Hi everybody, Like most of you, I have been experiencing the same issues with the "Dragonborn" DLC for "TESV: Skyrim", since its release. This seems to be the longest thread about them, so I will post here, rather than anywhere else on "The Nexus Forums". These performance/compatibility/stability issues (crashes and freezes) started happening right after I purchased, downloaded and played the "Dragonborn" DLC for the first time. I had experienced crashes and freezes before, but only after having played, long sessions of the game (e.g. three or more hours). This was extremely rare and the crashes and/or freezes happened in random exterior locations (cells) throughout the game (map/province of Skyrim) and could not seem to be reproduced in the same location. However, since the "Dragonborn" DLC came out, I have had quite a few crashes and/or freezes, but only on location of the island of Solstheim, which the DLC introduces. Needless to say, I play the game on the same PC ("rig"). As soon as my character exits the "relative outer rim" of the city of Raven Rock in order to reach the Temple of Miraak, there is a brief freeze (stutter), and exactly 60 seconds later, regardless of any player ingame activity, the game crashes to desktop (CTD) or freezes. This issue occurs in random exterior locations (cells) throughout the island of Solstheim, and has reproduced in the same, time and time again. The Cause ??? After almost five months of struggling with this problem, I cannot conclusively state that the cause is/are any of the following (not necessarily in this order): 01) Language settings - Some users have reported that language settings for the DLC that are different from those of the base game could cause crashes from the main menu. 02) HD Texture Pack(s) - They could increase the game's overall hardware requirements, and, in theory, contribute to a software enviroment that is more likely to condition these issues. 03) Mods (Load order) - It has been suggested that mods and their (particular) order could be one of the causes, since they affect performance, stability and introduce the problem of (mutual) compatibility. 04) Save file embedded scripts - The game's save file mechanics (system) is complex, and these scripts could, in theory, accumulate over time, "burdening" the save file with redundant data, thus affecting stability. 05) Skyrim Master File (*ESM) data errors - They are known throughout the community as "dirty edits" and could affect performance as to condition these type(s) of issues. 06) Skyrim *INI file settings - It has also been suggested that certain "*ini tweaks" could cause performance/compatibility/stability issues. 07) Game Hardware and Software Requirements - This being one of the most obvious sources of performance/compatibility/stability issues. 08) General Hardware and Software Requirements - Drivers, the operating system version, directx version, auditive and visual settings could, again, cause performance/compatibility/stability issues. Although I did not solve the problem, I found a way around it, using the console. Since the issues seemed to be limited to exterior cells, I decided to try and restrict my character's movement(s) on the island of Solstheim, to interiors with "fast travel". The only way to do this is to "explore" the whole map (for both the Skyrim and Solstheim provinces) with the "toggle map markers" console command (tmm 1 for on, and tmm 0 for off). As for the "infinite loading screen bug", after leaving the Temple of Miraak, the only way around the problem is, again, the "center on cell" console command (coc <CellID>; e.g. coc WhiterunBreezehome). This will probably be regarded as "cheating" and/or a major "immersion-breaker", or even as a ridiculous measure, by the more "puritanically" oriented members of the Skyrim community. I cannot stress enough that my use of the console was a last resort, and that it is, in fact, generally disabled via a tweak in my "Skyrim.ini" file. Anyway, this is just a "bypass", while the issues remain, almost five months after the "Dragonborn" DLC's release. I have never experienced a CTD from the game's main menu, so this will not be the subject of my "analysis", for the present. All the best to you all. Mephistroth.
