The problem with bundling mods is that at least some of them will always be actively worked on. And this is GOG in the end... I expect them to run behind on updates anyway, so what's the benefit then of not applying them yourself?

I agree with the "barebones crowd" on this one.

True, under most jurisdictions, unless there is a statement saying otherwise (e.g. a permissive licence). That is what enables the large number of mirrors carrying Linux distributions and packages.

If it was duplicated, then no one is being deprived from having and using that thing. To me, this idea is at the core of the definition of stealing. I find copyright infringement a more proper term. I also do not use the term pirate in this context, since pirates are thieves. Be mindful of media traps.

Bundling mods only exacerbates the problem, Daggerfall Unity development may have slowed down a bit now, but 0.14 is in the works with its share of bugfixes and modding support improvements, etc.

Personally I think GOG Cut is okay for what is it, a very convenient way to get a working version of modded Daggerfall Unity. Quite good to discover DFU, even if we can debate all night long about a choice of mods for totally new players.
Whether you want a different set of mods, or more cutting edge versions of the game or mods, you'll probably be invested enough in the game to look at other, more flexible solutions like NexusMods.

This version of the game will be essential for normies who can't be bothered with installing mods on the original release or have yet to play the unity builds that came before.

But
In its core the GOG Cut is just the same Daggerfall Unity. You are free to uncheck the mods you don't like or add others from other sources

Also if some problem is possible depending the mods enabled the app will communicate it to you. Some mods dependencies are advised by the own program as well
.

Is this version feature complete? Anything missing from the base game?

Eh. I'm sorry but all this nonsense has destroyed any interest I had in playing the game. I blame both parties to be honest: both GOG for rushing this to the store before properly finalising their author communication, and those two mod authors who decided to pull their mods over sour grapes, ruining the extra playability/prestige their work might have brought the game. It's rather silly GOG screwed up like this, it's rather petty those mod authors reacted like this. This will forever mar this title in my mind, so I'll move onto another game instead and let this one rot in my library.

This will be an unpopular post of course, but I can't help what I feel. Respect goes to those modders who agreed to participate and equally those who didn't but still decided to allow it anyway. I'm sure others who play this game will appreciate your hard work.

It is feature complete. What is left? The cursor/arrow navigation mode from Arena or an aspect ratio corrected interface bar ( if enabled ) when running in widescreen resolutions

Nothing major

The rest is all there and more

Anyone who makes mods only to be outraged that people play those mods needs to take down their mod page. Don't post things for people to download and play if you're going to throw a tantrum that people actually played it. That's just being a jerk purely for the sake of being a jerk.

I think the best approach for GOG would be to put on the download page their Cut version, but also the "vanilla" Daggerfall Unity. This way people can choose what version suits them better.

Very honest and bold of you to admit, genuinely cool you posted this after taking it all in <3

Unticking the mods in game menu should do it.

This GOG version is very good for promoting Daggerfall to a new audience and generation and as a one-stop go to link on a reputable host for people to easily download and start playing without having to list off anything complicated to them that might put them off. Great job. It's really nice to see some Good Old Games getting front page love like that and hosted for free too to spread the word. This can get potential new fans of old games an easy foot in the door and they can tailor things to their liking in future if they can become passionate. :)

The bizarre minority of cry baby and inappropriate complaint reviews I've been shown (they aren't reviewing the game in reality, just one starring for no good reason and so it's absuing the system and ironically doesn't harm GOG profits only the game being played and potential community growth as the game...IS HOSTED FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!) are mystyfing as they seem to not understand what licence agreements they agreed to anyway and act like they personally and solely created Daggerfall itself, paid for its development budget, paid for the distrubution and hosting of everything else since including mods...

Considering this is completely free, hosted and promoted for free (at GOG's monetary cost...) and the mods included are also free it's time for the few complainers to grow up. They use stuff every day in life invented and created by other people without bowing and scraping to that maker's name each day yet expect randomly magical deference and treatment above all others in society?

I'd have loved some of my old projects to be included in free collection stuff like this in the past. If someone was selling stuff, it's another story, but in this case there's zero justification for complaints. It's completely within the spirit and letter of the rules.
Especially the people who use stuff invented by other people every day and websites hosted and paid for by other people and bandwidth paid for by others every day for their enjoment and hobbies. Do they kneel before them and thank them every minute of the day? I bet not. They just take everything from everyone else for granted. There's not enough time in the day for otherwise. lol It's ridiculous that they seem to expect more derence than the original development team of the game! Does anyone think that every game hosted online and every mod hosted online has permission from every individual involved in making the game too? Sure....hahaha! Touch grass, people.

No one is being deprived????

I don't buy that argument. You're used to major coporations arguing there is a loss of financial gain when it ireality it barely makes a dent - this does not mean it is a myth for the little guy. It still holds up as a legitimate argument, so there is deprivation.

For one thing, modders host their mods in places where they have a financial incentive from the traffic brought by the mod they host there. That is also a beneficial argument that supports major businesses as well. Point of sale is not the only issue to argue deprivation. It's the fact that there is deprivation through the lack of compensation from distributing copies of that mod, especially by those who were not permitted to make those copies - which in certain jurisdictions is illegal to do anyway. And let's not forget that modders at any time could charge for obtaining the mod.

The argument that it was free still does not cut it. If that were true, every game that had ever gone free at some point would have been bundled by third parties doing the same thing that GOG just did. Why does no one do that? They don't, because that's simply not in their best interest to do it and the fact they can get caught since that is still illegal.

I'm not even talking about piracy here, and arguing semantics doesn't negate the fact that it's basically theft. The theft in this case isn't the physical theft of the mods. The theft is in the deprivation of the sole rights to control the product. GOG doesn't have the right to monopolize distribution of other people's work that would deprive them of the control and authority. Sure you can "call" this copyright infringement, but the issue is beyond merely copying the work. It's the fact that this work was abused by GOG who didn't hold the authority to bundle the mods.

None of that is what this is about.

"Modders should appreciate the gift that GOG is giving them of all this free advertisement!"

Absolutely no.