Endorsements

[Brandy1123]

Some things posted here are exactly my point. We are too lazy to log back in (say less then a minute) and click a little box. We get hundreds and thousands of dollars in value added content and think nothing to turn your nose at the person who worked to give it to us. Is a minute of our time not worth all the added treasures and pleasures we get for nothing? With even just the unique D/L of the NMM, there should an incredible increase in endorsements daily. It only takes 2 mouse clicks to endorse a mod if NMM is opened. TWO. Thats about as much energy as the cheese coloring on your finger left over from the cheese curls - AFTER you wipe it on your pant leg.

 

How much happier would we be if the rest of the great and talented modders just left? We should all be ranting at people to do this. If you care enough for the mod to keep it your load order for longer then a few days, then it deserves an endorsement. I just don't understand people wanting something for nothing - at someone elses expense.

[Blu02]

For me it's that 1 hour wait that makes me forget about endorsing some mods as well, but I think I've covered most of what I use.

 

 

Personally though I dont care much about "endorsements" for my own mods, since it's just a button and a number. I rather see some more comments about how people actually experience it, which can be given at any time or several times. Way more interesting to see while also getting feedback. That's what makes me happy and want to spend more time on updates anyway, otherwise I easily lose interest. One interested person in the comments is more worth than 100 endorsements and thousands of downloads in my eyes.

[Brandy1123]

Mr Bravo - I would hope the users leave some feed back. Hopefully positive or at least respectfully worded criticism or questions/requests. The only reason I posted this topic was I just started looking at the more heavily downloaded mods and the number of endorsements, then worked my way down from there. As a modder, I know it must make you feel somewhat justified in all the effort when you get positive feedback of anykind. I just want to bring to light this fact to those who have neglected for whatever reason to give some credit where it is much over due.

 

I always thank the author of a mod I use. Talented people, like yourself and many others give our games years of extended pleasure. :smile:

[modder3434]

It is true that most people can't be bothered to endorse, and I myself am guilty of this , lately I've gotten better at it. and I've even gone back and endorsed some mods from a long time ago.

 

- (just a side note to the above text) The more I mod and post a file for download the more I came to realize what the endorsements are all about. With that being said, if all the users modded, even if they didn't post in on Nexus, then they would be better at endorsing the mods they enjoy

 

Regarding the comments over endorsements, I prefer both but if i could only get one I'd rather have someone comment and say "Thank You" since it seems more personal then a tally of how many people endose it, but that just might be me.

[Hoamaii]

I'm still a newcomer in the Nexus, I try not to forget going back to the mod pages to endorse the ones I use and love but it does take time and attention to do that. It is obvious that most people only surf fast on the mod pages, if you look at the many posts simply asking "how to I download this?", it is a sure sign that they don't bother reading descriptions nor menus. They hardly even bother thanking anyone taking time to answer their questions.

 

Possibly another problem is that when you click on the endorse button, your vote doesn't appear immediately and it still doesn't after you refresh the page. I'm sure it is a source of many mistakes. When I was still new here, many times I clicked a second time on that button to make sure my endorsement had been registered. The thing though, if you click a second time is you actually "un-endorse" the mod you like. If you don't pay attention, you actually can get a result totally opposite to what you intended to do. And we all know that attention is the least shared quality - here like anywhere else.

 

The Workshop works differently (good or bad is another question): you can "favorite" a mod even if you've never downloaded it and the button is huge, can't miss it, plus most of the time it is the only way to find a fast way back to that page later. "Favorite" is by no mean a true indicator of the quality of a mod but it sure attracts attention.

 

On the Nexus, you cannot endorse within the first hour after downloading - though that seems reasonable, most people are playing when that hour is past. Plus the menu's entries are smaller - understandably too as it is better detailed than its equivalent on the Worshop. But wouldn't there be a way to make the endorse button a bit bigger so that occasional users really cannot miss it?

 

The best idea is one I've read in a couple of posts here: place an endorse button directly in the NMM window, I'm pretty sure that'd make a big difference.

 

Another thing I miss is the option to give kudos directly from a mod thread rather than having to go to the author's profile to do this. It took me a little while (English is not my native language) to find my way around between "endorse", "kudos" and "rep" - my understanding is "endorse" is for mods, "kudos" for people and "rep" for posts. It sure is an interesting approach but I wonder if it doesn't confuse people a bit. Wouldn't it be better to put kudos and reps together in one sigle click?

 

And one last thought about endorsements: many authors have several mods here, couldn't we display the total of their endorsements too? It'd be a pretty good indicator of the overall quality of their work.

[JanusForbeare]

And one last thought about endorsements: many authors have several mods here, couldn't we display the total of their endorsements too? It'd be a pretty good indicator of the overall quality of their work.

