Morrowind 2011 Mod Collection Pulled After Complaints

[Idocreating]

I'm more of the side of the compiler on this one.

Getting mods for a game, and getting them to all play nice together, is a colossal pain in the arse. As long as every author was properly credited I really can't see a problem. No-one should be profiting from these works so as long as people a credited then I fail to see any problem.

Thumbs up for the Internet if someone's already set up a torrent. This kind of doucheyness is when I cheer for piracy.

 

[jboking]

A question. If the guy had just made a thread on some mod site with his youtube video and then gave all the download links and a detailed explanation of how to get them all to work together, all with credit to the modders of course, would he still be wrong?

No, the fact he went out his way to make himself seem more important [his name was specifically mentioned in all the press reports and on the front page of the site holding the explanation; he contacted the press and not the other way around - at least according to this news report] and didn't ask for permission before distributing other peoples work are the issues here

Having actually downloaded the thing and used his wordpress instructions, he made it clear he was anything but important. He gave a lot of credit and recommendations for the different mods and modders. He included credits and because of it I am now looking at those modders to see if they have any oblivion stuff up. He also claims he didn't contact the press, I'm going to trust his word on that. He wasn't boosting his ego or reputation. He was sharing the mods he had been using. I feel it is misinformed to say that he was just trying to make himself seem important.

- if he linked people to places the modders would want their work downloaded from [and thus people are more likely to see their names etc] I'm sure it'd have been acceptable, especially if he'd gained permission [as every guide like that I've used claims they have done].

Another question. If I find an alternative download of just one modders work and choose to download it there (still seeing their name and knowing who made it), am I wrong?

I should probably include my actual opinion now:
It does seem rather harsh to threaten with legal action. I could have seen them asking that he give more credit (I.E. use the modders names more frequently) or asking that the mods inside his zip be put into folders with the names of the modders(containing their modded material only, obviously). However, he should have gotten permission. It's the right thing to do in the situation. So, his name is going to be slandered and his compilation will be taken down because he didn't ask permission.

Well, at least the guys who are threatening to sue him got a little free publicity out of the whole mess.

 

[RandV80]

Yeah I'm joining the crowd that's a little ticked at the modding community here. Legal and ethical issues aside, at the end of the day the majoriy of people who are going to play your mod doesn't give a damn about credits, who you are and what you can do. It's not that we don't appreciate the work, for that they all deserve full respect, but it's not like we're going to recognize who you are and will forget the moment we're done playing.

There is a place for recognition, and that's the community forums and perhaps head hunting developers. For the rest of us we just want a hassle free method of acquiring, installing, and playing your mod. And considering how many are out there and this being an older game that can be hard to do. For someone like myself this 2011 compilation has gotten me interested in Morrowind again and ready to start playing it.

 

[-Samurai-]

Since when do modders own their work? It's common knowledge to every modder that the work you create is not owned by you. You can't copyright it. You can't charge for it. You can release it, for free, and that's it.

It's only common courtesy that you ask a modder for their permission to use, then repost their work. It isn't law.

 

[jboking]

Thumbs up for the Internet if someone's already set up a torrent. This kind of doucheyness is when I cheer for piracy.

There's actually a number of downloads and torrents still up. I wouldn't trust them to stay that way for long though...

 

[Fumbleumble]

I hope he posts the usernames or emails of these assholes so they get spammed into oblivion and people know whos mods to stop supporting. I don't care who is right or wrong here, those people are fucking douchebags, plain and simple.

Yeah, those people are douchbags for not wanting someone to compile their mod [that they spent a lot of time and effort on, and then released to the community] in a package without their permission...

I think you need a reality check - the mod creators aren't in the wrong here, what the guy did was illegal, and what's more he clearly [well according to this news post anyway] didn't ask permission from the modders in the first place - and he's gaining positive publicity from their work...there's nothing wrong with them threatening action against him.

If they didn't it would only encourage similar incidents - permission is important in the mod scene, and I assume, had he asked around, he'd have received the permission he sought, instead of incorrectly assuming the modders would be satisfied with his offer.

Say what?

The modders ARE in the wrong here.

First.. it's not their's it ALL belongs to Bethesda.

Second.. these buttholes are 'supposed' to be doing it to make the game better for the community.. to use it all as a dick swinging contents between 'a 'leet' modder community' is a piss poor excuse for doing this in the first place.

Third... and most importantly.. tough shit to them, so what..they put THEIR OWN FREE TIME into it, release it for free, don't bother their ass communicating with other modders to get it all working properly together....(which happens to be the bloody hardest part of creating mods..AND the main reason people get pissed off with AMATURE MODS in the first place)... THEN get all pissy about someone ACTUALLY doing the GAMEPLAYERS an HONEST SERVICE by collecting them all (so we don't have to go through the pain in the ass hassle of finding them) and GETING THEM WORKING TOGETHER, which benefits us all FAR MORE than some twat putting a few more sparkles on an already sparkly water texture.

Someone said it before me... all this screaming babble has become a cancer on the net.

They should be gratified that someone gives their work a second look...

EDIT... dl'ing now....and full kudos to the guy, it looks like I'm actually going to get a modded Morrowind that works... instead of ten minutes of error boxes.

