Should or shouldn't I start Skyrim with mods?

[Oskar Schindler]

I'm the sort of guy that would like a lot of immersion in my RPGs, and whenever I finally get my hands on Skyrim and start playing, would you recommend first playthrough with mods that increase immersion or vanilla.

I have a highly dedicated friend (who bought it day1 and already played 500+ hours) who insist I play it vanilla first because he feels that i should enjoy the artistic vision of bethesda's developers first without anything to stain it. Also points out that it would be best that I avoid mods in case it breaks the game. So he only recommend debugging mods.

I dont know too much about Skyrim gameplay but I've also seen a few mechanics, just like other Bestheda RPG's that break immersion (like having the carrying weight to hold a dozen swords or guns, stack up on gold or caps really quick, and never need to sleep or eat) and I've seen mods that adds immersion mechanics and makes the game a bit more challenging (which I would like)

Since this friend is a skyrim veteran and advise out of experience ( as well as personal preference and loyalty to TES), I am here to seek council on this matter before doing anything that would potentially ruin the experience.

Any response would be much appreciated.

[Amycus]

As much as I love mods, I would advise you to play the first couple of hours vanilla, aside from some that improve the graphics maybe. This is so you can get a feel of exactly what YOU feel is missing in the game. The whole point with mods, far as I am concerned, is to customize the game to your own preferences. Which is hard to do when you don't know what you are working with.

[Crosstown Traffic]

No reason to install mods unless you feel the need to.

[Solomon Hawk]

Play the vanilla version first .. maybe even a couple of times. Become familiar with it and every aspect of it as in depth as you can get with it. Then afterwords, if you want to try a mod .. give it a shot.

[Oskar Schindler]

@Amycus "play the first couple of mods vanilla," do you mean hours or playthrough?

[Oskar Schindler]

I forgot to mention I have finished Oblivion and played a good amount of Fallout 3 and Morrowwind. I felt them lacking in realism immersion factors

[Amycus]

Originally posted by DerLuxuriousPanzer:

@Amycus "play the first couple of mods vanilla," do you mean hours or playthrough?

Hours, sorry, getting kinda sleepy here ^^

Originally posted by DerLuxuriousPanzer:

I forgot to mention I have finished Oblivion and played a good amount of Fallout 3 and Morrowwind. I felt them lacking in realism immersion factors

If you are primarly looking for mods that make the game more immersive and realistic, I suggest taking a look at http://www.skyrimgems.com/ later (though I still think you should start the first few hours vanilla)

[Deadrecon]

Start modding straight away. Keep in mind that artistic vision of the developers is always bound by time and money and in the case of Skyrim also the XBOX. Changing the core game mechanics is probably not a good idea on your first playthrough. Everything else is free game.
I highly recommend installing the following immersive mods, which dont change but add survival mechanics to the game.
- Frostfall
- Hunterborn
- Realistic needs and diseases

[fran25]

I have a lot of hours in Skyrim and I started playing the Vanilla Game at first. Over time I found that Mods increased my enjoyment, You probably will discover things you want in your game if it is to male it easier or harder. Take you time and enjoy the game when you add a mod you can change the entire game.

[hedgie_yozh]

I'm in accord with those who advise to play vanilla for a good number of hours before adding anything beyond the patches. You'lll get a great feel for exactly what it is you want to add and what you find unsatisfying. There are great immersion mods out there, but a good sense of the basic game is, I find, pretty crucial to knowing just what you want. That does not mean you need to play the main quest all the way through...just give the game a test run for a while and then add away.

[Oskar Schindler]

Thanks for your opinions, guys. I think it makes good sense to play it a good dozen hours before modding. Hopefully he'll read this and accept my blasphemous actions

[Bigbazz]

Playing it unmodded is ruining your potential first experience, you should install graphical mods at the very least, Climates of Tamriel, Pure Waters, Static object texture replacement 1-5 etc. They massively improve the look of the game with little to no performance drop.

I'd also recommend Better Dynamic Snow, Wet and Cold, the improved map mod with roads (can't remember name), and I'd recommend SkyUI. Play it Vanilla without any content mods, without weapon mods or any big changes for sure, but update the graphics because it makes a huge difference.

[sheep from hell]

yeah mod the graphics because you got the same feeling like vanilla but much nicer. bigbazz suggestions add so much to the game, i would recommend skyrim flora overhaul and a good enb too. look für enb comparisons on youtube and choose the look you like.. and after a while add things like weapons, monsters and overhauls because the core mechanics dont fill this very long game

[Arashiha]

^that

[ⓀⒾⓦⒾ‰]

modding this game is a rabbit hole of tease, bait and switch
sometimes punishing with a corrupt save but mostly rewarding beyond expectations

mod hard or go xbox

[Galvatron]

I included, deadly mutilation, enhanced blood and dance of death to start with. improved the game for me, beacuse I wanted more blood and gore realism. i would recommend to use a more moderate enb to start with also, like phinix natural ENB