I got thinking about this after being asked to include a couple of features in my mod, one was to be able to acquire NPCs and set the mod dungeon as their new home location, the other was to be able to re-dress them.

I had already included in the readme to incorporate using UFO and My Home Is Your Home to achieve the first point. The second was suggested because the enquirer liked the feature in Bathing Beauties which I actually never looked at before, reading through the authors readme I discover NPC Clothes Changer and Maintainer on the Mods conflict list.

LET ME STRESS - I DO NOT WISH TO PUT DOWN ANYONES MOD, KNOCK ANYONES NOSE OUT, SHOW FAVOURITISM FOR MINE OR EVEN PROMOTE OTHERS, MY MAIN POINT IS ABOUT THE OVERALL COMPATIBILITY OF MODS!!!

Skyrim is my first TES game that I have modded so my expertise at this stage is not fantastic, so my thoughts were that if other people (most likely more knowledgable) have achieved the same results in other mods would there be any point in me trying to repeating it.

The senario would be something like this say I did manage to get the 2nd feature into my mod it would most likely mean I would conflict with both Bathing Beauties and NPC Clothes Changer and Maintainer so all 3 mods may conflict and users would have to choose 1 only. Alternatively if Bathing Beauties did not have the feature all 3 mods should be compatible and the feature would also be available for use in other mods also.

It's obvious mods are all made available at different times and it's easy that these kinds of clashes can occur, I just wonder that when these kinds of things come to light that mod authors are aware of it and there can be work arounds. Even to the point that when contemplating new features or new mods that mod author's should at least do a trawl though the mods and see if their going to introduce a new conflict.

I would have liked not to have mentioned any of these mods as examples but it clearly illustrates my point, I'm sure however some nong is going to snipe "Your just jealous" so I'll get in first I'm old enough and had to eat enough humble pie of my own in the past that I really don't care I am more interested in Skyrim being as enjoyable an experiance for everyone.

This post question I have to say was very well thought out and beautifuly written. MY answer is yes, Mods can do to much. For example: I am an xbox user and when I see the Mods and stuff you all can do and change in your game, OMG I am so jealous...........

Sure. Feature creep is a serious issue. If the feature doesn't fit within your intended scope, don't do it. Just link to compatible mods that complement yours / are suggested on your front page, and let that be that.

I'm also a big believer in letting people do what they do best. Case in point: Wet & Cold. It has a ton of features I always wanted to put into Frostfall, but didn't have the time. Turns out that what Isoku pulled off is not only what I wanted to do, but it's better than I ever could have done it. So, I happily link to Wet & Cold while I keep Frostfall focused more on gameplay.

That said, if there's a feature out there that you think would be fun to implement, or you know you can do it better... by all means.