RC/ReC/ElC/CC Policy Changes

1M Industries

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I am not talking about random end users. I am talking about people with standing in the community, including at least three mod developers, eleven pack devs (and two former pack devs), two streamers, many, many people whose opinions are held in high regard on these forums, that sort of thing. There is currently an IRC discussion going on, this very moment where two people, both significant in the FTB team, appear to be trying to scare off people expressing contentment at these new freedoms, telling them, among other things, that all the installation integrity checking I do (things like .jar.zip, ID conflicts, et cetera) are "because a) Reika thinks he's better than everyone else, and is the minecraft police" and "reika has a gigantic persecution complex".

And if this is the kind of behavior I can expect from adults who are in positions of power, who are supposed to be honest and reasonable, then I want nothing to do with it.
For those who wish to see: http://pastebin.com/Li4zdg5V
 
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Luminary

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Uwah!

Darn it. My heart jumped when I saw news of this on the reddit. I wanted to do a little happy-dance in the middle of a crowded street car. I would finally possibly get RotaryCraft in a non-kitchen-sink pack! Something actually cohesive and interesting I could enjoy playing, in a Crash Landing/Regrowth/Etc style! I was always stymied from playing RotaryCraft by the fact that it just can't reasonably be slotted into packs that I spend time on, and I would be bored out of my mind playing it just on top of Vanilla.

But, no. I don't think I'll be getting that. My sadness is... rather epic.

It's not even the restrictions. It's the vetting process that encourages kitchen sinks and discourages themed packs. Someone with an idea for a great, fresh, well-meshed pack is probably going to take one look at that license and nope the heck off, figuring a battle-of-creative-will or some kind of lengthy bureaucratic style red tape process is not worth the time or effort. And poor Lumie will be left without cool spinning gears, possibly forever. Looking from the outside in. Double darn it. I have been waiting to get my grubby mitts on RC for years.

Darnitdarnitdarnitdarnitdamnit.

It's a good change, in the right direction from the previous I'llCutYouSoBadYou'llWishIDidn'tCutYouSoBad agreement. But don't forsee it meaning RC reaches my little niche of the modded Minecraft playerbase. This is one of those times where I hope I end up epically wrong. I'm just doubting it. :(
 
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TomeWyrm

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Actually you very easily could. All this has a pack dev do is run their eventual changes past Reika so that the person who made the mod and has spent a rather absurd amount of time and effort making something different and balanced in unintuitive ways can tell you if you're going to break his mod horribly, and make note of what they changed in the handbook. That's it. Something that will take you almost no time, and something else you should be doing anyway simply because you modified a massive and fairly complex mod.

The notification in the handbook is so people don't go WHOA! THIS MOD IS AWESOME CUZ YOU CAN MAKE THIS FOREST-CHEWING AXE OUT OF WOOD AND SPITBALLS! and then become extremely disappointed when they try it in another pack and vocalize this displeasure most obnoxiously all over the place. Seriously. Go read all the updates in Reika's thread for a week. Come back here and tell me that doesn't happen. Then imagine that about 50 times worse. Welcome to the Monster Era, and that was with an almost entirely stock RotaryCraft!

The pack they are likely to play is NOT going to be another carefully sculpted single-play-through experience pack ala AgSkies, Regrowth, Material Energy, or Crash Landing, odds are VERY VERY good that it is going to be some variant on a "kitchen sink"; please don't kid yourself, the themed packs aren't what people play long-term, or on most servers. Yes they get a kajillionty downloads, yes they're fun, but they don't provide a good platform for endless play in a diverse community. There's a reason DW20's pack is usually the top downloaded FTB pack for its MC version, and Resonant Rise is absolutely massive, the yogs play on a pack like that too, so did the mindcrack crew, and most streamers and youtubers I see play on packs that most people would class as "kitchen sinks". It might even be added on top of a more popular pack. Many of the people I see in communities who mention playing Reika's stuff have slapped them on top of DW20, RR3, or Infinity. They also were most likely introduced to the mods via Monster.

