Mods, and other like formats of the era, was just the coolest format in music ever. Not only could you play and enjoy the song (which is all you were limited to for all music to date), but you got all the individual samples that made the entirety of the song, the notation and could see/study the techniques used. Nothing else gave you that, and likely won't ever again. I never would have gotten into digital music creation and sound design without them.