Nexus Mods, the most popular modding website for games such as Skyrim and Fallout, has been engaging in a controversial move which has caused many mod authors to delete their mods from the site and is all related to their new ‘Collections’ feature which will let you mass download a selection of mods in packs in an effort to make modding easier and seamless.
The move that has caused many people to get angry is the fact that under this new creation modders will no longer be able to fully delete their mods from the site but instead will only be able to remove them from viewing and downloading on their specific pages. This is due to the fact that if a mod was to be deleted and it was a part of one of these collections then the group of files in question would be unable to work due to missing a potentially crucial file. As such many mod creators have been very vocal with their displeasure and have removed their mods preemptively as this move essentially gives Nexus Mods full creative control over their mods even if the original modders no longer want their file uploaded on the Nexus.
It’s a shame as the feature is geniunely a good idea and will really help to make groups of mods far easier to download together and create more ‘themed’ game experiences such as vanilla-plus, hardcore, grim-dark etc. Plus it would allow some smaller mods that normally wouldn’t be on people’s radars to get more downloads such as smaller mods like creating footprints or adding birdsounds to the environment but in a counter argument to this it also means these smaller mods won’t get as much attention on their specific mod pages due to people instead preferring to mass-download these smaller mods in the collections.
It’s unfortunately a complicated issue and I hope that Nexus Mods and the creators will eventually come to an understanding so that we can all get back to the wonderful world of modding! That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.