Gmod Content Policy & Content Index System

[Maigrets]

I just woke up to an email from Terry Sue, the Community Manager at Gmods who says my mods have been removed after my email to them. More than likely it's because of this thread and Dark0ne's actions though for which I'm grateful.

 

I have looked and they seem to be gone along with most of the others.

 

Hi Maigrets,

 

I'm the Community Manager at GMOD.com and I have gone ahead and removed your mods from our site.

 

I would like to sincerely apologize for uploading your mods onto our site.

 

Regards,

-Terry

 

I did added this to my readme's yesterday though.

 

PLEASE READ:

 

I'm adding this information at the top of all of my Readme's so it can't be missed.

 

If you downloaded this mod via Gmods.com you have a stolen file without my permission. This site is leeching mods from Tesnexus and directing traffic to their site straight from Tesnexus download links. This is bandwidth theft and is illegal.

 

They DO NOT have permission to link to or upload my files for this purpose, nor will they ever have it in the future. I can provide info if necessary.

[antonkr]

Thanks Dark0ne. It is too bad those Russians are still getting away with stealing content and uploading it though. I wish that country would crack down on that.

I would say most Russian sites at least do not steal bandwidth and most of it's users would not be able to navigate an English site like the nexus. Most mods are also translated by those Russian communities also. So doesn't hurt anyone really.

And thanks for blocking them Dark0ne ;D

No, they don't steal bandwidth, they just steal your whole mod and post it illegally on their site. So yes it does hurt us...really, are you that naive?

I'd rather not get into a debate here but when a mod is introduced to another huge community that don't just c+p it to their site but also take efforts and translate it? I don't see why not. I am not what you exactly call a great modder but if my mod is good enough for someone to take efforts to translate and introduce to people that might have had no chance to have it before on an English site...

[Ghogiel]

Thanks Dark0ne. It is too bad those Russians are still getting away with stealing content and uploading it though. I wish that country would crack down on that.

I would say most Russian sites at least do not steal bandwidth and most of it's users would not be able to navigate an English site like the nexus. Most mods are also translated by those Russian communities also. So doesn't hurt anyone really.

And thanks for blocking them Dark0ne ;D

No, they don't steal bandwidth, they just steal your whole mod and post it illegally on their site. So yes it does hurt us...really, are you that naive?

I'd rather not get into a debate here but when a mod is introduced to another huge community that don't just c+p it to their site but also take efforts and translate it? I don't see why not. I am not what you exactly call a great modder but if my mod is good enough for someone to take efforts to translate and introduce to people that might have had no chance to have it before on an English site...

 

Speak for yourself.

You can do what ever you like with your mods. :thumbsup:

[Maigrets]

A lot of my mods have been translated and uploaded to other language sites including a couple of Russian ones, but only after asking me and these particular sites don't host rips or unauthorized mods.

 

However, I don't agree when it's copy and paste as happens with many other mods I see on many of the other sites. There is a section of the world "modding community" that takes, but does not share in any form. These are worse in my opinion.

[XTR3M368]

Thanks Dark0ne. It is too bad those Russians are still getting away with stealing content and uploading it though. I wish that country would crack down on that.

I would say most Russian sites at least do not steal bandwidth and most of it's users would not be able to navigate an English site like the nexus. Most mods are also translated by those Russian communities also. So doesn't hurt anyone really.

And thanks for blocking them Dark0ne ;D

No, they don't steal bandwidth, they just steal your whole mod and post it illegally on their site. So yes it does hurt us...really, are you that naive?

I'd rather not get into a debate here but when a mod is introduced to another huge community that don't just c+p it to their site but also take efforts and translate it? I don't see why not. I am not what you exactly call a great modder but if my mod is good enough for someone to take efforts to translate and introduce to people that might have had no chance to have it before on an English site...

 

Speak for yourself.

