Updating a mod or releasing a new one?

[PrometheusTS]

To have the maximum visibility for a mod re release, what is it best, to make a new mod with updated content or update adding to the one already published? I ask this because I made a post in the mod section asking for some questions but nobody answered, despite that almoust 1000 people downloaded the mod, so I wonder how would ppl know if the mod is updated? Also how to show to new people the new content too?

[zanity]

Why do you care? Unless you mod for clout- the very worst motive- isn't it up to the people using mods whether they care about updates or not?

 

I know if a mod is updated because if I care about a mod, I read its description. And what people want is a good description section. But any mod is just one of a million mods, and no-one who uses mods wants any mod bothering them after install. I guess the assumption here is that great mods are really self promoting, in the sense that the more people use a mod the higher it rises in the popularity system.

 

As for communication with the users of a mod, well only a tiny section of downloaders probably even go to the posts section, and fewer would consider making a post themselves.

 

Now you said "maximum visibility"? Which means MORE visibility than the mods of others, by definition. Can you figure out why that facility does not exist? If your mod is updated but otherwise is the same mod, it would be an ABUSE of the system to release it as a new mod. How do you shout louder than the other people around you who all want to shout louder? That's a marketing paradox.

 

SEO is the Internet term you are looking for. The correct use of tags so your mod appears in the appropriate section. A good mod 'title' that catches people's attention. The kind of mod people actual track and would care to update. The use of language matters, and so does the use of images. How you 'present' your mod may be as important as the mod itself.

 

And as anyone in marketing would tell you- if something is failing, move on, if numbers are all you care about.

 

PS in the early days of mods for a game, I personally wouldn't rate the scene as worthwhile or valuable - so the early 'customers' you get won't be the 'brightest' or the 'best'- most likely they mod their game for all the wrong reasons. Sane informed people know it takes along time for the mod scene to reach a useful level, and won't even really start until the official tools release. Apart from a tiny number of 'essential' mods like widescreen support or FOV adjustment, most of the people using early mods do so thru boredom, to grief their own game, or in the curious belief that mod-ability was part of the purchase price.

[fraquar]

I can give one reason why a modder would care.

They don't want users of their mod using an old version that contains bugs/compatibility issues that they have already fixed.

That issue alone may very well be what causes some mod users to "track" the mod instead of installing it.

 

Zanity, you assume alot about what you think the OP meant..... We all know what happens when we assume....

 

To answer the question:

At the end of the day it is up to the Users to use the tools at their disposal to monitor the mods they use - or even ones they don't but might be interested in.

a) Mod Managers will inform them of version updates for the mods they have installed - it will NOT inform them of the existence of a new mod - even if it is just a rewrite of the old one.

b) Tracking Tab can be used to track the progress of a mod they aren't using but what to see if it progresses into something they would use.

c) Regularly visiting the Nexus is pretty much the only way short of Word of Mouth that a new mod has been released on the Nexus.

 

Personally, I'd suggest updating the existing mod.

[HeyYou]

Mods don't go away any more. You can't delete them. If you update a mod though, the older version is archived, so, not really easily available for download, unless it's part of a collection. If you just make a new page, then the old mod is still there. You could 'hide' it, I suppose.....

 

I agree with fraquar here though, updating lets you keep the comments thread. :D