Alright, I'm almost to the point of stabbing something here. Skyrim has given me perhaps the most trouble with mods and CTDs and freezing and oddities I've ever had. Not even Oblivion got me this frustrated.

I had gotten skyrim working pretty much the way I wanted it to after my last "mod overload" issue (switching from RTWE to WATER wasn't fun), and had been playing for some time again after having to start a completely new character. Earlier today I had seen thatone of my mods needed updating - Deadly Dragons. So I used the NMM to download the three files (Dragons, Spells and Armory) and install them. Then on Nexus I saw a new weapon mod that struck my fancy, so I subscribed. 5 star rating, just a simple weapon mod.

Try to play? Loads ok.....game starts ok.....go to Dragonsreach to use new DD settings - crash after activating door. Repeatable. Even after turning off DD, crash at that door. Not happened in this game yet. Also, CTD near Western Watchtower that has never happened before. Can't figure out what is causing it. And losing patience with things like BOSS, which can't order mods to make it worthwhile (EX: It puts the USP at the bottom of the load order, and Sea of Ghosts after the quests it needs to go before).

So I'm willing to give this one more go, and perhaps start one more character if I have to. But I've lost at least a dozen hours over the course of the game trying to make sure these mods work and are compatiable, and I'm not sure I can take much more. I thought the workshop and NMM were supposed to make this smooth and easy.

Here is my BOSS masterlist of mods:

*Note - Not listed is CBBE w/ an armor redesign pack for it, a walking/running animation mod, the High Quality map mod.

?Recognised And Re-ordered Plugins

• Skyrim.esm Active
  
• Update.esm Active
  
• HighResTexturePack01.esp
  
• HighResTexturePack02.esp
  
• Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp Active
  
• Bardsoundsmalukah.esp Active
  
• enhanced soundtrack 02.esp Active
  
• enhanced soundtrack 01.esp Active
  
• arrowsstick.esp Active
  
• bladesfactionfix.esp Active
  
• boss.esp Active
  
• Deeper Snow.esp Active
  
• dd - enhanced blood main.esp Active
  
• enhanceddistantterrain.esp Active
  
• Fixed Followers.esp Active
  
• HigherLevelEnemies.esp Active
  
• improvedskillbooks.esp Active
  
• KillThemGenerals.esp Active
  
• ktxcompleteskyforge.esp Active
  
• lt_better_horses.esp Active
  
• morerain.esp Active
  
• new guards.esp Active
  
• psychosteve_stone of barenziah.esp Active
  
• real glaciers.esp Active
  
  • Note: Old version update to Real Glaciers V2
• sign.esp Active
  
• xylozi_tougher_traps.esp Active
  
• BarenziahQuestMarkers.esp Active
  
• amuletofthenines.esp Active
  
• Cloaks.esp Active
  
• dragonboneweaponscomplete.esp Active
  
• dragonpriestmasks.esp Active
  
• FlameAtronachArmor.esp Active
  
• FullBootForKKSA.esp Active
  
• Smithing Perks Overhaul - Balanced.esp Active
  
• Weapons and Armor fixes.esp Active
  
• Weapons and Armor fixes - Hacks.esp Active
  
• Complete Crafting Overhaul.esp Active
  
  • Note: will conflict with mods that modify existing recipes
• soma's archery overhaul (sao).esp Active
  
