So, I always had a policy to never use mods on any game after many instances of them creating bugs and ruining gameworld tone, coherency and consistency.
I'm hardcoe like that.

But since the heavy modding of Skyrim is quite inescapable(you often see articles about it on mainstream gaming websites), I was wondering if there are mods that only UPGRADE OR IMPROVE EXISTING STUFF, not adding anything of their own and not introducing bugs of any kind.
This especially goes for the graphics so I can get the most awesome visual experience there can be(I was quite overwhelmed with Dear Esther).

Also I'm gay so I was wondering are there handsome male faces and bodies for character creation?
I was quite disappointed with default range of them.

First off, prepare for hellfire to be brought down upon you; how dare you speak out against mods.

Second, I feel the same way as you. I have the imaginator mod to mess about with when bored. It's fun.

I agree with you and use minimum mods until after I have done everything the game has to offer.

I switched to PC from xbox for the mods.

After seeing what PCer's were doing in their games, I couldn't play on the xbox anymore.

I would have stopped playing a long time ago if it wasn't for the amount of mods, it's like a whole new game for me at the moment having just installed SkyRe, so many perks!! (that work and make sense..)

So are there any specific mods or even user created categories of listings that only focus on upgrading and improving stuff?

Define upgrading and improving.

Your best bet is to browse around the Nexus or, urgh, the steam workshop, urgh.

With mods, it's all a matter of taste, and what you want to do with your game, if you just want the prettiest the game can be, stick with re-textures.

If someone has issues with mods causing problems, 9 /10 it's the user not installing them properly. Be that the actual install or the load order.

Or...the user just installing without doing the homework of reading the ReadMe and insuring no conflicts before they ever install in the first place.

No need to hate the mods. Hate yourself for not knowing what your doing.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/

Everything you want is here.

Also, remember that Bethesda games are designed from the start to utilise mods. It's not like the majority of games where they're crudely made and kind of hacked on, the whole game and the engine is entirely open and made for user made mods. Bethesda help support them and us modders, they give us the tools they use to make the game and the DLCs and really help us out. That way you get top quality mods of all types (some huge additions, some minor changes etc.).

I always play the first play through pretty much mod free. But if I'm going to retread covered ground in a replay, I want to change things up as much as possible. Mods are great for shaking things up.

Unofficial patches would be the best thing to start with.

Apart from the Nexus, there is also the Dragonporm website *don't let the name put you off >_< lol* which has mods also.

Do I dare type that into google.. Hmm