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What is the rationale behind playing completely stock?


falloutaddict

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Not that there is anything wrong with it, that's how I started too before I knew better. Then I did know better and I still stubbornly stuck with stock because didn't want to deal with mods in case the were too complicated (before I figured out it is pretty much just drag and drop into gamedata folder). Finally I broke down and got mechjeb and a couple others like chatterer. But since then I've been grabbing up mods like candy. I just want to try them all and I've only scraped the surface. So my question is are there people who play a completely stock game and why? Because there are certain mods I just can't do without.

Kerbal Engineer for deltaV and other useful info (I upgraded from mechjeb after I learned all the fancy maneuvers and such)

Kerbal alarm clock (seriously, how can you play without this?)

KAS/KIS (very useful for all sorts of things)

I have also started using TAC (life support) remote tech (more realistic antennas) outer planet mods, not to mention all of the parts mods I've added.

So once again, not to say anything against anybody who plays stock but I do want to know how you do without a mod like kerbal engineer or kac? Also, what are some of your favorite mods to use, because I would love to add some more to my list.

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I have only one opinion about people that plays completely stock: they're scared from crashes. Mods makes you RAM easily running on the limit of KSP, causing crashes and other weird thing. But playing stock it's actually play just 50% of KSP.

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Console gaming mentality? The belief that the developer should be able to deliver a complete product to the end user without need for mods to finish it? Limited system resources that make mods an impossible prospect? There's a lot of reasons why people play only stock. That's just a few.

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Cheating? In a game with no true objectives? You just searched for a part in the menu! You have cheated! You should have found it manually! In all seriousness though, I don't think anything counts as cheating.

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I play stock for the challenge and the simplicity. I do use KER when I need to, to do the equations for me, but I never got around to installing it post-1.0 so right now I'm playing by ear. I think mods are a wonderful idea but none really truly stand out to me, and besides, when making products and missions in stock then everybody can equally have the .craft file and things are much freer.

It's for the people, man... *peace sign*

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I am all stock. I imagine one day I will explore the mods and different ways to play, but for now I feel I haven't begun to exhaust all the possibilities that stock offers. When I get bored or have no more inspiration to do stock missions, then I will switch it up.

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Some people only want vanilla ice-cream when they go to Baskin Robins.

Some people only want licorice flavor jelly-belly jelly beans.

Some people only want to play stock KSP.

If that is what makes them happy, then that is what makes them happy.

Personally, I prefer a little more variety.

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The belief that the developer should be able to deliver a complete product to the end user without need for mods to finish it?

This. Even more so considering that we've hit 1.0 release.

What if there were no mods? What if KSP was an un-modable game (as, I believe, the vast majority of games out there are)? Would you still play it? I think that's a better question.

I know I wouldn't come back to it after having a longer break. And that's a really bad testimony to the quality of vanilla game (and a great testimony to the quality of community gathered around KSP).

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Sometimes there is no need for a "rationale" it's more of a "I like this game, let's continue playing it" without being bothered about mods.

I have quite a bit of moddable games, and did use this feature on most of them (KSP included) but in the end, I always end up playing the games without mods because somehow, that's the way they feel the best to me.

I played modded Elder Scroll campaigns and overhauls, mount and blade mods, even warcraft 3 game modes and it's great.

In the end however, when you want access to the quintessence of a game, stock/vanilla/nata/without_conservatives/gluten_free/dermatologically_tested_on_greyscale_infected_newborns is the way to go.

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What if there were no mods? What if KSP was an un-modable game (as, I believe, the vast majority of games out there are)? Would you still play it? I think that's a better question.

That one is hard to answer to... What I can tell you though is that I probably wouldn't be playing after more than 4 years.

FAR, Deadly reentry, remotetech, finalfrontier, Rasterprop and kerbal construction are a must for me. And since I discovered them one by one they will always be in my install I guess.

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Ive tested out mods but when im playing for fun I use stock. Part of the reason is suppose is to reduce the clutter in the VAB and on screen. The main reason is that I want to be able to test things and if something goes wrong I want to be able to report a bug, not complain and wonder what mod is causing the issue. Im like this with every Early Access title I play. I also still consider Kerbal to be in Alpha since they are still adding features.

On the other hand, a game like Skyrim I mod like crazy to customize it to my desires. So Ive got nothing against modding in general, its one of the reasons I think the PC is best. Once Kerbal reaches my concept of finished I will probably start modding it.

