Hope you enjoyed the latest update to the latest, amazing version of the iCEnhancer mod for Grand Theft Auto IV, because it looks like it will be the last one we’re getting, at least for a while.
The mod’s creator, technical artist Hayssam Keilany, is taking a break from the scene having had enough of the drama and vitriol that would accompany each of his releases.
And yes, I said drama. Modding may seem like a harmless pursuit to those who simply install the odd mod and enjoy it, but some modding communities (and this is one of them) can be rife with disagreements and politics, usually over the crediting and use of other people’s work.
Keilany has also faced a constant stream of abuse from fans of other mods, or simply fans of the original version of the game. Having had enough, he posted a farewell message of sorts on his Facebook page:
So yep, that’s it. At every release it’s the same, since 1.2. People spitting on me, my work, everything I do just because people know me or whatever. that’s always nice -cough-.
I spent days, weeks, months doing 3.0, released it because I thought people would like it and stuff. If you don’t then i’m sorry, but it’s how I like my GTA.
I’m going to release the installer and downgrader then i’m done for a while.
Thanks to the people who supported me and stuff, you guys are cool. No thanks for the guys trying to bring me down constantly. You guys did it after 4 years, I give up on haters.
Bummer. It’s a similar story to that of Darthmod, a giant in the Total War scene who nevertheless faced constant and similar accusations; he’s since moved on to making his own game.
You can read Keilany’s full statement below.
iCEnhancer [Facebook]
Comments
12 responses to “Famous Modder Walks Away After Too Much Abuse”
Well done Internet. 100+ C U Next Tuesday points for you.
Based on that Facebook post it seems the people criticizing him are the people who post there immediate opinion on something without any thought behind it.
I see so many of these comments on reviews.
Lets also think of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they’ve invested in……..oh wait its FREE??????? Oh well in that case fuck them. Fuck ALL of them.
He did not walk away from modding. If you read his later post he says:
“Ummm… To answer some of you, I never said I’ll stop modding because of some haters. I’m just taking a break that I really need from all of this GTA world a little”
So. Not the most accurate article here.
he indeed walked away..from his mod. that means if theres a game breaking bug, that makes this mod unplayable, your on your own
If the Mod doesn’t make my machine explode or damage the game data and I don’t like it I don’t whinge or complain I just uninstall it. Really simple.
This happenedd with another person. I can’t remember what it was for. It was a girl, I think it was a mod/addon for ESO. To many people had opinions on what they wanted and what would work better, how it should be done. In the end she gave it up, left it. Someone else picked it up and continued on, but people still didn’t appreciate what she had already done with it and she couldn’t handle that.
It’s such shame some humans can be so spiteful!
Some gaming communities are completely toxic. GTA IV’s not the worst, but there are some seriously egotistical fucktards with inflated senses of entitlement. I used to mod San Andreas years ago and each release was always accompanied by some non-contributing dipshit who felt the need to piss over everything. Unfortunately, it’s part and parcel when modding for certain games with a large percentage of younger gamers. It’s easy to say ‘ignore them’, but it does take a while to figure out how to say ‘fuck ’em’ and not let them get to you.
Seriously, half of the good content makers out there are pathetic, they make this stuff, then spend all this time reading all the trolls comments. People should just make their art, release it, then move on, don’t sit there reading the comments, don’t changes things because someone told you to, don’t compromise on your goals for wankers. If he didn’t read the comments, they wouldn’t of hurt him…
The problem is you have to, I don’t mod but I regularly play hl or hl2 mods, I will post besides comments, praise, opinions but also Crash reports in some cases bug fixes or work arounds, and so do many others, you’ve got to read them really.
As a modder myself, I can say that it can be pretty brutal the lengths to which some people will go to in order to antagonise you or to criticise your work. Constructive criticism is tough, and can be hard to take, but provided it is delivered (and taken as) criticism of the *work*, rather than the individual, then it helps you improve your work. Sadly, many (or perhaps most) people end up just rampantly attacking or hating on modders who give up their time and engage in this past-time to give content to others FOR FREE.
However, in this interests of balance, I must also say that I have delivered some pretty harsh criticism of the work of other modders on a few occasions, but in doing so it has always been directly at the content in terms of its construction, balance and content rather than the individual creators themselves. I have never tried to stop others from modding, but only attempted to point out how they could improve their work, or where they failed to deliver on what they said their mod was supposed to include. Some modders took this in the spirit it was intended and saw it as an opportunity to improve their work, whereas some took it as a personal affront and took it upon themselves to engage in a campaign against my work, and also personally against me.
Modders are passionate about their creations, but there’s only so much they can and will take before throwing in the towel.
“Hey guys, here’s this thing I invested DOZENS OF HOURS of effort and my own time into for no reason other than wanting to create. Hope you like it!”
“Dozens of hours, eh? Shame it’s shit and doesn’t match my unrealistic ideal for this kind of thing.”
“Oh. I’m… sorry? :C”