Nexus Strikes Again - Thoughts
Added 2022-04-26 16:17:14 +0000 UTC
Yesterday Nexus posted this new take on their Donation Options and Guidelines. Apparently, I'm an evil modder that doesn't follow the rules, or at least that is what they want you to think. You see, they have now made it very clear I can't link to my Patreon site from any of my mods or posts because I offer upgrades, presets, and mods, not available on Nexus.
Let's look at Nexus though. They talk about paywalls, and yet they have a paywall as well. You see, you have to pay them to get any sort of decent download speed to download these mods, especially large ones. Let's not even mention the new collections feature that really requires a premium account on Nexus to be used properly. The truth is, Nexus wants to be the only place you can get mods and they want to make all the money on modding - the rest of us are just cheating their community by creating Patreons to grow our own communities and step outside their iron-fisted controls.
Many modders left Nexus over their last decision to basically steal modder's mods by not allowing them to delete them. I stuck with it because I thought that it was worth remaining a member there at the cost of the ownership of my mods. Perhaps I made the wrong choice.
Nexus is being dishonest about modders like me who use Patreon and vilifying us to our own audience. They clearly have not read the Bethusda TOS when it comes to modding and the Creation Kit which basically states:
"All mods created by mod authors using the CK are the sole property of the mod author. Bethesda makes no claim to ownership or responsibility for these mods."
This contradicts Nexus' claim of ownership of our mods. While they claim to be free and in support of free modding, that is hypocritical since they charge for their service and control with an iron fist every aspect of it which they deem right or wrong - even so bold as to post guidelines like the new one I linked above that puts certain modders like me in a bad light.
All of you know me and my personality. If you look at my mod post history on Nexus, and my comment section, I try to provide the best service I possibly can. Is it so wrong for me to want to have my own community and put my content behind some protection of my own that I can also use to reinvest the money earned into more modding like paying for voice actresses or buying new hardware or tools to do more modding?
Instead, we have Nexus wanting to make ALL the money, they want all the mods posted there and no where else, and they view Patreon as a competitor. Look no further than modder prepartions for Starfield and the sudden need for Nexus to squash Patreon users. The key is there.
I myself have a choice to make. I'm not one for hasty decisions. I have to weigh all my options and decide what to do. At the very least I'll have to remove my Patreon links from all my mods and image posts to make Nexus happy.
Tell me your thoughts and don't go too hard on me. These are only opinions and I have yet to make a decision on what to do next about this situation. I know some modders have already promised not to post any more content on Nexus already. I'm not quite there yet.
Thanks for reading!
Heath Brown aka coldsun1187
Comments
This whole thing is sad on so many levels. Nexus has really been falling backwards in its ethos. Whatever new "exciting changes" they implement, I will seek you and your fellow artist colleagues wherever you go.
pacoEXNIHILO
2022-04-27 15:43:28 +0000 UTCThanks Matt. I agree, it’s just crazy, but even worse are the people that believe Nexus is somehow protecting them and has their back against the evil greedy modders like me. :)
Heath Brown
2022-04-26 19:47:07 +0000 UTCIt is shocking to me how a "platform" can even think to own someone else's creation. I am discombobulated right now. I would gladly leave Nexus and pay constantly to prevent that from happening. Your creations are indelible marks of beauty and bliss. Nexus is nothing compared to that.
Matthew Hearne
2022-04-26 19:11:44 +0000 UTC