Downloading and file serving changes

[bigdaddycool9999]

that is perfectly fine, after all freedom of speech allows to have opposing opinions. the thing about that is that people reading about it have 2 options, either believe A, or believe B, or make up their own mind. hopefully they go for the last one.

 

just one of the numbers i know for sure: over 250.000 members, higher relation of supporters compared to number of members, faster rate of community troubleshoting in posting section, rate of downloadable mods constantly increasing, rate of members banned in relation to total numbers of members is so low its not even worth mentioning it. which in total makes a pretty awesome community. anyone can look them up, so its not an assumption, but a bulletproof statement. the permissions from the modders i talked about are also publicly stated. i consider it to be unfair to link to other communities here because i simply dont want to point rookies to them, they would most likely just show up to ask tons of questions about why this or that mod from where-ever doesnt work. happened before. happens now. most of the time their problems are caused by the software they use to install mods automatically instead of installing manually.

 

i further allow myself to offer a little bit of help. to quote the Dark0ne:

 

I know there's been some issues with downloading reliably through NMM recently, especially when downloads don't start at all. In those instances it's important (for your own sake, not mine) that you know how to do the simplest of things: how to add mods to NMM without using the "download with manager" button. It's so simple I might as well just write it here:

• Instead of clicking "Download with manager" click "download manually" on the file you want to download.
• A window will pop up with a list of file servers to download from. Pick a file server. Typically the fastest server will be the one with the least users, not the one that's closest to you.
• Your download should start within 1-30 seconds. Let the download finish.
• When your download has finished, open NMM.
• Open the folder where your file downloaded to.
• Drag the file in to the "mods" window in NMM.
• OR: in the "mods" window, click the button that looks like a jigsaw piece with a plus (+) symbol next to it and navigate to your file on your HDD.
• NMM will add your mod just as if you'd used the "download with manager" button.

*quote ends*

 

instead of the yellow marked section of this quote, you can also proceed as follows (for skyrim):

- when your manual download has finished, open the downloaded file.

- move all data included to your skyrim directory, so that the files in the "data" folder in the archive go into your skyrims "data" folder.

- now open your skyrim launcher, click on "Data files" and check the last added entry (which is in 99.99 % the last installed mod). Done, have fun in skyrim.

 

feel free to take this text and add it to your statement if you like, im always happy to help people out, after all thats what a community is about, sharing and helping each other.

[RedHarlequin]

The bandwidth comes from people downloading the mods. Hosting a mod on mediafire is not self-hosting. Hosting a mod on mediafire is having mediafire host the file. Self-hosting is buying a dedicated server/VPS/server space and hosting the files yourself.

You seem to have a custom of running into literal definitions and empty statements when called on something. In this day and age you can easily host your mods for free, which alone eliminates the very point of your argument that the main advantage of using the Nexus lies in not paying thousands of dollars. Also, it's obvious that the most common thing to do is to choose a host rather than host on your own server because there's not a whole lot of people who have their own servers.

 

The bandwidth comes from the number of people downloading the mods, which in turn comes from the overall popularity of the Nexus and TES franchise principally. The same mods hosted elsewhere would gain a tiny % of the downloads they gain here. If you run the biggest site that hosts mods for the most popular aRPGs of the last decade then yeah, I guess your bills are big, but don't pretend you pay for somebody else's (modders) business, especially if you're fond of sticking to your ideals and refusing to sell the Nexus out for big money. After all if you cannot afford these sites in their current form, you can stop expanding and turn the Nexus into something smaller and more affordable.

 

Where's the contradiction, exactly?

A gesture of good will is not something you do under pressure, because doing otherwise would cause you an undesired effect. You suggest that only the good will stops you from banning people who use adblockers on your site, yet a few statements later you explain the potential consequences you wouldn't want to deal with:

 

If I were to actually enact any sort of block on these users there'd be serious ramifications both in hate and access to the sites (...) the latter would cause public outcry (...)

 

concession

I told you rather precisely what my problem is, if I hadn't we wouldn't have this exchange in the first place. Concession on your side.

 

So, safe to assume you had other accounts here in the past then.

Provided I had other accounts, why would I want to tell you about it? It's obvious why you dwell on the subject.

 

Don't be stupid to try and prove a point that doesn't exist. I dealt with those individuals who sent me an IP address for me to whitelist, however one user was being an ass, as evidenced by the fact several people told the user flat out that they were being an ass in the very thread you linked, and he got the blunt return treatment. Really, the fact it's been brought up is pathetic.

