Blocked Mod Access? New terms of service?

[croc123]

I recently encountered a situation, new to me, and also not in the current terms of service, whereby an author can block a user that 'offends' them from the mod that the supposed offense occurred, and also from any other mod that the author owns, or is a contributor to, or.. Well, as there is nothing in the TOS, I don't know what else. All that I really know for sure is that you will see he below warning:

 

The author of this mod has blocked your access to this file. This is not an error with the site and the Nexus staff will not get involved with unblocking your access, so do not contact the moderation team for help. Accessing an author's mod page is a privilege, not your right.

You can try to amicably resolve this issue with the mod author, if they'll let you, but be warned: if you are rude or break our terms of service when contacting the mod author and they report you it's extremely likely you will be banned completely from these sites. Is it worth it? You decide.

Be warned.

 

[Jokerine]

This feature was added back in 2013. The announcement can be found here.

[croc123]

Thank you. I am finding that thread to be an interesting read. This was the first time that I knew that there was a 'Secret Authors Forum', for instance.

 

There were many comments on the abuse of a totally non-moderated system, and there were as many comments from staff that the above would NEVER happen.

 

This is now 4 years on. Abuse HAS occurred. I think that the issue needs a re-think.

[Lisnpuppy]

Of the thousands of mods and mod authors, the millions of posts..the incidents of "abuse" are minuscule. Some mod authors never even use this feature.

 

The system has worked remarkable well. The mod authors after years of discussion and petition were granted these rights (which many other sites already had.) They can not block someone that has not posted to their mods. They can however block someone from their mods for any reason. Honestly in all the years of me being here and in moderation I have seen handful of what I would consider abuse of the system. Abuse in my eyes is when an uploader blocks people from a malicious mod or a mod that has somehow broken the rules here. That issue is solved when the mod is reported.

 

Mod authors who here, upload their hard work and give it to us as a gift suffer a tremendous amount of negativity and sheer trolling and flaming. Being able to control their own mod threads has decreased this. Other matters of concern are reported for moderation be it by mod author or member. Mod authors follow the same Terms of Service as anyone else.

 

That being said, mod authors are human. They sometimes reach the end of their rope. Sometimes they make mistakes. I have seen many people get re-instated to a mod author's content with a small talk and apology.

 

Abuse will occur in any system. The benefits of this system far outweight the negligible abuse (and just because someone doesn't think they are treated fair is not abuse.) The Terms of Service state very clearly the rules of what a comment should entail. While the mod authors have a broader hand on post in their mod threads and who has access to their content, the far greater majority of issues the mod authors handle are something that probably would not fit the rules in the Terms of Service.

 

Mod authors choose to share their work here. They should and do have control over their content.

 

I suggest if you have a personal issue that you speak to a moderator or the admin like SirSalami. Though we do not directly intervene in these matters (as the site owner states in the link you read) at times we can help facilitate a conversation between author and member to arrive at a more positive outcome.

[croc123]

I am already working with a moderator, but they have been silent for a day or two. As to the lack of reporting of mod authors being so minuscule, why do you think that is? Most users probably don't really care all that much, and the ones that have had a "run in" have probably been warned - rightly or wrongly, so just keep their comments to themselves. With a system that is weighted so far in the mod authors' favor, what do you expect users to do?

 

I can now confirm that I have been blocked from a mod that I have never commented on. I have sent a request for 'why' to the owner as reported in the warning, but get no response. So from my point of view that is abuse. But I can't report it...

 

Of course the Nexus now has an almost-monopoly position on mods for some games, so I doubt that anyone at The Nexus cares all that much for what user's think, it is all about content.

 

I am being cynical, at least I hope so.

[TheVampireDante]

 

I can now confirm that I have been blocked from a mod that I have never commented on.

 

This is impossible - the tools a mod author uses to block someone are only visible on posts made in their mod comments sections.

 

If you have not commented on their files, they cannot enable a block.

[croc123]

Be very careful... I take it very seriously when I am called a liar.

 

It was mentioned that a mod author could block you from ALL their files, yes? Then there IS a mechanism for one to be blocked from a mod that he has not commented on. And, by extension, ANY mod. This is speculation on my part, based on what I have read in the original thread about this as well as some other information that has been passed on to me.

 

However, the FACTS are that I get a ban notice when opening a mod page that I have NEVER commented in.

[TheVampireDante]

Then you still must have commented on at least one of their files, and they felt the need to block you for whatever it is that was posted.

 

Now, the obvious example I see is the following post by yourself:

 

What a bunch of self-entitled 'oh look - I made a mod!' prima donnas.

 

 

- to which this reply was given:

 

 

_____, on 04 Jun 2017 - 4:16 PM, said:

 

yeah.... bu-bye

croc123 wrote: "What a bunch of self-entitled 'oh look - I made a mod!' prima donnas."
[ Croc123 has been BANNED ]

 

Now if that user decided to block you from their files for that comment, then that is their choice.

[ZeroKing]

You were given a formal warning already, on top of being blocked by the mod author:

 

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5693187-croc123-formal-warning-issued/&do=findComment&comment=50676372

[SirSalami]

croc123, I think the others here have done a good job of providing you with the pertinent info but if you still have questions or concerns regarding our user blocking tools, please feel free to direct them to me. Thanks. Thread locked.