Questions on etiquette, procedures & so forth

[MikeHancho64]

OK, I am playing around with one of my favorite and most enjoyed mods that was not made by me. Mostly to learn, but to also add some simple features that I always wanted to see included in the mod. The mod itself is a beautifully created player house/base with all the bells and whistles.

 

So, as I said, I am tweaking it a little just for my own personal tastes. But I am enjoying the new features so much that I thought others might just enjoy it as well, and was wondering what the "modding etiquette" or whatever actually was concerning this type of thing. So, here are a couple of questions I have:

 

1 - As long as I don't take any credit, and give the original author their due credit, is it OK to release it to the community if I decide to sometime in the future? (On the original authors Nexus download page he gives permission to basically do whatever you want to with it, but doesn't necessarily give permission to release anything to the public. And he has not commented in 5 or 6 months and may not even be watching it anymore.)

 

2 - As this is my first attempt at anything like this, I already have had, and will surely have more questions and need help along the way. Should I start a [WipZ] thread to keep my questions and/or others suggestions in one organized place?

 

I guess that's if for now, although I know I'll think of something else, lol. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

[jackpack]

start a thread & get the mod as good as you can, then release it.

 

it wil also get you the help you need.

[TheVampireDante]

I'd send the original author a message about what you are planning on doing\have done and see what they think. They might offer support or even some further ideas.

 

Basically though, it's just polite to let them know what's happening with their work, even if they give permission for free use\alteration, sometimes it's just nice to know that someone has enough interest in the mod they made to spend time tailoring it further to their own needs\wants.

 

I know I'd appreciate it if someone let me know, I'm sure others are the same.

[Cipscis]

Questions such as "Can I release an altered version of this mod?", "Do I need to ask permission?" and "What credits should I give?" are usually best answered by a particular mod's readme. If there are any unanswered questions then contacting the author would be the right thing to do, although even if it's not required most people will contact a mod's author about what they wish to do anyway, as The Vampire Dante has recommended.

 

It doesn't seem to be the case here, but if the question of permission is unanswered in the readme and the author doesn't respond, there are a few different views people take on what should be done. Personally, I believe a month is long enough to wait for a response, and if the author responds after that then you should respect their wishes. Others may have differing opinions on this though, particularly the time to wait for a response.

 

If you anticipate a lot of small "beginner's" questions then a [WIPz] thread would probably be a good idea. However, if you come across any questions that require a large amount of troubleshooting then a new thread might be more appropriate. In the end, you'll want to do whatever you can to make your questions easy to answer. To me, the fact that you're at all concerned about these things is enough to convince me that you'll ask any future questions in an appropriate way.

 

Cipscis

[BadPenney]

I haven't seen the Creative Commons Code mentioned much here, but the advice that the OP has received in this thread seems to be consistent with it. It states, in non-legalese translation:

 

You are free:

To sample, mash-up, or otherwise creatively transform this work for commercial or noncommercial purposes.

To perform, display, and distribute copies of this whole work for noncommercial purposes (e.g., file-sharing or noncommercial webcasting).

Under the following conditions:

You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

You may not use this work to advertise for or promote anything but the work you create from it.

For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.

In no way are any of the following rights affected by the above:

◦Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;

◦Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.

I think that those are good and fair guidelines (other than the right to use the mod for commercial purposes which is prohibited by Bethesda Softworks), but they are specifically agreed to by authors of work who opt into the Creative Commons Code when uploading. While the Nexus seems to operate in a similar spirit, I don't recall the CCC being specifically mentioned when submitting work for upload here, perhaps because of that commercial inclusion.

 

You can't go wrong by sending a PM to the author of a mod that you would like to modify and upload. It shows respect and good manners. A month with no reply should be long enough to wait before going ahead, unless they specifically state that permission is not granted for others to use the assets of their mod, as mine does. Even then, I have given permission to people who have contacted me personally to use portions of my mod, and in one case gave permission for someone to translate my entire mod into spanish. So a PM just might get you individual permission even if a blanket modder's resource permission is denied.

[MikeHancho64]

Thank you all for your helpful replies and suggestions. I sent the author a PM, although I would be surprised to hear from them soon due to their inactivity. But in the mean time, I will start a thread where I can get help if and when I need it. Thanks again!