Mods can do so much for a game: add new items, change gameplay, even add completely new game modes. While some mods are awesome, others are complete garbage. And the bad mods always do the same stupid shit no matter what type of game they're made for.
If you want to create a mod, then make it a good one. To do that, keep the following tips in mind.
Always provide some basic documentation
Aside from any testers you may have, you're the only one who knows how everything in your mod works. Even the simplest of mods need some explanation for what they do. More complex mods need a little more: an in-game manual or tutorial, a small webpage, a readme file. Expecting people to go in blind and figure everything out is a dick move.
Don't rely on player-maintained wikis to do this for you, either. They attract idiots and trolls who can't update info for shit. I've seen official wikis with maybe 2 useful articles, while everything else covers outdated info or even unreleased content. To hell with that!
Make sure you document changes to your mod, too. And specify exactly what changed in update notes. Shit like "SuperWeapon recipe changed!" doesn't help. Did you change the ingredient proportions? Or has the whole recipe been altered? Let people know this stuff!
Leave other people's mods alone
Unless you have permission, don't mess with other people's mods. If Mod X adds items to the game that upset the balance of your mod, make changes to your mod only. Or maybe try talking to the other author to see if you can work something out. Don't be an asshole and deliberately add something to screw up the other mod.
And fuck you if you add code that detects certain mods, then crashes the game or corrupts save files. It's up to players, not you, what mods they use. Don't do that shit.
Make sure your new content is useful
Mods are all about adding content to games. But, you have to make sure what you're adding has some use. Adding hundreds of new items to a game is a waste if only 10 of them are useful, while the rest are just palette swaps or inventory clutter. It's even worse if the vanilla content is superior to what you've added.
Know when you should and shouldn't change vanilla gameplay
Sometimes, game developers add things to a game that are annoying or useless. Maybe that "super" weapon isn't so super. Maybe that watering can is fucking useless. Whatever the case, quality of life improvements can be amazing things to add to a mod.
But, if the developers have added things for convenience and efficiency, you might want to leave that stuff alone. Removing or altering parts of vanilla gameplay for the sake of "balance" can be a bad idea. If you just have to do that, though, then give people an option to disable it or set it to their liking. "More difficulty" for one person is "boring ass tedium" for another.
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