People are Strangers is a mod by sagittarius22. It changes the name of NPCs you haven't yet spoken to to "Stranger". It adds a sense of immersion to the game and answers a question that you've probably asked before: How do I know the name of every non-generic NPC in Skyrim? Well, now you don't. While the mod may seem simple, it's got some other great features we're about to discuss.
The version tested is 1.0. As far as I know, it is compatible with every mod out there, though we'll talk more about NPCs from DLCs and how they're affected in a bit. It has no requirements other than the latest version of vanilla Skyrim.
The version tested is 1.0. As far as I know, it is compatible with every mod out there, though we'll talk more about NPCs from DLCs and how they're affected in a bit. It has no requirements other than the latest version of vanilla Skyrim.
People are Strangers is a pretty simple mod, in the best way. It doesn't need much explaining, but I'll reiterate what I said before anyway. People are Strangers makes it so NPCs will have the name Stranger - or Jarl, in the case of the Jarls - until you speak to them for the first time. Why would people be interested in this? Well, a lot of people who enjoy immersion find this mod great. After all, how would the player know the names of every single non-generic NPC in the game? It's absolutely ridiculous. And if that doesn't matter to you... People are Strangers also adds an interesting dynamic to the game. Aside from that, the way People are Strangers has been achieved allows for some great perks. So let's talk about those now.
Pros
I usually measure a mod by how well it achieves its goal, and People are Strangers is no different. But it goes beyond the goal. It would've been a perfectly good mod if all it did was name NPCs "Stranger" once you'd started a new game. But it has a bunch of other useful features. For example, if you load it on a save game where you've already played, it will remember which NPCs you've already spoken to and gotten to know. It doesn't require SKSE, and it even affects NPCs from other mods and NPCs. If you're worried about scripts and other issues, then... You don't need to be. As said on the mod page, it only ever runs one script once, and it has no performance impact. I also like how the Jarls are called "Jarl", not just Stranger. It's a nice touch. There are a bunch of different .esps to choose from, aside from the default, so you can have NPCs referred to by race, or you can have no text from strangers show until you've spoken to them, which can remedy one of the cons regarding subtitles below. Lastly, the author is very receptive to suggestions for the mod, which is always great.
Cons
Despite it's simplicity and the great features, it does have a few faults, though they're pretty minor. It doesn't affect dead bodies, which might not bother many of you, and it doesn't affect animals, creatures, or guards. Still, most animals, creatures, and all guards are generically named anyways. As you may have noticed from the picture at the top of this review, there seems to be an issue with subtitles. Even if the person you're speaking to is a "Stranger", any subtitles will be prefixed by their actual name. I've spoken to sagittarius about this, and it seems that it's not an issue he can fix, which is unfortunate but there's no helping it. Lastly, when walking around in the game, I noticed that occasionally someone would change from a "Stranger" to a named person without me directly talking to them. This might be because they idly talked to me as I passed them by, though.
Conclusion
Overall, I think People are Strangers is a great mod. It increases the immersion factor quite a bit for me, and all of its extra features are a huge plus. While it might seem like a lot of cons from what I've mentioned, most of them aren't even relevant. For example, most creatures and guards are generically named anyway, and for me none of those small faults are a dealbreaker. Also, the subtitles issue can be fixed by installing the 'no text' version of the mod, if it bothers you. In the end, the pros are far larger, and they completely outweigh the cons for me. It's your decision, but I would highly recommend this mod to you. There's a good reason it made the Hot Files on the Skyrim Nexus.