Why are all the boards on this site so inactive?

[InDarkestNight]

Its very rare I get a reply to one of my posts, which is getting really annoying. Even if I do, people are rarely interested in continuing the conversation. I would post elsewhere, but there's just no other place to do so. The steam boards are ruled by white supremacist trolls, reddit is even worse at times. I've even resorted to posting questions in comments sections for mods, but I actually can't remember the last time any of them got acknowledged.

 

I realize the site can't do much about this, but its still infuriating asking for help and rarely ever receiving any. With how much users this site has, you would assume there would be more people posting. Why on earth is this? Is there any decent place to ask questions about a game anywhere on the internet?

[SnowFox35]

I used to be really active here. I assume the Forums were a lot active at some point. I eventually branched off because it did seem like it was growing quiet, and I was losing energy trying to upkeep my activity here. You're right; it felt frustrating.

 

With all the members here, it's worth it to note that the same Forums are not only used as a hub for people that are installing mods for their games (a lot of people) but also who are experiencing issues getting their mods working (again, a lot of people). It's unfortunate, but it seems to me that the community engagement outside of mod support in these Forums are buried behind the core reasons for people to show up in the first place. It's about intent in the community. If they wanted to discuss something about the game, sadly, they will probably head elsewhere.

 

I love this place even if I no longer frequent it. But after branching off I did end up using reddit. Most of the platform is complete garbage and toxic. But don't delve into the whole of it all at once. Don't just find individual communities that are calmer and kinder, find sections of communities that make the site usable. For example, in the gaming subreddit (which I don't personally use, this is purely for example), maybe you can find more success talking about or sharing a game-related arts-and-crafts project than roping yourself into a debate about a game's mechanics (prime grounds for creating reddit's infamous opinionated toxicity). Does this make sense? It's a matter of maneuvering and "choosing your battles" so to speak - to avoid them.

[Striker879]

Back in my earlier days I was active supporting user questions in mod comments. Today you'll find me helping out on a select few mods.

 

So what changed? It was a simple change to how mod comments are presented on the forum vs the old days (admittedly an absolutely necessary change).

 

In the past all of a game's mods had their comments displayed as a sub forum of that game's forum called Mod Comments and it was a simple matter to look through all of the recent comments for all mods for that game. If I had a possible solution to a problem I could post it, or ask questions to help narrow things down.

 

As the site grew the strain that presenting all the information (the new posts sorted into each game's forum Mod Comments section) was putting on the forums system brought it to it's knees, and it was necessary to adopt the current way that mod comments are presented on the forum (a monolithic list of all comments made on all games found on the site).

 

For a while I tried keeping up by visiting the mod pages, but eventually I stopped. I still get notifications on some mods I have author level access to, but for the majority I'll only see questions posted in the game's troubleshooting or discussion sub forums.

[Pickysaurus]

We're actually doing some work on the forums at the moment and we're going to be upgrading/reorganising them to try and re-ignite the conversation a bit :)

 

Happy to hear any suggestions you have for improving things!

[gnarly1]

Its very rare I get a reply to one of my posts, which is getting really annoying. Even if I do, people are rarely interested in continuing the conversation. I would post elsewhere, but there's just no other place to do so. The steam boards are ruled by white supremacist trolls, reddit is even worse at times. I've even resorted to posting questions in comments sections for mods, but I actually can't remember the last time any of them got acknowledged.

 

I realize the site can't do much about this, but its still infuriating asking for help and rarely ever receiving any. With how much users this site has, you would assume there would be more people posting. Why on earth is this? Is there any decent place to ask questions about a game anywhere on the internet?

The main reason is that most of your posts that I've seen are either whining about some aspect of a game, or justifying why you quit playing a game. Most people don't want to read someone else's negativity. The time you spend writing needlessly negative posts could've been spent contributing positively to the community.

 

It sounds like I'm having a crack at you - I'm not. It's my honest impression after reading some of your posts over the past few weeks.

 

One reason why these forums aren't as active anymore is that many users have moved over to Discord.

[ScytheBearer]

There are a couple reasons that these forums have become quiet (or almost dead).

 

First and foremost is the diaspora. NexusMods used to be the premier place to share mods. But after certain decisions taken by Robin Scott and the team at NexusMods, people left, never to return. These people have moved onto other platforms or sites to share their mods, and they took their audiences with them. Consequently, these people are no longer here to help others or to answer questions. I will not delineate the actions of NexusMods here, as I want this post to survive the scrutiny of the moderators who take a dim view of my criticisms.

 

NexusMods is a victim of their own success. NexusMods used to host only a couple of games and their communities. Then, Robin Scott and the team at NexusMods decided that they would host any and every game imaginable. This openness was a great idea in concept, but when implemented, it changed things drastically. The new and different games brought in a new and different crowd of people. The newer people were not accustomed to the culture which had grown up within NexusMods, and they approached things a little differently. Okay, a LOT differently. This newer crowd was used to getting their way, and used to getting their way by the use of certain behavior patterns. These behaviors (trolling, flaming, marshaling, etc) alienated the old hands, who stopped talking to these younger people. This precipitated a round of reprisals against the older folks, which NexusMods allowed to continue. More of the old hands left, taking their expertise with them.

 

These disparate groups of games and their audiences have also produced a lot of little niches. Where once, NexusMods was a single community, it it now a fractured collection of cliques. Pockets of people with like minds and like ideas who are unwilling and unable to communicate with those who they perceive as "not them". Or, when these people do deign to communicate with the communities beyond their little gang, they do so only to attack, belittle and judge the individuals. And, sadly, these contentious behaviors have moved beyond NexusMods, into other platforms and communities. Discord, reddit, and other gaming/modding sites have all seen their fair share of word wars which started on NexusMods and were carried forward in an escalation of what started on NexusMods. And now, those flame wars have come full circle, and they have returned to NexusMods, unabated. And so more old hands who were able and willing to help people, leave.

