Auto Update or ELSE!

[MrDDT]

Why are we forced to auto update? I thought the whole point was to not make it forced on us.

With the recent change to auto update, if you turn off auto updates, you are no longer able to use the thing you bought.

What about the people that don't want to be forced into this option? What are we supposed to do?

[LordEntrails]

For everyone coming to this thread. Please see this thread first; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ibed-extension

Please do not repeat the discussion that occurred there and caused that thread to degenerate to where it was locked.

Also be aware that this has already been added to the Wish List for the forge by the OP.

If you have something valuable to add to the discussion, please do so. But if you don't, please move on to the next topic of interest.

[Weissrolf]

Problem then is that you have to look for UID numbers to delete them manually if you don't want them anymore. A real installer/updater system is needed in the long run. One were you get some fancy extension real-names with checkmarks to enabled/disable updates and buttons to uninstall (aka delete) extensions.

[MrDDT]

For everyone coming to this thread. Please see this thread first; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ibed-extension

Please do not repeat the discussion that occurred there and caused that thread to degenerate to where it was locked.

Also be aware that this has already been added to the Wish List for the forge by the OP.

If you have something valuable to add to the discussion, please do so. But if you don't, please move on to the next topic of interest.

Thanks LordEntrials.

I made this topic because that other was kinda hi jacked from another topic that was about something else.

I want this one to give their thoughts on why this is a good or bad change. What things we can do to help overcome this issue. Ideas of all nature on this topic.

[FyreM]

it ins't that complicated.
just put a button NEXT TO "Turn off Updates" that says "Delete local files" (or some such).
it really is just that easy.

[Moon Wizard]

For the large majority of users, they would download extensions and then have issues "every" time that the ruleset code or client was updated, because they didn't know that the extension had been updated or that the developer fixed compatibility or feature issues. By allowing extensions to be auto-updated just like the client and any other DLC, we are taking away a major support burden both for us as well as the community mod developers.

If you really want to "lock down" an extension to a specific version, then you should probably contact the mod developer directly or download from their public repository. There is no reason to use the Forge, unless you want auto-update behavior.

Regards,
JPG

[MrDDT]

For the large majority of users, they would download extensions and then have issues "every" time that the ruleset code or client was updated, because they didn't know that the extension had been updated or that the developer fixed compatibility or feature issues. By allowing extensions to be auto-updated just like the client and any other DLC, we are taking away a major support burden both for us as well as the community mod developers.

If you really want to "lock down" an extension to a specific version, then you should probably contact the mod developer directly or download from their public repository. There is no reason to use the Forge, unless you want auto-update behavior.

Regards,
JPG

Some EXTs are only on the forge.
This system was no in place before, it has been changed.
This was also talked about BEFORE the forge was even put out that there needs to be a way to not force updates on people.

Here is the issue, we all know that updates can break things (you even state this in your post). However, you are forcing people to either not use an EXT we bought or not update FGU. This seems like a bad option when considering it wasn't like this before. It has been changed.

I'm happy with the forced option to autoupdate if you can ensure that they work. Until that happens, I'm forced to keep them off.
Or untie them from FGU.


Really the only real issue here, is why not just have another option to the right of autoupdate that says (remove) or (delete). So if someone no longer wants a bought item to be downloaded/listed/on their computer they can check it and turn off autoupdates.

[Moon Wizard]

That really sounds like a quality issue to take up with the community developer providing the mods. I don't know of any "mod" system that "ensures" that mods work with their software. There's no way that software developers that allow modding have the manpower for that in general, let alone a company our size. If you look at Minecraft or WoW, they don't verify that community-created mods work with their sytem; you just enable/disable based on whether they work.

Creating some sort of selective auto-updating system is a bit of a nightmare for support and user interface. We had one many, many years ago (early FG2/FG3 time frame); and it caused all sorts of support problems once we implemented layering and enhancing mod support. Basically, users have no understanding in general of what they are turning on/off; and there are only a handful of "power users" that truly understand the risks and caveats.

The Forge is built for the average user of the software; and the expectation is that the developers providing the mods are the ones who would keep them up to date.

Regards,
JPG

[Zacchaeus]

I'm struggling to understand here.

Extensions break usually because FG gets a client or ruleset update that causes extension to stop functioning. The extension authors get fair warning of such updates because they are always put up on the TEST channel for several weeks before they go live. This gives extension authors plenty of time to get any needed update to their extensions done before it goes live.

If you subscribe to an extension today and it works then I see no reason why it won't continue to work. If the extension author makes an enhancement to the extension or fixes a bug or changes it so that it works with a ruleset change then surely you want that fix or enhancement. By not updating the extension you are actually in a pretty bad position.

So I'm not really getting why you would want a situation where you would stick with a broken extension.

[MrDDT]

That really sounds like a quality issue to take up with the community developer providing the mods. I don't know of any "mod" system that "ensures" that mods work with their software. There's no way that software developers that allow modding have the manpower for that in general, let alone a company our size. If you look at Minecraft or WoW, they don't verify that community-created mods work with their sytem; you just enable/disable based on whether they work.

Creating some sort of selective auto-updating system is a bit of a nightmare for support and user interface. We had one many, many years ago (early FG2/FG3 time frame); and it caused all sorts of support problems once we implemented layering and enhancing mod support. Basically, users have no understanding in general of what they are turning on/off; and there are only a handful of "power users" that truly understand the risks and caveats.

The Forge is built for the average user of the software; and the expectation is that the developers providing the mods are the ones who would keep them up to date.

Regards,
JPG

I'm not asking for it, I was just stating that with the forced update (which I've never seen a mod that forces you to update it and not able to use the oldver version in other games) that it's either use the newest update or you can't use it at all not only that, it's going to be deleted.
What is is more so, is that this is a change to the system that was made after we started getting EXTs from the forge. So we didn't even know this was the issue.

This was brought up before the forge came out.

Anyways, your word is final and I will have to live with it.