OK we know we should not uninstall mods, especially if they are script-heavy.

Alright you can try anyways, and even get away with removing certain mods, but running into an impossible-to-remove mod is just a matter of time. Just as an example, I got impossible-to-ignore problems once I removed the UFO follower mod from a previous game. Everybody will have had simiilar experiences with some mods at some point during his Skyrim modding adventures.

So what to do when you get unhappy about your current modlist?

Well, start a new game with a new modlist.

Thanks to a tool like Mod Organizer creating yet another modlist profile is nowadays very easy. Also changing race and face is always easy thanks to "showracemenu" and/or enhancing mods (ECE, Racemenu) What is not so easy - at least for me - is actually playing this new game from ground zero on... Because quite possibly you were unhappy about just this ONE mod out of your 200 mods, and you were level 25 and do you really want to restart from zero and go through all the troubles and grinds AGAIN to get to this point of the game, just without mod XY...

Therefore, wouldn't it be most helpful having a completely unmodded savegame of some advanced level... Obviously this is the kind of savegame that mod users... we... will never create ourselves, unless you are extremely masochistic, tolerant and well-organized during the very first playthrough of the game and collect plain vanilla savegames for later re-use in your modded games...

There are some suitable savegames on Nexus, but these chars usually start at level 1. What I would find helpful is to have a say level 15 save where the char puposefully has some skills already, has some equipment and has completed some quests and such. Sure this save is not precisely what you would be playing yourself - but may still be the better compromise than doing the first 15 - 20 levels yourself - all because mod XY botched your game when you uninstalled it.

So my idea was to have some repository of unmodded savegames, categorized by base type of character, e.g. warrior, mage, steatthy with brief description what went on in this savegame or what the chars skills are, perks and such. Also stating if any of the official DLC's were used (but otherwise unmodded).

Modded only with Unofficial Patches and SkyUI (hence including SKSE) would also be OK, I guess, but should be mentioned of course.

Do other players feel the same "need" for such savegames?

Is this a feasible idea?

Or am I totally off? If so, how do others deal with this "new game dilemma" ? Is it a dilemma at all for you?

Personally, I'm fine with restarting with a new character - I tend to roleplay, and focus on a particular morality and skillset, and enjoy the character learning process which means the vast majority of savegames would be no use to me - they'd have stats, skills and spells I didn't want, for example, with certain quests completed (or worse, started!) that are just not appropriate for that character.

I'm coming to the end of a playthrough with my current character, a "good" illusion mage, with no conjuration spells learnt, no daedric quests completed, no murders, and even no animals killed. This sort of character refinement would be impossible to achieve with a generic downloaded save. Sure, I could just ignore the murder and animals killed count in the general stats menu, but I'd prefer not to have to do that!

No dilemma for me. I try out a mod and if I like it I keep it and then begin my adventures. If not reload to a save before installing said mod and continue.

Personally I do not see the need for major overhauls/changes i.e. I have not tried out Skyre or Requiem as of yet.

I do have over 110 mods installed but I feel that they are subtle changes to the game.

I wouldn't need any saves on any specific level as I would prefer to roleplay to that level and every roleplay is different for me and thus quite enjoying even if I was doing the same few initial quests over again. Alternate starts from Live Another Life helps with this.

Yup; that is why slower leveling for me is like "I only reach lv 20 before restart".

With a new start you get to try out doing different things, trying other fighting styles or go other directions in your questing.

Restarting is not to big a problem as long as you gotten some mileage out of your old character - see it as a chance for a new life .)

This is something I do with every mod I install mid-game - I load my save, planning on the next few hours (or longer, depending on the type of mod) being throwaway, not completing any quests or doing anything in-character other than testing the mod to make sure I'm happy with it, and to make sure there aren't any glitches and that my system can cope with it. Only once I'm sure I want to keep the mod I'll reload that save and play in-character, and continue my story.

And if later down the line I find I change my mind, I can usually just edit the mod in the CK to make it more in line with my expectations.

I guess I'm the only one who keeps playing the same character. Yall would have been though 20 characters, while I'm marching on 10,000 hours with the sole character I've used since release. Therefore, simply 'starting over' is not an option for me. I try the mod out, and if it doesn't crash my game, I keep it. "Crash test" is playing for a least an hour with it active.

I already know I'm going to like it if I'm interested enough to read the description page and comments.

I think it's a fine idea. The problem for me is that I would feel a bit of a loss not having done the quests and stuff myself.

I was thinking of playing a character through an unmodded game or at least to something past this unending testing phase I'm in right now and using it as a whole set of clean saves for myself. But I hate the naming system, and it would take a spreadsheet to keep track of each save and what quest was just started, or ended, and which follower and which house ... I gave up on the idea.