In short, NexusMods has descended into open hostilities between those who came before and the new arrivals. Those hostilities have settled into a unofficial truce where the various factions keep their heads down. No side is willing to help the other. No side is willing to even talk to the other. And so it is that questions go unanswered.

 

And as I wrote this, a thought occurred. NexusMods is a microcosm of the global job market and a failing company. When a company starts thrashing, the people with skills and knowledge, those able to contribute and help companies/communities grow, move on. What remains are those who are ill equipped to deal with the needs of the company/community and are struggling to keep the company/community afloat. Some of those who remain are the very people who helped drive the more experienced and educated folks to the borders and beyond. Now, those who remain believe changing the customer facing interfaces, or participating in ill conceived ventures, or exploring new delivery options will save the company/community. All while ignoring the basic truth as to why they are failing. They failed to support and defend the folks who where the foundation of their business, and instead, allowed and even encouraged them being driven away. Now, those remaining are either too obstinate or too blind to see their only option left to keep their boat from sinking is to beach the craft, strip it back to basics and rebuild the hull.

[Guest deleted34304850]

so in short, you don't know, but posted up a load of words?

[Dark0ne]

I realize the site can't do much about this, but its still infuriating asking for help and rarely ever receiving any. With how much users this site has, you would assume there would be more people posting. Why on earth is this? Is there any decent place to ask questions about a game anywhere on the internet?

 

 

Lots of reasons, really, and it's not nearly as oddly convoluted as some like to make out:

• These forums are extremely old and are showing their age.
• These forums are not setup in a particularly efficient way, often requiring extensive deep diving into categories, involving many clicks, with some categories containing hundreds of sub categories.
• All games have a forum category automatically created for them here, though most won't have extensive communities/lots of users.
• It's become harder to find the link to the forums in our navigation on the main site with each design of the site, and it's not advertised anywhere other than one link in the header and one link in the footer.
• We don't actively promote or otherwise show "trending forum threads" or anything else that would increase engagement with the forums on the main site.
• We (as staff) don't engage with users as much as we used to or as much as we should.
• We (as staff) don't actively empower "positive" influences in the community, though many negative ones have thankfully left of their own accord.
• There has been a well documented shift from forums as the main discussion medium on the internet to Reddit and Discord, as evidenced by many game devs (in our opinion, wrongly) removing their forums in favour of Discord and social media. Bethesda is a big example of that.

 

We're taking steps to alleviate quite a few of these issues over the next 6 months, so stay tuned.

[HeyYou]

 

I realize the site can't do much about this, but its still infuriating asking for help and rarely ever receiving any. With how much users this site has, you would assume there would be more people posting. Why on earth is this? Is there any decent place to ask questions about a game anywhere on the internet?

 

 

Lots of reasons, really, and it's not nearly as oddly convoluted as some like to make out:

• These forums are extremely old and are showing their age.
• These forums are not setup in a particularly efficient way, often requiring extensive deep diving into categories, involving many clicks, with some categories containing hundreds of sub categories.
• All games have a forum category automatically created for them here, though most won't have extensive communities/lots of users.
• It's become harder to find the link to the forums in our navigation on the main site with each design of the site, and it's not advertised anywhere other than one link in the header and one link in the footer.
• We don't actively promote or otherwise show "trending forum threads" or anything else that would increase engagement with the forums on the main site.
• We (as staff) don't engage with users as much as we used to or as much as we should.
• We (as staff) don't actively empower "positive" influences in the community, though many negative ones have thankfully left of their own accord.
• There has been a well documented shift from forums as the main discussion medium on the internet to Reddit and Discord, as evidenced by many game devs (in our opinion, wrongly) removing their forums in favour of Discord and social media. Bethesda is a big example of that.

 

We're taking steps to alleviate quite a few of these issues over the next 6 months, so stay tuned.

 

These forums may be old, but, they still WORK. They are searchable, (though the site search engine needs some attention....) and all the info here is relatively permanent. Discord can't make that claim, thus, I agree that it is a terrible alternative to forums. Reddit? No thanks, I'll pass..... :D

 

The forums are set up fairly logically, and once you learn your way around, finding what you are looking for is not an ordeal. Folks just need to be aware of how the forums are structured, but, can't be bothered to figure that out on their own...... Which I don't think you folks can do anything about...

 

I see the 'shift' from forums, to Reddit and discord as a "fad". The beth site is pretty much dead now, since they canned their forums. NONE of the 'old hands' are there any more. That is a LOT of knowledge/wisdom that beth simply thumbed their noses at, and is now dispersed to other sites, if they are even still active at all. Finding them is challenging, to say the least.

 

But, on the 'not-so-good' side, the attitude here toward mod authors has changed since the sites inception, and in my opinion, not for the better. I agree with a fair few of the Points the sharp stick guy brought up..... Do I expect anything to change though? Nope.

[ScytheBearer]

so in short, you don't know, but posted up a load of words?

I rest my case. Here we have the perfect example of why people don't post here any more. Instead of addressing the issue at hand, people like 1ae0bfb8 spew insults and ad hominems and turn every topic into an assault on some one else.

 

Is it any wonder these forums are dead, when posting is treated as an invitation to engage in a flame war or worse. And even though such behavior is a violation of NexusMods' term of service, the behavior is indulged, ignored, and tolerated by Robin Scott and the team.