To those who are trying to argue if 3rd party tools are right or wrong, or if they should it shouldn't be used, I already said this thread is not about that. There are plenty of other threads in which you can debate that all day long.

Long story short, right now, we have a problem. The problem is that 3rd party tools use has been publicly rampant for a short while, and the blatant use of a few of them has forced the Devs' hands. There are only 3 possible solutions to this problem:

1: Double down on the no 3rd party tools stance and bring a heavy, but fair hand down upon everyone who uses them. I see this as the wrong approach as it will alienate a large portion of the player base. This is also coupled with the fact that the game is lacking in certain aspects when it comes to usability. This stance would stagnate growth of the game's maturity from a design stance.

2: Sanction 3rd party tools usage and stop worrying about it. I see this as an equally wrong approach, as it would lead to a bad situation all around. I don't need to mention examples for people to know what I'm talking about.

3: A progressive approach along the lines that I outlined above. This allows SE to evolve the game's engines using the mod devs as inspiration. Many of those devs aren't looking for financial reward, fame, or even recognition. Many just want to improve the game. Alongside that, it allows SE the ability to then bring an extremely firm hand against the exploitative mods with much less chance of community backlash. They then have the ability to say "we already go this far for you guys... Cheating is not going to be tolerated under any circumstances" with no chance for any valid argument from the opposition. These are the reasons I made my proposal. I see it as the best path forward for the game on multiple aspects.