Talk:Skyrim modding
Add topic | The Elder Scrolls Renewal Project was merged into this article. The discussion was closed on 2 May 2025 with a consensus to merge. The original page is now a redirect to this article. Its history now serves to provide attribution for the content in this article, and it must not be deleted as long as this article exists. |
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Suggestions for a future article overhaul
[edit]I'll list some points that I believe would strengthen the article more, given the importance of Skyrim modding is to the video game industry as a whole:
The beginning of the article should better reflect the release of Skyrim Special Edition as it has been the primary edition of the game for modding for many years. The only number given for the number of mods released is that of the release edition of Skyrim and not that of the Special Edition, with Skyrim now currently having a mod count on nexus of around 72 thousand and Special Edition with around 120 thousand published mods.
I also suggest that the point made about Valve in the second paragraph be removed or merged with the information in the Controversy section as it'd be more appropriate in there. The part about LoversLab might also do well to be moved there as well considering most of the information discussed is about how 'controversial' it is.
The article essentially has three entire sections based on listing notable modding projects. I believe the article should have more emphasis on the process behind the creation of mods and their purpose *and then* list notable modding projects in a separate section. The selection of notable mods listed is quite questionable mainly the fact that the mods listed are chosen over far more important modifications such as the Skyrim Script Extender which is by far one of the most influential mods made for Skyrim as a large number of mods, including some listed in the article, have SKSE as a dependency. There is also the sentence in the second paragraph of 'Popular mods' that states MANY mods add new content to the game, and then proceeds to list a single mod before continuing on to other topics.
The total conversion and TES Renewal sections should be merged into a singe category as the renewal project is already mentioned in "Total conversions" and then is immediately restated a second time in the "TES Renewal" section. The wording should also avoid calling Skyrim/Oblivion a "game engine" and instead refer to them by their engine's actual proper names (Gamebryo or Creation Engine). Total conversion mods that are recreating entire existing games should also be referred to as 'remakes' and not 'remasters' as the concept of a remaster includes the significant use of existing assets/logic from the original games, this mainly applies to Skywind and Skyblivion, as an added benefit, it also helps reduce confusion with an official *remaster* like Oblivion received.
I propose a "Legacy" section be added to explain some of the lasting impacts that Skyrim modding has had on other games.
To wrap up, I think the rough layout should be something like this:
- Introduction explaining in better detail what it means to 'modify the game' and lightly touch on the influence that Skyrim modding has had.
- Section explaining the timeline and evolution of the modding process. Perhaps mentioning simple texture/model edits, then the later release of the official Creation Kit modding tool that expanded the capabilities of modders and the growing influence of platforms dedicated to hosting mods such as Nexus. The timeline then continues to bring up the Steam workshop and then the later release of Skyrim: Special Edition and the Creation Club.
- The next section can be related to the most notable and influential mods such as SkyUI, patch collection mods such as kryptopyr's Patch Hub and the USSEP, and more recent mods that overhaul aspects of the engine such as Engine Fixes, Community Shaders, ENB, etc.
- Now finally comes the much larger total conversion mods such as Enderal, Forgotten City, Skywind, and Skyblivion. Being sure to make it clear that despite these projects being treated as separate games even to the point of removing most of Skyrim's content, that they are, after all, still modifications to Skyrim, albeit on a much much larger scale.
- Then the last section 'Legacy' or similar with a sub section for controversies such as: Arthmoor's conflict with not only Nexus, but with the community surrounding what should be included in a mod (Reference the Oblivion gates included with the open cities mod as well as the numerous changes included with one of the most popular mods, USSEP and how these conflicts influenced Skyrim modding), the paid mods controversy with Valve, and finally, also an inclusion of the LoversLab hosting website (and Nexus' NSFW mod hosting) and other NSFW/Erotic mods representing a decent percentage of all mods downloaded.
These changes don't all have to be implemented in a mass edit, but it would be nice to spruce up the article. I just came by to make a minor update to the release date of Skyblivion but noticed a lot more room for improvement so here we are. 👍 Novarleeir (talk) 22:37, 20 December 2025 (UTC)
Italic?
[edit]Skyrim seems italiscised too much. 97104, not 97100! (t•c•r•l) 12:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)