Even completely unmodified, this is the kind of mod that spawns tutorials, example builds, and tips/tricks videos. Which can actively be harmful in even a single major version later. For instance there was a change to the RF to Shaft conversion engine that made it require active cooling at the mid tiers and higher. If you don't carefully read the handbook and make a build involving these from before that change? Bad things can happen. Failing to treat many of Reika's powerful toys with respect can do things ranging from killing you humorously to making Chernobyl out of your base and the neighboring chunks in a double-digit radius. All of which will inevitably be piled right at Reika's feet. We've seen it happen before, the community is even more hostile towards Reika now so there is no reason not to assume it will not happen again.

Seriously it is both not NEARLY as onerous as most people are making it out to be (I actually have a suggestion for that, by the way), and still protects Reika from a level of vitriol and hate from the community he does NOT deserve, that has been documented, can be verified by dozens of third parties, and can easily be proved.







That idea? Give a list of the things which shouldn't be modified for progression breaking reasons. That list is actually pretty small. The bedrock breaker, all the native engines, the fermenter, the blast furnace, the grinder, the extractor, the furnace heater, tungsten, bedrock dust, and jet fuel. That's pretty much the extent of "don't touch this without really good reasons and being very careful or you're GOING to break the mod", right? Basically everything else could be disabled in most packs without breaking All The Things. I wouldn't suggest disabling the Dew Point Aggregator if you're planning on ReactorCraft either :p

But just give a list of the things which you shouldn't touch without REALLY careful reasoning, and say both that you're available for discussion if you really want to try modifiying those things on the list and that if it's not on the list, you can probably modify it, but run it past you anyway so you can provide some advice in case of unforseen issues. Then it's not this huge beast where touching something will Call Down The Wrath Of Reika Upon Your Heathen Head; it's just a list of things you should probably avoid messing with, and a little bit of extra stuff to tack ontop of the permissions request... oh and some bookkeeping that basically every user of ANY pack would appreciate if they ever try and play another pack with some of those mods, even one they assemble themselves. I can't tell you the number of times I tried something in Agrarian Skies, EVEN HAVING PLAYED MAGIC FARM!!!! That made me scream at my computer screen "Why is this not working?!", go search on Google if the problem wasn't a crafting recipe or disabled item, and find out "Because Jadedcat changed it". Being introduced to Blood Magic by Ag Skies, I tried to make mob spawn eggs in my next world and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working until I googled it and saw it was an agrarian skies only config. The bee multiplication thing? Ag Skies only. The recipe for Pneumaticraft seeds that was dye+seed? I've seen soo many people try and do that with stock Pneumaticraft after being intro'd to it by Crash Landing.

These carefully crafted experiences are making undocumented changes that are headaches for users all over the place. They SHOULD have these changes documented somewhere, and this is the place so many authors skimp on. It shouldn't just be a line in the quest book, it should be in a place the user cna go and find all these changes in a nice ordered list. Yes it's work, try adding sensible Thaumcraft 4 aspects to every item in a 250-mod pack and documenting it because most of those items have no aspects and I don't want my players getting used to using TiCo Heart Canisters from their mob farms as a source of Victus only to have that trip them up in every other pack ever because they are aspectless. Or have them find a guide that suggests diamonds as an EMC source when I add a mod which gives a plant-based method of diamond creation that gives diamonds an EMC of 4096. Or any number of other headaches that could be avoided if I actually spent the time to let my players know that "hey, this awesome thing I worked on is different from stock. Enjoy it being so awesome, but don't expect it in someone else's pack".
 

moltenbrain

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One question: Isn't the modding community big enough to include people who have an artistic vision and want to protect it? You have choice. You can always create a mod yourself that conforms to your own vision. So why impose this notion that "anyone who makes a mod should be prepared to have anyone else change it" on everyone who mods? Obviously, and very justifiably, Reika takes pride in having a mod that has a certain type of gameplay. That is part of the vision. You will argue that he can have that and at the same time allow other people to change it. But then people are playing a mod with the same name and attributed to Reika which is not really his mod. I can completely understand his wishing to defend against that. I've heard people who normally seem reasonable say things like "if you don't want to do it this way, you should not be in modding." Really? You wish to limit your choice that way and drive away developers of excellent mods?
 

