Why do Mod Authors insist on hosting their stuff on Discord -_-

[MonkeyMummyMoney]

It's just not made for anything like that. It's pain trying to track down servers, Using someone's name is even less helpful and when you finally do find the right server it's the most awkward thing possible.

They don't want to use Nexus, that's fine. But I genuinely don't understand how they could look at Discord of all things and think "This is perfect for modding".

Modb exists, AFK Mods Exists, Gumroad Exists (Not leaps and bounds better then Discord, but it is an alternative albeit only a slightly better one) Curse Forge Exists, TES Alliance exists, Bethesda.Net exists.

These are just a few examples of modding sites that exist, aren't Nexus and are far better for hosting mods then Discord.

When I look for a mod, find out it's on a Discord that scene from the office where Micheal screams "I'm going to kill myself" plays in my head. I hate it that much, Most of the time it's a hard no for me because I don't want to spend forever finding a link that hasn't expired just to sit forever and sift through a text-log that wasn't made for what they are trying to make it do.

I'm not a big fan of Discord in general, but I would imagine if all you are doing is communicating with your mod team it's does that just fine... Email probably is even better and more secure, but Discord is a zoomer thing I guess and I've given up entirely on seeing the point. I'm too old to get it and don't care enough to want to learn how to use it. But I digress, I'm just wondering if people are trying to use Discord for something it wasn't made to do for a reason?

Is there some sort of prima donna, Drag-Queen level Drama going on and that's why no one wants to use any of these other sites?

To the mod authors that have their own, proper sites *Blows Kiss* THANK YOU I'd rather not get files from sites I don't entirely trust, but I'd rather take a few extra seconds scanning everything with TotalVirus then spend what can feel like forever hunting after dead-links and expired invites only to have to scroll through pages of what feels like (And sometimes even looks like) someone's chat logs that I just randomly stumbled onto.

[Taipan]

It's temporary until a proper alternative for Nexus is setup. Also, there are authors that are older, and that left Nexus for the time being. Discord it's not a zoomer thing, it's how things evolve, and it's one option between many others, some people like it.

I am over 40, that doesn't mean I will use Windows 5 and stick to analog phones, nor do I prefer the dialup connections I used to use. I don't love Discord either, and it's uncomfortable to have to use X discord channels to get your mods.

But the blame is on Nexus 500%. I do hope an excellent alternative will appear, and they lose money and members big time. I couldn't care less about their collections, and since I am a premium member, I don't really like that I am also punished indirectly by their new policy.

[Bored Peon]

It is about control. Those modders want the ability to be able to take their mod away from people or prevent them from using their mods. If you are wrong, try criticizing them or their mods and see how fast they block you from their sites and servers.

Think about it for a moment, the ability to control the older files was more important than giving easy access to those people who supported their mods. Nor did they care if they broke anyone's saves when they pulled their mods.

Originally posted by Stefan:

It's temporary until a proper alternative for Nexus is setup.

Here is the thing, what happens when these mod authors disagree with the site owner for that? You end up chasing the mod again.

My advice, finish your current game then rip the band aid off and remove mods for your next game and let these people rot in their self imposed exile.

[cl656]

I have noticed More and more modders leaving nexus, in favor of running their own system on sites like patreon. I think it's shady af, but that's my opinion.

[MonkeyMummyMoney]

Sorry for the delayed responses, I've spent the last three hours slowly realizing that something fishy is going on with Steamcharts and that their numbers aren't accurate for all the games listed.

Anyways, Modders had a right to leave to Nexus, but them scattering like dust in the wind across the internet is where they are messing up. At the very least they should treat Nexus as an announcement platform considering most people wanting mods will go there first. There needs to be some sort of centralized area to let people know where everything is. A directory if you will.

(Website idea right there: Mod Directory. A platform where modders announce their projects with links to their platform of choice. A modding yellow pages.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Vaniity Velvet:

There needs to be some sort of centralized area to let people know where everything is. A directory if you will.

There is a list of links somewhere. I do not have the link because I have zero interest in chasing mods across multiple websites and having to create a log in for each one.

[xybolt]

It is a choice of the mod author(s) to host it on discord or Patreon or even dropbox. I just don't care if they decide to not publish it on sites where lots of mods are being concentrated on a single location like nexus. Don't become dependent on a mod but see it as an addition. An extra. Too bad for those that suddenly went to Patreon requesting me for $$$ to get their apparel mod pack. I still have their files on my system, so I re-use it or drop it and seek for others. I do have respect for their effort to create these mods, they have worked on it during their spare time. But charging money in order to use their mod that is something I have to sniff out. I prefer to have a donation one. Sometimes I donate to a mod author, as a matter of appreciation.

[Taipan]

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

Originally posted by Stefan:

It's temporary until a proper alternative for Nexus is setup.

Here is the thing, what happens when these mod authors disagree with the site owner for that? You end up chasing the mod again.

Here is another thing. How often did it happen before? It happened now because of totally legitimate reasons of content ownership. Why would they allow a website to make money based on their content with zero control on the ownership? Are they paid employees paid thousands of euros per month by Nexus? Nope.

I am surprised that the migration wasn't larger, how the heck would people investing tens, hundreds and thousands of hours for free can allow Nexus to forcefully remove their right to remove the content if they want to. It's their time, their work and their content.

