A few total conversions/expansion like size (TES games, Fallout and many other) are enough to stand out over million skin mods.

Mods are the only reason I have 8 hours on Skyrim.

Yes, Steamgifts mods are the worst! Lina's okay.

It depends on which game tbh, on L4D2 I've got maps and character+weapon skins installed, whereas on Skyrim I've got unofficial patches installed, like one re-skin, and Falskaar, which is like an expansion.

It's depends on game though, some game having mod capability results in more fun or longevity (think: Skyrim, Warcraft 3, The Sims), some game shouldn't have a modding capability, I think it's game that have bad multiple mod capability, too much hassle to install or dependent on multiplayer server (override each others/prone to crash).

Still, you can play vanilla first until bored then install some mod, eh?

you are never the only one!

I agree with you, 95% of mods are useless garbage.

modeling my own cars for gta3 and seeing/driving them in-game will always be one of the greatest gaming memories of my life.

as much as i love my consoles, this would have been (almost) impossible on a console.

You won't be stating this when GTA V hits PC!

Yea, FUCK those TOTALLY OPTIONAL things that NOONE makes me install or even look at!

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is a brilliant but very broken game without the fan patch. Modding saved that game and let it reach it's full potential and the game is much better off once modded/patched.

Also, look at graphic overhaul mods for old classics like System Shock 2. While not needed, they breathe new life into the game and by no means need a high end PC. As long as the modders stayed true to the vision of the idea, creating better resolution textures and adding better lighting is not going to "ruin the vibe" of the game.

Some mods make games run better and behave as they should. In my opinion most Bethesda games need mods to run properly.
After spending hundreds of hours staring at the same characters and weapons in games like Left 4 Dead its nice to be able to change the way the game looks and all the add on campaigns add tons more play time.

The only thing I hate about mods is that some of them are horrible to install.

vanilla is fine but i like my neopolitan with chocolate flake and strawberry sauce(that metaphors gone far enough now i think), you enjoy vanilla by all means but options are always good and include consoles as an option thats far cheaper for some, i know a decent pc in my neck of the woods is the price of 2 consoles and it wont be decent half as long the console will but then im not arsed about looks, id play my snes if i still had one happily

You know what's great? Having options!
Nobody is forcing you to install mods. Between a game with no mod support and the same, moddable, game, the one that gives you more options is inherently superior. There is no arguing with that.

Yes, you're.

No, Ubisoft hate them too.

IMO they increase the longevity of the game as well as what you can do with it. I'll play through a game a number of times with various mods, where as I may have only played through it once without them.

For instance, I have like 600+ hours in Skyrim. If I didn't have the ability to use mods I would probably only have a tenth of that.
I've played through FarCry 3 six or seven times I think, using various mods, and without them I would only have played through it once or twice.

Mods give me more play time for my money.

I like modding more than actually playing a game. There are very few games that I don't mod to hell. (or till the engine poops itself and flees screaming)

well, yes. a lot of mods are total crap, they are made by people without experience in any field, that is the point, you have to practice to be good doing something, but you have the other mods that are completely awesome and make the game better, or completely different. usually large group of modder join their forces to do these things.
for example, currently is in development a huge mod for Skyrim that recreates Morrowind, the whole fucking game, you have to had both games in order to make it work, since it uses all the dialogs from morrowind, i mean... that thing is HUGE, they are making a "new" game, for free.
Something similar happens on the fallout community, a group is recreating the original Fallout, using the New vegas engine, how can that be bad?
and of course out there you have the fan made patches that actually fixes the game, the first fallout has a lot of issues, some of them, patched by fans, and it works very well. for example i can't play with the original skyrim's user interface, it sucks, it sucks so bad that it has no sense. the alternative Skyrim UI, designed using scripts, it's awesome. bloody awesome. it looks professional, far better than the crap bethesda made.

tl;dr: moding takes time and practice, is not easy, and of course is going to be full of crap. what the fuck do you expect? perfection from an amateur in his first try? fuck no. The greatness of the great mods, compensates the crappyness of the rest

one last point... Counter strike, started as a mod, Portal too. so yeah, there is that.

I never use mods but I don't "hate" them.

What's there to hate? Just don't use them, simple as that.

Still, it's a legit advantage PC gaming has over console gaming simply because of the fact that it greatly extends mileage you can get from a game. Just look at STALKER or Skyrim mods. You can get several games worth of playing time out of a single game.

I personally use mods only for STALKER because I also prefer vanilla games, but you still can't deny that modding is a great thing.