Blog piece: Ads, Supporters, Endorsements and Bandwidth Throttling

[Alehazar]

I thought that Ad Blockers and No Script interfered with downloading content -as I always get a message, that "if my download doesn't start, it's probably because I'm using Ad Blockers or No Script". That aside, I don't use either of them. I can see that Ads are an integral part of what keeps the Nexus Sites up and running, and since they don't blatantly shove things down my throat or (simply aren't allowed to) carpet-bomb my e-mail account, I'm fine with them.

Now if there'd be other methods besides a PayPal account to support the Nexus, I'd be happy to go for the big one. Myself, I use iDEAL for most of my internet purchases; to me it really is "ideal".

While I do not endorse some mods because they do not live up to my expectations (or are otherwise not exactly what I was looking for), I think it equally important to (at least try to) offer some constructive criticism, hoping that modders will keep on modding, trying to improve their skills and honing their talents -good modding doesn't always come naturally. For a lot of people (like myself) it's a lot -really a lot- of trial and error. Aside from that, I really enjoy the tips, hints and tutorials other people have put to together, collated, categorised or otherwise contributed to. It enables people (or more specifically, me) to follow a pre-fabricated route, use a pre-made template, or use a proven method to get from nothing to something.

Sharing experience, knowledge and offering a helping hand also takes time, patience and effort. It's not equal to "paying it forward", but it might inspire or offer renewed incentive to keep on modding (or trying to mod.)

[ChronicKillerInstinct]

I have a bitter taste in my mouth, but that's because I just ate a grapefruit. Apparently they boost your metabolism. I thought drizzling honey on top of it would sweeten the taste but alas, I was mistaken.

 

Anyway, as my focus returns, I wholly understand and agree with your rationalisation of ad usage. I still find them to be incredibly annoying and often misplaced. I use the nexus sites perhaps more often than I do facebook and I am truly grateful for the service they provide.

 

I wouldn't give £1 to a homeless person, because they do not give anything to me, not even the gift of charity... But I am certainly willing to give £1 to the nexus sites to ensure that the service which I receive, as well as the endless hours of enjoyment which I have received, still continue.

 

Anyone who thinks they don't owe anything to this site should step back and take a look at what their gaming experiences would be without it and then consider the fact that the upkeep of such a service is vast.

 

 

[Hickory]

Wow, so many replies -- I haven't read them all, so if this has already been suggested, then feel free to ignore it.

 

Disabling AdBlock Plus for the Nexus sites only:

 

It is very simple to add an exclusion to AdBlock Plus by simply going to your Filter Preferences >> Custom Filters >> Exception Rules >> Add Filter.

At the cursor in the text field that follows, simply add this:

 

@@||nexusmods.com^$document

 

Done.

[DarkSeti]

Conceal nothing, and watch the fools search forever.

If you've got nothing to hide then why worry about it?

 

Yeah, sure, that's truely a valid argument. Get rid of data privacy protection and say hello to the transparent user.

 

 

 

About the opening post:

I have no problem with ads - as long as they don't consume too much bandwith or slow down the site.

But why tracking? Is it really that hard to find out, which advertisable stuff (e.g. gaming-related stuff) Nexus visitors (who, I guess, are mainly gamers) are interested.

Anyway, I'm willing to pay £1 as the Nexus team is not only providing an awesome modding site but furthermore created a great tool to manage mods.

Edited February 7, 2013 by DarkSeti

[Nofsdad]

The only things stopping me from contributing financially to The Nexus is the need to use Paypal to do so and the fact that a lot of the most popular mods for the games I play have been taken off or otherwise made unavailable by the admins and moderators while the number of "junk mods" I have to wade through to find the good stuff increases steadily.

 

Fallout New Vegas is currently the only Nexus game I currently play and over the past couple of years, you've managed to ban most of the most popular mods and many of the pioneer modders who made the game a fantastic experience for a lot of us.

 

On the other hand, while I acknowledge that some really good stuff still pops up now and then, I'd guess that about 70% of the mods being added these days are of the dreck variety, which includes the daily God weapon, usually created by some minor tweaks to weapon stats--- the weekly new house in Goodsprings--- the deathclaw, ant, robot, tumbleweed Sunny/Cass/Veronica companion--- minor color or cosmetic tweaks to someone else's armor---, or outright thefts of all or portions of other mods, many taken directly from those same banned mods and authors.

 

In other words, as you're speaking of raising revenues and finding some way to extract payment for the "goods" you offer, the value of those goods... at least as far as FNV is concerned... is being steadily eroded by the loss of quality mods by experienced and talented modders and the influx of junk mods churned out daily amateurs and wannabes.

 

I would happily pay for the privilege of downloading an Ahztek's Weapon Pack or a URWLNV53, or a BOE New Vegas/CaliberX... not so much "Goodsprings Player Home #456" or a tweaked 9mm pistol that shoots mininukes or a BB gun that fires missiles. I understand that these mods and modders are gone because they violated your rules and who knows, I might have done the same in your place.

 

But I'd like to see the same level of effort aimed at enforcing the TOS applied maintaining the quality of the mods being carried and barring that, a way provided for us to more easily find the "gems" without having to wade through the tons of "laser Rifle shooting a green beam instead of a red one" junk that extends for page after page in your listings. Perhaps a special category for first timers and minor tweak mods Many of which by the way, are being uploaded without images or even an adequate file description to explain what the heck they are or what they do might work?

 

The increasing degree of difficulty in finding real quality mods that actually exceed the quality of those that have gone before and that I already have is really the main reason I haven't become a premium member already. I'm really hoping the situation sees some changes in that respect before FO4 becomes a reality and the cycle starts again.

 

Edited February 7, 2013 by Nofsdad

[rwillia157]

SO I am a premium member and plan to stay yhta way but one quick thing. The endorsement Idea? I just went and checked my mods and found some that I love but were unendorsed. Then when I tried I remembered why they were unendorsed - The nexus won't let me for some reason- when i try to endorse iot tells me i have to wait three hours from the download time even though the mod was downloaded months ago. Downloading agian and waiting the rewuisite time does not help at all so simply it is impossible for me to endorse every mod I would like

[rotekz]

Will people endorse mods they don't even like just to get a bandwidth boost?

 

Personally I would like a more obvious and streamlined system for NMM. Mods in NMM to be highlighted green when endorsed and a quick endorse method that does not hang your system for a minute.

Edited February 7, 2013 by rotekz

[Zaldir]

@rotekz: If you read Dark0ne's post, you'll see that you don't have to endorse it to get the bandwidth boost. You can also 'abstain from endorsing', which also helps you to get the bandwidth boost.

[Xion209]

My 2 cents: I think we should be able to endorse from within NMM.

[DarkSeti]

My 2 cents: I think we should be able to endorse from within NMM.

 

Which is possible at least since NMM 0.38 (current version is 0.41)

Edited February 7, 2013 by DarkSeti