What's the proper way to remove add-ons?

Caroloces · July 2017

I've noticed after the Morrowind patch that there are some add-ons that are discontinued (Shissa's LUA Memory(?)), not being updated, or simply not being used. I'd like to do a little housecleaning and get rid of the add-ons that I'm simply not using. I do have Minion, but I don't see that it has any feature for deleting add-ons, and I"ve looked in the game itself for a "remove add-ons" feature, but I don't see one.
What is the proper way to remove them?

Remag_Div · July 2017

I don't think it's like Skyrim where removing mods is a hassle and could break your game.

Just go to the ESO folder in My Documents then delete the mod in the add-on folder you want gone.

paulsimonps · July 2017

Delete the add-on's folder from the add-on folder and remove its Saved Variables file from the Saved Variables folder and that is all you need to do to completely remove any trace of the add-on.

Caroloces · July 2017

Thanks!

Remag_Div · July 2017

paulsimonps wrote: »

remove its Saved Variables file from the Saved Variables folder

Hm, I didn't know this bit. Good to know!

Easily_Lost · July 2017

I remove them using Minion,
Right click on the Addon you want removed, click on Uninstall, and make sure you Check Remove Save Variables, and click Delete.

Caroloces · July 2017

Thanks, Hagermanj.
I do use Minion, and I didn't think to do a right mouse click (doh!)

starkerealm · July 2017

@Caroloces, I realize this is a little old, but...

The issue with Skyrim (and Fallout 4) is that when the game calls a script, it gets recorded in the save file.

For example, if you have a script will cause a piece of gear to add a perk to the player while equipped, that will persist in your save file even when you uninstall the mod. At that point, if you uninstalled it and anything were to trigger that script, it would chase a perk that no longer exists and (in some cases) crash out the game. (In this specific example, it's unlikely, but if a script is called on level up, or looting a container, it can cause the entire savegame to become broken if you uninstall the associated mod mid-playthrough.)

Part of that is a longstanding issue with deleted references causing crashes. That's been an issue since Morrowind, and it's alive and well in Skyrim and FO4.

ESO doesn't do any of that. Addons can be installed or uninstalled during runtime. Some of this is because of the scope for addons. You can't really modify the game the way you could with a single player title. There's no Ultimate Vampries for ESO, for example. You can't change stats. You have serious limits about how much you can affect visually. You can't expanding the scripting via something like SKSE. (In fact, a lot of functionality is, deliberately, locked down.)

The core reason is that ESO is a multiplayer game. Skryim sees nothing wrong with letting you mod in incredibly overpowered items, but in ESO, that would play havoc with balance.

The result is that ESO's addons are, basically, UI extensions. There are a handful of exceptions, but what you get are things like an achievement tracker, the ability to have multiple quests on your HUD at once, or the ability to stick a minimap on your screen.

Because of this, uninstalling addons is not an issue in ESO.