LE Guidance on TOS and DLCs from anybody who knows

[lofgren]

Hello,

 

I am trying something new for one of my mods. I would like to provide some options related to Dawnguard, but I would prefer not to make Dawnguard a master file. However, in order to provide this functionality, I must provide edited versions of two Dawnguard scripts. The scripts do absolutely nothing on their own. Without Dawnguard they will simply sit there inert in the bsa. Even if you were to extract them, they would be useless.

 

(For those who are familiar, they are the magic effect scripts related to Vampire Lord and werewolf feeding. In other words they do nothing but increment a few global variables.)

 

I have heard that the site terms of service require that any mod that uses resources from one of the DLCs must include that DLC as a master. However, upon searching I was not able to find anything directly stating this. The closest thing I saw was a prohibition against copyrighted content, which presumably these scripts are, and presumably the inclusion of the DLC as a master is seen as the appropriate method for legitimizing use of the copyrighted Bethesda scripts.

 

So my question is, can I upload a version of my mod that includes these two Dawnguard scripts without including Dawnguard as a master, or will that get me into trouble with the ToS?

 

Can anyone who has had experience with this type of thing provide guidance? Or perhaps a moderator could give me a definitive answer? If there is a more appropriate place or method to ask this question, please let me know.

 

Thank you in advance.

Edited August 1, 2014 by lofgren

[sevencardz]

Any moderator or staff can override this, but the way I understand it is that any content from the DLCs that you've modified MUST come with a statement that says the DLC is required for that version of the mod. Being that you have modified scripts from Dawnguard, that file MUST require Dawnguard in order to be 'legal'. Obviously, any user that tries to use the mod without Dawnguard won't get that functionality anyway and technically that user *shouldn't* be downloading a mod for DLC that he/she doesn't have... but that's not really something you can control.

As you said, what you can control (and what I understand you are supposed to do) is to include the script in a BSA (not loose files) with an associated ESP with the DLC (Dawnguard) as a master. Now, again, that doesn't stop someone from tossing the ESP, extracting the BSA and using the script by itself, but at least you did all you could to discourage it.

Now, what I suggest you explore to get around this is dynamically referencing resources from the DLCs. For example, it is possible to dynamically pull the Form for an object from the DLC into your script, which only works if the user has said DLC installed: http://www.creationkit.com/GetFormFromFile_-_Game

And if you really want to get fancy, you can try this: http://www.creationkit.com/Dynamically_Attaching_Scripts

But... all of that may be more trouble than simply making Dawnguard a requirement, or creating two editions of your mod: one for vanilla and one for Dawnguard.

Edited August 11, 2014 by sevencardz