Why do people play mods?

[Yoghurt]

Hello,

 

I just released a beta version of my first mod and have recieved a few comments that made me wonder what people are looking for in a quest mod. The mod I made is going to be quite lore-heavy when it is completely done but I do not focus on new powers, weapons or spells at all. Is this something to be expected of a mod that is no more than a quest - that it should give a bigger pay off to the player than just a good story and challenging game play? Is there a basic pattern to a quest that I should try to follow in later iterations of my quest?

 

I am very curious about this as this is my first time making anything in the Creation Kit.

[Bhanqwa]

I can only speak for myself: the less a quest mod offers in addition to the quest itself, the better. There are a ton of rewards to be found in the game already, don't need to be showered with more easy loot or powers.

[JimReaper]

it depends on the quest. If i spell/item or any other reward fits the theme and works within the world of skyrim then fine. The scripting, , setting, dialogue, voice acting and story of the quest is more important

[DreamKingMods]

I agree, for me quests are more about the journey--give me interesting characters or a dramatic plot, make me think, surprise me, delight me, show me something I haven't seen before in the vanilla game. A creative reward at the end can be nice, if it fits. But I think the best rewards are those that can provide a reminder of the enjoyment the player had while doing the quest, not something that gets stashed in a chest with the inumerable other swords, shields, etc. that my character has collected.

[gsmanners]

There are some patterns to avoid, actually. This may be where the comments are coming from. People who comment on quest mods are probably hardened vets of gaming, so I wouldn't take it too personally, but do try to avoid the following:

 

- Fetch quests (go there, fetch x number of items, bring them to me, get reward).

- Clear out this dungeon for me, would you?

- Go kill this or that boss in x castle/ruin/dungeon.

- I have an idea so we'll only do what I think. <-- Bethesda really loves doing this annoying crap.

 

Basically, if it feels right, it is right. Don't get too caught up in comments or in the gaming mechanics and just have fun with it, and you can't go wrong even if everybody hates it.

[Dreamsxord]

Make use of the terrain. Create an interesting scene. Send us to some place we've never been and perhaps allow us to witness someone else's moment.

[TWarrior]

what we want is a usefull description. your mod sounds nice, but i did not download it because the description says nothing about it at all. fix that and i will test the mod :)

[GendunDrup]

Honestly, I like mods that aren't lazy. I don't like quest mods that use all vanilla assets. I also don't like quest mods without rewards because then I have no reason to keep the mod after I complete it.

[Yoghurt]

Description updated.

 

GendunDrup: There is a point to using vanilla assets as it will most likely work for everyone. Also, for me personally, I try to tell a story rather than improve Skyrim itself. From what I gather, those who play mods have pretty over powered characters so I don't feel one more super powerful sword or armor will add to anything.

[chacotaco91]

I'm about 25% done with a short quest mod myself, and I've been going for a quality over quantity approach. I'd like it to play seamlessly within Skryim and feel like any other quest you could run across in the vanilla game. In other words, I don't want anyone to get that "oh, this is a mod," feeling while playing through my dungeons.

 

Sometimes playing a modder's dungeon I just get this bland, amorphous box kind of feel to their worldspaces/interiors. Bethesda designers just have that "touch" that makes the difference between a cell with a bunch of copy-pasted hallways and a dungeon you can really get lost and immersed in.