An open letter to modders: Stop removing your mods from the Steam Workshop!

[whoishigh]

I'm sure you have your reasons. Maybe the mod isn't needed anymore or made obsolete by a similar mod, maybe you don't feel it's appreciated enough, maybe you just don't care about it anymore.

The problem is as soon as you remove the mod, it's also automatically removed from the library of everyone who happened to use your mod as soon as they open Steam. There's no notification on Steam's end to let your users know that the mod was removed, no message to point to your new replacement mod, nothing. The only indication that anything has changed is Rimworld's atrocious Mod Mismatch popup when your users try to load the same save they played yesterday. I personally have 100+ active mods in my game right now so maybe it's more of a problem for me than people who only use a handful of mods, but let me tell you - it's fucking obnoxious to try to compare the two walls of text that awful popup presents me with. Maybe that's something someone could enhance through a mod.

So if you want to abandon or remove your mod for whatever reason, please, just leave it on the workshop. It costs you nothing, and saves your users a lot of frustration and headache!

[MaximusIsAwesome]

Solution:
Don't use steam workshop

[whoishigh]

Solution:
Don't use steam workshop

Thanks for your valuable input.

[Jaxxa]

The only thing that you can really do is backup your steam mods so you have a copy of them if they are removed, this is also a good idea for when they next version comes out and they start getting updated.

Some reasons that I can think to remove it would be if it had a bad game breaking but that you couldn't fix, removing it might be the better option then.

Also if there was a substantial negative reaction to a mod I would also consider removing it from Steam.

[skullywag]

Steam auto update WILL break your saves, thats a fact, as above, download via steam and go find the files it downloaded, then transfer them to the games mod folder, you lose the auto updating functionality but if youre that attached to your saves woold you really trust steam to handle that? (when everyone knows it doesnt).

You are never going to stop modders removing mods from steam, its their mod, its up to them what they do with it. So remove the point of failure, move the steam mod to mod folder, simples.

[Granitecosmos]

The problem is as soon as you remove the mod, it's also automatically removed from the library of everyone who happened to use your mod as soon as they open Steam. There's no notification on Steam's end to let your users know that the mod was removed, no message to point to your new replacement mod, nothing.

Let's be honest here, this is Not My Problem™. The way Steam Workshop handles mods is questionable at best, and outright ridiculous at worst. Let's also not forget the Skyrim paid mods fiasco. Besides, RimWorld is not Steam-exclusive. Steam Workshop is for Steam users so you'd have to upload your mod somewhere else too, if you want to share it with everyone. So why should I upload it to Steam Workshop when even Steam users can download and install my mod using the method available for everyone?

[Shinzy]

Steam auto update WILL break your saves, thats a fact, as above, download via steam and go find the files it downloaded, then transfer them to the games mod folder, you lose the auto updating functionality but if youre that attached to your saves woold you really trust steam to handle that? (when everyone knows it doesnt).

You are never going to stop modders removing mods from steam, its their mod, its up to them what they do with it. So remove the point of failure, move the steam mod to mod folder, simples.

And just because Steam hides all the workshop content behind series of numbers so that it's freaking difficult to find the mods:
https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=29440.0
^ This thread explains where to find the steam workshop mod and manual mod folders

[skullywag]

The problem is as soon as you remove the mod, it's also automatically removed from the library of everyone who happened to use your mod as soon as they open Steam. There's no notification on Steam's end to let your users know that the mod was removed, no message to point to your new replacement mod, nothing.

Let's be honest here, this is Not My Problem™. The way Steam Workshop handles mods is questionable at best, and outright ridiculous at worst. Let's also not forget the Skyrim paid mods fiasco. Besides, RimWorld is not Steam-exclusive. Steam Workshop is for Steam users so you'd have to upload your mod somewhere else too, if you want to share it with everyone. So why should I upload it to Steam Workshop when even Steam users can download and install my mod using the method available for everyone?

Well the only reasons are basically due to the effort required, Steam makes finding mods easier, the forums are not the place for it, however the other main reason would normally be the auto updating thing but we know how that goes....so yeah if we had a better "mod portal" than the forums I doubt steam would even be used (apart from by those that just HAVE to have it in steam). Personally it doesnt take me that long to rattle through the release forum and pick out what I like and update what I have. Its way less bother than steam randomly deciding to break my game.

[jimthenoob]

I find steam is ok if you stick to the few very popular mods, if you are into anything a bit more obscure or not 5-4 star its pretty much an invitation to mess up your save file.  An in game database would be cool, but likely a huge headache for the development team at the moment since the game isn't even finished. For that matter when the game is settled down and finished in general I think most of the steam workshop issues will go away too. when we aren't changing version every 3-6 months this issue tends to go away.

[GideonHidolka]

It would take me forever to dig through the forums to find and download the mods I want, then I have to keep tabs on every single thread for every mod to see if the modder updated them and redownload them.

If you have the time to do that, that's great, its what I would do if I could. But I don't have that kind of time so I use steam workshop instead.

[whoishigh]

Let's be honest here, this is Not My Problem™.

I know, and this rant was as much about the Steam Workshop as it was the mods being removed without warning and the plain awful mod mismatch screen within the game (honestly, that popup is 90% of why I went full nerd rage here). But if a modder wants people to use or continue using their mods (that's why you guys make them, right?), it might be wise to respect the end user's needs as well.

Personally it doesnt take me that long to rattle through the release forum and pick out what I like and update what I have. Its way less bother than steam randomly deciding to break my game.

I'll be the first to say it, I've been spoiled by the workshop. It's pure convenience and, honestly, auto-update rarely goes wrong in my experience. Being able to download and drop a mod into my game with a single button is far too easy and honestly worth the trouble I occasionally have with Steam's nonsense, like...

And just because Steam hides all the workshop content behind series of numbers so that it's freaking difficult to find the mods

And again, this rant is about mods for a game in the alpha stage of development, so it's very possible I'm expecting too much. The original post was made more out of frustration and desperation than anything else, I was certain it wasn't going to change anything but I had to say something yanno?

[Greep]

This would be nice to actually have in a sticky or something.  I'm new to modding on steam, and I would not have expected removing a mod to remove it for individuals.  That's so stupid it's completely unexpected.

[RawCode]

welcome to real life, nobody owe you anything!

if modder decided to remove his mod from workshop, well, you have absolutely no rights to stop him.

[GideonHidolka]

welcome to real life, nobody owe you anything!

if modder decided to remove his mod from workshop, well, you have absolutely no rights to stop him.

To me its more a matter that steam itself shouldn't rip it from your game if you had it previously. But I supposes that's a separate complaint entirely.

[whoishigh]

welcome to real life, nobody owe you anything!

if modder decided to remove his mod from workshop, well, you have absolutely no rights to stop him.

I'm not saying a modder can't remove their mod, just asking that they don't as a common courtesy to the people who support them.