Mod Authors Deleting Comments

[beebophuckleberry]

I've seen mod authors delete comments. For example; Sometimes a user will comment on a mod about a bug, incompatibility, etc. I'll received the notification about the new comment. Most of the time those comments stay. But, there are some mod authors that delete these types of comments immediately.

 

^^Anything about this seem wrong to you guys? Dunno what you all think but I for one get a HUGE red flag when I see this. I tend to delete those mods because I no longer trust mod authors that behave like that because it's obvious they are trying to hide negative information about there mod.

 

I'm very cautious before downloading a mod too. If the mod doesn't have a post or bug tab then I usually wont download it because it tells me the mod author is hiding comments and bugs. I've seen this several times now. However, when a authors has a post and bugs tab, but just deletes anything mentioning a issue, then you have no way of knowing if the mod is legit or not.

 

I'm confident that many of the experienced users have encountered this by now. You know... when you see a mod you're interested in. You read the description page and the stickies. You browse through the comments to see what users are saying about the mod. You check the bugs tab. After you do all the responsible pre-requisites of downloading a mod for a large build you end up finding out that it's messed up with issues... but nobody knew that because the mod author has deleted all comments about problems.

 

See what I mean?

 

I notice in the past that deleting comments was not allowed. What changed?

 

 

[Ethreon]

Yea.. no. Mostly experienced people getting their crap comments deleted because they were.. well, crap. This tinfoil hat nonsense about how rightful bug reports are deleted is almost always unfounded.

[DoctorKaizeld]

Most of the time people make unfounded claims on mod pages accusing a mod as being the problem with no real evidence that the mod even caused the issue. Like one mod being called out for causing crashing in Riften when it only adds a sword to winterfell. Bug reports are often deleted for the same reason or after the issue is fixed. In some cases the mod just doesn't have any bugs.

 

If you suspect abuse report it. The comments are only hidden but staff can still view them. Also comment deletion existed before I joined the site and no rule existed against it.

[beebophuckleberry]

I donât suspect abuse. In fact, most comments Iâve seen removed happen to be stupid comments. Additionally, most mod authors donât delete any comets. Four example: engine fixes is an incredible mod and is very stable but they get stupid comets all the time and they donât remove them.

 

But, overtime, I have seen a few mod pages where the author routinely removes negative posts and bugs that actually exist. I know they do this because I track the pages and I see the comments before they are deleted. In my opinion, this is nefarious behavior.

 

Anyways, just thought Iâd ask because I saw a forum thread from a private mod author discussion about why they donât delete comments. They said they donât delete comments because not all authors can be trusted, but, this was back in 2012⦠Obviously things have changed.

 

From my experience 99% of my daughters are fantastic. But there are a handful out there they have dirty mods and they hide negativity.

 

P.S. ignore my grammar because Iâm using dictation on my phone. I already see that it said comets instead of comments. I also see that it says my daughters instead of mod authors. Lol

[TRCMods]

First of all congratulations on reading a description, stickies and bug reports before installing a mod. You'd be amazed how many questions in a mod thread can be answered with check the description/sticky.

 

Unfortunately we're dealing with a case of inductive rather than deductive reasoning here. Simple question what motivation could any mod author possibly have for this? Pride and ego may account for a very small percent of these comment deletions but otherwise there's nothing. This is just another case of a user completely misunderstanding the motivations of mod authors and the scale of making even small mods. Useful bug reports get fixed, comments with important questions get addressed it's only stupid or abusive stuff that gets deleted.

[VulcanTourist]

Simple question what motivation could any mod author possibly have for this? Pride and ego may account for a very small percent of these comment deletions but otherwise there's nothing. This is just another case of a user completely misunderstanding the motivations of mod authors and the scale of making even small mods. Useful bug reports get fixed, comments with important questions get addressed it's only stupid or abusive stuff that gets deleted.

Pride and ego are a significant motivator for more than just a few modders, whether that fact is convenient for your argument or not. Flatly denying its significance is denying the obvious. I've seen an author so driven by ego that he stickied more than half a dozen merely complimentary comments that otherwise lacked substance or information. I too have seen authors delete comments because they were... inconvenient to their desired narrative. That is fortunately not descriptive of all authors, but there are enough of the ego-driven ones to leave a noticeable stain.

 

Mod authors like to privately share stories about the stupid/horrid things that "users" have done - much like people in tech support roles have been doing for decades - as if they are in every facet superior, but the truth is that they are not emotionally superior at all. Sometimes they react poorly to those emotions by deleting forum comments or in other ways abusing whatever authoritarian tools are available to them.

Edited August 26, 2020 by VulcanTourist

[Ethreon]

I have no idea what posts like these hope to achieve. Deleting comments is a good feature that authors have on their own pages to help them clean up useless trash a lot of users really seem to enjoy "sharing" with everyone. Yes, like in any group of people some will abuse means they have at their disposal to achieve something they want, it's not exactly some novel information. The utter majority of comments that are deleted (part of which are removed by moderation anyway) deserved to be removed.

[anjenthedog]

I have no idea what posts like these hope to achieve. Deleting comments is a good feature that authors have on their own pages to help them clean up useless trash a lot of users really seem to enjoy "sharing" with everyone. Yes, like in any group of people some will abuse means they have at their disposal to achieve something they want, it's not exactly some novel information. The utter majority of comments that are deleted (part of which are removed by moderation anyway) deserved to be removed.

 

With all due respect, who determines whether a comment is trash? You? Me? An author concerned with maintaining his or her "face"?

 

I'm not claiming that crapposts shouldn't be deleted, but that's the role of a moderator, not a person who's own purposes may be served by comment deletion.

 

In almost 40 years on the net, and almost 30 years on the web, I've never visited another site that allows authors to delete other people's posts. That is the sole provenance of site moderators.

[VulcanTourist]

I have no idea what posts like these hope to achieve.

I know precisely what they hope to achieve, slim though the chance may be: a re-education of those in control of forums to be more reluctant to revise history for their own convenience.

 

In almost 40 years on the net, and almost 30 years on the web, I've never visited another site that allows authors to delete other people's posts. That is the sole provenance of site moderators.

I know of another comparable example, and so likely do you: Steam's game forums. Valve gives game developers free reign to manage their own games' forums however they see fit, with virtually no oversight or recourse. Valve does so for the same self-interest that NexusMods does it. Both consider it a necessary evil; I don't.

[anjenthedog]

 

I know of another comparable example, and so likely do you: Steam's game forums. Valve gives game developers free reign to manage their own games' forums however they see fit, with virtually no oversight or recourse. Valve does so for the same self-interest that NexusMods does it. Both consider it a necessary evil; I don't.

 

 

No, I wasn't aware. Not a gamer (per say), and aside from this game, I have no connection to Steam. But that steam allows it provides some precedence...I suppose.