Jump to content

Bethesda: A Cesspit of Endless Theft and Greed


mlee3141

Recommended Posts

Oh, he's quite serious, as evidenced by this quote:

 

 

You know the situation is bad when the usual Bethesda sycophants within the community are even admitting it’s pretty damn bad.

You can count me among those "sycophants" because I bother to actually defend them against the more unjust bullshit that most of the authors in question are spewing behind Bethesda's back on the private author forum. It's gotten so bad there it makes me wonder why those people are modding games they hate made by a company they clearly hate.

 

Yes, the new mods site is a mess, and yes, Bethesda should have drawn on the years of experience we all have with this sort of thing, cause even a generic IPB setup like ours here would have been better than that Jive crap they're using now. Bethesda seems determined to reinvent the wheel and learn all of this on their own, so ok, that's their choice. Rather than berate them and insult them at every turn, I choose to try and help where I can and offer advice and give them the time to make changes in the time frame their corporate setup allows for.

 

That permissions stuff is sadly necessary, but it's as much necessary because of asshats like Darren as it is because of asshats who are stealing mods and putting them up on Bethesda.net.

 

Some stats I figure people might be interested in:

For the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch:

PC: Since April 19, 2016 on Fallout 4 Nexus: 160,601 Downloads, 561,959 views.
PC: Since April 19, 2016 on Bethesda.net: 133,854 Downloads, 1,451,638 views.

XBox One: Since May 11, 2016 on Bethesda.net: 219,371 Downloads, 4,952,095 views.

 

So... yeah. The idea that PC users don't want to touch it is horseshit. They're touching it, and they're doing so in numbers that rival traffic to Nexus. That traffic will be dwarfed once console numbers mean more than they do now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh sorry, i should have made it clear that i meant Imstearn's comment to encrypt all files, (whatever he thinks that means and how that should work on a technical level).

it's either a snarky remark, that tries to incite the idea, that DarkOne may be venting a bit too much with crazy ideas (mot my words, just my one interpretation of the meaning of Imstearn's comment) or he is dead serious, that a logical answer would be to lock away everything, because that would clearly help anyone and solve all problems (see, that last part was a sarcastic comment).

 

I thought DarkOne's blog post made a good point, and only thought it did suffer a bit from being worded in not the best mood to get the point across clearly. Wouldn't call it a rant. Personally i still don't care what happens to a mod, and i have little understanding for modders loosing their shit over this, but i think it's good that the nexus now offers authors the option to make their intent known.

I'm one of the Bethesda.net users of UFO4P, since i didn't intend to mod that game heavily, and i thought the ingame menu might work well enough for the few mods i care about. Plus it might require less hoops to jump through with external mod managers, in the case bethesda decides to mix things up again.

As for the website: it's just so convoluted and without any clear line, that i stopped browsing it aside from their main announcement blog. Stopped using the old forum, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch:

PC: Since April 19, 2016 on Fallout 4 Nexus: 160,601 Downloads, 561,959 views.

PC: Since April 19, 2016 on Bethesda.net: 133,854 Downloads, 1,451,638 views.

XBox One: Since May 11, 2016 on Bethesda.net: 219,371 Downloads, 4,952,095 views.

 

So... yeah. The idea that PC users don't want to touch it is horseshit. They're touching it, and they're doing so in numbers that rival traffic to Nexus. That traffic will be dwarfed once console numbers mean more than they do now.

A lot of the general PC using public aren't even aware that Bethesda.net is optional for PC users.  I have read several posts over the past few days from PC users who were posting that logging onto Bethnet was required in order to activate Fallout 4 mods.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It used to be required, but one of the recent patches made it optional so you can access locally installed mods without having to sign in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As good a place as any to :facepalm:
 

KNOWN ISSUES WITH PS4 MODS

  • PC textures are used. Memory and performance issues may occur. We are working with Sony on optimal texture exporting support in a future update.
  • Sound files are currently not supported. PS4 sound format is a proprietary format. We are working with Sony on sound file processing support in a future update.
  • PS4 Mod Storage limit is approximately 900 MB at present. Please do not upload mods larger than 900 MB. We are working with Sony to increase this limit.

Those 3 things are pretty critical central issues. WHY was this not already ironed out before going ahead with a rollout?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those 3 things are pretty critical central issues. WHY was this not already ironed out before going ahead with a rollout?

E3. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, no, this is something they had to have worked out LAST YEAR rather than at the last minute due to previously mentioned corporate approval timelines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, no, this is something they had to have worked out LAST YEAR rather than at the last minute due to previously mentioned corporate approval timelines.

