[blockquote][b][url=/profile/WilliamFitzpatrick]William[/url] said:[/b] I think it should be forbidden to post a build that has mods. Having a build with mods win a contest, get into the hall of fame or modern masters tournaments is favoritism. Builds that are based on hard work should win a contest or be in the hall of fame. Builds with mods are ruining the good tamriel vault name. Also, I believe it was a bad idea to bring mods onto the PS4 and crap box one. Mods are meant to be on PC not on console. Skyrim should focus on hardwork and perseverance, NOT MODS!!!!!!![/blockquote]

Far be it for me to attempt to change your mind about playing with mods. You do you, and if you don’t enjoy mods, cool.

However, I think it’s a mistake and bit of an unfounded insult to imply in any way that those who play with mods don’t put their heart and soul into their playthroughs and their builds. Everyone who’s already spoken has claimed that not all mods make play/building easier. Some make it harder. Or more beautiful. Or simply more interesting. You’ve mentioned glitches that speed leveling? Well, some mods actually take away leveling bonuses that Bethesda designed into the games. For example, I just found Andromeda, a mod for the Standing Stones, and granted, I haven’t tried them all, but the Lover Stone no longer has the 15% leveling bonus for all skills. It still has bonuses, yes, of course. But no rapid skill increase.

How is this wrong? How does this somehow spoil the spirit of the game?

If your answer is that not everyone has the resources to use all the mods, yes, that’s true. There are so many mods just available on PC that I can’t use on my console. But I’m not about to insult those who use them by implying that they’re somehow cheapening the game and the forum – across the board characterizations like that in this instance are simply unwarranted.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Noodles]Noodles[/url] said:[/b]

As someone who doesn't play with mods unless they add a very useful functionality or fix a bug or add lore friendly armor, I totally disagree with you. If someone takes a mod and does truly creative things with it - beyond the vision of the modder, well that's no different than posting an equally creative vanilla character build.

[/blockquote]

Lol. Yea, where do you draw the line? If your going to criticise people for doing creative things with well balanced mods then you might as well criticise the whole site for relying on video games at all... it's not exactly our own content. Builds should be based on hard work and perseverance, NOT VIDEO GAMES!!! We should all be making Dungeons and Dragons characters since using Skyrim as a crutch just means we lack creativity and imagination.

Seriously though...my opinion may be just as polarizing, but if you're still making Skyrim builds in 2018 and you don't use mods or exploits then how creative can your builds possibly be? I mean, the "color within the lines" mentality of the "play it the way it was intended" crowd will always be the enemy of creative thought...but especially now that just about everything about the vanilla game has be explored. At this point, figuring out new mod overhauls and discovering still unknown exploits is both way more creative and much harder work than writing this sites 300th Templar Knight build (but only the 125th to have a dark and troubled past!).

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/LissetteLongChapper]The Long-Chapper[/url] said:[/b] Oh, I still think you can be rather creative without mods, Tyso. Depends. One skill builds, odd skill combinations, quirky roleplay, I can go on. Like I said, the next build of mine is mod free, but another build may use them. Hmm, I guess is that the mod should serve the build and not the other way around? I will say this is an interesting debate we’re having and I will venture to say that it is very good that this is being discussed in such a friendly way. Like I said it’s a single player game. There is NO wrong way to play and therefore, to build in this game. It’s a matter of preference. I enjoy reading both modded and Vanilla builds, especially if they’re well-crafted. And lol, no I’ve not made a Templar, though this build is like a quirky, manipulative Terminator meets Crusader. :D[/blockquote]

Yea, there are definitely other ways to go about it than just exploits and mods. What I should have said was that you should be trying to do something new. One skill builds are an interesting challenge and unique roleplay restrictions will always be a useful way to develop new ideas, but even that can be limiting at times. Like you said, the idea should come first worth everything else based around serving that...nothing should be off limits. My point is that, while I agree that a Witcher build where you just download a Geralt's armor mod and a Witcher spell pack lacks a lot of creativity, so could a The Dragonborn build where you Sword-n-board and use shouts (and there's a lot more of those than there are lazy modded builds). At the end of the day, it's up to the person writing the build...you can't just overgeneralize and blame mods.