Cathedral vs Parlor is outdated

by Monitor144hz

This article is my opinion, you are entitled to yours. This is not an attack towards any entity or person

Two different modding philosophies

Cathedral describes mod releases as an open contribution to the community. Anyone can modify or derive from mods under the Cathedral philosophy

Parlor says that mod authors display their work for the community to enjoy, but they reserve the right to control it fully. They may limit the amount of creative freedom that others have over it.

Cathedral and Parlor were first described by Morrowind modder Wrye. Although similar and with overlapping points, this is not the same argument as Open vs Closed. Cathedral Weathers, Landscapes, and Plants are mods using this term to connote their production as a joint effort and collaboration between modders. Wryre's article was written in 2005, before Nexus mods was a thing and Skyrim was released. The situation changed, modding has changed.

The userbase changed

A different demographic

The Skyrim community became large, organized, and user-focused. Nowadays Nexus Mods is a giant centralized platform that makes it convenient for users to find all their mods in one place. Because of the sheer volume of Skyrim mods that get uploaded every hour, it's naturally encouraging authors to do more and more if they want to get their work recognized. The trending section actively encourages competition, while the donation point system incentivizes popularity.

It's not a completely bad thing, because it's so convenient if you're installing mods. Hop on Nexus every day, look at the top and trending mods that have been sifted upwards because of appeal, click download. Alternatives for popular mods are always popping up because of the large number of authors. There are so many choices for users, and it's great!

Comments on Maxsu’s modpages after his mods were not updated to Skyrim AE 1.6+

An emotionally detached community

Users evolved from being an audience, to being active prosumers. They appreciate and prefer detailed descriptions, changelogs, bug reports. Marketing, exposure, features, customizability, branding. It is now about appealing to the masses. Mod authors are incentivized to do all of this for either recognition or donation points.

Most users do not care about the approach a mod takes unless they are being hindered by it in some way. The large scale of the community means unlike the olden days there is no personal stake on the user side anymore. They are less inclined to care. Their relationship with mod authors has degraded or ruptured

The modders had to adapt

Example of successful branding by wSkeever
*(not an attack on their person, it just demonstrates good marketing)*

Modders have different priorities

Authors must now take into account branding and appearance. If the mod page is unattractive or vague, no matter how good the mod is it will not get as many downloads. Conversely, if they have a successful brand, they can just sit back and let it carry their releases. Arguably, when it comes to downloads, marketing is more important than the mod itself

Over time, users also start expecting certain standards, although they are not entilted to any. "Responsibilities" are now imposed on mod authors by the users, like the expectation of maintenance and tech support.

A money driven competition

Mod authors can get donation points for their work, which is a partially crowdfunded system that can translate into very real cashouts depending on mod downloads. This system is not ideal for mod authors. Where there used to be competition for fame, downloads…. there now also is to some degree a competition for money

Whether they are Parlor or Cathedral, whether they want to or not, authors are now indirectly competing with each other. They inevitably clash because they may see it as a competition : "I did that first so it isn't fair he gets more downloads and Donation Points !"

The problem disappeared

An improvement in the modders technical abilities

Back when Wyre’s article was written, every there were less authors thus every one of them was more important. There would be a noticeable impact on the related works that could be released if a mod author went with the Parlor approach. Knowledgeable and skilled modders were rare and valuable.

Open animation replacer with 502 votes for mod of the months only 8 days after its release

The flexibility that comes from the large population of authors, with an overlapping range of skills mean alternatives are always being released for most mods. Whether a mod is released with open permissions or not, chances are someone else can make a similar mod.

An environment prone to the creation of alternatives

Cathedral approaches make it easier for anyone to make alternative. Parlor approaches may delay alternatives but will not remove them anymore, like back then. If the permission issues create enough of an hindrance, another author will create an alternative. This happened in the case of closed source Dynamic Animation Replacer being replaced by Open Animation Replacer.

Mod permissions are now like raindrops in an ocean. The community is flexible enough to adapt to either approach, to the point where it makes virtually no noticeable impact on authors or users.

The real problem

The approach mod authors take does not make a difference. No matter which route you take, the choice is insignificant enough that it shouldn’t warrant more than a few seconds of thinking, and should certainly not spark any arguments.

What should be a bigger concern for mod authors right now is how they view the their relationship with their userbase. They need to strike a balance where both sides are satisfied. Modding should not be as user oriented as it is now. Authors should re-evaluate and think about how they will let themselves be treated by the community.