Long story short:

1. Users asked politely for the name of the ISP that was banned so they could send e-mails themselves in order to try to resolve the issue.

2. Mods, you included, completely ignored the request not even stating that they were unwilling to share the name of the ISP.

3. Users got pissed off and frustrated.

 

Conclusion: you either refused to give them the information due to some top secret reason, or the whole story about contacting the ISP was just made up to justify why a country-wide ban was issued. That or you simply felt like being a prick, either way, such a behavior is what I call pathetic.

 

On a side note: I wonder how would YOU react under similar circumstances, given you tend to do things blunt and tactless the past 12 years. I bet you would be full of patience and understanding.

 

I openly consider myself to be a judge entitled to enforce what is fair and moral on my own sites, or in my house, or in my car, or on my land.

It's not for you to decide what's moral or fair, even in your own home or car. Your own rules are not synonymous with fairness and/or morality. That said, this is not a car but a modding community site frequented by people from all around the world. If you expect your in-house rules to apply to a modding community, then it tells a lot about your narcissistic attitude.

 

Because hosting nude mods for a game is the same as talking about having a wank in real life. Oh wait, it's completely different.

It's a real wonder why people would talk about doing adult stuff while on a site that hosts adult stuff, namely talking about sex while on a site that hosts sex related stuff (like butt plugs for example). Skyrim is PEGI 18 btw.

 

<A self-righteous tirade about banning nudity from the imageshare sections and so called "doomsayers" that has nothing to do with the discussion>

Even though I'm not sure why you totally prohibited nudity from the imageshare section while allowing violence -- doesn't make much sense to me -- I've never felt the need to argue with that.

 

But people seem to think that everything I do should be for them, and them alone. It's just not how I work. I'd have lost my mind years ago if it was.

You generalize, and generalize, and generalize... Everyone who don't like something about the nexus is evil, wants these sites to die, and for you to compromise your vision, and whatever. It's just throwing accusations in the blind.

 

I don't, like some networks, lock mod authors/casters/teams/whatever in to legally binding exclusivity deals.

No, you lock them in your own, personal wonderland where you hammer any disobedience. It's the reason why the Nexus community comment threads, chat, and forums are filled with a bunch of apologists who think it's justified to ban someone for life over trivial disagreements. A huge chunk of the potential community the Nexus could've had is either banned, uninterested, or too intimidated to speak.

 

So use the myriad of other options available to you.

What myriad of sites? Please name other sites like the Nexus.

 

Use TESA! That's a damn good site with none of the drama you'll find here

The site was full of rips and stolen content the last time I visited it, and I don't know a word in Russian.

 

You can disagree with it publicly here and I don't mind talking it out, as long as it remains semi-amicable, you can be rude enough to get banned from here, like most people who talk about this subject do

What a strange coincidence. Seriously, you barely even try to hide that you ban whatever you like and don't give a damn about whatever one has to say. Why even asking for proof?

[bigdaddycool9999]

i really wonder why the nexus doesnt go to "supporters only"-modus operandi. after all, no "leechers", reduced costs and so on and so on... why not?

 

what comes to my mind is (besides the question above) another thing.

 

to quote harlequin: A huge chunk of the potential community the Nexus could've had is either banned, uninterested, or too intimidated to speak. *ends quote*

 

they arent interested or banned. they simply support other communities. lots of users that went into silence behave like that, if its out of disagreeing with the way people are treated or a certain point of view what nexus became is irrelevant. the community here is moving on, and the more problems are with availability or the nmm, the more move on. in other words, they turn to "leeching" and simply dont care about the forums anymore. why would anyone want to help rookies out if a wrong word could get you banned immediately? still, those that actually want to participate in a flourishing community take their joy in helping out those rookies, just not anymore on nexus.

 

and concerning TESA: naaaaah, there are way better sites. very strong english speaking sites. people that dont search for them dont deserve to be there. if someone just knows the nexus as their main skyrim mods source, then its better for everyone if they stay here.

 

by the way, am i the only person that has the feeling that the quality of the latest published mods dropped? good ol' dave became pretty silent if i remember right. also other excellent modders. for that you have tons of "new talents" here. considering that their downloads and views are pretty low im quite sure that the bandwith usage wont be such a big problem anymore soon. did you already know that some of them joined other projects and stay just here to keep their accounts intact? which means, they just show up once in a while, but besides that dont participate in the forums anymore, dont help people out, dont upload here anymore, and can thus be considered "as good as dead accounts"? yeah, your bandwith usage will drop.

