Game Mod Discussion at Carl's Sims 3 Forum

[Carl]

And I feel my answers in the Technical Help section are sometimes half answers. I can't give them a: well, you can download this mod and it should fix the problem option. I couldn't give them all of the options they had. So I think that beyond the Game Mod board, mod discussion should be opened up in the Technical Help board as long as the mod is on a safe site, is a safe mod, and might possibly be able to fix the problem the poster has.

I agree with MoonsAreBlue and Jeana on this. I would love to be able to at least have the non-game play affecting mods in my challenge game folder. Or at least mods that wouldn't create advantages. For a while that was all I played with in TS3. I've only recently decided I know enough what the game is supposed to do to put in the game play affecting mods. I also wouldn't mind if mods that solely affected story progression were allowed, but I will understand if that is not allowed to create simplified rules for official challenges on this forum. I also just realized that this is probably a request that is also directed at Metro since he's the creator of the Dynasty challenges and he's free to rule however he chooses to for those challenges.

Links to mods from Technical Help will be fine, as they will anywhere in which they can enhance a feature, make an adjustment, or fix an issue. For example, when helping someone having an issue with gardening in the skills discussion board, it would not be off topic to link to a mod that fixes it. However, for topic creation the gardening skill mod would go in the modification discussion board.

As far as Challenges, Metro already spoke although I did it for him. They won't be allowed simply because he doesn't want to draw lines given the number of mods to consider and I agree with him. Instead, we will make sure folks are aware of the mod management program so they don't have to make the choice between participating in challenges, using mods, or having to change them around all the time.

[jeanamariex3]

I figured the rules would stay the same, but that we're allowed to publicly discuss mods, that are high quality and still appropriate for this forum. Now it's no CC but you can share and discuss mods, as long as the websites and/or mods are still appropriate, or don't need to be used to make the Swap Shop Downloads work.

So really, it's still the same rules: Be nice, don't bash EA, no inappropriate or adult content, no spamming, type in full sentences, limit the smiley faces, no sharing illegal downloads/CD Cracks, no cc allowed in the Swap Shop (besides patterns), no cheating in the tournaments and no store content in building contests.

So are the Forum rules going to be updated so lurkers who felt my shame won't run away after reading the rules?

EDIT: I'm talking about this rule:

5. We assume no responsibility for any damage to your game or computer as a result of using mods, hacks, and/or third party custom content. Many sites which host them also offer code designed to break the game's Teen rating. As a family friendly site, we cannot endorse any sites which link to such content. DO NOT discuss or link to any mods or custom content (CC) on this forum.

[Frey]

Even before today, discussion of mods in PM was never considered illegal.  So, until there's an appropriate place for it, you can ask whomever you wish privately for the information you seek, and have no fear of violating a single rule whatsoever!  Note:  this is not a loophole, but precisely how this rule was meant to function.  So you don't have to feel like you're being sneaky or doing things behind someone's back.

True  . I actually know this, but for some reason I always felt that it was wrong to talk about mods around here, even through PM. I guess it was probably because I thought everyone here hated them  . I think I already found it though, in a website I can't link here  . Or at least one that does the same thing, hehe.

[Seera1024]

Links to mods from Technical Help will be fine, as they will anywhere in which they can enhance a feature, make an adjustment, or fix an issue. For example, when helping someone having an issue with gardening in the skills discussion board, it would not be off topic to link to a mod that fixes it. However, for topic creation the gardening skill mod would go in the modification discussion board.

As far as Challenges, Metro already spoke although I did it for him. They won't be allowed simply because he doesn't want to draw lines given the number of mods to consider and I agree with him. Instead, we will make sure folks are aware of the mod management program so they don't have to make the choice between participating in challenges, using mods, or having to change them around all the time.

Thanks for the quick answer.

And I fully understand on the no mods for challenges rule, but didn't hurt to ask. And I'll probably still do separate Sims 3 files for my various challenges. That way I know for sure that I'm in the right environment (though I'd know pretty quickly if I wasn't).

[KrispyNickyB]

Yes expansions and patches bring in bugs that can break the game, but EA works out most of them. Who would fix my game if it became unplayable because of a mod?

Well, I for one person would jump right in to help you. I'm a Sims 3 player and a Mac user. Between EA and Apple...well mods are the only way my game runs on some patches! You're a great writer Esther and I enjoy your stories. You also seem very nice and sweet. There are many that would jump at a chance to help you if you needed it.

 

I'm not trying to be stubborn, I'm not but this forum is my home away from home and I don't want it becoming anything like the official ones.

There is no way that that will ever happen. Carl has a great moderator team on his hands. He's chosen wisely. I've worked for many forums and websites. I've never seen a cohesive and on top of it bunch like this one!

[Seera1024]

There is no way that that will ever happen. Carl has a great moderator team on his hands. He's chosen wisely. I've worked for many forums and websites. I've never seen a cohesive and on top of it bunch like this one!

I concur and I haven't been here very long. I usually have a tendency to do more lurking than talking on forums of this size, yet the community here feels welcoming enough that I'm doing more talking than I normally would. On other sites I've posted my stories and would get maybe a few views but no comments. Here, I got comments to my stories on the first chapter. That's a combination of members AND staff. Good staff brings good members and good members bring good staff. It takes both for a forum to be successful and this forum has both in excess, not that there really is ever such a thing as that.

