could have said, based upon his own views of psychoanalysis, but he didn't.

 

Anyway, back to the topic ...

[Moraelin]

My word, what's the world coming to, when one can't even make up some words from a misleading figure of authority ;)

[The_Beef]

I suppose when it comes down to it, and it seems like an absurdly simple thing to say, I just like adding new content to keep the game interesting. But beyond that, I definitely have my priorities and I have lines that I prefer not to cross.

 

First off, as many have said, is simple enhancement. Back when I first started using mods for Morrowind, I have no doubt that one of the first I tracked down was to change character appearances. I loved Bethesda's game, but they had a knack for making some truly ugly character presets. New weapons, monsters, areas, and other content all drew me in, too, but I was a little more hesitant. I used all those, but only after my main had largely completed the game.

 

These days I stick to largely the same trend. The first things I looked for were mods to help my issues with stuttering shadows (something I still suffer from, despite mods, patches, and drivers, btw). It must be a sign of my satisfaction with Skyrim overall that I haven't looked for many other widescale enhancements. HD textures, of course, and lighting improvements if only because of the aforementioned shadow issue. I never had much issue with the lighting beyond that, but when I saw how many mods had been developed I was intrigued enough to try them. Smithing improvements were also high on the list.

 

Other than that, my mod's are mostly for immersion. Not just things like Needs (which I don't always use depending on the character), but new functions that fit the world and make it a little more full. The ability for followers to ride horses, for instance. An RTS mod, because of course the Dovahkiin could possibly found a new settlement. If I knew of a mod that added a sailable longboat, you bet I'd add it in a heartbeat. And yes, the nudity mods too. Because sex and nudity are realistic.

 

Also, a lot about what mods I use is based around how I envision the character, and sometimes I've built a character around a mod. For instance, my current character is using a lot of wilderness survival mods. I had an idea of her having to survive in the environment for a time before getting into the bigger plotlines of the game, and this seemed appealing because I felt like I had neglected actual exploration on my main character. I'm also open to thief/assassin oriented mods for her, of course, because that's how I'm playing the character. Mods that add things like flyable dragons aren't in the cards right now. They might be later, but not based on how I picture this character at the moment. My main character, though, would welcome those mods because he's the original, vanilla Dovahkiin, and he is therefore awesome and deserves to fly a dragon or ride a mammoth ;). Someday I might even make a pirate-oriented character, if enough mods facilitate it, if only because there are mods that add sabers, rapiers, and flintlock pistols in the game. I know it's not lore, but that character would be for fun.

 

So I suppose I'm really a mash-up. I lean towards lore and immersion, but I'll add stuff it looks good or it looks like it will add a neat feature. The only areas I don't really go into are the anime-ish mods, and that's because most of that content doesn't fit my image of the game.

[Moraelin]

Good Dibella, were the Morrowind default heads ugly. Yeah, the better heads that modders made were almost mandatory.

[tetradite]

DISCLAIMER: The following is waffle, prejudice and ill-informed daytime-TV psychology

 

The fundamental pyshcological driver for me (if there is one, if the cigar isn't a cigar) IS control. It has to be. Both as modder and to some extent mod user. Other's motivations will be different.

 

I like the 6 groups/camps classification.

 

I'm (mostly) part of the realism camp and there is also a strange irony to our psychology - that much of the motivation to play an RPG is escapism - inherently the escape from the real world - but the more we indulge our instincts of realism the closer our escape moves to reality, which defeats the supposed original purpose. I think we/I have an inherent wish to control the real world, but probably aren't controlling assholes in the real world, so when presented with something we can control we seek to make it as real as possible, both because we desire our game world to be realistic and because the act of making it more real is an exercise of control in itself. Having escapes like this probably helps stop us becoming dictators.

 

It's a similar motivation for the pornmongers I suspect - they're just trying to scratch an itch they can't in the real world, and modding or using mods maximise the pleasure of the scratch. More of this group than you'd expect probably even have partners and regular sex - but that doesn't satisfy their control itch.

 

I think the fantasy/lore-friendly/vanilla groups are probably more classical escapists, whereas the God group are the people I have concerns about. They're about power and greed, and instant gratification. They're probably going to end up as junkies or politicians.

 

Have I offended everyone yet? Let me know if I left you out and I'll come back ;)

[StayFrosty05]

Some of the responses here have had me thinking about a question I was asked not too long ago....I have gone modding mad on Skyrim, Oblivion, Fallout and Fallout NV, in fact I was a solid XBox player until I played Skyrim a few times on XBox and then changed to PC purely to give me the ability to mod the game....The question I was asked was why not play my all time favorite game on PC also, why keep it on the XBox?....My favorite game is the Mass Effect series....and I found I couldn't give an answer to my satisfaction, I just knew I didn't need to convert ME over to continue to enjoy it....But reading some responses on this thread has resonated with me:

 

Commander Shepard and Co. have strong, defined personalities, they are developed characters we find ourselves loving, hating, indifferent to, etc...they are relate-able....Eg. I love Garrus, he is the pure essence of Awesome, I can't stand Miranda, she has taken the concept of b*tch to the extreme....As for Shep himself (custom of course... :happy: ) I adore him and what he says and does matters to me....Now take Dovahkin and Co. there's no substance, no defining personaltiies...such a shame as Paarthurnax should really be up there with Garrus for pure impact and memorability.....Alduin should be as threatening as the Reapers....there should be something compelling about Dovahkin and something s/he could possibly find attractive about various NPC romance choices....but there's nothing. And so, I need to find another avenue to keep me interested and involved in my Dovahkin's story....ME doesn't need to be modded to keep you in that world, Skyrim does.

 

I have a mixture of Realism and Porn Mods on my Skyrim...though I consider the porn mods I use realism mods myself....I have modded my game to attempt to reflect what a dark ages type world would possibly be like in which you are surrounded by Dragons and magic...My Dovahkin lives by hard and fast rules, he is not evil nor is he pristine, he's a survivor in a harsh environment, but does have a sense of honor.....He kills with 'advanced kill moves' and the blood does what it would realistically do...he crafts advanced weapons thanks to 'Jaysus'...he is tall and musclebound thanks to a small number of other mods (looking very capable of doing what he does)....Men and women are naked after he loots them, lets face it, people in this kind of world don't have the luxuries of our social sensibilities and pandering's, their lives are short and harsh, their not going to concern themselves with our modern 'decencies'....My Dovahkin has sex where he see's sex as due, he is not a monk, nor does he bonk everything in sight...neither will he marry though, he's very rarely at home (he's not a farmer, he's a short lived warrior), so he gets what he can as he can (gotta RP that one with sense)....I have an ENB to beautify the world and a number of various other mods to either beautify, intensify, create a more realistic world, etc...all to add to my experience in the world of Skyrim....I guess what I am ultimately trying to do is because I don't have personalities to engage me in the game, I have instead attempted to give the game itself a personality through realisms....Though admittedly his summon-able Sabre Cat is just a little extra for me because quite simply that cat is cool... :happy: ...but then again this is a world of magic.

Edited May 2, 2012 by StayFrosty05