Has Mod Organizer beaten Wrye Bash? I just got back into Skyrim, and I remember everyone using Wrye Bash over everything else. I just need to know what MO has over Wrye Bash, or even if NMM has anything over Wrye Bash.

MO probably has a higher percentage of the new Skyrim players than Wrye Bash, but those of us who prefer Wrye Bash are still using it, still prefer it and Wrye Bash is still being updated.

MO uses a virtual file system to keep the data folder "clean". That is the main difference between the two. The virtual file system of MO requires you to run other programs like xEdit through it, rather than separately. You can even run Wrye Bash through MO if you want to build a bashed patch.

As you know, Wrye Bash uses a different method to keep the data folder clean, by keeping track of what you install and remembering when you have replaced one mod's loose files with another so you can do a clean uninstall of any mod at any time.

Both Wrye Bash and MO allow you to adjust install order on the fly and track loose file conflicts, etc. Wrye Bash has some nice features that are helpful to mod authors and people who want a more hands on approach.

The only real advantage MO has over Wrye Bash is its profile feature, which can be useful if you want to play multiple characters on different installations. Wrye Bash has a profile feature that will keep track of load order, but switching profiles in Wrye Bash won't automatically switch your install order. It will in MO. If your mods are all packed in bsa files, that that is not an issue, but if you are loosing mods with loose files (particularly scripts that replace vanilla scripts) than switching profiles in Wrye Bash won't solve the problem of needing a different installation for a different load order.

NMM is sort of a third choice and not as powerful as either MO or Wrye Bash, but that may change soon, since the author of MO was hired by Nexus to rebuild NMM from scratch.

Bash is simpler to use, but Mod Organizer is more powerful and up to date (EDIT: struck-out, I'll trust Turija's word on that).

MO installs everything via a virtual filesystem which creates an abstraction layer between your mod installation, which can be a hassle sometimes. You have to launch everything, including SKSE/Skyrim, through MO, otherwise mods are invisible. You also have to edit your ini files via MO, which is a bummer, but that's my only real complaint about it.

OTOH, you create a profile in MO, then you can copy it (or create a new one) and add/change mods without affecting your other character(s). It makes testing and multiple characters with different mods super easy. I personally create a pristine non-mod profile, then a base mod profile, then other profiles based on themes like survival, magic, warrior, whatever.

The STEP project has a http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:Mod_Organizerto help you get started if you're interested. Gopher has multiple youtube videos, too.

EDIT again: The next generation of NMM (due to the MO author being involved) might be great, but the current one is IMO the worst possible choice. I just tried it for the first time in years, and found a dozen or so bugs within a few days. It isn't smart about it's installs, and rather than telling you, it will dump mod assets in the wrong place if the packaging is incorrect. And it's broken on uninstalls for me on large mods twice. I've got two giant mod installs that I used NMM for due to the automation and handling of a large number of files, and it failed. If the current version of Bash can handle fomods, than it's far superior. IMO.

I did notice the profile feature that MO has, and that was the most glaring offer I saw and was what motivated me to make this thread. It would definitely be nice to switch back and fourth between two radically different saved games, like let's say Skyblivion and a regular heavily modded Skyrim game.

And I also wanted to learn how to use MO, because certain mods like Requiem doesn't seem to have any installation guide for Wrye Bash, and aren't in right format to install through Bash.

I actually like the built in mod manager but then again I only use a few mods and I download those from Bethesda. If I use more mods then it would either be NMM or Wyre Bash

I use Requiem and yes, you need to create your own BAIN for Requiem. It's not hard to do once you understand Skyrim and Requiem file structure.

Most mods though do come in a BAIN format and Alt3rn1ty has been very helpful in assisting some of the most popular mod authors to add Wrye Bash wizards for mods with complex installations. Requiem is a special case, but even with MO, a Requiem installation can be challenging because Requiem needs a lot of patches since it touches so much, and LOOT does not sort Requiem properly. So, if you want to run other mods with Requiem, you need to be prepared to get your hands dirty.

But MO has a lot more on line tutorial videos for installation of just about any mod. There are fewer online tutorials for Wrye Bash. With Wrye Bash, you kind of need to know how stuff works (or spend some time figuring it out) if you want to jump in and install a mod like Requiem. With MO, you can just google a tutorial video and follow the step by step instructions.