So, the question remains: if the Steam Workshop is such an unreliable platform, why is it used? Should we be using the Paradox mod platform instead? Or just host mods on GitHub and leave users to keep an eye out for manual updates - as some Steam users have to do anyway?

These forums are replete with instructions on how to reset your mod subscriptions, which often don't even work. You go to any popular mod page on Steam and chances are there's a comment asking why the mod hasn't downloaded or worked.

And this is after a manual resub and unsub. I was recently advised on the NSC discord that whilst I might think that I have the latest version of the mod (due to a change in gameplay that only came in the most recent update), it's possible that only some and not all the files were updated. Again, the only solution is to unsub & resub - potentially several times until it finally works. It seems possible to subscribe to a mod, but not actually receive the download, or at least the mod is never active in the game. It really defeats the whole purpose of the workshop, which is that it handles updates automatically. You just have to continually check to see if mods have been updated and then manually unsubscribe and resubscribe. If someone is experiencing this, there seems to be no fix. It's no secret that the Steam Workshop works less than desirably for mods.

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