I'd encourage authors to go Gung Ho on Nexus and stop updating mods if they are still on it. And yes, as I said, I am a premium member of Nexus. But I won't renew the membership.

[Taipan]

Originally posted by Vaniity Velvet:

Anyways, Modders had a right to leave to Nexus, but them scattering like dust in the wind across the internet is where they are messing up. At the very least they should treat Nexus as an announcement platform considering most people wanting mods will go there first. There needs to be some sort of centralized area to let people know where everything is. A directory if you will.

There is one here, on one of their channels: https://discord.gg/ZQWHQAcgcB

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Stefan:

I am surprised that the migration wasn't larger, how the heck would people investing tens, hundreds and thousands of hours for free can allow Nexus to forcefully remove their right to remove the content if they want to. It's their time, their work and their content.

Another perspective is that you are running a business to host mods. That means once a mod is uploaded and your users are using that mod you want to guarantee that mod remains available. Otherwise it can lead to users losing saves they spent a lot of time in because mods are no longer available.

The other thing is that the internet is something once you put a file out there you already gave up control over it. Nothing stops anyone from doing whatever they wish with that file. That includes using it their mod, redistributing it elsewhere,etc. Then just because it gets pulled from one website does not mean it gets pulled from others. Before anyone starts down that legal rights road you have to keep in mind those laws only apply to countries that enforce them.

[Taipan]

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

Otherwise it can lead to users losing saves they spent a lot of time in because mods are no longer available.

What are you saying? Once you have the save you spent a lot of time playing it means the mods are installed, and it doesn't matter if the mods are up or not anymore, since they are downloaded on your PC. So you lose nothing.

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

The other thing is that the internet is something once you put a file out there you already gave up control over it.

Not true at all in any civilized country. You don't relinquish anything unless you sign a contract, I am not allowed to use content other posted online to promote my business.

Have you heard about copyright?

For example, a simple US law: "Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.". But the copyright laws are extensive and much more complex. If you steal other's content, you pay for it.

Where the heck is stealing a legitimate thing?

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Stefan:

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

Otherwise it can lead to users losing saves they spent a lot of time in because mods are no longer available.

What are you saying? Once you have the save you spent a lot of time playing it means the mods are installed, and it doesn't matter if the mods are up or not anymore, since they are downloaded on your PC. So you lose nothing.

New PC, uninstalled the game, user error, etc. Steam will hold the saves in the cloud, it will not hold your mods.

Originally posted by Stefan:

Have you heard about copyright?

Bethesda owns the copyright, not the modder.
Pirates do not care about copyrights.
There is plenty of third world countries that do not give a @#$% about copyrights.

[xybolt]

Originally posted by Stefan:

For example, a simple US law: "Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.". But the copyright laws are extensive and much more complex. If you steal other's content, you pay for it.

Where the heck is stealing a legitimate thing?

Nexus is not stealing the ownership of the content. That they prevent you to delete a mod is a different action than acquiring intellectual property by a non-legitimated act. The IP still lies to the mod author. Nexus cannot monetise these files that mod authors have uploaded, unless they have stated in the terms of use that the ownership is shared immediately when using their services. It is perfectly legal to keep the files available, despite the author requesting for removing it. Mind you, IIRC the delete option is not available if the mod is in use in a collection.

If you look at the bigger picture, it is because of their next™ feature, Collections of which is a list of links pointing to files that a client (Vortex) needs to download from. This is different to a mod pack where the author has pre-downloaded the mods and bundled these files. This feature won't work very well if a mod author decides to remove a file that is in use, let's say because he has updated his mod and published it under a new version. To ensure that the Collection feature is functioning well, there should be a solution to removal of files. So they decide to "tombstone" it, as by giving a means to archive it, instead of deleting it. By archiving, the files aren't publicly available, cannot be added to new Collection list, but can be still used with existing Collection lists. Therefore I understand this step from Nexus' side. The file is basically not available anymore, with only one exception: that it is not in use by a Collection.

Sure, the Collections feature comes with a responsibility. It is only possible to add a mod (in contrary to mod packs) if the original mod author has given their permission to it. If there is no such permission, Nexus is prepared to remove the link from a Collection list under question. Moreover, if you have given your permission, why would you be able to retract it without consequences? In "real world", there are - if the contracts are made correctly - fines for such action.

It is not a big problem for mod authors if they decide to not allow their mods are being used for Collections. So in that context, they can still delete their files...

[hawkeye]

The above post by xybolt is not correct.

There is no IP involved. IP and copyright are two different things. IP is covered by Patents which have to be applied for. Patent applications can be contested, and usually are, before being granted. Most are refused.

Software is considered the same as a book written by authors.

https://copyright.gov/comp3/

[kdodds]

Copyrighted material IS the very definition of "intellectual property". Every book, song, movie, game, all intellectual property. Designs for real property are, of course, included in intellectual property.

[globefish23]

I find this whole situation hilarious.

It's almost the same as Steam charging 30% for 3rd party sales on their platform, and players going apesh*t when those 3rd party developers leave Steam and start their own platforms like Origin, Uplay, etc.

I've been using Nexusmods since 2008 and only recently have uploaded my first mod there.
All those years Nexusmods has been a centralized platform providing easy access to a huge amount of mods, all for free.
Splitting up and dispersing everywhere is quite counterproductive.
And frankly, if I can't find a mod on Nexus, I simply can't be bother to search and chase after it elsewhere.