I don't know... I think it boils down to a matter of what a person gets out of modding... I think that most modders have fun, get a feeling of pride, and do it for their own use -- or some combination of those three. I have fun modding, I mod for my own use, and
I feel rewarded by providing others with things that make the game more fun. I don't need for everyone to ask me if I'll be okay with it if they use my work in any way; I don't feel rewarded because people know that it is my online tag that created something. It is a personal feeling of reward... after all, a forum tag is not my name and I don't do it for the plaudits. I give credit to others when I use their work to create something, but I do so according to my personal ethic: it is wrong and dishonest to plagiarize. Having said that, I don't get worked up when my kits are in huge mods from sketchy websites and no credit is given. I think it is sad for a person to need approval so much -- so much that they would lie to themselves when people congratulate them on the mod. How else could they achieve that feeling of pride.
All that aside, many content creators (even really great and talented ones) are obsessive about people honoring their imaginary copyright over their work. In what universe do some of these people live? The internet is an open zone. You cannot stop people from passing your work off as their own, copying your base textures, etc... For
@luabys to see that I gave credit for the numbers and then
still feel the need to act as though I have transgressed is just ridiculous. Do such modders delude themselves into believing that everyone will begin writing formal requests for permission to do whatever the F*** they want with files that were openly distributed? It disappoints me most because I always check the L77 thread for the best and most complete kits and then like from the Italian leagues... this changes my view of him (I assume)/her completely. I'm going to stop now, because my mind is drifting into the ad-hominem realm. Thanks for the show of support though, it makes me feel a little more sane