Omnific One said:
Bethesda games --> Evidence why modding is alive and kicking.
There are quite a few total conversion packs for Oblivion, Morrowind, FO3/F:NV.
Agreed wholeheartedly. I actually thought of that when I saw the title of the thread. Oblivion was a rather dry game for me until I got Shivering Isles. Now I have lizard dressed like Ezio who can fly.
Fallout games are greatly improved by mods.
Dragon Age (admittedly not Bethesda) is better with mods. Mass Effect ...better with mods. There are still people modding NWN and NWN 2 or Baldur. Vampire: Bloodlines is still being modded and patched regularly.
The fact that there are engines that cannot be modded is true, but there are much more that can. Every game has a fandom that tried to make the game better. And while fanbases and fan communities exist (along with the internet...) then mods will continue to appear.
Edit: Just for the record, I think every game I have ever played has had a hidden nude patch/mod somewhere...except, I don't know, Mario or Supaplex. Which would have been terrifying. That counts.