 

someone could state that it will rise again with all the new games that are supported on the nexus... but if a game isnt developed with the intention to make it modable its only about retextures or other minor "mods". which means celebrating the increased range of games is quite useless.

[Dark0ne]

Provided I had other accounts, why would I want to tell you about it? It's obvious why you dwell on the subject.

 

It's quite obvious you do have previous accounts and you are a banned member (indeed, why else would you need to use TOR/a proxy to access these sites?) which sets the precursor for your obvious negative bias against the sites which makes me less inclined to really care about what you have to say. At the end of the day, you're simply coming off like the typical disgruntled banned members from the forums you no doubt frequent at the moment. Albeit you can at least spell.

 

 

or the whole story about contacting the ISP was just made up to justify why a country-wide ban was issued.

 

Haha, so I'm supposed to have banned an entire country...just for the sake of it? Why are you even here!?

 

 

which alone eliminates the very point of your argument that the main advantage of using the Nexus lies in not paying thousands of dollars

 

Putting words in my mouth. The main advantage? Nope, never said that. One of the advantages? Yep.

 

 

A gesture of good will is not something you do under pressure, because doing otherwise would cause you an undesired effect. You suggest that only the good will stops you from banning people who use adblockers on your site, yet a few statements later you explain the potential consequences you wouldn't want to deal with:

 

If I were to actually enact any sort of block on these users there'd be serious ramifications both in hate and access to the sites (...) the latter would cause public outcry (...)

 

And yet I made no suggestion that the reason why I didn't block people using adblockers was because of the negativity it would produce. You've quoted me stating that doing so would produce a negative reaction, but not that the reason why I don't block adblockers is because of that negative reaction. That would be the whole "putting words in my mouth" thing, again.

 

 

I told you rather precisely what my problem is, if I hadn't we wouldn't have this exchange in the first place. Concession on your side.

 

Once again, your concession is accepted.

 

 

It's not for you to decide what's moral or fair, even in your own home or car. Your own rules are not synonymous with fairness and/or morality. That said, this is not a car but a modding community site frequented by people from all around the world. If you expect your in-house rules to apply to a modding community, then it tells a lot about your narcissistic attitude.

 

Why exactly isn't it for me, the owner, the person who pays the bills, to decide what's moral or fair on my own sites? Of course it is. Stop being silly. I don't expect them to apply to a modding community at large, only the modding community that I own. And once again the simple fact remains that when you registered on these sites you agreed to those very rules that you find neither fair nor moral. As did anyone else posting here. That's on you.

 

 

It's a real wonder why people would talk about doing adult stuff while on a site that hosts adult stuff, namely talking about sex while on a site that hosts sex related stuff (like butt plugs for example). Skyrim is PEGI 18 btw.

 

In this case, it's a real wonder how I can have sex without talking about it with others. But I manage it. I must be special.

 

 

You generalize, and generalize, and generalize... Everyone who don't like something about the nexus is evil, wants these sites to die, and for you to compromise your vision, and whatever. It's just throwing accusations in the blind.

 

Yes, that's exactly what I said. No no, wait, that would be you putting words in my mouth again.

 

 

No, you lock them in your own, personal wonderland where you hammer any disobedience. It's the reason why the Nexus community comment threads, chat, and forums are filled with a bunch of apologists who think it's justified to ban someone for life over trivial disagreements. A huge chunk of the potential community the Nexus could've had is either banned, uninterested, or too intimidated to speak.

 

Honestly, why are you even here replying to these comments!? It speaks volumes. And you want to label me with narcissism? Brilliant.

 

 

 

Use TESA! That's a damn good site with none of the drama you'll find here

 

The site was full of rips and stolen content the last time I visited it, and I don't know a word in Russian.

 

TES Alliance? Nope.

 

 

What a strange coincidence. Seriously, you barely even try to hide that you ban whatever you like and don't give a damn about whatever one has to say. Why even asking for proof?

 

Indeed, what an absolute shock that I would ban people for breaking the rules for what is and isn't acceptable to say on these sites! :rolleyes:

 

Just because they're directing it at me instead of a mod author/other user doesn't mean they're immune from repercussion.

