These idiots are saying "Graphics don't matter to me, so they probably don't matter to someone else" which is an arrogant self-absorbed and almost certainly incorrect generalization. "Graphics don't matter" -> Retort: And? I doubt they actually believe this, they wouldn't want Stalker to have Pong graphics, but even then it obviously matters to MOST people, so might as well improve it since you can.Autumn Aurora does this, AMK 1.4 does not for example. "Mods change the style and alter the core identity of the game" -> Retort: Not necessarily.
Instead they should play the improved modded version first, and if they like it, then maybe check out vanilla one day, but they don't need to play all of vanilla to understand what was improved. "You should see vanilla first, to see what was improved" -> Retort: Most people don't replay games, so they shouldn't take that chance.That, and developers' intentions are imperfect as these mods show since some only objectively improve things. "You should see vanilla first, to see what the devs intended" -> Retort: None of the Stalker games were released exactly as intended, especially SoC and CS - there are mods that actually make them as INTENDED (Oblivion Lost Remake for SoC, various mods that add back cut levels and content to CS).Here are the common arguments people give to play vanilla first: