I have only played the vanilla Morrowind GOTY and Oblivion GOTY with 1 extra mod - cloaks.

What I would like to know is:

What are the ESSENTIAL mods that I should download and install with Morrowind - I am about to install it on my machine again for a long overdue replay, but I am so out of touch with mods etc. that I have no clue what I should be looking for.

thanks!

Gonna give a quick list of what 99% of the forum would suggest, though I can't be buggered to find links at the moment. (That's everyone else's job, lol.)

Morrowind Code Patch
Morrowind Patch Project
AnimKit
Vvardenfell Visages (Most people would say Better Heads, but this is pluginless and awesome.)
Better Bodies
Better Beasts or New Beast Bodies (Matter of taste here.)
Morrowind's Stupidest Criminals
A magicka regen mod (There are quite a few. Pick one ya like.)
Better Clothes
Better Clothes Tribunal
Expanded Birthsigns for Purists
Graphic Herbalism
Oriental Weapons Pack

The basics. Everything else depends on personal taste.

You could look here, it has a whole lot to look at.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/

The only true essentials, as Pluto puts it very well in his thread, are the MW Patch Project, the MW Code Patch, and Better Bodies. Everything else is subjective, because there are often multiple alternatives for those.

One could argue Better Bodies isn't an essential either, since I've known people who prefer the vanilla models.

I'm just curious if those people live in rooms with padded walls and like bricks for breakfast? :bolt:

What factions do you intend to use? This could be a big help. Telvanni seems to have the biggest selection of mods for it, but there are plenty of other expansions for houses. Give us an idea of the direction you want to take in-game and then you can get better suggestions.

I'd say the most essential mods are MCP, MPP and BB as people have said, but I also think graphical mods add a great deal to the game. if your computer can handle it there's no reason not to get MGE (Morrowind Graphics Enhancer), and there are loads of tree replacers and grass mods, my favourite of those being made by Vurt (search them on PES). I'm not really into anything else that actually alters the gameplay because I think it's great as it is (sort of the opposite of what I do with Oblivion) but I've heard of quiet a lot of good mods in this area such as Creatures X.

Oh, one thing no one has mentioned: Tamriel Rebuilt!!! How can this be anything but essential? It's basically a whole landmass just like Vvardenfell that feels similar, remains true to lore etc but is about twice as well designed and massive. Some people complain about compatability but I can't think what they'd rather have over TR.

The focus of my mod list is mods which,a s far as I'm concerned, are downright essential to gameplay.

Awesome. Thanks for the suggestions. I have just finished downloading the official mods and Morrowind Patch Project. Registered for the Code Patch.