appeal-to-modders.md

I'm trying to use your mod in my private modpack which is built using packwiz. This is a tool which allows easy creation, management and updating of mods (from multiple sources, so CurseForge, Modrinth and others) and can integrate into Prism Launcher and MultiMC to allow players to automatically update their instances / modpacks to have the most recent mods and configs. Other third-party tools exist such as the already mentioned Prism Launcher and other launchers, MCUpdater and other auto-updaters, mods to download, update and manage mods from within the game, and more...

With the mandatory switch to the new CurseForge API, and your choice to disable third-party downloads, users are met with an annoying promt requiring the manual downloading of your mod and many others. This is a problem the community had years ago when mods were only available behind adf.ly links, and was supposed to be fixed by the arrival of CurseForge.

Yes, third-party downloads do not get you reward points on CurseForge.
Nonetheless I would like to appeal to you to potentially change your mind.

• This only prevents legitimate launchers and tools from downloading mods using CurseForge's official API. Shady tools or ones that simply don't know any better can still download any mod (including ones with disabled third-party downloads) using the direct CDN downloads without authentication.
• Locking mods into a single platform is bad for the modding ecosystem. CurseForge is not all of Minecraft modding, and allowing it to become (or stay) a de facto monopoly means they don't have any incentive to improve their service. (As we've already seen over the years.)
  • Their Minecraft launcher is only available for Windows, locking out Linux and Mac users altogether.
  • The CurseForge launcher only fully supports mods from its platform, so either you use it, and are locked out of being able to easily use other mod hosting platforms such as Modrinth, or you use a third-party launcher and are locked out of using CurseForge mods that have third-party downloads disabled.
  • Their website has for years needed a massive overhaul. As a modpack creator, using it has been a horrible experience, just because it's so difficult to find compatible mods while using filters, or browse for relevant dependencies.
  • The setting in its current form allows CurseForge to shift the blame to creators while gaining the benefits of platform-locked mods, forcing users to stay in their semi-walled ecosystem, unless they're willing to sacrifice something.
• Third-party tools can fit use-cases and provide features that CurseForge simply does not. Being limited to what a single commercial entity provides is incredibly restrictive. Meanwhile, many of the third-party tools are open source and seeing rapid improvements by multiple contributors. And all of this work constantly improves the experience of users.
• Players and creators will avoid your mod, or just rehost it for personal use, as has happened in the past when mods were made difficult to aquire. You won't gain anything from your mod being avoided or rehosted, so it seems only beneficial to everyone if you re-enable third-party downloads.

It should be noted that there is an alternative mod hosting platform called Modrinth, which has much improved usability. They'll be working on ways for creators to be payed back in the future. I'll avoid listing the many reasons to switch to it, but a bunch of bigger name mods have already been re-uploaded there. Some modders even moved over completely, their mods no longer available on CurseForge at all.

In case you're not aware, the setting is in the license tab of your project on CurseForge:

All in all, please reconsider.
Let's make playing Minecraft and creating experiences with it easy and fun for everyone!

Their Minecraft launcher is only available for Windows, locking out Linux and Mac users altogether

I thought the Overwolf-Curseforge launcher had a Mac version for some time? Also, a Linux version is now available, although in fairness it doesn't support modded Minecraft (yet?), and shutting out access to Curseforge for most launchers by removing the old API, before the first-party Linux launcher was ready, was not a good move.

The setting in its current form allows CurseForge to shift the blame to creators

Yep, it was Curseforge's decision to add the toggle. This particular decision has resulted in a lot of players using other launchers being frustrated. Especially given that I don't think there's a way to know upfront if a pack is broken, or that a specific mod has the distribution setting toggled off.

I didn't know what to think of the rule change from cf, and I'm still not entirely sure.

Yes, I agree that curseforge is very outdated, the launcher is not very optimized and the search filters are just awful, but i think modders should get at least a little compensation for their work. (And some of them kinda rely on this earnings)

It's a lot more motivating when you know that you're not only giving the players an experience, but you're also benefiting yourself, and that also drives you to bring more content.

I've been creating content for games for a long time and it's always been the case that it was stolen or uploaded somewhere else, which is why I'm so critical of 3rd party downloads.
It's a shame that it makes the whole situation so cumbersome.. so far i've decided to limit these downloads and as soon as modrinth introduces a reward program to make all my mods also available there to give more people easy access.

I've been creating content for games for a long time and it's always been the case that it was stolen or uploaded somewhere else, which is why I'm so critical of 3rd party downloads.

Disabling 3rd party downloads doesn't magically give your mod DRM. Anyone can still go to the website, download the mod, and "steal" it, putting it up on 3rd party websites or just re-host it to make the experience smoother for their players. (For example, when hosting a private server.)

On the flip side, if you enable 3rd party downloads, you allow people to download your mod from the CurseForge platform. Presumably this still counts towards the download statistics (though I'm unsure), and there's less reason to re-host your mod off-site. You also do not lose out on the people simply avoiding your mod because you make it less available.

Again, by disabling 3rd party downloads, what you're saying is basically "use the official CurseForge client or get lost". I doubt there will be a lot of people that will go back to CurseForge just because some mods make their gaming hobby slightly more cumbersome, as they probably have bigger reasons why they don't use it in the first place, or a use-case that's not supported by it at all.

You're not going to get more reward points because you restrict downloads.

The problem with it all is, while 3rd party downloads benefit the players they don't necessarily benefit the developers in the same way CurseForge does currently, financially speaking.
Yes, theft is a problem, but it always is with every program and game out there - the important part is having a sole place to "legally" obtain it that benefits the developers, enough people will go there to make it worthwhile.

Without the added benefits CurseForge offers, there's no incentive for modders to provide their work elsewhere, and until that changes the number of mods available for 3rd party downloading will always be limited.
And without those benefits, modders would have less incentive and cost-effective time to work on their mods, which would reduce the overall modding experience by a great deal for players and developers alike.

I'm not saying the current situation is great, but I think we can all be thankful for at least not needing ADF.LY links to mod downloads anymore!