As the originator of the first thread that seems now to be perpetually locked thanks to people acting like badly behaved children (both those railing at Funcom and making preposterous claims and those who love nothing better than a chance to be awful to RPers)…I do have some thoughts.
When I originally posted, it was because I had been told that there had been no communication between Funcom and the modder whose excellent character customization mod, Tot Custom, was pulled from the Steam Workshop at FC’s request. I did and still do feel that the modder should have been informed of the ban by Funcom at least at the time it was enacted if not before. Even if there had been earlier communications between Funcom and the modder, which there may well have been.
I have said in my original thread, no doubt lost in the flood by now, that none of us know, or are entitled to know, what specific problem or problems caused FC to ban the mod. Questions about those specifics are pointless wastes of time and space. I would implore those of you with those questions to stop it. The modder could, if he were so inclined, share the emails to him from Funcom and his responses to them. That he is choosing not to do so is probably both wise and telling. It is entirely possible that he has been told not to share those emails while there is still some hope that his mod will be reinstated. But even if he has not been given such a gag order, it would likely be foolish of him to share them now while he negotiates with Funcom over the fate not just of Tot Custom but that of his entire suite of mods upon which so many servers rely. Because if the ban remains in place on Tot Custom he will not be permitted to update and reupload any of his mods and as game updates occur those mods will stop working and server owners will be forced to abandon them.
So for those of you holding out hope that Tot Custom will be returned it is probably wise to realize that even more than that single mod is at stake here and it would be best if you either stop posting or drastically moderate your tone.
You might also stop to consider the fact that Funcom very likely does not need the modders files, source code or what-have-you to know exactly what is in them. Trust me on this, they know. And while it would be great for them to publicly say, “Hey modders, you see this specific thing? Yeah, don’t do that,” since that would probably also be exposing a means to do something they don’t want modders doing (but that they can), odds are extremely low anything like that is going to happen.
Be content that communication and negotiation is now occurring between the modder and Funcom and develop some patience. GO play other games while we wait or, y’know, engage in some actual human interaction. I hear the graphics are pretty great outside… even if the quest rewards pretty much suck.
Lastly, be kind. And if you can’t be kind… try being silent.