I have been a fan of The Elder Scrolls series for years, but I had felt the series was going down a bit after Oblivion, and when I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I was not expecting much. I played it a while after launch and while knew the game had a strong reputation, I felt I would be underwhelmed in comparison to the amount of hype its fans had built up around it. What I found instead was a canvas for the imagination.
I had played game mods before, but nothing like the extent to which I explored mods with Skyrim.. The way it did that was not conventional either. I was amazed at what I could do to the games, and it seemed that Bethesda was challenging gamers to find ways to make the game better. Bethesda had always made the games open to modding and that generosity they showed the fans, ended up helping me rediscover my love of writing. Since playing the games I have resumed my own writing, partially inspired by the game and partially inspired by what modders have done with the game.
I have been able to replay a classic Elder Scrolls game as a mod, and to revamp the vampirism in the game to be more immersive. You can change the appearance of NPCs and add a whole bunch more characters as well. From new lands to new quests, there seems to be nothing modders will not consider.
I want to include here a very brief list of some mods I urge people to check out when playing Skyrim on PC.. These arent essential mods to fix issues like the unofficial patch, but ones people may enjoy for fun.
One of the most impressive mods for Skyrim, Interesting NPCs adds numerous new voiced characters into the game and integrates them well into the game world. Minor characters now have a big role, and new quests are available. This is a passion project by the mod authors and they went all out with this.
Visit the Khajit homeland and help overthrow the Thalmor rulers. Explore the jungles and fight against enemies like the sload. This is one of the earlier expansion mods, and remains one of the best. It is well designed and was a taste of what could be done with the right ammount of imagination, patience, time and passion.
This is a mod that turns Skyrim into a dark fantasy adventure in the style of Dark Souls. It is brutal, it has horror elements and changes the gameplay style constantly. It mages to do something new with Skyrim while basing itself on the lore of the series. Join the Vigilants of Stendar and fight the Daedra, but be aware that nothing is what it seems and evil is always around the corner.
The last mod I will mention, a dlc sized mod that sees you hunt down relics from the Zelda series and explore areas from those games. Fight enemies like bokoblins and explore the mystery behind the kingdom of Hyrule, a kingdom so ancient even the Dwemer thought it to be a myth.
These are just four mods out of many and I enourage people to look at what is out there.