You can do what ever you like with your mods. :thumbsup:

Yep, Yep. I agree with Ghogiel. You can do whatever you want with your mods but stealing is stealing. You might not care if they steal from you but I care if they steal from me. I will put it in terms you might understand. Ford likes it when you drive their vehicles, but they wouldn't let you translate their vehicles into Russian and then market them as your own.

 

now back on subject. Thank you, Thank you Dark0ne for blocking those guys.

Edited September 7, 2011 by XTR3M368

[AWZ]

@Kreischer Interesting site.

What host does offer so much webspace? Can you PM me about it?

Edited September 7, 2011 by AWZ

[Webbstre]

So.... hello again everyone. I haven't read the entire 18 pages of this thread (made it through about 5 before I realized how many there were), but I think a misunderstanding of an idea I tossed out there may have led to this whole fiasco this time.

 

So, to re-introduce myself, I'm Webbstre of runicgamesfansite.com. We were in the same batch of controversy as you guys when the whole gmod thing came up a while back. After all of our content was taken down and the apology happened we were basically happy with the result and a few of my users even voluntarily uploaded their mods as a mirror. Also, one of their community managers asked if I would be open to a meeting with Kreisher over Skype. I figured "Hey, why not?" and we had two Skype chats, the most recent of which was just over a month ago.

 

Basically, Kreisher and his gang wanted to know why people got all pissed off, and I tried to explain the basics: (1) Modders are very protective of their work and in a lot of cases the choice of where to host their files is a sign of loyalty to a particular site, (2) Fansite admins need the influx of users to keep their communities alive and to provide those precious ad views that keep the websites afloat, and (3) People get upset to find out that they have their work appropriated without permission, and have an account made in their name and then not even have a delete function available on the user-end to clear up the mess on their own.

 

I basically suggested that if he's going to index anything, then for each file listed it should only include a link to the website where the user can find the file(s), and possibly list mirrors if one site is down. In my own case, I saw this as a potential new source of traffic.

 

I definitely didn't suggest the whole link-directly-to-the-file thing. That's obviously bandwidth leeching and if it had happened to me I would have gotten just as pissed off. In fact, just seeing what happened here made me go look through my own site's security and realize I need to patch a few spots to make sure no one can bandwidth leech off of me, whether it's gmod or some site in China or Russia that wants to try to download my entire fansite (there have been attempts before).

 

(Side note- whoever set up that nifty redirect blacklist thing, I'd love to know how you did it. [email protected] for tips)

 

I'm going to try to be optimistic and assume that what happened was a misunderstanding of the idea I suggested, and hope to see that it gets fixed before I see the same thing happen to my own site.

 

As for the auto-account creation thing, I think I know why that works the way he did. I don't think I'm giving away any corporate secrets at this point, but when Kreisher and I talked he basically said in the future he wants this point system that is integral to gmod work in a way so that the most valuable users get the most points, or the most active users. So if you get a ton of points because forty thousand people clicked the link to get to your mod, then you can exchange them or get rewarded with games and other loot - basically repaying hard work on the modders' part. The auto-account thing I think was to make sure that no modders lose points.

 

However - and I haven't checked to see if this has been fixed yet or not because I don't have any files of my own there - the main problem before was the lack of a Delete button once you DID claim your user account. As someone else mentioned here, a total opt-out button would also be appreciated. As I said before, modders are protective of their work and the choice of where to host their files can make or break a fansite.

 

I'm hoping Kreisher or his CMs are still watching this thread and see this, and understand what went wrong this time.

 

As for you cool Nexus guys, it's totally your choice to blacklist a website from linking to your files. Again, I'd like to know how you did it, since that was pretty cool :P

 

I'll be watching this thread from now on, in case anyone else responds.

[Argomirr]

Dark0ne implemented the blacklist thing, so obviously this is just a guess but the way I think it works is that it blocks any request with a HTTP referrer header field that indicates that the user came from gmod.com.

