Chapter 802 - 802: What Was Bound to Happen, Happened

The release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim mods also reignited many players' interest in the game.

Although these mods didn't change the game's rules or add new story expansions, they brought a lot of freshness to players.

After all, for players, the most direct way a game can feel fresh is through its appearance.

This is why top game studios in the industry constantly strive for progress in art and visual presentation.

Core gameplay, story, and other elements require players to dive deep into the game and play for a while to experience them.

But the graphics, on the other hand, don't require players to invest much time.

Players can tell if it's good or bad with just a glance.

And the followers and character changes brought by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are the most direct points.

In addition, the appearance of the Dragonborn Art Gallery in the game made many players both love and hate it.

For players who love collecting, this mod was incredibly satisfying, making them feel like they could play for hundreds more hours.

But for some players with OCD, upon seeing this unique mod, everyone instinctively clutched their chests, starting to worry about their health.

As for some other players, as more and more players explored Skyrim and found the followers hidden by Nebula Games, they began to worry about their kidneys.

Because during this period, many mod creators participated in the creation of mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Mods that change the combat structure, brand new large map expansions, epic additional stories… none of these were present!

There were only extra equipment model reworks, and special outfits like OL and JK, but even this was enough to excite many players.

And it wasn't just players; even some mod creators who liked The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim felt like they had gotten new toys when they looked at the related mod tools.

"Nebula Games really has something! Holy crap, this mod creation tool is amazing, so much is ready to use, it's practically idiot-proof!"

"Exactly, it feels similar to a game editor, but even more convenient. It's just limited to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, though."

"Nebula Games' art assets can be unpacked, modified parameters adjusted, and directly replaced. That's quite convenient!"

"What interests me most is that the game also provides terrain creation and function modification tools! Holy crap, this is pretty awesome! You can even edit quests!"

"There's more. I looked into it, and it seems they've even given us permission to modify the game's physics."

"Just for this mod development tool, Nebula Games must have spent a fortune!"

"It's been optimized specifically for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, making it much more interesting!"

"From now on, Lord Harkon and Miraak won't get to choose what they wear!"

"You're weird! Your kinks are a bit strange!"

Inside the mod creation group chat, a bunch of well-known mod creators were marveling after learning about the mod development tool.

To ordinary players, this seemed like a very complex thing.

But for these mod creators, it was essentially a very interesting DIY toy, and one with high playability.

......

While various mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the newly updated Tanya follower in the Nebula World were capturing many players' attention,

Xenoblade Chronicles' The Golden Country DLC also arrived fashionably late. After completing the development of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the entire team had enough manpower to return to the development of this story-completion DLC.

For players who loved Xenoblade Chronicles, the Golden Country Ira DLC was something they eagerly anticipated.

And coinciding with the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's modding tools, many mod creators also started making Xenoblade Chronicles-related mods.

Pyra, Mythra, Nia, and various Blade forms were added. Although this anime style clashed a bit with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's realistic style, it clearly wasn't an issue for players.

As a newly released DLC, the Golden Country Ira predictably took the top spot on the sales charts.

This time, Golden Country Ira primarily tells the story of the bonds between the hero Addam, Pyra, and the tragedy between Lora and Jin 500 years ago.

How Lora and Jin met, how Pyra and Addam met – these stories were all shown in the DLC.

It also gave players a more complete understanding of the story of Pyra and Mythra.

Why Pyra feared her own power, how Jin became a villain and wanted to exterminate humanity, and what happened to the Blades of Heaven's Sacred Weapon.

The DLC's story provided a perfect conclusion to Xenoblade Chronicles.

The popularity of characters like Lora, Jin, and Addam, who appeared in the DLC, also greatly increased.

The main reason was immersion.

The lives of these characters were presented to players, letting them feel everything that had happened to them.

Just like how the Uncharted quadrilogy completed Drake's life, and the Assassin's Creed trilogy completed Ezio's life,

Xenoblade Chronicles also wonderfully filled in the experiences of these characters.

And unlike the previous installment where the side mode was an extension, Lucas and his team clearly didn't use that method to prolong the content. Instead, they added more main story cutscenes to let players experience the transition of the Golden Country from prosperity to destruction.

The various exciting plot points also left players thoroughly satisfied.

And the splendid visuals were no less than those in the main game.

Finally, the great battle between Pyra and Malos, and the mech battle when Sirens appeared, greatly excited many players. In addition, there were many easter eggs in the game.

'so that's how the name of the Titan's oasis in Gura came about!'

'Hahaha, Pyra's cooking skills are actually that bad! It's no wonder Mythra can cook so well; it must be Pyra's resentment!'

'It feels like anyone can pick a fight with Pyra, and she has trouble communicating with others. That's why when she first appears in the main game, she has Lv3 Communication – it must have been trained in the Golden Country!'

'Future Sight?! Does this mean Pyra already knew she would meet Rex at this time?'

'So I feel like Addam is a bit unworthy of the title of hero. He's too weak. If Addam hadn't feared the power of the Sacred Weapon in the end, Lora wouldn't have died, Jin wouldn't have turned evil, and none of this would have happened later.'

'Whoa, Nathan broke up with Elena halfway through; that was also due to this adventure, which is why Elena was so angry about Nathan lying in Thief's End!'

'But I have to say, Addam's decision to retire in the mountains at the end is understandable. According to the dialogue, Addam had a wife and an unborn child, plus his loyalty and love for the nation of Elysium. In the end, his family was destroyed, and all his dreams were shattered.'

The entire Golden Country DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles left players full of emotion. The main reason was that for players who had already played the main game, the subsequent plot was known, and they knew the ending was unchangeable.

Although there was much laughter and joy during the game, the overall atmosphere still made many players feel a bit suffocated.

Especially seeing the characters in the Golden Country die one by one, players often complained, "Boss Lucas's familiar style, as expected."

Under the impact of the renewed popularity from the Xenoblade Chronicles DLC and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim mods,

other games released during this period seemed dim in comparison.

Although the overlap wasn't severe due to different themes, it still gave countless game industry designers and manufacturers a headache.

Nebula Games stood like an insurmountable mountain in everyone's hearts.

This was especially true for game companies like Atari and FOW, who were constantly trying to bring down Nebula Games.

They thought the popularity of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was about to end.

But with the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's modding tools, the game reignited its popularity, and then the Xenoblade Chronicles DLC delivered another blow.

What was even more critical was that the emergence of various mods kept the popularity of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at a high level.

Even after the hype for the Xenoblade Chronicles DLC died down, the popularity of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim remained stable, even seeming to return to its peak.

Compared to before, when there were only a few mod components released by Nebula Games and some equipment appearance modification components,

now, some special mods, such as those that added questlines, had already been created by many mod creators. Although they weren't large and leaned more towards short side quests, they still provided new content for many players.

And just like at that time, some more... "indescribable" mods had also quietly surfaced.

In Nebula Games, Lucas looked at some forum content and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

On a certain unofficial forum for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim players, a post was highly ranked.

This post was published by a well-known mod development group in the game industry.

The members of this well-known mod development group were present in many open-world games.

The content revealed in this post was very simple.

They announced they were developing a mod called "Love Laboratory."

They stated that they had already developed some content.

According to their description, this mod would provide players with richer romance options.

Players could romance various NPCs in the game, and once a certain level of affection was reached, new gameplay would be triggered.

Seeing this post, Lucas was filled with emotion, thinking that what was bound to happen had finally happened.

(End of this chapter)