[Hosfac]

I actually know this, but for some reason I always felt that it was wrong to talk about mods around here, even through PM. I guess it was probably because I thought everyone here hated them  .

Yeah, that rule took on a life of it's own and began to mean something it was never really intended to mean.

So are the Forum rules going to be updated so lurkers who felt my shame won't run away after reading the rules?

Well, the rule isn't changing for another week or so.    This thread was simply posted so that people didn't just instantly freak out when the "Mods Board" popped up out of nowhere.  I think we generally expected a bit more resistance though.  Still, it's only been up a few hours...the day is young yet!

Carl has a great moderator team on his hands. He's chosen wisely. I've worked for many forums and websites. I've never seen a cohesive and on top of it bunch like this one!

I'm going to go ahead and take this as a heartfelt compliment!   

Thank you for saying so.  Sincerely, thanks.

[Figwit]

This thread is moving so fast but somewhere someone asked about Showtime.  Twallan updates his mods pretty fast so it would be ok to get the present set now and then update to his new ones when you patch or install the new EP.  He's good like that.

As for challenges, mods like Overwatch and ErrorTrap, Saver and even Register don't give you any gameplay perks (apart from fixing the bugs).  Carl, I think those could be used for challenges and wouldn't be cheating.

[KrispyNickyB]

I dunno Figwit. That's getting into it's hard to say which are ok and which aren't. I'm with Metro and Carl on this one. It's going to be hard to draw a line once you say one or two are okay.

Edit: Hosfac - I really do mean it.

[jeanamariex3]

I concur and I haven't been here very long. I usually have a tendency to do more lurking than talking on forums of this size, yet the community here feels welcoming enough that I'm doing more talking than I normally would. On other sites I've posted my stories and would get maybe a few views but no comments. Here, I got comments to my stories on the first chapter. That's a combination of members AND staff. Good staff brings good members and good members bring good staff. It takes both for a forum to be successful and this forum has both in excess, not that there really is ever such a thing as that.

Don't feel bad. I started out as a bit of a lurker, thinking I wasn't going to be around very long. I thought like most other forums, I sign up and forget I was ever a member. I've been a member for one whole year.

With the mod discussion, I was so used to sharing/discussing mods on the official website, and Facebook Page, that I didn't realize it wasn't allowed here. We do have a locked sticky topic "What are mods?" but it only has negative comments about them. I do think we should move that in the future discussion board, and open it back up. That thread is a perfect example to how many people wanted to say "that's not true..." (and I sent PM's to those people agreeing with them), but couldn't.

This is the topic I'm referring to.

[Seera1024]

I dunno Figwit. That's getting into it's hard to say which are ok and which aren't. I'm with Metro and Carl on this one. It's going to be hard to draw a line once you say one or two are okay.

Or Metro's PM box suddenly fills up with requests like: Can this mod be put into the allowed mod's list?


Yes, I know I would love to be allowed mods like Overwatch in my Dynasty file, but as TS3 gets older there are going to be more and more and more mods out there. And what one person might not call game play affecting, another person might. So a blanket rule isn't really going to cover it and maintain an equal playing ground, especially in Tournament challenges.


Oh and Jeana, I don't feel bad about it at all, I've had an entirely positive experience here.

[jeanamariex3]

I personally think it would be nice if Metro bent the rules a bit. Even Pinstar allows certain mods in his legacy challenge as far as I know. A lot of challenge creators have the same basic rule, as to what we think it should be: "Mods are fine as long as they don't give you an advantage."

[Figwit]

The way I look at it, Overwatch will keep the vehicles from piling up in sims' inventories as well as the other little housekeeping things it does like resetting stuck sims and returning toddlers that have gone missing.  It does this in the background and the user does not have to do anything.  It would ensure that people's challenge games did not implode from errors because of those things. 

[Hosfac]

If one person is using mods that stop bugs, and one person is not because they don't want to run the risk of using mods, regardless of the potential benefits, then the person using them will have a clear cut advantage.

As far as I am aware, this matter is not open for debate.  So any actual debate on it doesn't really help matters any.

[Serena Darrin]

As much as I would -love- to be able to use Twillan's mods and such in a challenge game, I can see why not. 

It's not so much a case of the mods themselves, it's that Metro has to go through -all- the mods and say, 'this one is allowed,' and 'this one is not', and I can guarantee someone will argue it, because as was said, what is gameplay changing to one person is not to another.

It also means that some people are at an advantage, while those who choose not to use mods are now at a disadvantage.

So as cool as that would be, I totally see how that would be -way- too much work for Metro to do; and would still result in some people being handicapped in the challenges.

I personally think it would be nice if Metro bent the rules a bit. Even Pinstar allows certain mods in his legacy challenge as far as I know. A lot of challenge creators have the same basic rule, as to what we think it should be: "Mods are fine as long as they don't give you an advantage."

Yes, but most challenges like that don't have an equivalent of the Hall of Fame that we have here; those challenges were more created as a different way to play the Sims, where as the challenges here (while still a different way to play) are scored and are competitive.   It also still means that Metro has to create a list of what mods are acceptable and what are not.  A blanket 'mods are fine unless they give you an advantage' will unfortunately be abused when it comes to a challenge game that is being scored and is competitive.

Ooh.  More replies.