QFT. That was sooooooo deeply gratifying to see, and perfectly displayed the actual situation (since the jerk was indeed a 10-year old kid) .

It's easy to say "ignore them", and we all know it's not so easy to do in practice (especially when said user is so ... evil, for want of a better word, to make "credible" threats or insults that happen to hit home).

But honestly, my long-ago minted motto is well worth remembering here... "it's just a forum on the Internet". And that means a lot more than "it's not 'important' in the larger scheme of things". For one thing, any "user" who immediately resorts to insulting one on a forum on the Internet (or via email, which in this case is more or less the same thing) has, automatically, no credibility whatsoever. Because it's just a forum on the Internet. What does it mean to be insulted (even harshly, even "meaningfully") by a complete stranger, who you wouldn't know if you tripped over them in the street (or they you)? I'll tell you what it means.... absolutely nothing at all. If they managed to hit a nerve, it only means that they have 1) better speech skills than most, and/or 2) you have a soft spot that you might want to do something about, but that still amounts to 0.00001 of useful-to-you information (as opposed to absolutely nothing).

You also have to remember who these people likely are (generally).... if you look at the mod-using user-base (as opposed to the "community" such as what exists here), and you look at the kinds of mods that "fill out" the database on TESNexus, not to mention the comments so often heard over people coming over from the 360, it gives you pause when you think "what do these users hear/expect" when they read "This mod sets a new bar for oblivion's combat system"? I'm sure your take on things is deep, intricate and interesting. To users that are prepared for and desire that sort of thing, I'm sure it's a great blessing. I mean, 24 possible melee attacks? Come on, it's like money from the sky! But to a lot of users, most especially casual gamers, or those who have "grown up" on simple games where "a better combat system" does not mean the user has to think more about how to fight, but that the user gets bigger, more powerful weapons with which they can easily overwhelm any enemy, this kind of depth is "way too complicated" (not to put too fine a point on it), and the fact that one must read the readme (or die heh, heh-- evil, but just.... and you are permitted to have a little bit of an evil streak, if you like, it's not like you didn't warn people) is just the obvious proof of that. How would you expect such a person to respond, especially given that this segment of the user base tends to 1) just download anything and throw it in their load order any which way and expect it to work; and 2) blame everyone but themselves if they've made an unwise choice of mod for their playstyle or expectations. Yep, you guessed it-- they're going to curse you out, like it's your fault they didn't enjoy the mod (even though they might have, had they read the readme, or at least they might have just decided not to play the mod at all, which would still have been a better outcome).

Yes, it's annoying, and even disturbing. But your task is to not be drawn in and led by these children-- and they most likely are literally children, and otherwise people with such poor social skills that they might as well be (badly-raised) children. If you bow out, you are letting children run your life for you. And that.... well, we just can't have that, OK? You're an advlt; you're allowed to act like one . Create a new email address for the mod's mail, so that any "crap" doesn't pollute your own inbox (and any script kiddies with delusions of grandeur can't target you for mailbombing if they feel that their previous attention-getting measures haven't worked). Disallow comments, or report every single inappropriate comment to the mods/admins of the download site. Let them share the wealth of annoyance that their uncontrolled user base is generating.

But you do what you want, not what they want. If they disrupt your enjoyment of your hobby, then protect yourself from stupid slings and arrows however you must, and do what you want (which is presumably to continue refining your mod, your labor of love).

;) Hang in there. We're with you, and we are legion .

Hi Hex. Nice to see that RC2 is in the works. I am waiting with baited breath. (and worms taste terrible, so HURRY UP. )

Welcome to the internet, where anonymity works in the favor of the "vocal minority". Just chalk it up to poor upbringing, and forget about it. There are MANY more folks that love your work, they just aren't as vocal. I for one, fully support you in your work, and your methodology. I find it hilarious that folks feel they can install something as complicated as UV, and NOT read the documentation. But then, expecting any type of logical behavior is, illogical.

Maybe they are users of Ironman Oblivion where if your character dies there is no way to reload those saves - or some other type of situation?

I was killed by this mod - thought it was funny, but I can see how it can get to some people. I once found a bug in Skyrangers stutter remover where everywhere I went all the NPCs just keeled over and died. Seriously - just walk into the market district and they all just died on the spot.

That was not intentional and having just installed some 5 mods that day and updated his stutter remover it was not apparent that was the cause - yet it was.

Some may get tired of mods that refuse to load the game if in load order, cause random issues, buggy behavior, and mod makers who deny that such things exist. I've run into all those and there are times when I'd get agro - but being an advlt does help me deal with stress much better - not that I'd be one to make threats on the internet. (where is that old picture about winning an argument on the internet is like winning the special olympics?)

