alantor

Depends on what you call "essential". Most players would consider having better graphics essential, others the gameplay improvement mods, and still others the 'bare minimum'. As for me, i find the most essential ones, those that without i wouldn't even play Skyrim anymore. But it seems to change a bit with each playthough. Although i have a absolute must haves in a very short list : - skyUI - iHud (or minimal hud, also good) - racemenu and/or ECE - Cbbe (and the side tools/skins) - ULO+ (absolutely needed for my graphics) - Imaginator - Predator vision - Wet and Cold + ashes - Several texture mods (mostly landscape) - Immersive armors - Immersive weapons. - better Magic. I could add many more mods, but the short list above is ,for me at least, a must have to even consider playing skyrim. Oh, and the unofficial patches and textures are obvious. As for the modders themselves, i consider the work of Gopher, Caliente, CaBal, Expired, Apachii and JJC71, to name a few, absolutely top notch and not to be missed on the listings.

This weekend ESO went Beta for their stress test. I've played it for a few hours and i've seen/explored some things, and i cannot talk about the content of ESO or the way it looks due to their NDA (non-disclosure agreement), but i can say this : Take skyrim vanilla, add a mod that enhances character creation, remove all vibrant colors from skyrim, add a mod that allows skyrim to be played as an mmo. Ask €60 for that and a monthly fee to play it. Are you willing to pay/play it ? Second, making a game like ESO go F2P is heading downhill no matter how you look at it. I seriously doubt that their intended playerbase will stay the same after 3 to 6 months. I'm with you on that one. The pay model only works if you have a very strong and big playerbase, and imo i highly doubt that will become the case for ESO. Mind you, i've only seen the beta, and it's a far from finished product, but one can see in what direction it will be heading. For now, i keep my hopes up but my expectations very low in comparison to what is already out there. But if you really want to play an offline game, stick to skyrim with all it's wonderful mods and graphic additions. Trust me, there is nothing comparable out there(in the same genre). Not now, and not for quite some time i suspect.

In response to post #8465322. crook of the elbow ? just use some paper 'towel' and throw it away, i'm not sneezing anywhere ON my body thx, lol. next thing you know ppl are wiping their noses with their sleeves... 0.0