"Kewl!" or "WAAAyyy uncool!"

Discussion in 'Modding' started by Essence, Jan 30, 2013.

?

Is It OK For Me To Modifiy No-Longer-Supported Mods?

Poll closed Feb 6, 2013.
  1. Kewl!

    47.1%
  2. WAAyyy uncool!

    11.8%
  3. Yes, but... (more below)

    29.4%
  4. Aww, Essence, you're just so damned awesome I don't care WHAT you do!

    41.2%
  5. Piss off.

    17.6%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Essence

    Essence Will Mod for Digglebucks

    So I was going through the Warrior mod skills looking for the next Community Skills Guide page, and I noticed that there are a lot of modders who disappeared around September/October of last year (<fistshake>SCHOOOOOoooooo....l!!</fistshake>) and that several of their mods are either

    1) Still in beta
    or
    2) Obviously not quite right. (I.E. unaddressed bugs, no icons, etc.)

    And I thought, "you know, it would be pretty easy to take these nice piles of existing code and ideas, freshen them up, kill the bugs, and release them back into the wild." Elemental Warrior, for example, still claims to be in Beta and is right on the edge of awesomeness with just a few minor issues (like Wind being able to teleport you onto monsters), and kino5 disappeared last September. I'd love to see that mod fully functional and awesome, and I have the time and energy to do it. (To be honest, I'd probably make a couple of other changes too, like adding some :resist_piercing: to Clobbering Time and scaling the damage on Fire to :melee_power: or something instead of :magic_power: which doesn't fit at all.)

    But before I just go all willy-nilly and start molesting other people's creations without their permission just because they're not around any longer, I thought I'd ask the community's opinion: kewl, or WAAAyyy uncool?

    [edit2]After some chatting on the chat, I felt it should be clear: I wouldn't be distributing these changes. I'd basically append the "Essential" version of the mod on the end of it's existing thread, and maybe make a thread that kept track of all of the mods I'd touched. Definitely no Steam Workshop shenanigans or anything like that.[/edit2]



    [edit]I had to vote to see the results of the poll, so I voted once for each option just to keep it even.[/edit]
     
    Vitellozzo likes this.
  2. Essence

    Essence Will Mod for Digglebucks

    From Chat:

     
  3. Mr J.D. Gumby

    Mr J.D. Gumby Member

    1) Do your best to contact the original authors for permission.
    2) If permission's granted or they cannot be found, modify.
    3) Give prominent credit to the original authors.
     
  4. Daynab

    Daynab Community Moderator Staff Member

    To minimize the amount of potential controversy, I would say try to contact them, but if you can't, then don't modify them.
     
  5. Stakhanov

    Stakhanov Member

    I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like the free service of mod polishing / bugproofing. Better not extrapolate new features from their theme , however. Of course , the original modders could logically ask that any unpermitted change is removed , but it's your spare time.
     
  6. Nacho

    Nacho Member

    Easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Speaking as a player, it's better for me (and just about everyone else) if the default is "modify" rather than don't.

    I don't see any difference between fixing up Elemental Warrior and fixing up Magic Training.
     
  7. Daynab

    Daynab Community Moderator Staff Member

    That's true, but we already gave our permission for people to mess around with our skills.
     
  8. Daynab

    Daynab Community Moderator Staff Member

    Okay, I spoke with David. Basically, we'd be more comfortable about getting permission beforehand.

    We won't ban anyone for not doing it because it's not illegal, but we'd be thankful if it was respected.
     
  9. Essence

    Essence Will Mod for Digglebucks

    So, if I make the most thorough possible effort to connect with someone and get no response, just don't touch?

    Sad, but OK.
     
  10. mining

    mining Member

    My take is:

    Do what you want, when you want, to whatever, but briefly ask permission via PM, wait a week, if there's no response, do the bugfixes, balancework, etc. but don't modify the attribution rights.

    Alternatively, we can all start publishing our mods under the MIT license :)
     
    Kazeto and Essence like this.
  11. Essence

    Essence Will Mod for Digglebucks

    that would be class.
     
  12. Kazeto

    Kazeto Member

    I just quoted it to say that my stance is exactly the same.
     
  13. kino5

    kino5 Member

    I already gave answer to Essence in a private message, but I want to apologize here too. I had to abandon the mod (and playing computer games almost completely) due to time issues related to several things (job, studies, and now a new house). I decided to pay you guys a visit and I found out his message from january, and this thread.

    I've enjoyed playing Dredmor a lot all this time, and I intend to continue to do so when I'm able, but right now I'm not planning to finish the mod. I'm very glad Essence wants to finish it and I already said to him to do what he feels better for the mod, so this is a formal apology to everyone because the mod had an awesome welcome here, and I feel like I dissapointed you by not finishing it.

    Maybe I'll try to lurk the forums a little from time to time, since you all are a great community. See ya guys ;)
     
    Turbo164 and Kazeto like this.
  14. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Essence:

    I'm not sure if this would be something you're interested in, but I just don't have the time to get Evil Interior Decorator to a point where it's balanced. I am waaaaay to busy right now. If you don't have too much on your plate, I am offering up this skill to you. It's a bit long at 1400 lines, so I wouldn't blame you, but it is more organized than my other work. If you take it, you do not need to credit me. I just don't want to see it go to waste.
     
    Kazeto likes this.