• DeadlyDragons.esp Active
  
• DeadlyDragonsArmory.esp Active
  
• DeadlyDragonsSpells.esp Active
  
• hg.esp Active
  
• LocalizedGuildJobs.esp Active
  
• Quest_AndTheRealmsOfDaedra.esp Active
  
• flags of victory.esp Active
  
• helmless_warrior.esp Active
  
• quest_seaofghosts.esp Active
  
• WATER.esp Active
  
• WATER - Get Wet.esp Active
  
• Reduced Distance NPC Greetings.esp Active
  
• selbs_combatfinesse.esp Active
  
• stronger daedric artifacts.esp Active
  
• UnlimitedBookshelves.esp Active
  
• dd - realistic ragdoll force - realistic.esp Active
  
• dovahkiinrelax.esp Active
  
• ignitetheworld.esp Active
  
• EnchantmentCleanser.esp Active
  
• The Dance of Death.esp Active
  
• Balanced_Alteraton.esp Active
  
• Balanced_Conjuration.esp Active
  
• Balanced_Destruction.esp Active
  
• Balanced_Illusion.esp Active
  
• Balanced_Restoration.esp Active
  
• Balanced_Magic_Master.esp Active
  
  • Note: Choose only one of the below - optional if you prefer vanilla settings or other mods which adjust these values.
• Balanced_Magic_Adept.esp
  
  • Note: Choose only one of the below - optional if you prefer vanilla settings or other mods which adjust these values.
• Balanced_Magic_Novice.esp
  
  • Note: Choose only one of the below - optional if you prefer vanilla settings or other mods which adjust these values.
• no more ability perk tree.esp Active
  
• N_43 Hair Pack.esp Active
  
• AskFollowerSkills.esp Active
  
• FollowerWander2.esp Active
  
• portal2mod.esp Active
  
• Quest_TheBiggerTheyAre.esp Active
  
• RCRN Classic - Hybrid Shaders.esp Active

?Unrecognised Plugins

Reorder these by hand using your favourite mod ordering utility.

• dawnstarsanctuaryrespawns.esp Active
  
• dd.esp Active
  
• DragonShoutOverhaul.esp Active
  
• thieves guild visitors.esp Active
  
• increased inn costs.esp Active
  
• variable_ingredients_from_kills_items.esp Active
  
• terrain bump.esp Active
  
• tbmchrysamere.esp Active

As I posted in other thread:

Also for you the unrecognized mods NEED to be sorted and reporting them as unrecognized will help people add them to BOSS masterlist.

Reduce load order till you have stability on new game.
Only add mods one at a time and play for a while to insure stability.
If not stable remove and return to earlier save without ever having added it.
one at a time till you build the load order up.

But I will say that even having done most of the above the last official patch really screwed my modded game. That and several reasons listed above.

Apparently WATER gives you CTDs also the Quest_ mods gave me constant CTDs when active (esmifying them helped though). At the moment there are dozens of mods out there that will give you CTDs and there's no sure way to find out what's causing all these issues. ATM I'm doing some playtesting with my new mods (running back and forth Skyrim) and trying to pick out the bad apples along the way. Once I find a safe mod list, I'm going to stick to that for my next playthrough.

I know myself - Ohh shiny is how I see new mods.

I'm only watching the forums every now and again for progress on the issues I listed above. Playing is too frustrating when after just a few mod changes it devolves down to mod testing more than playing. Not fun.

But the important thing for those reading: Learn BOSS, Bash, proper installing and removing of mods (full uninstall not disable to test), then if all that doesn't work post something. Still even then what kind of answer can anyone even give? Nothing but what has been said: learn the tools and procedures.

Until better patches and tools come out it is just a fools errand to make a well modded game work.

I'm getting tired of the hassle.

I'll probably not even bother trying to play until Dawnguard comes out. Then I'll just update the mods I have, get all the ducks in a row, make a new character and never add another mod again unless its obscenely awesome. This is what, the 6/7/8th character I've lost to mod issues?

How many users of WATER were using its predecessor though? My feeling on this is that most of the problems people are reporting from that are really leftover junk from the older mod. Skyrim doesn't let go of stuff as easily as Oblivion did. Psymon is right - it's like Morrowind (without the MCP) all over again.

I've only ever used WATER once it was called that, and so far it's not caused me any grief and I've updated it twice since its initial release.

Someone on my alt-start thread has said that the Quest_* series is completely busted. I have no idea, but if it hasn't been updated since CK 1.5 came out, it probably needs to be.

Which leads to the other point already raised. When the CK updates, *ALL* mods should be run back through it even if all you do is save the file. That will correct any record formats that were updated. Those updates being necessary because the game will expect them to be in the proper format. When they're not, Bad Things™ happen.

Also, if it helps, this is what I'm currently running with: