How are we supposed to deal with bad mod Authors?

[SkrunchyCakes]

First, I want to say the majority of mods and mod authors here on Nexus are awesome - even amazing (looking at you Randy!) Unfortunately, I encountered my genuine first bad author who was so bad and hostile I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. The problem is there appears to be no way to report the issues with either bad mods or bad mod authors.

 

It's a new author who released a series of mods just yesterday. I tried them out and proceeded to encounter numerous conflicts and issues in the game with the mods. I properly reported these issues (with screenshots, etc.) in the Bugs section of the mod, and the Author pretty much blew off the reports, didn't address them, and closed them out (not even giving me the chance to respond and provide more information to help track the problems down). This behavior was unexpected due to how great most mod authors are (who genuinely want to understand and fix bugs).

 

I then posted a note in the mod recommending the author work with people who report bugs, especially for new mods, because it's better for the community. I was never brash, rude, or wrote content that was uncalled for.

 

The author immediately banned me from all of his mods.

 

This sort of behavior is a huge red flag. Not only were the mods a problem and caused issues with the game (I've since disabled and uninstalled all of them), the author was rude, took absolutely no action, did not try to understand or resolve the issue, and ended up banning a community member for no good reason. All on the first day of releasing his mods.

 

So how does the community report or deal with this sort of problem? We can't downvote a mod. If we're blocked/banned, we can't post anything regarding the mod. When are authors ever held accountable for such counterproductive and rotten behavior?

 

What are our options? How do we work to address quality and behavior issues like this when it appears no system to address such problems exists within Nexus?

Edited March 25, 2021 by SkrunchyCakes

[Krijanowsky]

I'm not sure, but maybe you could try to contact the Nexus' staff and report what's happened.
I understand how you feel, though I didn't have this kind of issue, but we should be able to report bugs and the mod authors should listen. Like you said, it's better for the whole community.

[gyrofalcon]

The Nexus way have been stop using the mods you don't find productive to your gameplay.

I feel your pain, but the author hasn't done anything wrong according to your summary, in my opinion.

It it sad, for sure, that community members can't (won't) work together, but as I see it, the author can deny your help/feedback/input. You have no right to download the authors creations. And the author is not obligated to give support or fix any fault in the mods, or make them compatible with other mods.

If you feel that the mod it self is bad for other users, other mods, etc, you can report the mod. Or if the author has mis-behaved in the comment section, you can report the post, or report the user it self.

[ToroMontana]

Well, on the flip side you have bad faith users who post one-liners like "your mod sucks" "your mod doesn't work", give no evidence or don't even understand what they're reporting. 9 out of 10 "bug reports" I get are either extremely unhelpful (basically boil down to their ineptitude to even install mods) or ignorant (reporting on vanilla bugs or bugs caused by other mods that I have no control over).

 

I'm sure you're not like that but we do deal with that regularly.

 

I haven't banned anyone apart from a guy who outright said that my mods don't work (fact check false, they "do work", there's tons of video evidence to prove it), provided 0 details and, despite having weeks to elaborate on these outrageous claims, didn't. So I did him a favor, now he doesn't have to accidentally stumble on my allegedly non-functional mods and waste his time.

 

And the way to counter this? Well, look, if a mod is really bad then it's going to have very few endorsements and downloads relative to the time it's been up.

[SkrunchyCakes]

The Nexus way have been stop using the mods you don't find productive to your gameplay.

I feel your pain, but the author hasn't done anything wrong according to your summary, in my opinion.

It it sad, for sure, that community members can't (won't) work together, but as I see it, the author can deny your help/feedback/input. You have no right to download the authors creations. And the author is not obligated to give support or fix any fault in the mods, or make them compatible with other mods.

If you feel that the mod it self is bad for other users, other mods, etc, you can report the mod. Or if the author has mis-behaved in the comment section, you can report the post, or report the user it self.

 

I disagree; all I did was report bugs with his mod and then recommended he didn't close out tickets that were unresolved; and I was banned for that. Any rational person would agree that's not reasonable behavior and it is unwarranted. I would label it as "abuse" of the banning system in Nexus. What - mod authors can ban anyone at any time for any reason with no recourse to their own behavior? The very act of banning is an aggressive act that warrants viable reason; it's basically censorship and restriction. There's got to be some level of quality (and moderation) with this system. Banning people for no good reason other than they reported bugs and recommended working with the community is definitely wrong (and to be blunt, abusive). Especially with an author who is brand new (doing all of this his first day) - it sets a precedence that his behavior is "ok" when I believe many (if not most) in the community would agree it is not.