 

I like everything you said, except for this last part. Displaying someone's endorsement total doesn't necessarily give you a clear indication of the quality of their work. After all, even if you were told "X had 250 endorsements across 6 mods", it wouldn't be taking into account how long those files have been available, which has a huge impact on endorsement numbers. Also, some authors might be tempted to take down their less popular files, in an attempt to raise their endorsement ratio or avoid it being dragged down by one or two struggling files. Ultimately, we could end up with fewer mods on the Nexus, and a statistic one can calculate on one's own just isn't worth that.

[Georgiegril]

What Satorinu said:

It really should just go back to the endorse-at-will attitude once you've started downloading it, if someone DOESN'T like a mod, they're far more likely to come back and un-endorse a mod, than come back and endorse it unless it's specially awe-inspiring in such a way you feel a urge that you must come and comment/endorse 'right this second' either due to a minor issue / recommendation or outright praise....

 

I second this. It is the happy medium between the workshops's endorse without downloading and our present system. I have frequently (because I learn slow, obviously) run into the message that I have to wait to endorse. Sometimes it's because I noticed upon getting an updated version that I had forgotten to endorse a mod. But not I can't because I just downloaded the update....I am sure I have missed a few mods that I meant to endorse, and frankly I can't remember any mod that I wanted to endorse immediately that I would have unendorsed after an hour!

[Hoamaii]

@ Janusforbeare:

 

Yeah, you're right, I wasn't taking the time factor in consideration the way you do here.

 

Actually, what I miss most I think is a way to acknowledge the efforts of an author to keep his mod updated, clean and alive. I have some fix, adobe or gameplay mods in mind for instance where the authors spend so much time updating after each new patch, finely tuning and making sure it does not conflict with other mods that they barely have time to develop new ones. Some of them have accompanied my game for months and dozens of levels without any glitch at all, I wish there was a more obvious way to let other users know that than writing a post that nobody will read - whereas other mods, with lots of quick given endorsements, can induce numerous amounts of bugs that spread throughout your whole game without you even noticing it (Skyrim is a vast arena, it can take a lot of time to encounter a bug that has been injected weeks before).

 

Of course, we all mod our games at our own risks, I respect that just as well as I respect the authors' efforts to make it more fun even if they won't have time to update their mods later on. But I wish there was a way to endorse updates, followups and support too. One endorsement per single thread is hardly enough when some of these mods have been finely tuned and updated 10 or 12 times... Sorry I can't express my views a better way than that, but I'm sure you understand what I mean. Cheers from Paris :0)

Edited August 23, 2012 by Hoamaii

[blitzen]

I've been surprised at times at how few endorsements some mods receive given the number of downloads. Some of the suggestions here lean toward a way to almost automate the endorsements using reminders, etc. If we go in that direction, then endorsements become less and less meaningful. As it is, an endorsement indicates actual effort on the part of the endorser. Certainly there are cases of forgetfulness or laziness, where people might otherwise endorse something. It would be unfortunate to have the endorsements become a competition (although it is to some extent, esp. FotM votes) or be used as a measure of quality, since that is so much a matter of taste/opinion. It's more meaningful and personal to make an intelligent, appreciative post in the comment thread for a mod. That takes more effort than clicking a button. On the other hand, if it lifts the spirits of the modders, then I'm all for it. I imagine it would be discouraging to release a mod and receive few or no endorsements. Hopefully, modders recognize that high endorsement to download ratios don't really happen, so they have realistic expectations about the number of endorsements they may receive. Modders can always do things like intentionally update the mod for no particular reason, just to have a new version show up in someone's NMM list or tracking center, which will increase the odds of someone revisiting and endorsing. But then they are like politicians, attempting to manipulate the masses to receive more votes. I don't think we want to head down that path either. It may be that what would be more beneficial to the modders is not more endorsements, but less whining, complaining, unconstructive criticism, demands, etc in the comment threads. People jump in and start asking for things like conversions for a different body type, or specific features just to suit their own preferences almost immediately. As a community, if we had more of the mindset that mods were a privilege and not a right, that modders invest a lot of personal time for little to no reward, and if so many players did not come across as having such a sense of entitlement, then that might make modders happier then a few more clicks on the endorsement button. Edited August 23, 2012 by blitzen

[Brandy1123]

Looking at some of the last few posts. a lot of good points and ideas. Maybe if Nexus had a category or icon like for PM's and Mail notifications that showed how many MOD's you have not responded to would be useful. It could have a drop down menu to click "endorse" or "ignore" - or something similar. It would be non-intrusive and a freindly reminder to follow up on some Mod you tried or still use.