I've played the game plenty on console, but I am not able to get it on PC as well and I am trying to decide between skyrim, or skyrim SE. My mind instantly goes to SE, but I also plan to mod quite a bit- and I am not sure of the state of modding in SE. I understand that it needs time to pick up, which I'm willing to give- but my bigger concern is how many modders are moving from normal skyrim to SE? Are there major ones not going to be adding their mods to it? Stuff like that is what I'm curious to know so I can decide of I want to get the SE or old version.

We dont know yet how SSE PC modding will go in the bigger picture - only time will tell

SSE may split the community into two streams - that is what is happening now

As I write active players are split approx 60/40%

That may change over time as more mods are ported to SSE and release day teething issues are fixed

But it remains to be seen

If I were beginning a game today I would go with vanilla personally because there are launcher issues (resolutions for instance)

with SSE that obstruct me playing - and most of the mods I consider essential are not yet available on SSE

...some may never be available

(there are currently ~ 50,000 vanilla vs ~700 SSE on Nexus)

In the longer term a lot will depend on how much enthusiasm juice there is left in the Skyrim modding community

It is a 5 year old game and good mods require a lot of dedication and work

I hope SSE will become a thing - like vanilla has been; and will have lots of legs for years to come

The bad news - I doubt there will ever be the total number of mods for SE that there are for the original. Some excellent modders moved on years ago.

The good news - Some of the *very important* mods are already in beta for SE. Also, who knows, maybe a new generation of excellent SE modders are poised to surpass what was done for the original.

I own both on the PC and haven't even tried SE yet. I run a lightly modded original. 11 mods, not counting the DLC's or hi-res packs. Basically, all the unofficial essentials plus things like purity, skyrim immersive creatures, ELFX, etc.. I have the game tweaked just right for my aging system and, from the screenies/vids I've seen, my original still looks better, so no reason for me to go with SE.

Bethesda was smart to 'give' SE to those PC users who have the original plus all the DLC's. They recognize that a hefty percentage of their game's 'success' is due to the ability to mod the game. Putting the game into these modders hands (for free) ensures that many, many mods will be made for Skyrim Special Edition.

If I had to choose from a fresh start I would go with SE, with the hopes that all the mods that you'll ever need will be produced/converted. Plus, you can always mod it to the tilt yourself. I've done some light modding. The creation kit can be very 'convoluted' at times but if you have patience you can do 'almost' anything.