Any ETA on when/if you folks are going to release the source?
I'm assuming you haven't released it yet because you want people to play an un-modified version so that all your bug reports are valid and don't lead to wild goose chases, but after you get a few patchs out there it would be fun to have access to it.
We have lots of ideas that did not make it into release yet. Until then no source, we want TLD to be completed as we see it. Means additional quests and lore stuff mostly
I don't believe giving out the TLD source is a good idea, so don't count on that.
It will only result in hundreds of noobs doing tweaks and posting them as mods, much to the confusion of casual players and without adding much value.
I would prefer instead if proven modders with ideas and the desire to make TLD better join the TLD team.
Well, thats entirely up to the TLD team and I can respect that - it's your work.
Having options isn't necessarily a bad thing though, after the mod is in a stable state (ie, out of beta with most of the bugs fixed). Just because someone makes a mod of your mod isn't going to degrade the the base mod, and from my experience casual users don't generally trawl the boards downloading every minimod they come across - they just grab the main mod and go with it. Many casual M&B users are still playing Native.
The people you have to worry about are the ones with just enough experience with computers to know how to screw everything up, but without enough to realize it's their fault

. Cue tech support horror stories... or all the PMs I get from doing that M&B tweaks thing way back 3 years ago when we didn't have the source code for M&B 1.0 Native and editing the text files was the only way to mod it, I still get PMs about those with people trying to do them in Warband and then coming to me saying they broke their game. I stopped doing that as soon as the module system released, and still it persists lol... But I digress.
Having the source out there would even allow people who don't have the time or inclination to join the team who make suggestions to actually include functional code to go with the suggestion, which is a lot more useful than "Wouldn't it be cool if..."
Plus I hate to say it but people could still mod it without the source and release tweaks no matter how much you try to prevent it, it'd just be dirtier. Just for personal use I've corrected some of the bugs that have already been reported and fixed in the dev build straight from the text files, added in some features I like to play around with (like import/export of npcs in case I change my mind about how to level them), as well as buffing the wimpy orc equipment to make some of the fights more challenging, just for my own enjoyment until the patches come. I'm knowledgeable enough to do extensive script modding without any of the source (even with most of your scripts named s to prevent that, heh - which makes it obvious you don't want mods done), I just wouldn't bother since I wouldn't release anything without permission out of respect for your work anyway (plus it would dilute your bug reports and such). The sad thing is a lot more people seem to take the time to edit the text files than learn the module system, which if anything are the 'noobs' you're worried about.