TomeWyrm

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Jul 29, 2019
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He's not even saying "don't tweak my mod", he actually understands the desire to make minor, and even not-so-minor tweaks to even a complicated mod so it fits into a circumstance the mod author never could have predicted. Heck that's what configs are for at their basic level!

The whole reason for this is that users have proven. Repeatedly. That they (or their server admin) will break the mod and then blame Reika for it, all over the place. There are a whole boatload of tweaks that have been added to the configs which people like @keybounce have gotten added because they came up with ideas that changed RotaryCraft to suit their pack in ways that both didn't break the mod, and Reika NEVER would have imagined on his own. When v7 drops if this policy is in place, I'm going to re-obtain permission from Reika for my pack (which has changed enough that I feel morally obligated to do so, even if I'm in the clear depending on your views on the Theseus' paradox, and don't really require much of anything bigger than "Hey Reika, I'm still not being a complete jerk" because it's a semi-private pack), and try really hard to make RoC an option at many parts of the "progression" like Iskandar was trying to do with Crash Landing and its tech mods, without busting his tiering wide open. Which probably means there's going to be dozens of tweaks all over the place. It will still be RotaryCraft, but it will hopefully not stick out like a sore thumb without me warping the pack to fit RoC.
 
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Pyure

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Because such a thing is incredibly destructive to a server balance, and he is going to get the same result as the guy who sold endgame content and tried to sue me when his server was obliterated with it.


Yes, but presumably said author knows this and can tell me, whereupon it will actually be given more consideration.

But the fact is, most people, a vast majority, including most pack devs, assume they are identical purely because the names are similar.


In both cases the point remains the same:

For every legitimate case you can imagine for modifications like the ones above, there are a hundred more that are based on poor or no understanding that I need to be able to filter out.
My response was actually directly connected to 1M's quote of the young soul who defied your previous rules, not your current rules. I don't fully support your current rules but I'm not particularly objecting to them either.

My understanding is that the individual could have represented his case under the new rules and possibly earned an allowance to make the changes he wanted provided he was able to give a sufficiently compelling argument.
 

Rebirth Gaming

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RotaryCraft: The new GregTech. A mod everyone hates and no one uses.

Reika. Just stop. Please. Do you seriously expect people to follow these rules ON TOP of any other rules that might already apply from other mod authors? Have you ever created a modpack? It's a lot of work, assuming the author of the pack is doing everything in accordance to posted rules by mod authors and pack-hosting launchers like FTB.

In case you never made a modpack, let me give you an idea of what's involved... heck, I'll tell you what I do just to UPDATE my pack.

First, I have to gather a list of bugs and issues that are reported to me on a daily bases. Yes, everytime I get a bug report, I make note of it as any good pack author would.

I then have to reach out to the mod author's issue tracker to either see if the bug already exists, or submit a report myself. Chances are, the bug has already been reported, saving me time. If so, I take note of any provided solution. Let's just assume for a moment best case scenario - the bug has already been fixed an pushed to a newer version of the mod. Cool, that means I just need to update the mod.

But, here's the problem... is the updated mod compatible with the other 50-100 mods in my pack? Time to test it! Oh, what's this? The newest version was updated for a new Forge version, which changed something, breaking compatibility with other mods in my pack? Well, time to see if those incompatible mods are updated! No? Time to reach out to those mod devs and get an ETA on an update... assuming they are even aware that their mod needs updating.

This is an ongoing cycle if I want to keep my pack up to date to minimize bugs and crashes. It can get ugly at times. There's already a great deal of effort spent on ensuring my pack is kept up to date *and* stable. Sometimes, an issue will arise that requires *immediate* attention - the kind of bugs that get overlooked in a test build, but can cause more issues than a mere client crash. These kind of issues demand an overnight update, like downgrading the problem mod or applying a hotfix. But I can't do overnight fixes! Why not? Because FTB has to approve *all* pack updates, which can take up to 48 hours. I run my pack across multiple platforms, and while I could update the pack on Technic immediately, I won't update my server until all platforms have been updated to ensure everyone can download the latest build.

