The modding community for Bethesda's latest massive RPG, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is a creative bunch. Yet, since the game launched their creativity has been limited due the the fact that Bethesda hasn't unlocked the true power of being able to mod the game. Right now you can only replace textures, meshes and a few other aspects of the game.

The Creation Kit, which is the full-blown modding software they will release, was just announced on their blog to be looking at a January 2012 release date. It is a bit later than expected, to be honest. But, hopefully, when it goes live it's a decent suite of software to be able to make just about anything and everything your heart desires in the world of Skyrim.

Along with that, they are also working with Valve to offer some of the best mods for Skyrim to download on Steam, so you technically wouldn't have to go through other third-party sites - you can download and install mods just as easy as you download and install games via Steam. This has pros and cons, of course, and it's likely the bulk of the mods available will be presented only on sites such as SkyrimNexus, but hey, it's an interesting concept for those who might not want to get in too deep, but want to check things out nonetheless.