seancdaug

NMM's inability to properly manage mod priorities is, shall we say, a uniquely NMM problem. It's a question of how well the mod manager tracks files, not virtualization per se. Wrye Bash doesn't virtualize at all, and it's damned good about both managing conflicts, reordering, and uninstallation.

Ideally, this isn't a function of whether the files are physically copied or virtualized (regardless of how they're virtualized). It's a function of the mod manager to keep track of files and mod dependencies to prevent this. Wrye Bash, which features absolutely zero virtualization, already takes care of this quite well, while the current NMM (which uses links similar, at least in concept, to Vortex) is infamously terrible at doing so. The only benefit of Mod Organizer's VFS is that it handles these kind of conflicts essentially invisibly. Any system that depends on either files or links being created in the game's actual directory structure can't do that in the same way. If you uninstall from the manager itself (be it Bash, Vortex, or whatever), the manager should clean everything up. But if you delete something outside of the manager, the manager will need to be told to clean things up. In Bash, that means finding any errors in the Installers tab and annealing them. I expect Vortex will have a similar system, either manual or automatic.

I'm sorry, but this is just flatly untrue. Creating links isn't a particularly time consuming process, but it isn't, and pretty much cannot be, as fast as MO's VFS. If you're talking about creating a dozen or two links, the chances of anyone actually noticing are close to nil. But, at the moment, my Fallout 4 data directory contains around 150,000 files. Even an optimized process to scan the directory structure and create the needed links is going to be noticeably slow. Not hours, of course, but minutes is certainly reasonable. If I were still actively working on mods, and still in the habit of switching Mod Organizer profiles regularly, that would be plenty long enough to be a significant irritation. I understand the benefits of Vortex's approach, I really do. But the PR here seem to be either misunderstanding or misrepresenting the trade-offs. When Vortex comes out, if people have been promised something that works "just as easily and quickly" in all things, they are going to be seriously disappointed to find out its not true. And I say this as someone who is likely going to switch over to Vortex when the time comes. I'm not averse to making certain trade-offs, I'd just rather everyone be more upfront about the fact that those trade-offs are going to exist.

I really, really like the unified profiles. Much more convenient. I have noticed a minor issue, though: when viewing a user's images on their profile page, there doesn't seem to be any way to change pages. Clicking on the page number buttons doesn't work, and neither does manually entering a page number in the "jump to page" functionality. This doesn't appear to affect the files tab, oddly enough: just the images.

In response to post #10331716. #10352651, #10370336, #10374896, #10381170, #10388943, #10393106, #10402784, #10407275, #10407912, #10407987, #10411037 are all replies on the same post. @jim_uk I think you're still dancing around @TheThirdRace's point. That current mod authors aren't abusing the system isn't the issue. The issue is that the system is designed with a honking big hole ripe for that kind of abuse. It doesn't matter if the problem manifests in one day, one week, one month, one year, or one decade: the potential for abuse should be immediately self-evident. If I leave my car unlocked and the keys in the ignition overnight and no one drives off with it, that doesn't mean I'm safe or secure. It just means I'm lucky that I wasn't made to suffer for my poor personal security this time around.

In response to post #10412468. They always have. If they really don't want certain people experiencing their work, maybe they should reconsider posting it on what has historically been a public website like the Nexus.

In response to post #10343890. As someone who will likely never be in the position of being able to use this feature (I'm pretty much exclusively a lurker around here: I try to remember to be generous with my endorsements, but my commenting is rare, and I lack the creativity to make it as a mod author), I appreciate your thoughtful approach to the matter.

In response to post #10324757. #10327504, #10328571, #10329098, #10331009 are all replies on the same post. @jim_uk I think the real problem is that everyone has a different definition of what "a pain" is. I think most of us would agree that a user who constantly spams the comment thread and hurls insults willy-nilly would qualify, yes. But you also have to consider the potential for prickly pears who treat any questions or bug reports or constructive criticism as "a pain." There's a balance that should be struck between abusive users and abusive authors. In the past, yes, the scales have been titled in such a way that it was far too easy for the former to get away with their actions. My concern is that this is an overcorrection that moves things too much in favor of the latter.

In response to post #10346176. #10352595, #10362130 are all replies on the same post. It seems like a perfectly valid concern to me. *A* mod author might be reasonable and fair-minded, but there's absolutely no guarantee that *all* mod authors are so. And if I'm a newcomer to the Nexus, and I don't know any of these people, how can I tell, really? It's better to keep my head low and not do or say anything that might potentially irritate a mod author.

It's been a long time since I used the Nexus that way, but isn't it still possible to download most files without being logged in? I know that files over a certain size are blocked, but I definitely remember this being the case: in the days before I decided to pony up as a premium user, I probably wound up downloading most mods while not logged in, out of sheer laziness. Unless you're doing some sort of IP address block (which would be a nightmare to maintain, IMO), surely any blocked user can just log out and DL whatever they want that way. Or is that configurable by the mod author, as well? That being said (and for what very little it's worth), I'm not sure I see any real value in blocking a user from the files section. From comments? Certainly. Private messages? Absolutely. Both of those features allow an ungrateful and/or obnoxious user to make life difficult not just for the mod author, but for users legitimately interested in the mod too. But surely downloading a file is a passive act. I can't maliciously download a user's work, and the only real harm I can inflict is putting a drain on the Nexus servers. But if I did that, then I'd be causing a site-wide issue, and my account should ideally be blocked from the whole site. Granted, it's the potential for abuse that bothers me more than the likelihood of abuse. I expect the vast majority of mod authors are reasonable and understanding folks. But there's no guarantee that will always be the case, and, besides, it only takes a few bad eggs to ruin things for everyone. And the worst thing of all is, as The 3rd Type suggests in his post, the potential chilling effect. This actively discourages people from participating in the Nexus community and that, ultimately, is what makes the Nexus superior to most other mod-hosting sites out there.