Do mod authors get a consensus before radical changes?

[deadscion]

Case in point: Mezz creates Just Enough Items mod for MC 1.10.2, which has very few of NEI mod features.
Obviously he developed this mod because he thought it was a good idea.
Along comes ChickenBones and writes an NEI addon to JEI. I suspect some fans wanted NEI features back, else he would not have written the addon.
Something as well accepted as Not Enough Items mod, which has become a very useful tool in mod pack development should either get a good consensus or be more flexible.
In other words Chickenbones should have keep the original NEI intact when updating to MC 1.10.2, along with the JEI addon.
Whether or not Mezz had good reasons(technical or otherwise) for the JEI mod is irrelevant to the fans.
Just because you are updating your mod to a new version of Minecraft does not mean you can expect to have freedom to make changes without answering to the fans in some way or another.
There are many mods, out there, somebody thought was a good idea, written without consensus, with the authors failing to understand why very few fans agree with them or issue a lot of complaints about it it one form or another.

 

[Pyure]

deadscion, can you tweak your premise a bit to clarify what your concern is? Some of the English is a bit hard to follow.

"Just because you are updating your mod to a new version of Minecraft does not mean you can expect to have freedom to make changes without answering to the fans in some way or another."
Not necessarily true. It depends on what the mod developer was trying to accomplish when he wrote it.
When I write mods (for minecraft or otherwise), I don't answer to fans, I answer to me. If I enjoy the change, that's the important thing. I'll share my work with anyone who wants to try it out, and anyone who doesn't like it, or doesn't like where I take it, is welcome to stop playing it.

"There are many mods, out there, somebody thought was a good idea, written without consensus, with the authors failing to understand why very few fans agree with them or issue a lot of complaints about it it one form or another."
Or failing to care. I think you're operating under the impression that mod-development is a popularity contest. Look at Reika as a prime example: he has a very small niche "market". His mods are NOT popular compared to, say, Thermal Expansion. And he doesn't care because his mods are for a specific small market.

 

[deadscion]

Well, I don't have to use an ignorant mod made by an ignorant author either. It only stands to reason a favorable opinion = more money.
Plus there will always be somebody to disagree with me in a forum regardless of how correct, I might be. I'm done here.

 

[Pyure]

Well, I don't have to use an ignorant mod made by an ignorant author either. It only stands to reason a favorable opinion = more money.
Plus there will always be somebody to disagree with me in a forum regardless of how correct, I might be. I'm done here.

You've been "done here" before as I recall so I'm not super concerned with that.

• If you didn't want to hear a debate on the issue, why on earth did you post the thread? Did you just want everyone to post that they agree 100% with you?
• If the mod was ignorant, why were you using it in the first place?
• If the developer is doing what makes them happy instead of what makes you happy, why does that make them ignorant?
• Why do you figure the mod developers are making mods with MONEY as a deciding factor?

If everyone catered to the mainstream ("favorable opinion"), then the only people who would be happy are mainstream players. I'm not a mainstream player. I'm an awesome, elite player who likes all the things you hate and hates all the things you like. I'm entitled to a fun mod too.

 

[Scottly318]

I'm going to add on to pyure here. He's very correct in saying that it's up to the mod author as to which way he's going.
To use your jei/nei example. Mezz saw a need and helped us out by filling it. His good reasons ARE relevant. That is the reason he created the mod.
It been awesome that chickenbones has added on to what mezz has done. To say that he needed to ask (I'm implying based on what I see your tone is) is imo ludicrous. Also he may have seen those features you mention as extraneous.

Tl;dr
No mod author needs to explain or ask about his decision

 

[Pyure]

To use your jei/nei example. Mezz saw a need and helped us out by filling it. His good reasons ARE relevant. That is the reason he created the mod.
It been awesome that chickenbones has added on to what mezz has done.

I'm curious, do you know the backstory here? I asked for clarification and I'm still wondering: What exactly is the problem here?

 

[Scottly318]

I have no back story. Past that nei hadn't jumped to 1.10.2 when mezz made jei. Reasoning is always pertinent to why someone created something. If filling a gap in coverage isn't a relevant reason then I don't know what is. Or that's my opinion on the subject.

 

[Pyure]

I have no back story. Past that nei hadn't jumped to 1.10.2 when mezz made jei. Reasoning is always pertinent to why someone created something. If filling a gap in coverage isn't a relevant reason then I don't know what is. Or that's my opinion on the subject.

Actually that's a good bit of backstory right there.

My current understanding of the gripe:

• chickbones makes NEI pre-1.10 (<= 1.7.10? I dunno, its been around since forever though)
• mezz wants an NEI in newer versions
• mezz creates an NEI variant for 1.10 and calls it JEI.
• chickenbones makes an addon for JEI rather than re-write NEI in 1.10.2 (I think?)
• deadscion gets upset because chickenbones should have created NEI 1.10.2 in addition to (or instead of) a JEI addon.

If that interpretation is correct, its thoroughly ridiculous. Its not an opinion, its black and white simple: we should appreciate every second a modder puts into a mod, and we, as consumers, should never, ever have an expectation that they are ethically obligated to give us more.

"Just because you are updating your mod to a new version of Minecraft does not mean you can expect to have freedom to make changes without answering to the fans in some way or another."
is kind of analogous to:
"Just because you are a person of race X does not mean you can move into my neighborhood without answering to the racist people who live around here."

Which is to say its logically valid but ethically insane.

 

[Robijnvogel]

And, I have to add, the NEI plugin for JEI was made by TheCBProject. Chickenbones gave them permission to "continue" his mods.
Looking at Github, it seems that ChickenBones himself hasn't written code for his mods for over a year.