The Nexus and KSP Mod Authors

[SirSalami]

Hi everyone. As you may know, the KSP Nexus Site has been operational for some time, but given the recent developments in the modding community regarding Kerbal Stuff and as a fan of KSP, I've been looking into how the Nexus can better support the KSP community.

We're looking forward to adding KSP functionality to the Nexus Mod Manager and this can be done in relatively short-order. However, we cannot justify doing so until we have a reasonable stable of files on the network. We're also working with pjf, the author of CKAN, to investigate a collaboration in order to provide easy downloads from the Nexus within CKAN, but again this will be fruitless without more KSP mods on the Nexus. We're keen to work with mod authors to ensure that we are providing the tools that the KSP community needs, but to put things bluntly, we need the support of more KSP mod authors if we are to justify implementation of KSP specific features to our services.

The Nexus has been building a network to support mod authors since 2001. Registration is of course free, providing access to our file repositories and forums. We are supported in-part by ads because when you're serving 2 Petabytes of data a month, pushing upwards of 10Gbps in bandwidth, asking for donations just doesn't cut it. However, our supporters can enjoy an ad-free experience for a one-time payment of a couple of dollars. Uploading a file is a fairly simple process that will provide several features for user interaction like commenting and bug tracking. Members can enjoy an established infrastructure that already supports over 100,000 files from over 50,000 fellow mod authors.

Couldn't we just arbitrarily upload the mods from the Kerbal Stuff torrent to our site? Sure, but the Nexus has a long record of respecting the work of mod authors and we encourage accountability within the network, which includes refraining from uploading content without permission. By uploading your work to the Nexus, you will help ensure that we establish an accessible and perpetual repository of mods for the KSP community. Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to see developments based on Kerbal Stuff's source, though again, as a fan I feel it's my duty to offer what services I can to ensure the health of the KSP modding community and will do my best to accommodate your needs.

Please, take a look around and feel free to upload any of your creations using the "Files" button at the top of the site: http://nexusmods.com/kerbalspaceprogram. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know. I can also be reached as SirSalami on the Nexus forums and Steam, or email me at [email protected].

Thank you sincerely, for your consideration. 

Dave "SirSalami" Talamas
Community Manager, Nexus Mods

Edited February 16, 2016 by SirSalami

[Yemo]

I can understand that squad does not want to get involved with community/fan generated/administered sites especially for areas outsider their own expertise like (mod) hosting.

But given the track record of that other site, which promised features to be delivered by the end of 2014, which are still nowhere to be seen or heard of at the start of 2016, is it really necessary to (exclusively) stay with that other site?

This is the nexus, which has a reputation with truly massive modding communities (skyrim!), a very fair and proven track record from community interaction to ads and site funding, as well as staff actively trying to integrate non-standard community solutions.

edited out a paragraph after feedback from @swjr-swis

Edited February 17, 2016 by Yemo

[swjr-swis]

I don't have any ties to the Nexus other than as a user, but my experience with it has been good. I already rely on it for mods for other games I enjoy.

I for one would welcome it if the Nexus became another place, alongside what we already have, that we can rely on as a mod repository for KSP. More choice is good, especially if it's more places with a stable and sustainable infrastructure.

I have not found out why the KSP space on the Nexus never really took off; maybe the success of KerbalStuff and the existence of an official site like Curseforge were partly to 'blame' for that, but I've not seen anything in either terms of service or ways of handling things on the Nexus that seemed to be incompatible with how the KSP modding community works. I keep hoping to see the Nexus KSP corner populating. At the same time I recognize that it's one more bit of work/maintenance on the workload of a mod author, so I will hope, but I won't ask for it.

Thank you for taking notice and reaching out, @SirSalami. If I may ask a few questions:

• The KSP mod community is very keen on using explicit licenses to communicate the mod author's wishes on the use and (re)distribution of their work. I know the Nexus asks mod authors to add some words to a description page on the same matter, but it seems much more free-form. Is there anything inherent to the Nexus ToS that would somehow impede KSP mods to continue to use specific licenses, and such licenses to be respected?
• I guess a question to both you and your peer @Jadedcat for Curse: is there anything that would prevent both Nexus and Curseforge to exist side by side, both being available as an option for mod authors to host their work? I am not asking for contractual particulars, just in general whether you see any obstacles to a peaceful coexistence.
• My third question is actually already partially answered... whether the Nexus could work together with CKAN. Even if NMM were to be adapted to support KSP directly, with the momentum and userbase CKAN already has, it's to be expected that it would continue to be relied upon by a significant part of the userbase. Letting them interface would likely be an important part of making this cooperation viable.

 

I don't so much see the Nexus as a replacement for the official source, but as another community offer. Right now KSP is very under-represented on the site, but the Nexus is very much a community driven service, and hopefully our needs and their offer are compatible.