Perhaps it might be a good idea to just have message spam that says "UV will not run until you have activated the mod in the ini". I think Duke Patrick did the similar thing with hiding the password in the readme at a random place. Rarely a bother for me as I generally am a reader, but I could see how that too would be the fuel someone might need.

Or maybe have a generic message spam reminding them to activate it.

Probably though it is best to do as bg suggested and not annoy mod users if avoidable.

While it may be you that makes a quality mod there are plenty of mods out there that are not quality and are annoying as hell. [present company excluded]

Glad your still working on refining this btw.

cant u make a script that requiers to read the important part of the readme xD (now it sounds like its our fault but for the record it is there fault)
but continue the good work

gbye

Honestly I have nothing but pity for these people. It makes you wonder how empty their lives must be if they achieve any sort of gratification from insulting a complete stranger over the internet, about something that was given to them at no cost.
Sadly Hex you are not the only one that has had to suffer this kind of thing. If you could raise Alien Slof on the forums (or through her own site) I am sure she could recount personal attacks that would make your head spin. Sadly Slof has all but left the community (and withdrew her mods of a time) due to the torrent of insults and threats made against her.
I am sure I can speak for more than a few of the community though, when I say, we would be disappointed but understanding if you felt the need to leave.
Please don't let a group of jumped-up adolescents want-to-be internet heros discourage you from modding.

HeX, I wanted to offer my support. Though I haven't played UV myself, I have heard of it and heard great things about it. As much as it shouldn't, comments like what you got still surprise and disappoint me. No one should have to put up with that.

I haven't played Oblivion in awhile, but I just might give UV a try on my next install. Take care and keep up the good work! :icecream:

HeX darlin :hugs: Screw em. You know they only post that crap because they WANT you to leave so they can say 'I told you so'. They're school yard bullies with laptops, little dikes and little more. And as previously stated, they aren't representative of the Oblivion community. We love you and your work.

...and I rolled when UV killed me after a reinstall where I forgot to alter the ini again. :rofl: One of my favorite Oblivion moments thank you. :foodndrink:

People are simple. Why would a mod for a video game cause people to send hate mail?

So this crap is happening again is it? I mean. this isn't an isolated incident anymore, this isn't about whether a modder has thick skin or thin skin to handle this sort stuff, no this same thing has happened to a few good modders now and as such I think it might be time for us to take a greater stand against these people. We can't afford to lose our talent, so lets fight.

Hex, basically anonymity on the internet gives the weak-minded a false sense of bravado. The only things that are acceptable responses are usually:

-- Reporting abusive comments, if they are out of hand to YouTube and so on

-- Turning off comments if possible - as nice as it is to get the positive remarks, if that does not offset the "interent tough guys" and their general jackassery, then it's not worth having comments turned on.

-- If you get abusive PMs on this forum, or inappropriate posts in RELz threads and so on, please report that to a moderator.

-- Mostly - the best response to your run-of-the-inernet-mill moronic comments and infantile ranting is usually resounding silence.


As a general note, I was half inclined to close this thread - the general ignorance on display that Hex noted in his OP are not actually from members of this community, and it's generated a bit of agita here, which we could probably do without. On the other hand, I think it does anyone good to get the full effect of a supportive community when they are facing a rough situation, which is nice. Just mind your comments, don't cross-forum troll, or general ranting, etc., should be left out.

I haven't downloaded your mod... yet (I'm a tad squeamish about betas), but it seems to me it is beyond criticism if you can turn off whatever you don't like in the .ini. So even polite complaints or anything other than constructive help seems ridiculously unwarranted. If you're going to do that I almost understand the temptation to go the whole nine and threaten to commit a grusome and sadistic murder, since you're no longer making any sense anyway.

Ever heard of Gabriel's Greater Internet dikewad Theory?

http://www.pennyarcademerch.com/pat070381.html

It rings so true on so many forums.

Maybe I should elaborate: Usually, unless your mod has a high chance of screwing up the user's installation of several mods, it's not worth the bother to include "RTFM checks". Create a "trouble.txt" and just copy&paste solutions to common "RTFM results". This saves a lot of hate, and additionally time - because reading the bile takes longer than copy&paste the solution from "troubles.txt" .

Of course there are exceptions, which is when installing a mod wrong can seriously mess up the savegame or the Oblivion installation. That's something that would create bile one way or another, and a "RTFM check" would be the better failsafe before anything bad happens. (I released one mod like this. For the extra lulz the necessary password to unpack the mod itself is "RTFM" .)

