BigGuyCIA
Yer fond of me Lobster!
Let's not forget that mods make the game for Bethesda's games. I don't know many people who played unmodded Skyrim or Fallout 3/4 more than a couple times. Some don't even play it once without modding it.
I am sure that without mods, people would play the game once and never again touch it. With the awful UI from vanilla games, I have no doubt some people wouldn't even play it once, they would probably return the game if possible.
It's the _only_ reason Skyrim or Fallout 4 manage to stay in the Steam daily concurrent players chart. The anecdotal talking heads that come around and go "I pray3d it unm0ded dis whole tiem" are in a severe minority consisting of flagellants.