>>713159862
It really varies from mod to mod. Many of the early VE mods were a mess with tacked on features that have little to do with the aspect of vanilla that is being expanded. For example, the first Insectoids expansion added plasma weapons, for some reason, but the new one is just fine. And the Mechanoid expansion still adds non-Biotech robots and factory buildings. The new Medieval expansion adds fucking potion making, but I just wanted castles and vikings! When people say "bloat", this is what they mean. Another example of bloat are items and buildings that serve little to no purpose, like gloves and boots from Vanilla Armour Expanded. I would also add Vanilla Cooking Expanded to this list because I don't see anyone using even half of the new cooking features, it's just too much (pic related). And an example of a good, not bloated mod would be Vanilla Nutrient Paste Expanded. It's genuinely my favorite VE mod because it does exactly what the name says and it does it well. I love pumping slop through my base walls.