What is the problem with mod.io

[Ltbutterfly]

I have been seeing a bunch of people seemingly angry and or disappointed with the official mod support being done through mod.io. I have never heard of it previous to this so I don't know much about it but I honestly can't see anything wrong with them; and whenever I try to find what peoples issue with them is there is never a reason they just call them a scam or say they avoid mod.io like the plague but with no reason as to why. So is can anyone actually explain what the problem with them actually is? Did they do something awhile back that they seemingly stopped doing but never got forgiven for or what?

[Metallicus]

The reason Larian is using mod.io is because they wanted to have the mod support for all players regardless of platform. The reason PC players hate mod.io is because they provide support for all players regardless of platform which limits the mods available due to restrictions on other platforms that would not normally exist for the PC.

[EricHVela]

Not a lot of mods for the games I played on it.

It looks like it's built around integration with games rather than manual-install/maintain. It'll take some getting used to using.

[TaKo]

Originally posted by Metallicus:

The reason PC players hate mod.io is because they provide support for all players regardless of platform which limits the mods available due to restrictions on other platforms that would not normally exist for the PC.

correction: it limits the available mods via mod.io itself, larian has made it clear that for PC mods can just be manually installed as we currently do now for any mods that fail to pass approval or that wont ever pass it(i.e mods that deal with copyrighted content or nsfw content)

so its win-win for everyone really

[harken23]

I THINK the officially supported mods will be accessible from the main menu in game.

[TaKo]

Originally posted by harken23:

I THINK the officially supported mods will be accessible from the main menu in game.

something like that, yes, a built in mod manager interface and likely also built in mod.io database exploring interface to browse through and install the mods

then on PC we will still have the ability to install mods from other sources through methods like the ones we use currently on top of mod.io supported mods, larian also specified that the official 'modding toos' will still allow for normal extracting so even unsactioned mods can be made with the official tools, they just wont go onto mod.io

[Zsrai]

Too many people think Steam Workshop is the best and only method to get mods, when it's arguably the worst.

[TaKo]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Too many people think Steam Workshop is the best and only method to get mods, when it's arguably the worst.

its the most convenient for people who refuse to interact with any other platform and prefer having everything entirely within steam and those too tech illiterate to do modding with 3rd party tools and actual file management

but then its only available on steam cause steam doesnt like playing nice, so if u get a game on any other storefront you rely on 3rd party sites to get workshop files if the modder didnt upload them elsewhere too(thank god for those russians who maintain those workshop databases)

[Ruby Rose [ITA]]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Too many people think Steam Workshop is the best and only method to get mods, when it's arguably the worst.

At least we get automatic updates. That's the main reason i use steam workshop.

[TaKo]

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

At least we get automatic updates. That's the main reason i use steam workshop.

which itself sucks, a lot, if a mod update has a big flaw or causes a major bug that wasnt present in its previous version theres no way to roll it back

minor convenience in exchange for the potential of huge headaches

[Ruby Rose [ITA]]

Originally posted by TaKo:

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

At least we get automatic updates. That's the main reason i use steam workshop.

which itself sucks, a lot, if a mod update has a big flaw or causes a major bug that wasnt present in its previous version theres no way to roll it back

minor convenience in exchange for the potential of huge headaches

Don't know what to tell ya, until now it never happened to me, maybe i got lucky *shrughs*

So, for now, until what you said happens, i will prefer steam workshop just for the automatic update alone

[TaKo]

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

Don't know what to tell ya, until now it never happened to me, maybe i got lucky *shrughs*

not really a matter of luck, sometimes a modder messes up and you're at the mercy of them fixing it or unninstalling their mod waiting for a fix, whereas nexus for example allows modders to keep older versions available(tho annoyingly some folk refuse to do so, which lead to that big 'controversy' a while back), and there have been many times ive had to use an older version of a mod to avoid issues a newer version presented, something that would not be possible with steam workshop(least not directly, luckily those russian sites that collect workshop files do keep a version history that allows downloads of older files)

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

So, for now, until what you said happens, i will prefer steam workshop just for the automatic update alone

and do you not like knowing what an update to a mod you downloaded entails? another issue with workshop is not even being able to tell right away which mod got updated since in the download tab its all just "workshop data" or whatever

is this 'convenience' really that much more important to you over everything else? or is this just being lazy?

[Ruby Rose [ITA]]

Originally posted by TaKo:

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

Don't know what to tell ya, until now it never happened to me, maybe i got lucky *shrughs*

not really a matter of luck, sometimes a modder messes up and you're at the mercy of them fixing it or unninstalling their mod waiting for a fix, whereas nexus for example allows modders to keep older versions available(tho annoyingly some folk refuse to do so, which lead to that big 'controversy' a while back), and there have been many times ive had to use an older version of a mod to avoid issues a newer version presented, something that would not be possible with steam workshop(least not directly, luckily those russian sites that collect workshop files do keep a version history that allows downloads of older files)

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

So, for now, until what you said happens, i will prefer steam workshop just for the automatic update alone

and do you not like knowing what an update to a mod you downloaded entails? another issue with workshop is not even being able to tell right away which mod got updated since in the download tab its all just "workshop data" or whatever

is this 'convenience' really that much more important to you over everything else? or is this just being lazy?