LOL.............you should see what the modders have to put up with over at the fileplanet sites. i love reading teh comments left by STALKER mod users and the other sites. written by 12 year olds with attention deficit disorder. at least here and im hoping in you in box they are the minority.

oh yeah.........check out youtube comments as well. noone holds back on those.

To relieve stress simply search for:

"we didn't start the flame war college humor"

on youtube. Have fun.

(has cursing FYI.)

:blink:




(Okay, I know, that's not a constructive post. I'm sorry. But still...)


(@Bg: I wouldn't admit publicly, but when I first downloaded the mod you're talking about, I was unable to unpack it despits its "RTFM check" password Tried 10 times to insist on the password, then stared stupidly at my keyboard; re-re-reread the readme twelve times, looking for an extra-perverted trick hiding some secret password; unplugged, shaked, re-plugged my keyboard....
Turned out, the 7zip version I was using just didn't accept the password, whereas winrar did (or the other way around, whatever) :facepalm: )

Another option is to get volunteers to answer your hate mail.

I for one would love to have an endlessly pointless conversation with some brain dead numpty about almost anything. It's fun.

Do your best to not acknowledge the irrational behavior. There are plenty of people who maintain whatever higher mental functions they have when interacting online- save your time and energy for them.

I apologize on behalf of my species' aggressive tendencies, for some are apparently incapable of moderation! :shakehead:

To see the other is to see one's self.

Hey! Please don't do that, and please try to ignore those idiots. I'm pretty sure that they are all just some kids.

If they don't like it, nobody is forcing them to use it. If they don't want to read the manual, it's their own fault if something bad happens, don't get full mod's effects or whatever.

Please don't even try to respond on the insults and just delete them. Or if you cannot, leave them as a monument to their stupidity.
Just remember that your mod made it to the TOP 100 on TESN in record time!


There's a lot of interest for your mods, but the supporters are often quiet - I'm one of them.

First, sorry for my english, iam german
Ive tested your Mod yesterday - Installed it, started it.. aand.. i was dead.. then i thought " Ok i need Pluggy and nifscript.. okay iam going to download it..) - and installed it.. after this i startet oblivion again.. loaded the save and dead.. i thought just " WTF ".. soon after this i was reading the part with "ihavereadtheinstructions=1" and i just started to laugh at myself.. because it was my own dumbness that i didnt read the whole readme
..and i must say, it makes me really sad that some children wich cannot read a readme are commenting this mod like this.. maybe this are the only words they now and this is why they couldnt read the readme..
just keep up your great mod..

- Devalinor

and again sorry for my english i think you guys know what i mean

That would imply it's abnormal people who are pleasant on internet forums.

I read a section from Hex speaking of how he still regardless of the hate has to read through his mail to find those who genuinely need help. since everyone has already said what I would generally say to support Hex I will simply say this.

I would be more than Happy to receive general help requests from UV users. let me make some sense...


Have about 5 or so alternate individuals accept emails from the Commun. they sort through the mess and send you the genuine requests making your life easier. and giving individuals like me a sense of Contribution. if you consider I would be happy to help. UV is absoulutely awsome and just makes Oblivion fun again. few realize just how essential modders are to this game. I would have shelved this thing -YEARS- ago if it werent for modding. and I thank you and fellow modders for making this an oh so delicious experience.

Bankotsu.

Yes, that theory is missing something..

I can't believe people would post threaths over something like this, and you had to report one to the police? :blink:

If this had happened to me i would've just facepalmed and RTFM, being too embarrassed by my own stupidity to start ranting about it.

And as a positive side effect of this thread, i may need to look into the mod in question..

Ignore the guys!

Great mod only bad thing is i only play in first person but the throwing function is realy awsome!!
You need a readme like that for some mods, So i cant blame you for making a killswitch in it found it the first time i swept through the readme so it isnt that hard to find.

Keep up the good work and again ignore those lowlifes!

^This^

Seriously, if you spend hundreds to thousands of hours on a mod and some whiney, self-righteous, illiterate [censored] cant take a little bit of time to read the read me, then screw em, you owe them nothing.

I will say, I dont believe disabling the comments section is the way to go though. I dont know how many mods I looked at, only to see "comments disabled". I never bothered with those mods, my first thought was "does this mod svck so bad that the author doesnt want people posting about it?".

Although, useing a larger font and coloring this part of your description red may be a good idea "Ask me a question that's answered in here and risk being insta-blocked".

You do great work, I hope you dont let a small percentage of the gaming community ruin it for you.