Changes to soliciting ratings/file of the month votes

[bben46]

Noob766 pulled his mod because he disagreed with a rule. A rule that everyone else must follow. But he doesn't think he should because for some reason, his mod is 'special'.

 

You find a rule pointless because you do not see the problems that led to the rule. The no soliciting rule was put in place well over a year ago, before Dragon Age was added, to cut down on ratings abuse. Just because you haven't figured out how to skew the ratings that doesn't mean someone else hasn't.

 

The ratings are not meant to be a contest to see who can get the most good and least bad, but one of many ways to decide if a mod is suitable for your personal game or not. And as a way to show a modder your appreciation. A modder should not expect everyone who downloads their mod to automatically rate it, even though we do try to encourage it. I have seen modders threaten to pull their mod because they got 3 thumbs down, and 90 thumbs up. They demanded that those 3 thumbs down be removed - how is this not abuse? On the other hand we get a modder who demands that everyone give his mod a good rating or he will pull it- again, how is this not abuse.

 

No matter what rating system we implement, someone will find a way to abuse it to their advantage. We try to keep the playing field as level as we can.

 

Noob766 was not banned, his mod was not banned. It was set invisible pending changes to bring it within the rules. Instead, Noob766 elected to pull the mod because we refused to make an exception to a rule just for him. He is neither the first modder or the best to pull a mod because he thought he should get special treatment.

 

He says we should have given a warning instead of hiding the mod. We did, it is called the terms and conditions you must agree to before uploading a mod. Like many people, he skipped over that, or just skimmed them.

 

Please do not demand that we either change the rules or make an exception for one mod. That leads to chaos when others demand the same treatment, and eventually to a breakdown in confidence in our ability to enforce the rules. Our rules are mostly common sense, not difficult or complicated. 95% of the people who upload mods have probably not even read them and yet they have managed to avoid breaking them.

[MontanaBlueSkies]

Noob766 pulled his mod because he disagreed with a rule. A rule that everyone else must follow. But he doesn't think he should because for some reason, his mod is 'special'.

 

You find a rule pointless because you do not see the problems that led to the rule. The no soliciting rule was put in place well over a year ago, before Dragon Age was added, to cut down on ratings abuse. Just because you haven't figured out how to skew the ratings that doesn't mean someone else hasn't.

 

The ratings are not meant to be a contest to see who can get the most good and least bad, but one of many ways to decide if a mod is suitable for your personal game or not. And as a way to show a modder your appreciation. A modder should not expect everyone who downloads their mod to automatically rate it, even though we do try to encourage it. I have seen modders threaten to pull their mod because they got 3 thumbs down, and 90 thumbs up. They demanded that those 3 thumbs down be removed - how is this not abuse? On the other hand we get a modder who demands that everyone give his mod a good rating or he will pull it- again, how is this not abuse.

 

No matter what rating system we implement, someone will find a way to abuse it to their advantage. We try to keep the playing field as level as we can.

 

Noob766 was not banned, his mod was not banned. It was set invisible pending changes to bring it within the rules. Instead, Noob766 elected to pull the mod because we refused to make an exception to a rule just for him. He is neither the first modder or the best to pull a mod because he thought he should get special treatment.

 

He says we should have given a warning instead of hiding the mod. We did, it is called the terms and conditions you must agree to before uploading a mod. Like many people, he skipped over that, or just skimmed them.

 

Please do not demand that we either change the rules or make an exception for one mod. That leads to chaos when others demand the same treatment, and eventually to a breakdown in confidence in our ability to enforce the rules. Our rules are mostly common sense, not difficult or complicated. 95% of the people who upload mods have probably not even read them and yet they have managed to avoid breaking them.

 

 

It seems to me that the worst skewing of ratings was caused by the new popularity categories and the reminder to rate files. This bonus was only given to newer mods. Older mods did not benefit from months in the limelight, and from a reminder to rate them. Before, the best a mod could hope for was to remain in the "files of the month" category. Then it slipped into the relative obscurity of the general lists. Now mods can remain in the limelight of the short lists much longer.

 

Confederate Jasmine's Daddy

Montana

[renzozuken2002]

Sorry, did not want to come off as a defender for Noob766, just using that as an example that soliciting can be a double-edged sword for the solicitor.

 

I'm not really sure how the locking a mod works, but if he offered to change the description so that he didn't ask for endorsements and just left it up to himself to update it frequently, I'm sure it could have been unlocked. But he was childish about it and just threw out everything.

 

As far as the abuse goes, threatening to remove a mod for a thumbs down isn't exactly... threatening. It's just a mod, probably has posted it on other mod sites. If a person really wants it, they could easily find it. Any modder that threatens to take their mod away obviously isn't worth keeping around. They don't deserve special treatment simply because they have 90 endorsements, so how is it abuse when you can simply say "No." when they ask for thumbs down to be removed?

