Mods have taught me how awful most games are when it comes to difficulty.
Let's take Fallout 4 as an example. Like many games, the Bethesda way of adding "difficulty" is one dimensional. They make it so that you're easier to kill and the enemies are harder to kill. Many games throw manipulating HP into the equation but Fallout 4 does it with damage modifiers. Normal is 1 to 1 between the PC and enemy NPCs but a higher difficulty level might be .75 x player damage against 1.25 enemy damage.
In short, it turns NPCs into bullet sponges and I hate it.
Survival mode is different and brings some new factors into play but it also brings some annoyances. It was my best option, however--at least until mods came out.
Mods have given me so many more options. Think it's crazy that shooting someone in the head doesn't kill an enemy faster than shooting them in the leg? Fix that with mods. Want to use a high lethality playstyle that forces you to think tactically? Want to use some of the gear that helps against environmental damage but think the damage reduction on those pieces is ridiculous?
Mods give us options that developers SHOULD give us. When I play Fallout 4, I go with something like 1x player damage and 4x enemy damage and it's SO MUCH MORE FUN than any of the standard options. Why can't developers give us options? Why can't they give us multiple sliders and things we can check or uncheck? Mods gives us those things and provides a personalized experience.
And, seriously, I don't give a rat's fuzzy ass about the developer's "artistic vision", that's just plain arrogance and narcissism. What I care about is enjoying the game while I'm playing it, especially if I'm doing another playthrough.