I definitely agree the timelines were all worked out last year. My thought is they figured they would have everything hashed out with Sony by now. They haven't, but the rollout date couldn't be pushed.

Just a thought. I know almost nothing about how the industry works, but I do see crap like this all the time in my field. "Don't worry, we'll have an agreement by that time. It won't affect the deadline!" Phaw.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ideally, there should be some method added to the esp/m data that would make the mod unusable for the console if that is the author's intention. If the way forward is to encrypt the entire mod for this purpose, what's the best way of doing it?

 

Encrypt? No, but there is a way to restrict features of plugin-based mods on a platform basis. You can add the IsWindowsPC, IsPS3, and IsXbox conditions to quests, magic effects, etc.

 

You could use these conditions to stymie "unauthorized" porting of your PC mods to consoles, or vice versa, by users who aren't knowledgeable enough to modify plugins.

 

For example, if you route all of your mod's features through a quest, you can just add the IsWindowsPC=True condition to that quest, and there you go: a PC-only mod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Encrypt? No, but there is a way to restrict features of plugin-based mods on a platform basis. You can add the IsWindowsPC, IsPS3, and IsXbox conditions to quests, magic effects, etc.

 

You could use these conditions to stymie "unauthorized" porting of your PC mods to consoles, or vice versa, by users who aren't knowledgeable enough to modify plugins.

 

For example, if you route all of your mod's features through a quest, you can just add the IsWindowsPC=True condition to that quest, and there you go: a PC-only mod.

Yeah, until some smartie pants uploads a script somewhere to edit the platform conditions out. Look, I know encryption is not possible under the current setup, but if we are going to get serious about pushing paid modding, there is going to have to be something. And it's going to have to be good. And it will cost.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, until some smartie pants uploads a script somewhere to edit the platform conditions out.

 

The vast majority of PC players are completely unaware of the mere existence of xEdit. You think console players are better informed? Ha.

 

The conditions approach is as effective as any DRM, excluding Denuvo. It won't stop infringement, but it will hinder the more common cases of abuse with the least amount of effort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Except it isn't console players who are pirating the mods. PC players are doing that. They may not be terribly well informed PC players, but at least a few of them monitor Reddit and some of the forums so they've likely heard of xEdit and might even know what to look for since everyone is discussing it openly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Except it isn't console players who are pirating the mods. PC players are doing that. They may not be terribly well informed PC players, but at least a few of them monitor Reddit and some of the forums so they've likely heard of xEdit and might even know what to look for since everyone is discussing it openly.

 

I never said it was a bulletproof solution, there is never going to be a Denuvo for mods, and I don't think you need one. You'll always have to protect your work. Way of the world. But the purpose of any DRM or DRM-like solution is not to eliminate piracy (pipe dream) but rather to lessen the effort required to protect your work by reducing the overall number of abusers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sorry but I'm just loving how this is going down. It's almost poetic having PC centered mods prove just how inferior consoles are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is going to be interesting to see how similar and different the Official Skyrim Remastered patch and USLEEP end up being.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait, PS4 mods already went live? I've been keeping well away from this drama the past week or so, and don't trust myself to look at Bethesda.net again.

 

If they have though, then this tempest just doubled in size and magnitude...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I'm done with the Bethesda.net experiment. Now, moderators are closing down threads just because. (Note that they don't lock the many threads about the CK not being available on consoles.)

 

Might take down my mods there, too. Might not. I don't know yet. Most players aren't toxic; most represent the silent majority. But the vocal minority look like this.

 

And you can't do anything about it except leave, so why bother with staying, right? All of this nonsense is burning me out to the extent I don't feel like making any more mods for Bethesda games.

 

It has definitely become a "with fans like these" situation for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I deleted my mods from Bethesda.net. Removed the site from my bookmarks, too. Feels good. Inevitably, there will be more whining and name calling. What's new?

 

Bethesda.net is awful in so many ways. The technology sucks, the community sucks, and now the moderation sucks. We should tough out all of that just for the so-called privilege of distributing mods on consoles? No thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

It's begun :D A long topic was posted on the nexus and it echos exactly how I feel about this.

I would say no, it started a while back if you read a statement from one modder, I found that link here, and I think what he said sums up pretty much how infected this subject is within the community.

 

Should he be right and there will be an open warfare between console players and PC players then I think my time in the community has come to an end, but seriously I don't hope that happen for the rest of my life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...