Original/First Mod, subset/modification/inclusion of the Original mods

[AnarkiHunter]

Hi,

 

As the topic mentions....and will try my best to explain :psyduck:

 

Headsup

.First/Original mod = self explanatory

.Subset/derived mod = mods which contain portions of the First/Original mod

 

I - The idea

Nexus could have a feature for mod submission, which would enable authors to add their mods as a *subset/branch/leaf of an original mod.

(which could be displayed in a tree on another tab of the mod page, like description. And also a dialog button on the side mentioning subset of <original mod>).

 

II - What

What fits into the category would be:

a.Tweaked mod

b.Some portion/assets/scripts of the original mod

c.Complete original mod, as an addition to the current mod the author himself has packaged

 

III - What else

The subset mod author could also write up a small caption, which could also be displayed in that tree.

 

 

IV - Tree of life

In the Original Authors page - The subset mod with caption, will be updated in the tree

 

Also in the subset mod author page - could display a tree from originating from original author, ending with his node/branch/leaf from the subset mod author. And also extend further down if anyone has used some portion of the subset mod authors to create another subset mod by another author

 

-

 

V - Original Mod author's honor

Creating a subset mod by another author (I stress the word another), should automatically honor the original author by means of another counter in the mod page. Something on the lines of "Mod Author Supporter" or "Author Endorsements".

 

VI - Endorsements

Also any Endorsements in a subset mod, would add to a fraction of a considerable value to the Original Mod author and so on.

As mention by one on the nexus chat, *Proxy Endorsements*.

 

--

 

VII - Why?

.Because, to honor the original game mod authors who put up the modification/addition/script (most of the they aren't mentioned)

.To help others route out how the mod came to be currently as such, and with who's contribution

.Also helps new mod authors to root back to the original mod and how it was originally done (a lot of information is lost otherwise)

 

VIII - Whats remaining

.What if an author wants to create a subset mod from two original mods?

I think it could also be there as a feature, to add multiple authors. How to display/represent/portray the tree would be a bit tricky..

[Matso]

This is greate idea mate! Hope someone form the Nexus will consider it such too. Edited July 16, 2012 by Matso

[Zinthros]

This would be amazing for compatibility patches and translations.

[ZeroKing]

An excellent idea indeed! Would allow people to credit the original authors, I think this should be addressed.

[pippinstrano]

This would also facilitate cooperation between mod authors, which is something I try to facilitate myself.

[Tarnix]

I agree, this would be great. This may even allow more mods to spread, if it makes the crediting system is simpler and less tedious.

[Bannor9]

These ideas sound really great, and most are something that is entirely missing from most posts/mods here. Not all "authors" miss reporting where they got their ideas from or where they were able to borrow aspects for their mod, but most do.

 

Coming from a different game environment where I was a very active Custom Content creator (NeverWinterNights by Bioware) I can tell you that getting folks to recognize original works and give credit where credit is due is a very difficult thing to accomplish. In that particular environment we had some fairly major battles between authors and those the flat steal things thinking that anything posted on the internet is free for any use. (Legally it is not, but finding someone willing to pay the legal fees to force recognition of that fact is very rare.) 99% of the time, if you simply ask for permission you find that it will be given as long as credit is also prominent in the description of whatever mod you are working on. When that permission is strictlly withdrawn or not given, then to be a realistic person, you should remove that additional content from YOUR mod.

[RokHere]

I support this idea, especially because it is natural for some mod authors to be active, for a few years even, during which they think they'll always be available to "give permission" to improve their mod or whatever, but a year or two pass by, and lo and behold, the author disappears; and sometimes, they did not even mean to put their permissions as they appear on the mod's page! They simply accepted the default settings! So now everyone thinks that we must get their permission to improve the mod or correct its bugs then re-upload it, even when that was not the intention of the author to begin with!

 

In short, I support this idea generally, and I also suggest a little "tweak" for it: For any mod published, if the author has the permissions set to "you need my permission", and the author is approached via messages here on Nexus to give their permission, but they never respond at all for, say, 3 months, then the requester is automatically granted permission to do limited modifications and improvements to that mod, re-upload the improved version, and the improved version automatically goes into the category envisioned by this thread. This way, if the mod author returns after 5 years, and finds that their mod has been improved without their permission (because they disappeared), they see that there was no harm done, as they got partial endorsements and recognition anyway.