Why was Negative Endorsement removed?

[Gopher]

For me the problem is the casual and one way nature of the 'negative' vote that is the problem. But if the second someone gives a negative vote, they can no longer download that mod (or comment on that mods page) and if the mod author can choose to block them from his other mods, the system is fine. Bad mods will get lots of negative votes and noone will care if the mod author blocks them, and mod authors of good mods get at least some satisfaction that people who gave them the thumb down are not going to display equal levels of stupidity on another of their mods :)

[OuijaU]

Oh gosh, this again?

 

I'm not a modder. I couldn't mod my way out of a paper bag. But I gratefully use them daily. I've downloaded HUGE mods, game altering mods, houses, armor, quests etc for years. Never ONCE did something break my game. However, I myself have broken my game by not following instructions! (And I don't want to hear about my join date. Originally I had a different username way back when.) Needless to say I been using mods since Morrowind days.

 

The reason why I side with the modders on this is because I've seen the abuse these people take on a daily basis. And yes, a good chunk of the time it is abuse. People don't read the readme's, they don't read the comments, they want everything spoon fed to them and if they don't get it they down grade the mod. I can remember mods getting a "5" when the 1-10 rating was around. Reasons usually being "I didn't like it.". Well, WTH?

 

I think unfortunately people have forgotten how to be grateful for what they get for FREE. Instead they want more. Entitlement and so on.

 

I see no reason for a negative rating system. I read the comments and I download and use myself. If I like a mod, I come back and endorse and most times leave a nice comment. If I don't like a mod, I get rid of it and move on. No endorsement or comment given because whether "I" like it or not isn't the point now is it? Game breaking mod? Never had one yet. But should it ever happen, I would come back and give the mod author a bug report. No reason to "thumbs down" it or anything else.

 

I don't believe this is about "hurt feelings" on the modders part at all. I think removing that system showed them some respect for what they do bring us for FREE. If you are really concerned about something. Read up on it. OMG 300 comments! Well get to reading because you'll find some interesting information in there. Send someone a message asking them how a mod works. Whatever blows your hair back. But be respectful about it all.

[Yamcakes]

Maybe both sides can be appeased by the addition of a feature that isn't called a negative endorsement, but still allows a way for people to share problems with the mod in plain sight for the casual viewer. The bug report idea is nice, There could be a little exclamation mark and a number next to it like endorsements. Each report would say something like "This messes with so and so's quest dialogue" "Conflicts with such and such mods", or "object is floating over such and such location". Allow the author to leave a comment on each report. The author could say something like "I am making a patch for this soon" "Thanks for the info, This will be fixed in next version" and so on. It wouldn't be a negative endorsement, and it would waaaaaaaaaaaay easier than sifting through a sea of comments like "cool mod".

[SomeWelshGuy]

Maybe both sides can be appeased by the addition of a feature that isn't called a negative endorsement, but still allows a way for people to share problems with the mod in plain sight for the casual viewer. The bug report idea is nice, There could be a little exclamation mark and a number next to it like endorsements. Each report would say something like "This messes with so and so's quest dialogue" "Conflicts with such and such mods", or "object is floating over such and such location". Allow the author to leave a comment on each report. The author could say something like "I am making a patch for this soon" "Thanks for the info, This will be fixed in next version" and so on. It wouldn't be a negative endorsement, and it would waaaaaaaaaaaay easier than sifting through a sea of comments like "cool mod".

But then that's what comments are generally used for, but I agree that's a lot better.

 

However I still don't see the need for a negative endorsements system at all. I don't like mexican food, and I won't recommend a mexican restaurant to someone. However I won't actively say that the local mexian restaurant is rubbish and tell people not to go there. Personal opinions get in the way.

[Yamcakes]

Maybe both sides can be appeased by the addition of a feature that isn't called a negative endorsement, but still allows a way for people to share problems with the mod in plain sight for the casual viewer. The bug report idea is nice, There could be a little exclamation mark and a number next to it like endorsements. Each report would say something like "This messes with so and so's quest dialogue" "Conflicts with such and such mods", or "object is floating over such and such location". Allow the author to leave a comment on each report. The author could say something like "I am making a patch for this soon" "Thanks for the info, This will be fixed in next version" and so on. It wouldn't be a negative endorsement, and it would waaaaaaaaaaaay easier than sifting through a sea of comments like "cool mod".

But then that's what comments are generally used for.

But those aren't in plain sight. Many comments are praise, asking for help, requesting something of the modder, etc. Bug reports can be, well, bug reports. They are informative and should be in plain sight of both the modder, and the downloader.

[Gopher]

One thing I do miss about the endorsements is the Green/Red numbers. Oddly enough the clash of those two really attracted your eyes. And as long as the red one was zero it looked great :)

[Thandal]

Just a reminder, the policy on these sites regarding comments about mods has always been that:

 

The commenting, endorsement and rating system is available on Nexus sites to provide users with a means to

 

... offer positive feedback

 

... offer constructive criticism

 

... ask for feature requests

 

... ask for help in troubleshooting problems

As KDS noted, if a mod truly violates the Nexus ToS, don't rate it, report it!

But if you just don't like what a mod does or how it behaves, the rule is: "Don't use, and pass in silence."

 

Removing the "Thumbs-Down" makes things simpler for everybody.

[RunningBare]

I think I've down rated one mod in the entire time I've been a member of nexus, so I guess it's not something I'm going to miss, as for the suggestion that mod authors being allowed to block downloader's, as a mod author myself this is something I would be very much against, no offense meant to those who suggested it, but it seems like a petty act.

[Sagebeat]

It seems like for the most part that the people the vehemently despise an addition of any feature that will bring back the functionality of some kind of warning system for the community are the same people who do so because it might add a blemish to said mods. A bug report feature seems like it would walk the middle ground between returning functionality while still sparring peoples feelings.

 

Although some people will always voice their opinion in the loudest way possible, and the people who would be emotionally affected by things like a thumbs down are probably the loudest.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Sagebeat

[llamaRCA]

@Yamcakes - we have that. It's called the mod thread. It's been around all along and players comment in it about their problems and other players can read it.

 

I don't know what all the fuss is about that somehow modders won't listen if there is no red thumb or players can't choose if there is no red thumb. I've never used them as a player and I don't listen to them as a modder (but I'm in my thread responding to comments everyday). Red thumbs provide nothing useful in either capacity as there is no comment attached (1/2 of the red thumb reasons are opinion so do I guess why someone didn't like/approve of my mod/someone else's mod or why they thought it wasn't good enough?) and requiring a comment with a red thumb is a terrible idea. I would rather a player came into my thread and told me all about why my mod isn't good enough for him/her and I would rather read that in another thread but not because it is mandatory. I'm interested in feedback that is freely given even when it's negative.

 

Also:

 

For those of you that don't know how to pick a good mod this is what you can use as to sift through mods:

 

There are two ways that already exist to know if a mod is probably going to turn out alright and the red thumbs never gave you this information.

 

1. Number of endorsements to unique downloads.

2. Read the mod thread. In big mods maybe two or three pages of the thread to get an idea of the issues. In little mods you can cover more.