So, if I include your mod in my pack, and I have to contact you to get approval *even if* I didn't update your mod at all, that creates more wait time before I can even submit the pack to FTB for approval to update. I have a life Reika. I work, and I like to spend my evenings doing things other than bug fixing and managing my modpack. Sometimes, I want to actually play Minecraft. Simply put, I'm not going to use any mod that increases my wait time and effort in updating my pack outside of usual bug fixing and the FTB approval process.

Let me also remind you NO ONE is getting paid for any of this. Not you. Not I. Not anyone. So, if effort > satisfaction, then I won't do it. Nobody will. Why do you think mods die out and stop getting updated? Because people get burnt out. They stop enjoying what they doing. They no longer get satisfaction from providing a FREE thing to the modding community. We've seen it happen to even the best of mods.

Here is my recommendation, Reika. Just use a license to protect your mod from theft/monitization/unauthorized use of your code. Simple. "But, but... my progression and mod's design intent! I want it to stay intact!" Ok, I understand. Then how about coding it in a way/close sourcing parts of it so that they simply can't be modified by normal means. I say normal means because if someone is determined enough to alter parts of your mod that you don't approve of, then chances are they won't give a damn about your policy either and ignore it. I'm sure you heard of an API. I'm no programmer, but isn't that your "gateway" where you can control what can and can't be modified?

And your policy on OreDict values? Don't make me laugh. Scripts can be edited IN-GAME and reloaded with a single command. What will stop servers/single players from adding OreDict values on the fly? Sure, they might lose these modifications to the script through updates, because you won't approve them, but it's not hard to keep backups of a file and load it after the update. Good try, though.
 

EyeDeck

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So, if I include your mod in my pack, and I have to contact you to get approval *even if* I didn't update your mod at all, that creates more wait time before I can even submit the pack to FTB for approval to update. I have a life Reika. I work, and I like to spend my evenings doing things other than bug fixing and managing my modpack. Sometimes, I want to actually play Minecraft. Simply put, I'm not going to use any mod that increases my wait time and effort in updating my pack outside of usual bug fixing and the FTB approval process.
I'm having a really hard time trying to understand how Reika's policy change requires you to get approval from him every time you update your pack, unless you have some compulsion to fiddle with the balance of his mods specifically every single time you need to do an emergency update.

Here is my recommendation, Reika. Just use a license to protect your mod from theft/monitization/unauthorized use of your code. Simple. "But, but... my progression and mod's design intent! I want it to stay intact!" Ok, I understand. Then how about coding it in a way/close sourcing parts of it so that they simply can't be modified by normal means. I say normal means because if someone is determined enough to alter parts of your mod that you don't approve of, then chances are they won't give a damn about your policy either and ignore it. I'm sure you heard of an API. I'm no programmer, but isn't that your "gateway" where you can control what can and can't be modified?
...is this not already exactly what he's doing? Reika's mods have been licensed since forever, they've been programmed in such a way that messing with them in a way he doesn't approve of will usually cause the mod to disable itself (not to mention most recipes, by design, cannot be e.g. Minetweaked at all), and closed-sourcing it wouldn't do much good because Java decompiling/bytecode manipulation always exists for someone determined enough.

It sounds to me like your solution to Reika's mods not being tweakable enough is to somehow make them less tweakable than they already are, which is highly confusing.

And your policy on OreDict values? Don't make me laugh. Scripts can be edited IN-GAME and reloaded with a single command. What will stop servers/single players from adding OreDict values on the fly? Sure, they might lose these modifications to the script through updates, because you won't approve them, but it's not hard to keep backups of a file and load it after the update. Good try, though.
Reika's policy regarding single-player/private packs has always been "change every recipe, make custom builds from source, do whatever you want". If a server owner or pack author is subverting Reika's 'approved' balance changes by screwing with ore dictionary stuff by any means, those would be grounds enough for permission revokal. What more can a mod author do beyond adding what would inevitably cause a shitshorm about "DRM"?
 
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DC2008

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Fully support Reika on this.

I am confused about the concern regarding seeking permission for and documenting changes.

From a power/ complexity standpoint, if, say, Metallurgy or Buildcraft or Pam's are full-size sedans, RotaryCraft and Chromaticraft are race cars. Extremely, extremely powerful, but if you use them with insufficient care, Bad Things happen.

