If they out and out copied wholesale concepts and ideas without changing or developing them to produce something new, then they're almost as bad. I doubt however they were created with the malicious intent of undermining and forcing out another artist. I'm somewhat dubious about the Redpower clones given the mod author broke off all contact and is therefore unable to say 'no' even if she wanted to.
I have nothing again reworking ideas, redesigning concepts, being inspired by ect... a 'BTW port' would have to be substantially different, and certainly not marketed as 'BTW port'
Then it depends upon the intent. Again, yes, BWF was made with ill intent and did many things wrong. There are reasons I wouldn't use such it even if it were to be completed. But if one was made solely in the interests of compatibility? That isn't the intent to force out the artist. The artist is still the artist and his work isn't diminished. His mod will probably still be more stable and have more of a strong theme to it as it wasn't created to imitate but to create in the first place.
And ports all have to start somewhere. At launch such a think would be quite similiar to the original. But once it's out, *that's* where the mods would start to diverge as each heads in their own directions. BTW will continue to be BTW and the port would start to come into it's own as it's own entity.
You've stated that you'd allow redistribution and modification. Fair dos.
Would you still allow it if the new author wanted to do something you fundamentally stand against?
Also FC has explicitly stated multiple times that he does not allow others to modify/redistribute his work.
At that point, it's no longer my mod. What happens to it is no longer my concern. If people like *my* mod then they'll still play it. If they like the other better then they obviously didn't like my vision. It'd probably cause me to look at it to try to figure out why my idea wasn't as good for them as the alternative. Things don't evolve in a vacuum, after all.
Actually it does. Design and creative integrity are vitally important concepts, far more important to FC than popularity and download count. The best experience is the one the artist envisioned. If a design is watered down [to appeal to a wider group], then the artist and the target audience ultimately lose out. This is why BtW is such a well designed mod, because FC didn't compromise his design for the sake of a 2nd/3rd audience.
Great! It's designed best to stand alone! There's no problem with that! Many mods are best experienced by themselves to get the full impact. Multiple mods can both enhance and detract the experience of each.
The problem comes when you tell people that it *has* to stand alone. That you have to experience it *this* way and *only* this way. That is showing waaaay too much hubris, IMHO. Even Greg and Reika don't go so far.
Even if he didn't initially break compatibility (and still used Forge), it'll still become incompatible due to the fundamental design decisions FC made.
Not worrying about compatibility means more dev time available to build mod content, and a lot more freedom in what the content is and how its implemented. Also it's not the only mod who purposefully incompatible; MITE being a good example.
The fact remains every modder has the right to creative autonomy and uniqueness. If this means 'claiming more uniqueness than the original game' then so be it.
If you ever tried to tell a non-commercial artist that they must conform all their creations to the work of others to maintain a unified appearance, they'd tell you exactly where to shove it (any self respecting artist anyways). Yet within the MC modding community, doing precisely that is being held as some kind of ideal.
Simple. He just doesn't care about *making* it compatible. But purposefully go out of his *way* to make it *in*compatible is another story entirely. He could do what he does with that mod on Forge. Forge would not detract from it or prevent him from creating it. And if other mods didn't play nice, well that's not his concern and doesn't have to be.
People aren't telling him, or at least *shouldn't* be telling him that he must conform his creation to the wills of others. Just as they don't, or shouldn't, to any other modder. Each modmaker has their own vision of the game, that doesn't need to be sullied by others. They still get their full creativity autonomy and uniqueness. But. Going out of your way to make things
incompatible *and* telling them they can't make anything similiar just doesn't fly.
If you're going to make things incompatible then be prepared to have competition.
