POE Modding sites.....

[Nakia]

No reason not to be civil we all have a common interest, mods.  I am not sure what  is meant about OE having lawsuits.  The copyright owners of a game are not responsible for user made mods even if they provide modding tools.  I could be wrong but I have not heard of any actual lawsuits being brought.  In the cases where there was a problem of copyright infringement or of mod pirating the mods were removed.  Sites that host mods do not want trouble and neither do modders.

 

Games have been modded without any tacit or overt permission from the owners.  EULAs normally state that a game can not be modified and published, given to the public.  As long as mods are and do not infringe copyright law there does not seem to be any problem.  We already have  the IE mod in use by many people.  It has been discussed, linked to and recommended not only here but on another site that I frequent.  A site that is very picky about what is allowed and what is not allowed.

 

Hope that makes sense.

[Cantousent]

Sounds good, Nakia. I nevertheless refer you to my previous comments regarding my risk and my authority, which amounts to nothing. :Cant's cheeky grin icon: It's easy to speculate, but Obsidz has to foot the bill. ...And I'm advocating *for* the sub forum.

[Nakia]

Sounds good, Nakia. I nevertheless refer you to my previous comments regarding my risk and my authority, which amounts to nothing. :Cant's cheeky grin icon: It's easy to speculate, but Obsidz has to foot the bill. ...And I'm advocating *for* the sub forum.

I appreciate what you say.     And I will keep being a pest for mod support even if just tacit.  I know making mod tools would be an added expense but I will continue to point out that there is a financial return.  How significant I have no idea unfortunately.  Mods made a bad game good just think what they could do for a good game.  Gadzooks what I would give to be able to mod the Stronghold.    

[redneckdevil]

I will admit that my only real experience with modding and mods is with TES and bethesdas fallout games. Tbh mods are free advertising even long after the company moves on from the game. It also will bring in players who (from personal experience) may disagree with the current setup but will play the game either thru curiosity or because a lot of what they disagree with can be changed or fixed thru mods. I'll give 2 examples.

First example is fallout new Vegas. While now it's my favorite rpg of all time right next to Morrowind, I started out hating the game. I had it for the Xbox 360 and thought it dull and horrible. Used to blast obsidian on the forums for some time, until I bought a gaming PC and saw som mods I was interested in. It was mods who got me back into the game and thru multiple playthrus of heavy modded and even some "vanilla" modded playthrus, made me fall in love with the game and sunk countless hours into it.

Second example is skyrim. Severely disappointed in the game would be an understatement, but becaus of mods I have sunk many hours into it due to Requiem and many of the quest and new landscape mods. Now sometimes due to the graphic mods, I will turn it on just to wander for a little bit and take in the sights.

 

Point is I view that modding and even having a subforum for people to gather and share info and experiences, the pros will outwieght the cons by a vast amount. I just think maybe some guidelines should be agreed upon by the community or I dare say experienced modders who have seen what works and at wont to lay the foundation for modding to grow and flourish. Because I really think that if obsidian can either make it easier to mod or people to stand up and take charge of certain things, the outcome will only benefit this game, the company, and the community as well.

 

For it to grow, ideas and help should be given freely between people who in turn remembers to respect the others as well.

[Varana]

How would Obsidian be in any position to be sued by someone for copyright infringements of a third party?

Especially as this board wouldn't even host those theoretically infringing mods?

Hosting sites that are acting responsibly usually have some procedure for reporting and removing infringement in place. That doesn't, of course, apply to scattered personal uploads on Dropbox or Mega. Providing mod authors and users with a place to discuss modding and to build some kind of community, results in choosing more responsible hosting methods and a certain amount of self-policing. And a place on the official boards is a useful place to have such a community. People who invest time, energy, and sometimes money into modding a game are fans of that game and (mostly ) its creators. They have a vested interest in not damaging either of them.

Still assuming that that would even be a problem for Obsidian by creating a subforum, which I fail to see.

[Cantousent]

I don't think the concern is silly. It's born out of 'an abundance of caution' as the cliche goes. ...And, I'll give you a good example that's not even mod related. We habitually remove any commercial posting as a matter of policy from these boards, either by removing the thread or editing out the link. We can assume that the members are fans of the game and, hopefully, friendly with each other, but Grom and Nakia had a point about the whole plagiarism and donation solicitation angle. Those are potential problems no matter how much folks want to deny them.

 

On the other hand, I don't see why they would be insurmountable. We'd simply have to do the same things we do in moderating other posts and threads on this board. What's the difference if we have one more place to do it? ...And, since Rosbjerg and a couple of other mods are willing to take an active hand, it's already got folks to cover it.

 

On yet the third hand, you guys have convinced me that it would be cool. Now you just need to convince someone who matters! <.<

[Nakia]

Hokay,  Cantousent, who do we start PMing?  I believe we have a Community Management person should we start there or right for the heart  and contact Josh?

 

I would like to say that I think the Oblivion community had problems was for four reasons.

1) The game was part of series that people had played for years, there was I understand a change in ownership and Oblivion was built differently from the prior games.  Long time players went into shock and started trying to get the game back on track as much as possible.

 

2) Oblivion was relatively easy to mod.  Thousands of mods sprang up over night practically.    

 

3) People were ignorant of what was legal and what wasn't and some mods were made in all innocence.

 

4) For those gray areas there was no guidance and modders had to work that out themselves.

 

People will I think continue to discuss mods, make or try to make mods and link to mods.  As you say you already have to police those posts and a sub-forum would at make finding them easier, hopefully.

 

The modding community has been and still is a self-policing community.  I don't see that changing but a little more formal guidance might help although  a lot more has been established than there was eight or so years ago.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Nakia

[Rosveen]

I have to admit I'm a little surprised the team has so many misgivings about mod support. People have modded games for decades, even the IE games had a very active modding community. With all this experience, there should be no question about the value of modding and its positive influence on the game's longevity. In fact, mods are the only reason I played BG at all, the first game made my eyes bleed (that was before Enhanced Editions). Of course, PoE is unlikely to have anywhere near this vibrant modding scene (which will save you a lot of moderation trouble), but if there are people willing to try and brainstorm, why not give them space to do so?

 

As for the problems you listed, you can look to other communities for reasons and solutions. The way you talk about it, it looks like an unpredictable, uncharted territory. It isn't. Nexus hosts mods for hundreds of games - including 58 files for Pillars of Eternity, so plagiarism, copyright infringement and donations already are very real possibilities. Somehow Obsidian hasn't been buried under a mountain of lawsuits yet.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Rosveen

[Cantousent]

Naw, Nakia, you keep being level headed. That's going to serve the modding community well in my opinion. Probably the biggest issue is the idea that there will be a modding forum for a game that doesn't have a lot of mods and is difficult to mod in the first place. For what it's worth, and I'm not saying it's worth much if anything, I actually revisited the idea in the moderators forum today. The Scaly One is kind of a liaison with admin, so he can bring it up with them if he thinks it wise. I don't doubt his wisdom.

 

At this point, however, I'm probably overstepping my bounds as a moderator. For that reason, as long as I'm on the team, I'll recuse myself from this thread and merely lurk in it. Anyhow, for all I know, Obsidz is already seriously considering all these issues.

[Nakia]

Oh pshaw,  Cantousent, I will miss you.  Me level headed, no, just stubborn.

 

58 mods, Rosveen, I will have to check those out.  That I think is a lot for a game that is hard to mod.  The talent is definitely there.  "We will overcome."   Watch out Obsidian.