[Thandal]

Last I knew, the Nexus doesn't "hide" the Bans that are imposed at all. Just the opposite, in fact. The reasons, (and frequently, the misbehaviour itself) are published for all to see.

 

It's the claim of "unjustified" bans that requires proof. So far, exactly none has been provided.

[Dark0ne]

Indeed, the irony in all these accusations when the ones making accusations are hiding behind TOR. Well, it's amusing to say the least :)

[Lisnpuppy]

@bigdaddy-

 

This is the site that is being referred to here: http://tesalliance.org/forums/

 

I don't think Dark0ne minds me clarifying that one.

[LeddBate]

Gah! I'm using an ad-blocker too. Sorry folks. I will be getting a premium membership as soon as my tax return rolls in.

 

Uhm, I think I may have said that 2nd part sometime earlier. If so, my apologies.

[DrakeTheDragon]

I can understand those with valid concerns about ads and security or convenience issues. I myself was often unpleasantly 'awakened' during the night by a noisy auto-play flash ad booming at cinema level volume out into the night. Some of those, even without sound at all, were also able to grind down my browser to a hold simply by their auto-playing at the wrong moment but on several different browser tabs at once. Those were indeed intrusive and annoying, thus something to block them soon came to mind, of course.

 

However, being in a software department which 'creates' these things it'd be unwise of me to block them entirely. All of a sudden I'd be unable to even test-run our own ones, just because some of them annoyed me on a private site. And no, I cannot make good use of the ad-blockers whitelist in this regard, as the websites I'm to test-run our production versions on are changing rapidly with each new customer the big business partner acquires. Every new upcoming web shop, every new internet media portal that opens, all are targets I could end up having to add to the list of exclusions, and with all those internal redirects from domain to domain and server to server while we're still in the middle of deploy phase I can't even sufficiently forecast all locations I'd need to whitelist for this to work.

 

No, there's a work order: No ad-blockers! And thus I don't use them.

 

However, I'm very well using a little gadget called "Flash Block" instead. It replaces all those annoying auto-play atrocities with an empty frame and a simple 'play' button. Unless I click said button, the flash video won't ever play. Their popping up in my browser (business term 'Ad Impression') is correctly registered and the ad provider has no way to think I wasn't shown the ad. I know for a fact they don't even have a way to tell, as I'm developing this tracking stuff myself also and know how it works in big business applications.

 

That's for the intrusive annoying ones auto-playing without even asking or at an unbearable volume without any way to turn it down or shut it off.

 

 

Those privacy issues are a different story, but depending on what exactly the plugin blocks while detecting an ad impression attempt, you will still get those cookies even with your ad-blocker running, and they will know what ad was about to be displayed on your browser and on what website you've been by then... among several other things.

 

I know those people feeling uneasy with their habits and browsing steps getting tracked by a big ad tracking and customer likings profiling service network.

I was test-running a newly deployed x-mas themed banner ad of us during the winter holidays, and when I was done and went on over to my private discussion sites and community portals, guess what greeted me in their advertisement banner slots? Right! The very same products that were booked to display within the new ads I was just testing before, the same brand of winter clothes, the same web shop advertising its x-mas cookies, etc. It knew perfectly well all the products pages I test-visited before!

 

Well, I knew our big business partner does this browsing history profiling business itself as well and on a not-so-small scale, covering like every online business portal in Germany, but I was still a little surprised to find the same products displayed in an ad on like "deviantArt", which is by far outside of our network covering as far as I know. However, I simply guess it was a German ad provider used for site users living in Germany by them in this case, as is happening with the ads here as well, region-bound advertisements.

 

Anyways, in the end I found it rather funny than scaring, and additionally took it as a confirmation, their big customer profiling mechanism reaches far further than I ever imagined... and I'm developing a part of it! (ego-boost) :cool:

 

 

But that isn't even the problem. Those are all valid concerns for using an ad-blocker, and Dark0ne said it time and again that he's not going to do anything against those.

 

Coming to think of it, anybody remember how the discussion went so off-topic as talking about ad-blockers and their users exclusively now, anyways?

Edited January 25, 2014 by DrakeTheDragon

[Arkngt]

In response to post #11418124.

"i really wonder why the nexus doesnt go to "supporters only"-modus operandi. after all, no "leechers", reduced costs and so on and so on... why not?"

Because that would mean that it would cost money to download mods, which isn't allowed. Edited January 25, 2014 by Arkngt