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People who don't play with TAC life support installed are cheating.

So basically, the rationale behind stock is that they're the real filthy cheaters.

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I have only one opinion about people that plays completely stock: they're scared from crashes. Mods makes you RAM easily running on the limit of KSP, causing crashes and other weird thing. But playing stock it's actually play just 50% of KSP.

I guess that's true if you look at it one way, but another way of looking at it is that if you depend on MechJeb or Kerbal Engineer to do certain things, then you are only learning half of the skills required to play the game well. I really don't need any help anymore estimating the deltaV of a particular ship or reaching a specific orbit. It's all become second-nature to me, and gaining those skills was a big part if the satisfaction of paying for me. As to the parts mods, those have often been out of balance with the stock game, giving you capabilities that are not in line with what the devs consider proper. You can basically bypass various engineering restrictions that they consider an integral part of the problem solving content of the game by using various OP modded parts. Of course if that's what makes the game fun for you, there's nothing wrong with that. But eventually you may find yourself hungry for more of a challenge. Another reason I'm playing all stock currently is that I'm participating more in the community in terms of development suggestions and I want to be able to comment in an informed way here about what playing the stock game is like.

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What if there were no mods? What if KSP was an un-modable game (as, I believe, the vast majority of games out there are)? Would you still play it? I think that's a better question.
Wouldn't have put nearly the number of hours into the game if I couldn't mod it.
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A MOD (modify) changes the game.

Mods allow people who want more from a game or who are not happy with the game mechanics and wish to alter them in some form.

People who play a STOCK game are just happy with the game that the developers have released.

To each there own.

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I play stock (+KER, for the valuable information; +KAC, for juggling several missions with my faulty short term memory) because i barely manage to get to duna in career before a new version pops up and i have incompatible save games...

all the new parts and features would overly complicate things for me. it's fun as it is, more fun is good, but i haven't even completely used up all the stock fun yet.

that said, i urge you to try one additional mod, which i found absolutely essential for my playing experience:

Chatterer!

now new with female voices! :-D

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I play stock because I feel more connected with other players in the community that way. If I go to the Duna using stock parts, and someone else goes to the Duna using extra-efficient engines and a mod to perform all of his manouvers for him and a bunch of cool doohickies all over their ship that do cool stuff while his kerbals starve inside their capsules if they stay out too late, then we aren't really playing the same game.

I play stock for an indirect sense of comradery with my fellow kerbonauts.

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I'd have lost interest long ago if not for mods, to be honest. There's no single mod I literally couldn't play the game without, but if I didn't have MechJeb to automate repetitive tasks and give me delta-v info, KAC to keep track of multiple flights, and Procedural Fairings to give me non-useless fairings (and probably one or two other mods I'm forgetting as well), I'd probably get bored and/or frustrated pretty quick. And of course there's a whole suite of cosmetic mods that I consider borderline-essential as well.

That said, I do find playing the game with only stock parts to be an interesting challenge. That's ultimately the way the developers envisioned the game being played, after all. Adding part mods makes it a lot harder to keep the game balanced, things can quickly get much too easy. Personally, I like to either keep my parts catalog mostly stock, or balance out part mods (which tend to make things easier) with realism mods like TAC LS (which tend to make things harder). The end result is a similar level of difficulty on the whole, but a challenge that feels more realistic and less arbitrary and video-gamey. I could definitely still enjoy the game even if I couldn't have part mods.

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I do both. Right now I'm playing an almost-stock career-mode game (nothing but KER and KSPRC) while the update cycle completes. I like playing stock-only parts because it is a challenge to see what I can accomplish with the bare minimum. (Although over the last couple of updates 'bare minimum' has come to encompass quite a lot.) Once 1.0.3 is out and the mods I need have caught up I'm going to install a bazillion mods and launch a 350-ton extravaganza to Sarnus. Both ways of playing can be fun.

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I've learned personally, through my lifetime that it is never a sound idea to stick with only one point of view.

Oxygen is pretty important to me, thou it is also slowly killing me.

We need pavement to drive on but I don't want a road in my backyard.

Take everything in moderation.

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I'm surprised people still repeat that nonsense even though it's been debunked dozens of times.

Please explain how you can debunk someones opinion of a game and call it nonsense ?

That sounds like trying win an argument by saying I don't like liver therefore you couldn't possibly like liver and if you do it is nonsense.

I am sorry but now that is funny :sticktongue:

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