 

And as mentioned, there's no way to mark the author or his mod or anything he does as a "problem". The reality is his behavior is very concerning, representing recklessness and abuse. And if he is able to censor anyone who brings up issues with his behavior or mod bugs, how is he held accountable for the issues of his mods or behavior?

Edited March 25, 2021 by SkrunchyCakes

[gyrofalcon]

Well, @SkrunchyCakes, we can agree to disagree. The author has the full right to exclude what ever mod-users they like to. They are sharing their creations, so they can control whom gets to use them. The author doesn't like you, so now you must move on. It sucks, but this is not new with Nexus. Many other mods to use, and pretty easy for you to ignore that mod-creator.

[SkrunchyCakes]

Is there no code of conduct for Nexus Mod Creators? I find it hard to believe the system is a pure FFA with no rules in place regarding interacting with community members, etc.

[gyrofalcon]

Do you have an army of moderators that could monitor and enforce every tiny level of rule-set over such abstract themes as "code of conduct"? Should we also then define mod-authors respons time and update intervals on bugs, or how to correctly file a bug-report for all users? What about consequence for breaking certain abstract rule-sets? Time-out for posting? Banning in x days? Where is the line?

Do you have any idea how big of a fall that would be for a site like Nexus?

I'm sorry your feelings got hurt, but now it is time to ignore this nexus-user and move on to better mods. Please stop trying to fix problem that is not yours to fix.

 

You don't like a mod or user (for what ever reason that is your personal matter), then ignore and move on.

If someone violates community guidelines, then report it using the sites various report-mechanism, and move on.

Sorry for the rant. Nexus has clear guidelines for users that moderators enforce, but I think that list is to short for your liking.

[HadToRegister]

We need to see both sides, because around 95% of these threads are "I was polite, wasn't rude, and I was Blocked for no reason™" and it comes out that the person called the Mod Author a "Dick" or other names etc.

(Just saw a thread like this a few days ago in the Suggestion Forums)

So, I will take this thread with skepticism for now.

[SkrunchyCakes]

*sigh* Well if people reading this are unable to figure out the "type" of person I am (referencing @HadToRegister's comment) by the way I respond and present my points, then there's not much I can do about that.

 

Gotta love how @gyrofalcon thinks the author "hasn't done anything wrong" for banning people without reason and tries to represent my OP as being based on "hurt feelings" (a technique designed to degrade and/or discredit another person, which is rude and devious) when it's about addressing unfounded technical restrictions and censorship (since my posts were deleted, covered below). @g then states that putting together a system (or mechanic) to address a rare issue like this would result in "the fall" of Nexus. Give me a break. I refuse to make excuses for bad actors or focus solely on how something can't be done. I prefer to address problems and try to make things better. If you can't contribute to that thought process, then there's no need for further comments from you. Nothing like bringing a legitimate issues to the community about a bad actor only to encounter another individual who just touts the traditional "That's the way it is. Get over it." BS. If we all thought like that, things would never be made better. Your stance is counterproductive, your feedback designed solely to discredit and insult, and you obviously have no ethical standards relative to unacceptable online behavior (which in itself makes you an unethical individual). It's one thing to like Nexus the way it is; it's another to discredit and try to bury people who are bringing up legitimate issues and want to make the community a better place by addressing a problem.

 

Ultimately, banning anyone should only be done based on very specific defined reasons, and it seems Mod Authors are able to ban with impunity and delete reports with no reason. I did look at the mods through another browser and sure enough; not only was I banned, my legit bug reports were deleted, as was my post. The mod author erased everything. If the author did this to me, it makes sense they are doing it to other people, too.

 

To be clear; this means the author is deleting legit bug reports and posts, and then banning rational community members who have not violated the TOS in any way. And there's no way for members to "tag" this type of behavior (which should concern every community member interested in the mod). This is red flag behavior from a brand new mod author account.

 

This is the problem.

 

Where I come from, people who produce and share content for others to download and plug into a product are held to a higher level of standards than normal community users.

 

At this time, it appears there is no way to address this rare event where an Author is essentially covering up bugs (by deleting them) and banning an individual (and probably others) who simply reported the problems.

 

It would be nice if there was some system in place to have these rare instances investigated.

 

This sort of thing certainly would not be tolerated on other sites that offer downloads and require a certain level of quality (and reasonable behavior) from its authors.

Edited March 25, 2021 by SkrunchyCakes