creativty, motivation, environment relevant for future modding ?

[xrayy]

someone woke me up in my cryo-chamber two month ago and my impression is this topic seems to be worth to discuss. Am i wrong or is it too late ?

i would like to to discuss that with users , modders and with users (many of us ) who also act as modders.

 

some aspects to discuss: how do you think about the importance of mods and the priority of

- creativity,

- motivation,

- environment/plattform dependency

- monetization aspect

- the role and responsibilities of creators

- role of the content hoster

- role of the user

-...

 

i'm starting in this discussion with nexus as a true home for me and modding in the last decade. it is diificult to explain but nexumods was something like a trusted home for modding for me and things changed a little with the new vision and the new ideas. kind of surprising for me i'm still figuring out what has changed (apart from tos change and some file edit options and how will it be or should it be in the future. maybe some of you can help me to find my orientation and how to settle in the future under the best conditions. i'm open for any suggestions. this content should be also a kind of feedback topic for nexusmods and a discussion with nexusmods if they like to take part with content.

thank you for taking part!

[frontaldnd]

I'd assume almost every modder has a different reason why they enjoy/do modding. Some put more importance into certain things and others don't care about those same things too.

One man's trash is another man's treasure and all that.

 

I think the only thing that can settle the rumble brought on nexus because of these changes, is how good the new tools are.

I don't think anyone is in a position to know what'll happen from here on out, for all we know maybe the new tools are actually competent at their role and will promote the drive (creativity, social interaction, monetization, etc).

 

Nexus has really dove head first into this and the results are obvious in this section of the forums. I really hope Nexus does a good job with the new collections/integration tools. Take your time, but please don't release a half baked product after all the commotion it has generated.
If you want nexus to continue under the best conditions I'd give as much feedback towards the best possible implementation of the new tools, as a mod author, mod user or even both.

[Tasheni]

 

Take your time, but please don't release a half baked product after all the commotion it has generated.

If I want to release such a project I have a reason for that and I will do. Some "half baked products" got only finished because of releasing and with the help of the comunity. So don't request to stay away with that.

 

To get back to the headline:

The importance of mods for the elder scrolls games is obviously. Without mod creators the games were long dead. Mod creators fixed the bugs, not bethesda. Mod creators make the game beautiful and interesting, not bethesda.

Mod creators are nothing without the comunity - with the exception they mod for themselves.

This generalize statement must be differenciated. Morrowind seems to be an exception due to the questlines ( I never played that, heard this from others). I played Oblivion and the questline was alright for me, Skyrim's quests are weak, undemanding and boring, for my taste. But mod creators make this game great.

The fact is, we need each other. Nexus would be nothing without mod creators, mod creators are nothing without the comunity and both were not together without a hosting platform. We depend on each other. But everything is interchangeable. Other mod creators, other plattforms, other users. Everybody has to decide themselves, where to go and what to do. And respect the decision of others.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Tasheni

[MarchinBunny]

 

Without mod creators the games were long dead. Mod creators fixed the bugs, not bethesda. Mod creators make the game beautiful and interesting, not bethesda.

 

Skyrim has sold time and time again even on consoles where modding didn't exist for quite some time (it even sold well on the switch as far as I am aware where there isn't any modding). Tons of BGS games tend to sell really well on console. While I do think modding brings longevity, I don't think it's the only thing that should get credit for that. A big part of it is Bethesda, they are the ones who create games that even make us want to mod for them. They make the tools, the foundation we build on. No one would spend a lot of time modding a game they didn't like at least somewhat. So personally, I think BGS deserves credit. Skyrim in my opinion is an amazing game even without mods (at least from my own experience).

 

Course I do think mod authors do add a lot to these games, and equally deserve praise. So I agree with you on everything else and will even say ... well said.

[Gruffydd]

 

Â

Take your time, but please don't release a half baked product after all the commotion it has generated.

If I want to release such a project I have a reason for that and I will do. Some "half baked products" got only finished because of releasing and with the help of the comunity. So don't request to stay away with that.

...

I'm pretty sure they were asking NexusMods to make sure the new functionality was as good as possible, rather than something half-baked. I don't think it was directed toward authors at all...

[Ethreon]

 

 

Without mod creators the games were long dead. Mod creators fixed the bugs, not bethesda. Mod creators make the game beautiful and interesting, not bethesda.

 

Skyrim has sold time and time again even on consoles where modding didn't exist for quite some time (it even sold well on the switch as far as I am aware where there isn't any modding). Tons of BGS games tend to sell really well on console. While I do think modding brings longevity, I don't think it's the only thing that should get credit for that. A big part of it is Bethesda, they are the ones who create games that even make us want to mod for them. They make the tools, the foundation we build on. No one would spend a lot of time modding a game they didn't like at least somewhat. So personally, I think BGS deserves credit. Skyrim in my opinion is an amazing game even without mods (at least from my own experience).

