As someone with extreme entomophobia (fear of bugs in general) along with arachnophobia, to the point that, despite logging HUNDREDS of hours on Vanilla unmodded Skyrim back in my console days, I still either freeze up or get my character killed because of running headlong off cliffs to escape them, I severely appreciate these mods!
I understand some views about exposure therapy, but I think I'm walking proof that sometimes, certain degrees of exposure therapy don't work on everyone (that is the nature of therapy techniques, coming from someone also studying psychology lmao, not all therapeutic approaches will work for everyone, does not mean you are doomed for therapy in general not to work on you, just means you need something different and that is valid!). I've owned a pet tarantula, I've played unmodded skyrim, I am still very much on edge trying to play this game with the vanilla spiders and modded spiders in my game. In the end, if you want to play with spider creatures, go for it, pass this mod right on up if you're happy facing these fears head on, that's completely valid, and if you don't want to deal with spider-like creatures in a game you're playing to have stress free fun without the fear of spiders lurking around a corner, download whatever mods let you have a fun time, that's valid too! :D
All this to say thank you for all your hard work to the mod author, you're awesome! I was wary of playing Vigilant as I had no idea what creatures it added but am looking to do it soon as a CVF mod I use is getting a patch for it and I really want to see all his new content, so now I know I can play it in peace!
As someone who once had a really bad case of Arachnophobia.
I really suggest that people don't make mods like this, as a phobia can not be beaten if it isn't confronted. Video games are the perfect medium for that, as a person can confront their fears in a safe environment which over time desensitizes them to the phobia.
As somebody that used to be acrophobic, I couldn't agree more. I was forced by my job to get over my fears so I didn't get to do it in a nice, controlled, comfortable environment, so robbing somebody of that and encouraging them to keep avoiding something they can't avoid forever in some misguided attempt to be "accommodating" is just wrong.
As someone else who has arachnophobia, I appreciate mods like this. We all play games mainly to have fun, and mods are meant to tailor that experience to each player. If you don't want to use it, fine, but for those of us who don't want to use video games as exposure therapy and just enjoy ourselves, comments like this are unhelpful and frankly condescending. It's sad that this was the first comment on a mod that's clearly intended to help people.
As another with arachnophobia I believe people should just mod the game the way they want to play I'm not very fond of walking around and getting snuck up on by a bear sized spider or them dropping down on me.
Mods like this are the only reason I can play comfortably. And I am extremely grateful to everyone that makes mods like this. I get what you mean by trying to overcome the fear and there are games were you have no choice *points aggressively at Witcher 3 DLCs* but having the option to just relax and not have to think about it is grand for people like me.
If you enjoy the challenge of going toe to toe with your fear - great and good for you.
Meanwhile I will aggressively endorse mods like this lol
10 comments
I understand some views about exposure therapy, but I think I'm walking proof that sometimes, certain degrees of exposure therapy don't work on everyone (that is the nature of therapy techniques, coming from someone also studying psychology lmao, not all therapeutic approaches will work for everyone, does not mean you are doomed for therapy in general not to work on you, just means you need something different and that is valid!). I've owned a pet tarantula, I've played unmodded skyrim, I am still very much on edge trying to play this game with the vanilla spiders and modded spiders in my game. In the end, if you want to play with spider creatures, go for it, pass this mod right on up if you're happy facing these fears head on, that's completely valid, and if you don't want to deal with spider-like creatures in a game you're playing to have stress free fun without the fear of spiders lurking around a corner, download whatever mods let you have a fun time, that's valid too! :D
All this to say thank you for all your hard work to the mod author, you're awesome! I was wary of playing Vigilant as I had no idea what creatures it added but am looking to do it soon as a CVF mod I use is getting a patch for it and I really want to see all his new content, so now I know I can play it in peace!
I really suggest that people don't make mods like this, as a phobia can not be beaten if it isn't confronted.
Video games are the perfect medium for that, as a person can confront their fears in a safe environment which over time desensitizes them to the phobia.
By avoiding a phobia, it only prolongs it.
If you enjoy the challenge of going toe to toe with your fear - great and good for you.
Meanwhile I will aggressively endorse mods like this lol