 

[Internet Kraken]

So this guy took a bunch of mods, compiled them together, and didn't ask any of the original creators for permission to do so?

Well it's unfortunate for the users of this mod, but I'd have to say the original creators were justified in their actions. If they didn't want their mods used, for whatever reason, he shouldn't have used them. By not getting their permission he showed a lack of respect for the creators of those mods.

 

[likalaruku]

Ooh, it's like an upgrade of Octopus Overlord's mod compilation. I really want it. Plus with all of the Cait & Abot mods.

It's not like he was trying to make a profit selling these, & all of these mods were available for free online anyway, he just wanted to fix them to make them all work together without crashing the game. I actually already have most of the mods I saw in the video, & it probably took me a solid month to put them all together. Need to delete some though; got almost 300 mods & it's mighty unstable....

There's also the possibility that like me, he's had some of these mods backed up on a dis for years; mods you can't find anywhere online anymore. I just wish some fan would make something that could test for incompatiblies better.

 

[health-bar]

I hope he posts the usernames or emails of these assholes so they get spammed into oblivion and people know whos mods to stop supporting. I don't care who is right or wrong here, those people are fucking douchebags, plain and simple.

I hope he posts the usernames or emails of these assholes so they get spammed into oblivion and people know whos mods to stop supporting.

I hope he posts the usernames or emails of these assholes so they get spammed into oblivion

of these assholes so they get spammed into oblivion

so they get spammed into oblivion

into oblivion

I lol'd
---------

yeah, the guy probably should have put more effort into bringing it up before he did it so nobody could complain.

 

[Stryc9]

What gets me is that these people are bitching about their mods being given away FOR FREE and you never heard the people that made maps for Doom and Doom II that eventually ended up discs that were SOLD AT RETAIL bitching about their work being sold.

I'm quite sure that id and the people behind the maps that ended up those discs never saw any cut of the profit from those map packs.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

THIS. LOOKS. SO. INCREDIBLY. GOBSMACKINGLY. AWESOME!!!


and I will never get to play it......

 

[whiffleball]

So, upon review of the wordpress site, I have reached the following conclusion. He refers to the update as a compendium, and while reviewing the list of mod's, I can clearly see that some of them have the names of their authors in the filename. If there is a complete credits list, then everyone is given fair acknowledgement for their work. Just because "people are to lazy to read the credits" that is not true justification to claiming theft. By providing credit, a compilation file is no different than simply hosting the mods on a website. By releasing mods for free with the intention of large scale distribution, it seems ridiculous to request that every person who wants to host your mod acquire explicit permission to do something you appeared to want them to do anyway.

 

[likalaruku]

THIS. LOOKS. SO. INCREDIBLY. GOBSMACKINGLY. AWESOME!!!


and I will never get to play it......

Why not? This game is older than my oldest PC. Oh, you have a Mac maybe?

 

[Jumwa]

So Bethesda puts out their own game there, freely giving the tools for people to modify their artwork and the fruits of their efforts, and so people take that up and begin to modify Bethesda's content and release it. However, instead of being as magnanimous as their professional benefactors, they demand not only recognition but sole ability to modify it themselves?

A bit glib on my part, perhaps. I understand the original mod authors being a bit peeved that they weren't asked first, I suppose (though why they release mods and don't open it up to the community to therefore be freely modded by others with their name credited is beyond me), but to go this far?

It's a bit entitled for people who are modifying another developers work to begin with, perhaps. Personally I'm surprise Bethesda's mod tools don't come with some stipulation that anything you make with them becomes open to free use or their own corporate property anyhow. That tends to be the way of things in most such areas outside video games. You submit a short story to a magazine and it becomes theirs.

 

[AstylahAthrys]

Bah. That's kind of lame. It's really a lovely mod to have, but I guess if worst came to worst you'd just download the separate pieces. I don't think there was anything exclusive to that mod.

 

[SlasherX]

Mods are free and community shared, this makes no god-damned sense............................. Whiny bitches of mod writers

 

[Jumwa]

Bah. That's kind of lame. It's really a lovely mod to have, but I guess if worst came to worst you'd just download the separate pieces. I don't think there was anything exclusive to that mod.

It wasn't simply a compilation, the mod compiler did go through the trouble of making tweaks for compatibilities sake, so just getting all the individual mods wont have the same effect and will lead to problems.

 

[AstylahAthrys]

Bah. That's kind of lame. It's really a lovely mod to have, but I guess if worst came to worst you'd just download the separate pieces. I don't think there was anything exclusive to that mod.

It wasn't simply a compilation, the mod compiler did go through the trouble of making tweaks for compatibilities sake, so just getting all the individual mods wont have the same effect and will lead to problems.

Well, then... man, this really sucks. Lucky I got it before it got taken down!

 

[Veloxe]

I don't understand the people who are sad because it got taken down and they didn't get their hands on it. Once it's on the internet, it's on the internet forever! A mild understanding of how google works and how to recognize a dubious site and you can get it in like 5 minutes.

 

[Snotnarok]

Good luck getting all of your single and separate mods to be popular when it's annoying and tedious to install them all one by one and hope everything is still working.

I can see why they're mad but I can also see why this is stupid.