 

Course I do think mod authors do add a lot to these games, and equally deserve praise. So I agree with you on everything else and will even say ... well said.

 

 

It's amusing how the myth of "modding kept game alive" keeps going on and on when there's plenty of statistical evidence that in fact modding has a very small impact on the sales and player numbers of big games. I guess it goes hand in hand with the self important air a small subset of beth modders keep pushing.

[frontaldnd]

 

 

Â

Take your time, but please don't release a half baked product after all the commotion it has generated.

If I want to release such a project I have a reason for that and I will do. Some "half baked products" got only finished because of releasing and with the help of the comunity. So don't request to stay away with that.

...

I'm pretty sure they were asking NexusMods to make sure the new functionality was as good as possible, rather than something half-baked. I don't think it was directed toward authors at all...

 

This exactly.

[roelani]

It's amusing how the myth of "modding kept game alive" keeps going on and on when there's plenty of statistical evidence that in fact modding has a very small impact on the sales and player numbers of big games. I guess it goes hand in hand with the self important air a small subset of beth modders keep pushing.

 

What are you ON? Modding HAS kept several games alive for me, primarily as a mod user. I find vanilla Skyrim and vanilla Fallout 4 to be absolutely ABYSMAL experiences, and would never have sunk as many hours as I have into either of these games if not for their dedicated modding communities.

 

Speak for yourself if you want, but there are plenty of mod USERS out there for whom the experiences of these games would never have been the same without mod support.

 

Edited to add: Including some of YOUR awesome mods, by the way. So GG for souring that part of it by pissing all over the folks who raise genuine concerns about the direction this site seems to be going in in these forums.

 

Edited 2: I also know plenty of folks who bought and played console versions and then later on re-bought the same game on PC simply because they wanted to mod it.

Edited August 8, 2021 by roelani

[ralfetas]

My mods are cosmetic, so here is my take.

 

- motivation, creativity,

I start to create mods because by that time i don´t like the models that was available, so i start to do something that would fit my taste.

 

- environment/platform dependency

Nexus was good on that because i could put everything here, was easy and fast.

 

- role of the user

There are times that users are difficult, but i think is a seasonal thing, today i think the users are nice and polite, really like the interaction, and is a great source of motivation, a "good work!" have it´s value, and the suggestions are nice too, i got many ideas from suggestions.

 

- the role and responsibilities of creators

Some authors do not deal with users in a good way, some users are even afraid to ask something to authors, or they expect to get a bad reply... I think this is bad, and all this tos situation could be better if users defend the authors, MA are the product, but the users are the ones that keep the lights on.

 

- role of the content hoster

Nexus play their part well until now, don´t show greedy, tell everyone is all about the love etc... Now they just open our eyes that this is a business, and this is difficult to handle, for me at least.

 

- monetization aspect

This is a new thing, a problem that steam create, MA needs to be paid, they spend time on that... I think, any hobby that become a work lose something, DP was cool but we lost something in this process, can´t say what for sure.

 

Another part is, me as a CG worker have access to many tools, but i pay for many tools that i would not use in my work but i use in my mods, so my DP money is for the tools and assets i use, i don´t buy a happy meal with it, sure is good to have a help, but i still put money to make my mods, and that is something most people don´t understand.

 

I talk about this with some users and i got replies like "use blender" "there is free software", is hard to read those things because it just shows that most people don´t understand nothing about motivation, i am not asking to be paid for this, wanna help, thank you! I am ok with putting money and time to make this stuff and nexus give me endorsements and dp´s in exchange, but now they want to give me endorsements, dp´s and my work is theirs forever, i think this is to much for me to accept.

[Ethreon]

 

It's amusing how the myth of "modding kept game alive" keeps going on and on when there's plenty of statistical evidence that in fact modding has a very small impact on the sales and player numbers of big games. I guess it goes hand in hand with the self important air a small subset of beth modders keep pushing.

 

What are you ON? Modding HAS kept several games alive for me, primarily as a mod user. I find vanilla Skyrim and vanilla Fallout 4 to be absolutely ABYSMAL experiences, and would never have sunk as many hours as I have into either of these games if not for their dedicated modding communities.

 

Speak for yourself if you want, but there are plenty of mod USERS out there for whom the experiences of these games would never have been the same without mod support.

 

Edited to add: Including some of YOUR awesome mods, by the way. So GG for souring that part of it by pissing all over the folks who raise genuine concerns about the direction this site seems to be going in in these forums.

 

Edited 2: I also know plenty of folks who bought and played console versions and then later on re-bought the same game on PC simply because they wanted to mod it.

 

 

Yea, that's confirmation bias. I tell you this as someone who put hundreds of hours into making mods - we really don't matter much outside our little bubble here, and definitely don't really matter for the company making games.