The community realizes that downgrading to 1.6.353 or 1.5.97 is the only stable path. Tools like the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Downgrade Patcher see record downloads—over 150,000 in two weeks.
End of piece.
Until then, the veterans of the 1.6.640 war have a simple message for every new Skyrim player: “First thing you do after installing? Turn off automatic updates. Then download the Downgrade Patcher. And for the love of Talos, never, ever launch through Steam.”
For Starfield (already released) and The Elder Scrolls VI (years away), the lesson is clear: if Bethesda continues to push silent, non-optional executable updates without a public beta or modder-friendly versioning, they risk killing the very ecosystem that has kept Skyrim alive for over a decade.