Mod Authors, Do you want to support Nexusmods over Steam workshop?

[kutsite]

Hello, let me start by saying I never contributed to this site, I just use it to get my files and so get the extra enjoyment out of my games, like I imagine the vast majority of people visiting Nexusmods do. What little modding I did do was for Morrowind and done purely for private use a long, long time ago. My account name stems from those days that I would curse Nexus for eating up all my data cap and bandwidth, I still love it though, especially with getting better internet in the last few years. The hate-part of the love-hate relationship I had with Nexus is long over.

I posted this because Nexus is simply awesome in this way: It has a large community that can help with troubleshooting if I need it and lots of passionate people contributing to the biggest library of mods and tools available. The slightly more complex way to use tools and mods from Nexus outstrips anything that the simplistic Workshop has to offer me, but that is not the case for a lot of new gamers. And going for support on the steam community forums....let me just say a soft 'please no' to that.

 

I posted this because I want Nexusmods to outdo Steam workshop when it comes to mods, which means taking on the giant that is Valve.

 

The push to get modders revenue for their work, if they so desire and deserve it, is something that users of mods more or less agree on being a generally good thing, we like to reward people for good work. Mod makers on the other hand....passion is it's own reward and recognition is nice, at least it was for me. But I have no intention of this being about the split of revenue that everybody has been eagerly discussing and it being the hot topic. This is about the Nexus being the number 1 stop for looking for mods, Steam workshop got nothing on Nexus!

If you want eyeballs on your mod and good feedback, community support: Nexus is the place to be. Valve is now trying to undo that by getting all the eyeballs it can get with the promiss of money for everyone.

If you disagree or get angry with the way Valve and Bethesda make money of your mods, I can just see some of you Mod makers thinking: "F*** steam workshop, I'll put my work on Nexus and ignore them!" I like that sentiment, but you will set yourself up to getting your work stolen and put onto steam workshop where somebody else will profit from it. So I would recommend you do put your works on the workshop and DO ask money for it, then put it on Nexus for FREE or with maybe a donate button! This way you profit from the ones that want the convenience of Steam workshop but not the hassle that Nexus tools sometimes have for newer users. At the same time you might get a few bucks from fans of your product through Nexus if you so desire. If you do put it up for free on The Workshop, it defeats the purpose of supporting Nexus over Steam's Workshop. Telling people they can get your work for free or fork over money for the convenience of Steam will truly decide which is the better approach in the long run. I am well aware that this might go against the passion that Mod makers feel for their projects, but the Valve Giant has seen your content and now it wants it and it will get it. If you put your works on Nexus, you are now almost obliged to put it on the Steam Workshop as well if you want to prevent it getting stolen by some a**hole trying to make a quick buck. The more modders will get their content stolen, the more Modders will feel like they do not have a choice but to put their stuff on Steam Workshop as well as Nexus and feel bad about doing so, so they will put it up for FREE is the idea. I say NO to that: ask money on Workshop and FREE on Nexus! That way, Nexusmods is still the better choice for consumers. Getting your content stolen and then having to fight to get it back from Steam or get hate-mail from steam-users is your choice to make here.

 

This in turn means that steam workshop will replace the Nexus as the number 1 site for mods when it comes to sheer volumes of content (I never said GOOD content). This change hasn't happened for Skyrim and it probably never will, but I believe it WILL happen when the next game hits Steam with workshop support (TES6 or FO4) that is in competition with Nexusmods! Every new, worthwhile mod made for the next TES/Fallout/whatever will also need to be put on the workshop to prevent having your content stolen by some a**hole and like I said, no mod author wants that to happen. So put it up there and ask money for it, hell, ask a bundle for it with a link to Nexus where people can get it for free and some (community based) support, some people will still buy it and you might get some money if you sell enough and your bases are covered against theft. Angry messages on steam you will receive anyway, because this is the Steam community we are talking about! I don't think that is something you can truly avoid. But if you want eyeballs on your mods and the recognition it deserves: put it on the Nexus as well, your peers here and the more literate mod users will make sure your work is up to par and compatible with other people's work! On the Nexus, you have full control about what you put up or wish to take down from your works, on Steam you will have signed that right away, so at least get some money for that or earn Bethesda a few bucks for your work which made it all possible in the first place! Monetary incentives dilute the passion that a lot of modders have for their projects, It has now become more about money and less about passion and the only people that want that are those in it for the money. The workshop will get flooded with crap mods for money next to the ones that deserve money (but don't want it) because of the passion and skill that went into them. I do not believe you can stop this process, not on your own, not against a giant as Valve, but maybe you can subvert it by portraying Steam's Workshop as the overpriced competitor (with shitty support) compared to Nexusmods. If you can do this, you will have beaten Valve at it's own game of promising a better (and cheaper) service.

 

Thank you for reading!