Gaining a sufficient understanding of the big Reika mods to be able to tweak recipes with a solid understanding of what effect those changes will have is going to take much more than 5 minutes. Frankly, the time you spend getting permissions is likely going to be the smallest component.

As for the mods being unusable in a large pack, that is frankly laughable. I built a pack (private server; not taking new players ATM) around them, which works and runs marvelously. While I did not change recipes, the few times I have had questions (typically where I knowingldownloaded WIP build) I have always gotten a quick response.

As compared to other, more widely used mods, Reika's mods are a dream--frequent updates, good tech support, readable error messages, and I have never had issues with unstable "stable" releases (wish I could say the same for other mods).

Finally, for those who think that Reika is exaggerating about how he is treated by the community, go read through his MCF thread. Or look at how he is discussed on Reddit.
 

Pyure

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I am confused about the concern regarding seeking permission for and documenting changes.

From a power/ complexity standpoint, if, say, Metallurgy or Buildcraft or Pam's are full-size sedans, RotaryCraft and Chromaticraft are race cars. Extremely, extremely powerful, but if you use them with insufficient care, Bad Things happen.
In most packs.

Finally, for those who think that Reika is exaggerating about how he is treated by the community, go read through his MCF thread. Or look at how he is discussed on Reddit.
And why do you think that is? Take other equally complex mods (and they do exist) and ask yourself why those modders get less flak.

Regardless of one's stance on the policies being discussed here, there's frequently nuggets of truth in the ranting complaints he receives.
 

epidemia78

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Ive never played on a server and have absolutely no experience with that side of the community so I might should not be so quick to judge. But I do know that people can stoop to surprising depths so I dont blame Reika for wanting to have some control of his content but on the other hand all of these "rules" are starting to seem a bit...anal retentive? Paranoid? Insane? A little of all three I think. Is the online community really that insidious? Or is it that Reika just cant bear the thought of someone bending the rules?
 
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Wagon153

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Ive never played on a server and have absolutely no experience with that side of the community so I might should not be so quick to judge. But I do know that people can stoop to surprising depths so I dont blame Reika for wanting to have some control of his content but on the other hand all of these "rules" are starting to seem a bit...anal retentive? Paranoid? Insane? A little of all three I think. Is the online community really that insidious? Or is it that Reika just cant bear the thought of someone bending the rules?
You've never been on 4chan then. Or reddit. Or twitter. Or tumblr. People on the internet can and will be extremely unpleasant. It's happened several times on Reika's very own MCF thread! Reika is right to be suspicious.
 
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epidemia78

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You've never been on 4chan then. Or reddit. Or twitter. Or tumblr. People on the internet can and will be extremely unpleasant. It's happened several times on Reika's very own MCF thread! Reika is right to be suspicious.

Yeah, I hate those sites. I dont think its good that you guys encourage Reika down this path because his rules are only going to attract more hate isnt it? Being outspoken on the internet is a sure fire way of getting hated, you think I dont know that? Its better when you decide not to care what people think about you but it doesnt hurt to not go looking for trouble.
 

Wagon153

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Yeah, I hate those sites. I dont think its good that you guys encourage Reika down this path because his rules are only going to attract more hate isnt it? Being outspoken on the internet is a sure fire way of getting hated, you think I dont know that? Its better when you decide not to care what people think about you but it doesnt hurt to not go looking for trouble.
There is no good option here. Either A. He opens the mod completely to modification and suffers 100x the PEBCAK(problem exists between computer and keyboard) errors. B, leaves it completely closed and suffers people hounding him about his closed rules. Or C. Open up slightly and see how it works. Besides, perhaps in the future, Reika will open his mods even more to modification. I see this as a step in the right direction.
 

keybounce

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...PEBCAK(problem exists between computer and keyboard) ...

.... that's the wires. Why would the wires be a problem?

Or, on a laptop, between the computer and keyboard is ... almost nothing.

Did you mean "problem exists outside computer and keyboard"?
 
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Iskandar

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.... that's the wires. Why would the wires be a problem?

Or, on a laptop, between the computer and keyboard is ... almost nothing.

Did you mean "problem exists outside computer and keyboard"?
THe actual abbreviation is PEBKAC, Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair, also known as an ID-10T error.