9 times out of 10 most people would pick Dungeons & Dragons over GURPS.” GURPS is an acronym for Generic Universal RolePlaying System, a tabletop method for playing in any setting. You can even consider its 'biodiverse' advantage with each quadrant of the worldspace almost representing a season visually - in Fallout 4 you're limited to what can be boiled down to 'greater suburban area, but post-apocalypse. The character in Skyrim is a blank slate, allowing for a lot more flexible story-telling opportunities. The existing lore of The Elder Scrolls runs incredibly deep. You possess the character's ability to wield magic and explore abstract concepts, while still maintaining a strong grounding in reality when it comes to tackling issues of the world's economy, creatures, and how people look and behave.

It has a much more compelling offer to players and authors looking to make content for the game. Skyrim is, by virtue of being in a fantasy setting, a much more flexible stage for people to operate in. “This is just my opinion, but I've heard it expressed talking to other mod authors and friends over the years. So why is Skyrim so popular in the modding scene? I asked DylanJames, a freelance musician and music producer who is also the creator of several popular audio mods, namely Regional Sounds Expansion, Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion, and Acoustic Space Improvement Fixes. Skyrim Special Edition consistently ranks at the top of the popularity charts, and it doesn’t seem to be budging anytime soon, as it still outperforms a more recent Bethesda game, Fallout 4.

Setting CourseĪnyone familiar with the Skyrim modding scene, or just modding in general, will have heard of Nexus Mods, as it’s one of the most active locations for the distribution of PC gaming mods. While asking about Skyrim’s longevity and Starfield’s potential in the modding space, three distinct factors seemed to be the most important: the setting of Skyrim, the continuing familiarity with the engine, and the modding community that keeps in constant contact.

I spoke to several high-profile modders of Skyrim to better understand their community and their process, and came away with a prevailing theme: the modders keeping Skyrim alive might just be Starfield’s secret weapon. But while the bespoke created content in Starfield looks promising, what really could give it limitless potential is the modding scene.

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