So, recently there have been several mods placed into the completed mods sub-forum which - lets be frank here - don't meet anything like the standard set by either Nicholas, David and co. or that of Essence, Ruigi, etc. While mods certainly don't need to be as amazingly fully featured as FaxPax, CES, etc., I'd expect a mod posted to the completed mods forums to follow these guidelines: Include a link to a functional build of the mod - i.e. its fine to have a beta release/buggy release, but to be a completed mod, I must be able to play your mod without crashing/skills. If there is a known issue, it should be discussed. The mod should be relatively balanced - it doesn't need to be as perfect as, e.g. the core game, but it should maintain the average power level of the game unless the intent is to change this - i.e. Elvish Reality, various "Cheat" mods. An addendum to this is that perhaps the sticky should have 'cheat' skills/mods in a separate category. It should have been playtested, and not just by yourself. This meets (1) and (2) - but more importantly, it means that the mod will have feedback and discussion before final release. For example, a couple of mods which do this 'right': http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/reptile-skill-set-comments.5704/ http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/asgardian-ace-norse-skilltree.5674/ http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/please-help-troubleshoot-my-first-mod-drama-queen.5555/ http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/2-mods.5692/ All of these mods look for feedback etc. in a non-release context - both in balance and in issues in the mod's implementation. Here are a couple that I take issue with being a 'release' and why: http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/nephilim-skillset.5664/ -blatantly imbalanced, has a high chance of causing crashed if capstone used in the wrong place. Fails all 3 criterion to some extent. http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/beta-release-and-testing-crossbowverhaul.4493/ -Its a beta! It fails the 3rd criterion. http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/jack-of-all-trades-skill.3810/ -Not sure what its status is atm, but it looks as though at the time of posting he was still looking for modding assistance and help with it. As much as it can be nice to "ship" a mod, I think it would be advantageous to have the mod releases forum specifically for mods that are done.
I'll say some of what I said before. In my opinion, it's a good idea to have a guideline but it's harder to figure out a fair guideline. No crash - sure, but it happens even to long released mods. A certain crash could avoid being found for a while. Balance - I'm kind of against a balance guideline because it's so subjective. Who gets to decide when it's fine for release, if not the author? I'd be on board with your third point though. Something like posting your mod in the modding section and letting a week go by before adding it to the "releases"?
Re: Point 1 - http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/beta-release-and-testing-crossbowverhaul.4493/ "when I shoot a mosolov bolt, I get CTD'd every single time." That's not a 'hard to find crash' - that's a 'I used the mod and it broke my game' crash. Re: Balance - It's hard to quantify, but its also something that has a large interval in the main game (old... piracy to old pyro, for example) and it is quite obvious when something is blatantly over the top. At the very least, there should be an acknowledgement of the approximate level of power (if not aimed at on par with the game) before release. Re: Time, maybe a week, or even two? Boards move fairly quickly here, so a week would probably be fine.
I don't see any reason for this to be a requirement though. Maybe it's something you'd like to see, but like Daynab said, balance is subjective, and I don't want to set anyone up as the "balance police".
I don't mean "this spell does 1 too much damage and has 0.2 too much -mana scaling", I mean "this skillset is literally 3 or 4 skillsets in one, if you played a random character, and got this and 6 completely useless skills, you'd win easily". That's somewhat subjective (which skillsets do you pick ) but its also something you tend to get consensus on. If 5/5 people discussing a mod say "wow this is insane" - its probably not balanced. Edit: Anyway, the main issue is that a mods first appearance should not be in the releases forum.
Yeah that's essentially my suggestion: If possible keep reply permissions in mod releases but not new threads, and make new mods stay in the general modding section for a week before being added to the list. If people like that I'll talk to Derek. It doesn't really change much since that's what 90% of people do already.
I think it would still be better if you did that - of the "90% of people who do that" most are those who do it pretty much out of courtesy because their mods are playable. Often times it is people who created mods of sub-par quality (however you define that) who just make a thread in the "released" section on their own without testing their mod enough first and then just call it a day. That being said, I have nothing against "cheat" mods being in the "released" section - if anything, I think it is more vital for mods of this sort to have their own place in the mod index so that people who use the list to find mods (likely the majority of people who download mods from the forum) would be able to easily see if something is relatively balanced or just plain broken (balance-wise).
