Now that I've played a session in the base game, I see the changes there and approve whole-heartedly.
•The little fade-ins as you enter each area,
•the game runs more smoothly, the textures and NPCs are loading faster (and there are still plenty of players active in base game areas -- I expected Mistral in Kenarthi's Roost to be a ghost town yesterday, and instead there were more people there than I have ever seen!)
• the new music and screens have brightened things up
• and I was even able to leave my Flaming Nix Inn room without issues.
• the so-called nerfs that everyone was whining about have affected the game Not At All as far as I can see. Of course, I don't PVP at this point (that's for the future).
Kudos to the developers for all the obvious work they have done and the way they have spruced up the game in addition to the expansion (which I love so far -- although I'm stepping back and playing in the base game a while until things calm down in Morrowind).
"Nothing by which all human passion and hope and folly can be mirrored and then proved ever was just a game."
-- William Faulkner.