MO2 load order bloat is killing my modding—when do you actually start over?

I've been running the same load order for like two years now. Started with the essentials (USSEP, SkyUI, SKSE), added some quest mods, then graphics stuff, then gameplay overhauls, and now I'm at 247 plugins and honestly I have no idea what half of them do anymore. Some are probably obsolete. Some are probably conflicting with each other in ways I don't understand.

The thing is, the game runs fine. I get maybe one CTD per 20 hours of play, which for me is acceptable. But I keep seeing people talk about "starting fresh with a clean install" and I'm wondering if that's actually necessary or if it's just modding culture gatekeeping. Like, at what point does a load order become so messy that you're just asking for problems down the road?

Also—and this might be a dumb question—does anyone actually use Vortex for a 200+ plugin setup, or is MO2 basically mandatory at that scale? I've been in MO2 since day one so I'm not even sure what Vortex's limitations are anymore.

247 plugins isn't actually that bad if they're all working. The real question is whether you've got actual conflicts or just paranoia. One CTD per 20 hours is solid - plenty of people run way messier setups with worse stability.

That said, there's a difference between "the game runs" and "the game runs optimally." You probably have some dead weight in there - old patches for mods you removed, cosmetic stuff you forgot about, maybe a few things doing the same job. That can add up to load time bloat and occasional weirdness you don't even notice. Doesn't mean you need to nuke everything though.

I'd say grab a copy of your current MO2 profile, spend an afternoon actually going through your plugin list and googling the ones you don't recognize. Delete obvious garbage. Check if any major overhauls are stepping on each other. You might trim it down 20-30% without losing anything. That's the middle ground between "start from scratch" and "never touch it."

As for Vortex vs MO2 - Vortex works fine at 200+ plugins if you're not doing anything weird. The difference is MO2 gives you way more control over conflicts and load order manipulation without actually modifying your game folder. Vortex is simpler but less flexible. For 247 plugins you're probably benefiting from MO2's organization anyway, so no real reason to switch unless you just want to.

The "start fresh" people aren't wrong that a clean install teaches you stuff, but they're also not wrong that you don't need to if what you have is stable.