When and why did you start modding KSP?

[Curveball Anders]

When I realized that KSP wasn't a flightsim and  grew tired of repeating the same maneuvers over and over again, so I install MJ.

 

[JadeOfMaar]

Somewhere mid-2016, I bet. I was introduced to modded KSP by a friend. First things I did with those installed mods was try to build motherships and their landers. I started modding KSP myself because I moved on from (failing too much) building motherships to wanting to drop prairie houses on the Mun.

[TheSaint]

I would guess it was maybe a couple of weeks after I started playing. I added KSPX (There's a blast from the past!) because it filled in some holes in the part catalog, most notably adding a 2.5m nuclear engine (which is still a hole in the part catalog six years later).

[panarchist]

0.18? 0.19? Somewhere around there. I wanted Life Support. After that, I kept finding really cool stuff I had to have installed - RemoteTech, E.V.E., Mechjeb (for a short time), RPM, and a gazillion parts mods. Nowadays, I'd say my "must-haves" are PreciseManuever, a life support mod, and Universal Storage. Next is Airplane Plus, Kerbal Konstructs, Kerbinside, and NavUtilities - because even though it says Kerbal SPACE Program, I keep wanting to fly airplanes, and I need somewhere to fly them to.

[AngrybobH]

I modded the game within an hour or two because I couldn't dock and I was becoming frustrated. Docking port alignment tool was the first and I have used it so much I forgot that it wasn't stock. But, that can be said for a lot of the mods I use. Mechjeb was the next one because of dV readout and the SmartA.S.S. UI reminded me of a real flight computer. Then I fell down the mod rabbit hole and installed so many mods that I built a computer to handle it all instead of dropping some of them. Strangely, with the vast library of games I own and have played, KSP and Rimworld are the only games I mod. And I mod them quite severely.

[sturmhauke]

First it was KER, to help me design a rocket to go rescue Jeb from a highly eccentric orbit out past Minmus, before he got gravity boosted out to solar orbit. Then it was stuff like Editor Extensions Redux and RCS Build Aid, to fine tune my ships. The last major thing I did with stock parts was my Jool-5 run. After that I started using parts mods, both for more variety and to reduce part counts. It takes longer to start up the game, but it generally runs better.

[steve_v]

I installed FAR about an hour after starting up v0.19, because stock errordynamics. I still refuse to play KSP without it.
Then it was DRE & TACLS to plug the other glaring deficiencies.

The rest naturally followed, I'm running mostly QoL, realism and late-game parts mods now.