Edited February 17, 2016 by swjr-swis
edited to respect Yemo's edit

[Seeker89]

I do like Nexus for the mods that I do download. With the launch of XCOM2, I feel like I'm on it all the time for mod hunting. I also like it much more then Curse, and even github. Plus for the mod I have made(for another game) It was pretty user friendly compared to when I tried to upload a mod to github. 

As far I know how nexus works beside other mod websites(that would be steam workshop) it seems pretty good. 

 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Seeker89

[Azimech]

I currently have 7 mods ready to upload, another one needs to be updated and a new one is on the drawing board. I would certainly upload to the Nexus.

[Jadedcat]

On 2/17/2016 at 6:32 PM, swjr-swis said:

 

• I guess a question to both you and your peer @Jadedcat for Curse: is there anything that would prevent both Nexus and Curseforge to exist side by side, both being available as an option for mod authors to host their work? I am not asking for contractual particulars, just in general whether you see any obstacles to a peaceful coexistence.

All of us Curse people have said from the begining "We don't want to eliminate the competition in any way other than by continuing to make our system better until users prefer it to other options. Competition is what drives inovation."

Personally, I only have issues with sites that rehost mods without asking permission from the authors and/or following the mod license. Reasonably certain we already exist side by side for some games.

Disclaimer : I work for Curse. Curse pays me to review mods and manage forums/communities. I do not speak for Curse. I speak for myself as a community member, modder and gamer. Anything I say is based on my knowledge of a situation and is my opinion and not that of anyone I am associated with personally or professionally. Nothing I say should be taken as a promise or guarantee of anything by anyone. 

Edited February 18, 2016 by Jadedcat

[Sir_Robert]

I never did understand why Nexus didn't take off as an alternative for Curse, when Curse first launched. It was there, easy, and reliable. Instead someone build a separate site for our mods

[Streetwind]

1 hour ago, Sir_Robert said:

I never did understand why Nexus didn't take off as an alternative for Curse, when Curse first launched. It was there, easy, and reliable. Instead someone build a separate site for our mods

Probably because the community wanted to make a point about doing a better job themselves. I mean, Kerbalstuff grew into a legitimately good website, but its initial conception was pretty much a kneejerk reaction born from the conviction that "Squad doesn't know what we want, only we do!". In such a situation, nobody looks at existing alternatives because those get subconsciously lumped together with the current object of the community's ire.

I'd personally be perfectly fine with Nexus by the way. But then again, I am perfectly fine with anything that lets me push a button to receive a mod while having the reputation and/or authenticity to ensure that I'm getting an untampered file. Nexus delivers this. Curse delivers this. Github delivers this. Kerbalstuff delivered this. SpaceDock will probably deliver this. It's all fine with me.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Streetwind

[Elthy]

Nexus is excrements, why would i need a loveing account for downloading stuff? To track me over half the internet for ads?

Its even worse than Curse. With curse i have to wait 3 seconds, with Nexus for an eternity since i wont make an account for something as simple as a file download...

[SirSalami]

12 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

• The KSP mod community is very keen on using explicit licenses to communicate the mod author's wishes on the use and (re)distribution of their work. I know the Nexus asks mod authors to add some words to a description page on the same matter, but it seems much more free-form. Is there anything inherent to the Nexus ToS that would somehow impede KSP mods to continue to use specific licenses, and such licenses to be respected?

Authors are free to release their work under any licence they choose, so long as it does not monetize, prevent us from promoting, or prevent us distributing the content among our members. In fact, within the network, we pride ourselves on respecting authors rights and hold uploaders accountable for adhering to posted usage terms. Licence information can be posted for users in the "Permissions" file attribute page as well as the file's description page.  

 

12 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

• I guess a question to both you and your peer @Jadedcat for Curse: is there anything that would prevent both Nexus and Curseforge to exist side by side, both being available as an option for mod authors to host their work? I am not asking for contractual particulars, just in general whether you see any obstacles to a peaceful coexistence.

The Nexus views hosting a mod as a privilege and authors are free to post their work wherever they see fit! Personally, I feel that the more avenues available for mod authors, the better. Curse does a commendable job and we're happy to support the KSP community alongside them.

 

12 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

• My third question is actually already partially answered... whether the Nexus could work together with CKAN. Even if NMM were to be adapted to support KSP directly, with the momentum and userbase CKAN already has, it's to be expected that it would continue to be relied upon by a significant part of the userbase. Letting them interface would likely be an important part of making this cooperation viable.

We're indeed working with pjf to see how we can incorporate Nexus download links into the CKAN UI, but I cannot guarantee inclusion at this time. Things are still in the planning phases on this as there are some inherit differences in our services that we're trying to reconcile. Nexus Mod Manager integration however, can be implemented quite rapidly if we can get more authors to upload their work. The general consensus is around 50 mods justifies NMM 

 

8 hours ago, Azimech said:

I currently have 7 mods ready to upload, another one needs to be updated and a new one is on the drawing board. I would certainly upload to the Nexus.

