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Nexus Mods no longer allows mod authors to permanently delete filesMods will now be archived but not permanently removed
Mods will now be archived but not permanently removed
Mega game mod hosting site Nexus Mods have revealed more information about their upcoming Collections feature which they hope will make installing mods a more approachable experience for users. In anticipation of launching the Collections system, Nexus say that mods can no longer be completely deleted from the site. Instead, mod authors will be able to archive files, though they’ll still be downloadable via Collections that include them. It’s a big change, and Nexus have written a rather long post (longer than this one) explaining the “how"s, “why"s, and “what now"s of the new system.
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That’s at least part of why they’ll no longer be allowing mod authors to permanently delete their files from the site, Nexus say. If a mod used in a collection can be deleted, that pokes a rather large hole in the convenience of the feature.
The big concern is that this change represents a loss of control for mod authors over their work. Mod creators may want delete a mod for any number of reasons, frivolous or serious. With this change, uploading their work to Nexus means it will stay hosted there even if they choose to archive it. Nexus say that they “empathise with this position” of maintaining control but that “there is just no way to square these two positions”.
However, Nexus say that they are still permanently deleting some mods, such as “any and all files that are violating our rules, for example in cases where someone has been using assets from another author without their express permission”. They also say they’re open to considering deletion requests for files that are outright broken.
Importantly, any mod creator who doesn’t wish to be held to the new archiving system has until August 5th to request the permanent deletion of all their mods. It’s an all-or-nothing request, so creators will have to reupload any mods they want to keep available afterwords.
For a whole lot more, you can read the entire explanation inNexus’s post. It goes into the differences between using collections as a free or premium user, along with other backend work the site has recently undergone.
Nexus don’t say exactly when the Collections feature will go live but “we are edging closer towards external testing with a small number of people”.
Grahamtalked with Nexus founder Robin Scottback in 2015 when the discussion of the day was paid mods forSkyrim. They’re rather different issues, but game modding has only grown since then, despite plenty of concerns about what kind of Pandora’s Box paid mods might be.