 

In response to this the new system is a thumbs up, thumbs down system with a twist. The thumbs down system doesn't negatively rate a file; it doesn't affect the new top lists of the site and instead is used to explain to an author why exactly you haven't decided to endorse the file in question. What's more you can't leave a comment with your negative rating and instead you choose from a set list of reasons why you haven't endorsed the file. Why have I done this? Well, to address the issue of people not being able to play nice and to save the Nexus moderation team from sifting through countless people who haven't read the rules. It's the new "let me hold your hand through this process" system for those people who don't like to read before they rate.

If thumbs down is a problem, then why have it at all? People can post their problems with the mod in the comments, can they not? Why do they need a thumbs down feature to tell them the same thing again? As the Dark0ne said, thumbs down does not affect rating so the author doesn't feel like crap. All it provides is a list of reason to why they didn't endorse it. In the end there is no negative rating and no endorsement, which leads me to ask why have it at all?

 

I'm not asking that you change your rules, just simply pointing out that asking for endorsement doesn't really help the modder. I noticed the rule was placed a year ago, but this is the first I've noticed it and simply thought to post my opinion.

 

He says we should have given a warning instead of hiding the mod. We did, it is called the terms and conditions you must agree to before uploading a mod. Like many people, he skipped over that, or just skimmed them.

TaC and warnings are two completely different things, just like the Law and ticketing. I'm sorry, but I find that statement just a little disappointing.

[buddah]

This is getting rather tiring....I locked the comments for his mod (nothing more0 leaving a reason and posting a link to the forums reference announcement, which was also addressed by a moderator.

 

THE AUTHOR REMOVED THE FILE.

 

In a hissy fit and left his parting shot in the description.....his mod was not removed by anyone on staff at the nexus.

 

Want to blame me feel free........I could care less. The rules apply to everyone here, and we have not and will not make exceptions for anyone or any mod.

 

Here is the action log from the mod.....these are recorded by the site servers and cannot be changed.

 

 

19:35, 1 May 2010

# Attribute change: file version changed to '0'

19:00, 1 May 2010

# Image deleted:

19:00, 1 May 2010

# Image deleted: Awakening Items

18:59, 1 May 2010

# Image deleted: Travelers Domain Teaser

18:59, 1 May 2010

# Attribute change: small description changed

# Attribute change: long description changed

18:53, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Winter Forge Plug In v3

18:53, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Other Custom Items plug in

18:53, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Orator Vestaments plug in

18:52, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Grey Warden Runic Armor Plugin

18:52, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Devout Armor plug in

18:52, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Vigil Vendor v7_05

18:52, 1 May 2010

# File removed: Origins version of Vigil Vendor v7_05

18:50, 1 May 2010

# Attribute change: long description changed

20:19, 27 April 2010

# File removed: Vigil Vendor v7_00

20:19, 27 April 2010

# File removed: Origins version of Vigil Vendor v7_00

20:19, 27 April 2010

# Attribute change: long description changed

20:18, 27 April 2010

# New file: Origins version of Vigil Vendor v7_05

20:11, 27 April 2010

# New file: Vigil Vendor v7_05

20:10, 27 April 2010

# Attribute change: long description changed

# Attribute change: file version changed to '7.05

 

So tell me when did I set the file hidden. My post and actions were on the 30th of April, I fail to see any activity on that day.

[renzozuken2002]

This is getting rather tiring....I locked the comments for his mod leaving a reason and posting a link to the forums reference announcement, which was also addressed by a moderator.

 

THE AUTHOR REMOVED THE FILE.

 

In a hissy fit and left his parting shot in the description.....his mod was not removed by anyone on staff at the nexus.

 

Want to blame me feel free........I could care less. The rules apply to everyone here, and we have not and will not make exceptions for anyone or any mod.

Once again, I am not defending Noob766, the rule exists and he broke it, I know that. I don't blame you or anyone for doing their job.

I'm simply stating that the rule against "soliciting" is a pointless endeavor considering it doesn't affect their endorsements.

Perhaps frequent updating should be considered a feature in itself. Most people won't return to a mod if they don't have a reason to.

 

One more time, just so the staff understands:

Thank you for doing your job, Noob766 broke the rules and was dealt with accordingly.

But please, at least consider what I had to say about the rule in general, or even the thumbs down feature.

Or don't, it doesn't really matter to me, I wasn't the one affected by it. Just posting my opinion

[ub3rman123]

So is saying "If you like this mod, please don't forget to endorse it" against the rules or is it just the ones who put in "Endorse this file for updates/kudos/post count!"?

[Vagrant0]

So is saying "If you like this mod, please don't forget to endorse it" against the rules or is it just the ones who put in "Endorse this file for updates/kudos/post count!"?

There is a difference between asking people to consider endorsing a file and deciding to hold otherwise normal/necessary updates for a mod until a certain amount of endorsements are met. Modders should update their work because they want to upload the best product possible, not because of some sort of silly rating system. We want people to endorse mods that deserve to be endorsed and not because someone has asked/demanded it.