A "Warning - Has Major Bugs" feature is needed

[adirondack9]

One the weaknesses of Nexus has been the lack of an ability to flag mods containing major bugs. The Endorsement capability is there to recommend a mod. But there is nothing other than the bug posts to warn about mods that have major faults. As an example, I ran into such a mod ported from Skyrim into Skyrim SE. It turned out that the functionality in the SSE version did not work. I wasted 2 hours of game play and needed to uninstall the mod and back track to an earlier save. Multiply that by a few thousand people and the impact is significant. It also weakens the reputation of the Nexus site to a small degree.

 

On reviewing the Nexus page for the mod it turned out that the SSE version was converted by someone other than the original developer. Uh-oh! I worked in IT for decades before I retired and (1) it seems that there could have been an attempt to "improve" the functionality by changing it and (2) minimal if any testing was done.

 

My view is that the mod should be flagged as containing major bugs. The reputation of the person who uploaded the mod should also be flagged as unreliable.

 

Ebay has a facility where ratings can be given. The buyer needs to know the good with the bad. The bad ratings are more important than the good.

 

To me the Nexus endorsement system means little. It's even worse than the Steam system of recommended/not recommended because Nexus doesn't display the negative views. And it doesn't identify the rogue traders. And whether something is excellent, good, average or passable is also not identified.

Edited November 13, 2016 by adirondack9

[Ethreon]

There will most likely never be one due to how clueless a lot of the vocal users are. They're flooding mod pages as is with nonsense about "mod not working" anyway, no need to give them even more leverage to create absurdity.

 

Also, if the mod is ported by someone else, does that person have the permission to do so? If not, report them. And use the comment section to flag that there are bugs, assuming you are sure of it.

[adirondack9]

You are 100% correct about most forum posters being clueless. But this is the reason why there needs to be a warning system, even if it is just a yellow hazard icon on the mod. There are 5000 downloads a day of something that doesn't work.

 

The mod is Immersive Amazing Follower Tweaks. There is a recent comment from an experienced modder that the header shows it hasn't been ported via the 64-bit CK so some objects won't have been converted correctly. There are 20 bugs listed and dozens of comments saying the mod doesn't work. It was uploaded 2 weeks ago and there hasn't been any comment from the uploader since then.

[Ethreon]

Again, no. There is a bug section and a comment section. That's quite a lot of warnings, and if a person refuses to read either deserves a broken game.

[JimboUK]

Bad ratings were used to attack authors who made content trolls simply didn't like, the system was abused to the point where it had to be removed. As for warnings about broken mods, who get to decide what's broken and what isn't? the levels of cluelessness among the userbase is going up, I wouldn't want to rely on them.

[Lisnpuppy]

You are 100% correct about most forum posters being clueless. But this is the reason why there needs to be a warning system, even if it is just a yellow hazard icon on the mod. There are 5000 downloads a day of something that doesn't work.

 

The mod is Immersive Amazing Follower Tweaks. There is a recent comment from an experienced modder that the header shows it hasn't been ported via the 64-bit CK so some objects won't have been converted correctly. There are 20 bugs listed and dozens of comments saying the mod doesn't work. It was uploaded 2 weeks ago and there hasn't been any comment from the uploader since then.

And that my friend IS the warning system. If someone can not bother to read the bug reports and scan through the comments...for actual helpful post or constructive criticism then *shrug*. Modding a game is not for the faint of heart. Everything that has been said by others as to WHY we don't use something like this is true. I been around a long time. I know of what I speak. However the majority of mods and the majority of comments of "this won't work" and nothing else...well that usually ends up being user error. In the case it is not then again, you described the best way to address these things. The mod author is under no obligation to fix or do anything else. Heck maybe they got hit by a bus and got amnesia? Who knows.

 

Mods are to be thought of as "as is" and that you use at your own risk. If someone is deliberately making a mod to screw a game then report it. If it is a big turn in a bug report. Nothing happens then don't use the mod.

 

These mods are gifts to the community. This is a gaming site. Nothing here can do more than ruffle a few feathers and the worst one has happen is they lose their save and have to reinstall (and if that is the worse thing that happens then I want to trade lives lol). But if you learn about how to use these mods even that is a rarity. (and I always have back up saves...lots of them lol)

 

If you wish to address mods and modders in the way you describe (warning signs) then you are going to have to do that elsewhere.