That sounds great, thank you Azimech! Please let me know if I can assist in any way. Looking forward to seeing your work!

 

6 hours ago, Jadedcat said:

Personally, I only have issues with sites that rehost mods without asking permission from the authors and/or following the mod license. Reasonably certain we already exist side by side for some games.

Agreed, and thank you for your hospitality, Jadedcat. Nice to meet you!

 

1 hour ago, Elthy said:

Nexus is excrements, why would i need a loveing account for downloading stuff? To track me over half the internet for ads?

Its even worse than Curse. With curse i have to wait 3 seconds, with Nexus for an eternity since i wont make an account for something as simple as a file download...

Sorry you feel that way Elthy. Thank you for the colorful verbiage. I assure you that we do not "track" anyone over "half the internet". However, should you choose not to use our service for whatever reason, I respect that and hope you have a good day.

Edited February 17, 2016 by SirSalami

[Azimech]

I just logged in, seems I registered almost 8 years ago.

[Yemo]

@swjr-swis: You are right, I edited it out to prevent further discussion on this, has been done enough in other places and does not belong here.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Yemo

[Sir_Robert]

2 hours ago, Elthy said:

Nexus is excrements, why would i need a loveing account for downloading stuff? To track me over half the internet for ads?

Its even worse than Curse. With curse i have to wait 3 seconds, with Nexus for an eternity since i wont make an account for something as simple as a file download...

If you're so against accounts, why do you have an account here?

Also you don't need an account to download mods from the Nexus. I literally just logged out and downloaded 2 mods there

[sarbian]

2 hours ago, Elthy said:

Nexus is excrements, why would i need a loveing account for downloading stuff? To track me over half the internet for ads?

Its even worse than Curse. With curse i have to wait 3 seconds, with Nexus for an eternity since i wont make an account for something as simple as a file download...

I am always amazed that people expect site that requires huge bandwidth to run should do it for free, not adds and no incentives for the user to pay.

The new community mod site is already expected to cost something like 150$ per month and that is only for KSP. Bandwidth and hardware are not free, and you can't pay them with insult either...

[Sir_Robert]

14 minutes ago, sarbian said:

I am always amazed that people expect site that requires huge bandwidth to run should do it for free, not adds and no incentives for the user to pay.

The new community mod site is already expected to cost something like 150$ per month and that is only for KSP. Bandwidth and hardware are not free, and you can't pay them with insult either...

I really hope they're going to use adds for that. You can always just ignore them with addblocker, but sites like that are the thing you turn your addblocker for off

[jkortech]

@SirSalami: does Nexus have an API that an uploader program could hook into? In working on a Visual Studio extension for KSP and one of the features is going to be setting up mod releases on GitHub and SpaceDock. I'd love to make it available for Nexus as well.

Edited February 18, 2016 by jkortech

[FreeThinker]

Unless their are some good incentives (like Curse Reward program) I have no reason to use Nexus to host my Mods

[maxrsp]

I have a couple player home mods hosted on Nexus for both Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim and find the process of hosting there relatively easy.  In truth I've never made or hosted mods anywhere else so I can't speak to how complicated it is relative to other sites, only that it I found Nexus an easy experience to manage in general.

Far more important to me however is the ability to find mods.  This is where Nexus shines from my perspective, providing easy access to newest mods, most downloaded mods, as well as "Hot Files" which is some magical combination of the two.  A decent categorization system exists so you can search (or browse) mods by type.  Also, with the ability of users to endorse mods they like, this enables a most endorsed search as well.  I support Nexus because as a mod user for many Bethesda games as well as Witcher 3, I've found it to be the best place to find mods for my games.

This is not even talking about Nexus Mod Manager which adds further potential.  Would it be nice to integrate/improve CKAN functionality with a NMM update?  Sure.  Ultimately however that has nothing to do with using the Nexus as a community hosting location because you don't have to use NMM for mods hosted there; you can download mods manually and continue to install them however you install them today.

I'm confident everyone reading this post already knows that one of the things that makes great games like KSP continue to stay relevant over time is the ability of the modding community to continue to attract new players.  KSP is a niche title so its longevity will be determined in large part by this community - modders and mod users.  The larger this community is the better for all of us, and I would argue that one of the best ways to attract new players is by giving them the best possible experience for finding and adding mods. I really don't see how anyone can objectively argue that a forums-based approach achieves that goal.

Spaceport failed, KerbalStuff failed, and Curse appears to have some baggage which I don't know enough about to comment on.  I'm not saying Nexus is the answer, maybe SpaceDock can be that vehicle, but given my personal experience with Nexus I remain puzzled why it hasn't been more widely adopted.

P.S.

No need to chastise me for necro'ing this thread, I was going to start a new one to ask the question why aren't we using Nexus more but found this one first via a search.  So the way I see it, I saved you a thread  

Edited June 13, 2016 by maxrsp
typo