I'll answer to the second question first. You can see which mod got updated by going to your subscriptions and sort them by last update. Also, you have no right to call me lazy, just because this is actually a convenience for me. As i said i never had those problems you're telling me, i actually always had a smooth experience and the only time i got a problem with a mod i contacted the modder directly and he helped me sort it out (Flemmi for the steven universe mod for stellaris, truly the best modder of all time, kind and with a lot of patience XD)

As for the first question... I mean, ok. If you had so many problems i can see why you prefer other sites, but except that one time with the steven universe mod i literally never had problems, and i download a lot of mods since i play rimworld, conan exiles etc.

Maybe more than me being lazy... Did you ever think that it's you the one who doesn't know how to use the workshop properly? Because to be fair, it just seems to me this is the case. You're describing an extreme situation as a common issue, where i never found these problems in like years of gaming. You can literally see on my profile how many games i own and how many hours i got in stellaris, never encountered a problem except for that steven universe one.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by TaKo:

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Too many people think Steam Workshop is the best and only method to get mods, when it's arguably the worst.

its the most convenient for people who refuse to interact with any other platform and prefer having everything entirely within steam and those too tech illiterate to do modding with 3rd party tools and actual file management

Which is exactly why they shouldn't use it and part of why the Workshop is utter trash

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Too many people think Steam Workshop is the best and only method to get mods, when it's arguably the worst.

At least we get automatic updates. That's the main reason i use steam workshop.

Automatic updates are AWFUL, they break saves. This is the #1 reason that the Workshop is terrible, especially for people who don't know squat about modding. Have fun when your Act 3 save gets borked because Steam pushed out an update.

[Ruby Rose [ITA]]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Originally posted by TaKo:

its the most convenient for people who refuse to interact with any other platform and prefer having everything entirely within steam and those too tech illiterate to do modding with 3rd party tools and actual file management

Which is exactly why they shouldn't use it and part of why the Workshop is utter trash

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

At least we get automatic updates. That's the main reason i use steam workshop.

Automatic updates are AWFUL, they break saves. This is the #1 reason that the Workshop is terrible, especially for people who don't know squat about modding. Have fun when your Act 3 save gets borked because Steam pushed out an update.

Never had problems with automatic updates except once. The workshop isn't trash, but hey, that's just my opinion, de gustibus non disputandum est.

I won't say that's the #1 reason, also because i had more problems with NexusMods than steam workshop. So let's say... That's maybe the #4 reason, because you'd be surprised on how few people actually have the problems you're talking about. At least i know 57 people who didn't have any problems with steam workshop. How many people do you know that had them?

[Razorblade]

Originally posted by Ruby Rose ITA:

Never had problems with automatic updates except once. The workshop isn't trash, but hey, that's just my opinion, de gustibus non disputandum est.

I won't say that's the #1 reason, also because i had more problems with NexusMods than steam workshop. So let's say... That's maybe the #4 reason, because you'd be surprised on how few people actually have the problems you're talking about. At least i know 57 people who didn't have any problems with steam workshop. How many people do you know that had them?

The Workshop has been the bane of the modding community for Paradox games since it's very inception. Frequent updates break mods, and while patches can be reverted to play with old mods, mods are auto-updated to the current patch by the Steam Workshop, without any option to prevent this. There's a whole ass alternative launcher for Paradox games built around saving your mods locally to avoid the issues associated with the Steam Workshop and its auto-updates.

Steam allows devs to archive old versions of games; archiving old versions of mods is a common-sense feature that the Workshop lacks, and it plagues certain games hard. It would be foolish to deny that fact. BG3, given its rather "destructive" (read: game-changing) rather than "additive" (read: modular and well-planned) updates would certainly be plagued by this very issue.

Are you allowed to like a product with glaring, objective flaws? Of course you are. Could you coincidentally avoid these glaring flaws based on the unique way you engage with the product? Potentially. That being said, it's not hard to see why many people think the Workshop is ♥♥♥♥.

Modders have lives, and the Steam Workshop does not respect that fact. There are good reasons to not update a game, and really the entire Steam ecosystem does not respect that fact, unless a developer personally faffs about with the Betas system (which wasn't even designed for that function, hence the name). Auto-updates can easily be more of an inconvenience than a convenience when they are done thoughtlessly, and the Workshop certainly implements them thoughtlessly.