Publisher-Approved Paid Modding Policy

[Sable17]

I can live with the updated rules for now, but I have to say this all still feels arbitrary in the first place. A very messy line in the sand to draw that no one in good faith asked for.

But being able to post patches for people who request them is all I wanted so alright.
 

DavidJCobb sums up my feelings better than I can:

1 hour ago, DavidJCobb said:

This update is better than nothing, but the distinction being made still feels nonsensical. It feels like the Nexus is trying to commit to some form of restriction on patches because they want it to accomplish something positive for free modding, rather than because they can convincingly argue that it actually would.

[Blackread]

37 minutes ago, Remiros said:

I'm not sure if that's accurate. While I see several verified creators voicing their concerns, I'm mostly seeing end users who are negatively affected by this change. Ultimately, it seems like this is a net loss for everyone involved, including the Nexus, unless someone can point out the positive aspects to me.

It's not about whether the Nexus is better or worse than other platforms in terms of features, but instead that it's "the" go-to modding platform, whether people like it or not. I genuinely do think that it's currently the best platform in terms of features and reach, but I feel like that's very much missing the point.

The positive aspect is not promoting paid mods, the sole existence of which is a detriment to the modding community as a whole.

It is very much about whether the Nexus is better. If it was possible to post a "Bard's College Expansion patch collection" with an auto-installing FOMOD on Bethesda.net, people would for sure do it. I would argue it would be even more convenient for the users because the patches would be on the same platform as the mod itself. But because Bethesda.net does not support this they want to post it on Nexus instead and then cry when the Nexus doesn't allow it.

13 minutes ago, Kant3n said:

It's an improvement but still not good enough, it's still being needlessly obtuse about solving a problem that only began existing two days ago and because Nexus invented it. There is literally no reason to ban patch hubs so long as they have valid permissions, period. The patch hubs requires the free mods to work, too, so why are you treating the very existence of the paid mod as some sort of terminal cancer that invalidates 100% of what is being interacted with by that patch?

Just please knock this whole thing off and leave the patches alone. You took one step back after taking five steps forward.

Bethesda invented the problem, called Verified Creations. Nexus is just trying to be a part of the solution instead. Paid mods, no matter the form they come in, are a cancer. Not terminal yet, but the more it grows the worse it gets.

[Sable17]

1 minute ago, Blackread said:

It is very much about whether the Nexus is better. If it was possible to post a "Bard's College Expansion patch collection" with an auto-installing FOMOD on Bethesda.net, people would for sure do it. I would argue it would be even more convenient for the users because the patches would be on the same platform as the mod itself. But because Bethesda.net does not support this they want to post it on Nexus instead and then cry when the Nexus doesn't allow it.

...or they post them in both places because they want to give their users options as to what's most convenient for them? Patches are made to benefit mod users...

[Blackread]

16 minutes ago, Gaztec said:

it's the world we live in now and will continue to live in

Normalizing shitty things has never made the world better, only worse.

[Wolfstorm]

4 minutes ago, Blackread said:

But because Bethesda.net does not support this they want to post it on Nexus instead and then cry when the Nexus doesn't allow it.

Bethesda's exclusive authors could just ask their exclusive platform to provide a category for patches. This would allow small authors to release patches there, without them needing to become VCs. It is a simple solution, but I guess they can't do it, because they need to advertise their exclusive mods here. 

[Varana]

Still, I ahve absolutely no idea why restrictions about translations (!!! - you're all English-speaking, I assume) and things like

"A mod page includes only compatibility patch(es) between a paid mod and any other free mod(s). This content should be posted on either the original mod pages that are being patched OR on the paid modding platform. 

A mod page containing a patch hub that includes a mixture of patches for paid and free mod content. The paid mod patches should be posted on either the original mod pages that are being patched OR on the paid modding platform."

seem necessary, or even came up as an idea in the first place.

Whatever you're trying to accomplish - the worst you can do for modding, is to hurt interoperability and ease of access. The Nexus has done an amazing job at making mods more mainstream, and easy accessibility is one of the main reasons for this. It was the driving idea behind the Collections feature, after all.

This, however, hurts accessibility in a major way, and I still haven't understood what the benefits for the end user are supposed to be.

The same with translations. Sorry, but every single attempt to restrict translation efforts in whatever minute way is a big red flag for me. Translations should be encouraged by going out of your way to support them in any way possible.

[Remiros]

4 minutes ago, Blackread said:

The positive aspect is not promoting paid mods, the sole existence of which is a detriment to the modding community as a whole.

It is very much about whether the Nexus is better. If it was possible to post a "Bard's College Expansion patch collection" with an auto-installing FOMOD on Bethesda.net, people would for sure do it. I would argue it would be even more convenient for the users because the patches would be on the same platform as the mod itself. But because Bethesda.net does not support this they want to post it on Nexus instead and then cry when the Nexus doesn't allow it.

Bethesda invented the problem, called Verified Creations. Nexus is just trying to be a part of the solution instead. Paid mods, no matter the form they come in, are a cancer. Not terminal yet, but the more it grows the worse it gets.

That's a very subjective opinion that I can't, in good faith, take seriously. How are they "promoting" paid mods by allowing for compatibility patches to exist. Paid mods that, mind you, were made by creators who allow this site to exist in the first place. I'm not a fan of paid mods either, at least not in their current form, but I'll never understand the passionate dislike towards them when you can just move on and not buy them. I also don't really see the difference between verified creations and paid DLC / Creation Club content. Why is one fine and not the other? How did Bethesda "invent the problem" with verified creations, when they have been doing the exact same thing for close to 20 years now, just under a different name?

[Blackread]

Just now, Sable17 said:

...or they post them in both places because they want to give their users options as to what's most convenient for them? Patches are made to benefit mod users...

Do they? I don't see those patches on Bethesda.net. Patches for Kinggath's mods are moved to Kinggath's own website because Bethesda.net is so s#*!.

If Bethesda.net had the features to support proper patch hubs people wouldn't be nearly as upset about this change. Mostly mildly annoyed. Hell if Bethesda.net had those features a change like this might cause a significant portion of the community to migrate over to Bethesda.net completely and permanently. But because it doesn't it continues to exist only as a platform for Bethesda to milk their users.

[Blackread]

2 minutes ago, Varana said:

Whatever you're trying to accomplish - the worst you can do for modding, is to hurt interoperability and ease of access. The Nexus has done an amazing job at making mods more mainstream, and easy accessibility is one of the main reasons for this. It was the driving idea behind the Collections feature, after all.

So, by this definition, Verified Creations is the worst you can do for modding. Or at least I can't think of something that makes it harder to access content than putting it behind a paywall.

And by that definition anything that has the potential of damaging the Verified Creations system is the best you can do for modding.

[BosDragon]

I read about 15 pages of this entire thread. It is essentially a handful of people regurgitating the same points over and over again. I wish I could undo that and get my time back.

Anyway, for all the alarmists out there, the modding scene will be fine. As someone said, paid mods are here to stay but so are the Nexus policies which I welcome. There should be a clear separation between paid and free content.

It's not the end of the world, just move on and go make some mods. Upload them wherever you can/want. Back in the day I built my own website for just one mod I made for a random video game. It still got traffic without any advertisement. The point is - gamers will find a way to do what they like one way or another.