 

Thanks for that post, it does clear up some things. However I still think the Gmod people could have thought of the fact that linking directly to the files is going to make a lot of people angry. It's especially nasty for Dark0ne because he misses out on potential ad revenue, but for me as a modder (although I haven't seen any of my files there yet) it's bad because it means many people won't read the mod page which contains important information on how to use the mod. Not to mention the fact that these people probably won't come back to endorse the file. If they would just link to the file description page, it would be okay with me, but I imagine many modders would rather have their mods removed from gmod altogether.

[Deleted82156User]

We are talking in the modder's area thread and this was brought up. Kreisher claims that it is not his intent to make money from your work, well we have another lie. He responded to a letter sent from the modders here and in it he cries his innocence and lays blame on the modders. Those big meanie modders here. :rolleyes: I wrote this in the modder's section and am reposting here along with the newest info in an article.

 

Let us not forget the facts...

 

1) Direct linking to Tes Nexus downloads. Any decent person would never, ever do something like that in the first place.

 

2) Created an account in your name. Identity theft.

 

3) Tried to bully people into signing up to his site, he even got it started for you by making you an account and you have to sign in to access it. He is holding your work hostage in order to bring you over to his site.

 

4) Basic copy/paste of all our descriptions and the theft of all our images.

 

5) We had to stand up and SHOUT in order to get them to remove our mods.

 

6) This site has 'Software' that must be downloaded onto YOUR computer in order to use the site. Sorry, but I don't buy the whole 'mod installer and downloader' bit. Love to see them install the likes of OOO or FCOM or any other mod for that matter. Given this man's past and current actions we are fully justified in believing this 'Software' to be or contain malware.

 

7) The 'take first and then ask for forgiveness later' attitude displayed TWICE by this company.

 

8 ) Like it or not their TOS claims ownership of everything of yours on their site, even your username. Which they stole already anyway.

 

9 ) And now! He tries to blame us for pointing out the facts to him. In his letter he tries to lay blame on the modders here, us big meanies.

 

Don't apologise after the fact, don't do it in the first place. Doing it a second time is just vile and proves that he knew what he was doing all along.

 

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

I am sorry but it is clear the purpose is to fool us all.

 

HE claims his site is not intended to make money from YOUR work, well another lie....

 

Article from the horse's mouth

 

Kreisher said Gmod will encourage more people to create mods and upload them to the site. He also believes that Gmod could become a nexus for paid mods, not just the free mods that are all over the web.

 

Oh by the way, apparantly mods can ruin your computer. :rolleyes: That is rubbish.

Another quote...

 

One of the obstacles for monetization is that game companies often don’t allow mods of their games to be sold for profit, so they must often be given away for free.

 

Let us get down to the facts here. They want YOUR mods to make THEMSELVES money.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Guest

[Hickory]

As for the auto-account creation thing, I think I know why that works the way he did. I don't think I'm giving away any corporate secrets at this point, but when Kreisher and I talked he basically said in the future he wants this point system that is integral to gmod work in a way so that the most valuable users get the most points, or the most active users. So if you get a ton of points because forty thousand people clicked the link to get to your mod, then you can exchange them or get rewarded with games and other loot - basically repaying hard work on the modders' part. The auto-account thing I think was to make sure that no modders lose points.

 

However - and I haven't checked to see if this has been fixed yet or not because I don't have any files of my own there - the main problem before was the lack of a Delete button once you DID claim your user account. As someone else mentioned here, a total opt-out button would also be appreciated. As I said before, modders are protective of their work and the choice of where to host their files can make or break a fansite.

 

I'll answer that one for you. It was/is never broken for the way they (gmod) intended it. It is impossible to 'claim' your own property on gmod. All attempts to 'claim' my own account were utterly ignored. The only reaction (no direct response) I got was when I threatened a DMCA take down notice with their provider. After that, my mods were removed within 2 hours. That speaks volumes to me.