Drama in the Oblivion community - A modder remains controversial even after more than a decade

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Open Cities - A beautiful idea with an unpleasant history

If you enter„città aperte skyrim oblivion gate“ you quickly come across a Reddit post with the question of whetherMehrunes Dagon, the antagonist fromOblivion, has returned - a side swipe at the Mod„Open Cities“.

Open Cities is a mod forSkyrim, removed the loading screens when entering towns, thereby adapting to the more open feel of Morrowind reminds. What initially sounds like a successful idea has been overshadowed for years by discussions about its creator.

Who is Arthmoor - and why does he polarise people?

Already more than twelve years ago Arthmoor, the developer behind Open Cities, was criticised by the community. The reason: changes that went too far for many.

When, for example, in a later version of the mod Oblivion Gates were built into the open cities, this disturbed many players who attached importance to „lore-friendly“ content - in other words, modifications that fit harmoniously into the game world. 

Other modders attempted to remove these elements, but Arthmoor reacted promptly: he had all edited versions of his mod removed on Nexusmods Delete.

The community was outraged - and still is today.

Starfield: A united community against a familiar voice

Also with the release of Starfield Arthmoor became active again.

 But the community was prepared. Due to his controversial past, many players advised against using his unofficial patches in advance. 

The fear was that he could exert control through his mods and spread unwanted content.

The reaction: several modders got together to develop an alternative, collaboratively maintained patch - independent of Arthmoor.

Oblivion Remastered - An old conflict flares up anew

With the recent publication of Oblivion Remastered the conflict has flared up again. The modding community was quick to respond and has already published numerous extensions. Many old mods even still work.

Also Arthmoor offers an unofficial patch - on its own platform AFKMods, after he largely withdrew from Nexusmods.

 In the description of his patch, he advertises with the statement that it is„by the authors of the Unofficial Oblivion Patch series“ – although the widely recognised patch with over 4.3 million downloads comes from completely different modders.

The reaction: a new outcry in the community. Many warn against using Arthmoor's patch as they fear that questionable content will be added again - content that may later be taken over by other mods without you realising it.

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What alternatives are there?

Fortunately, Nexusmods now offers numerous alternatives that provide players with a stable and enjoyable gaming experience.

 Whether it's easier inventory management, more convenient lock picking or graphical improvements - the selection is large and constantly growing.

So if you want to be on the safe side, you can easily fall back on other, community-approved mods. Because even 19 years after releaseOblivion a game that lives through mods - but not necessarily through every modder.

Image source: Bethesda