Rovole

They already are, but we don't discuss those things here. Suffice it to say that if there is a will, there is a way. Valve has made it easy to pay for mods using Steam which you probably already have, and thats available right now.

On the surface, it isn't mandatory, but in implementation it might as well be. To understand a little background needs to be given. Firstly, to make this all possible Bethesda Softworks or their parent company, Zenimax Media, had to have given their consent as IP holders of the Elder Scrolls franchise to allow modmakers to recieve payment for the sales of content made for TES V:Skyrim, as outlined in the first clause of the creation kit EULA. That same clause also specifies that any mods you make available is automatically property of Bethesda softworks or its parent company. Before the advent of paid mods, all this meant that you could not charge for mods. Now those same rules can be put into action to essentially reposses any released mods and sell them on the workshop, since according to the EULA simply releasing your mod gives them the right to do so. Something like this has already happened; as detailed in this reddit post originally by Chesko. Chesko has since deleted both his Reddit and Twitter accounts. Such actions are only a handful of steps removed from taking released mods and selling them without the consent of the modmaker. It hasn't happened yet, but if it does there will be virtually no legal protections for modmakers either here or on the steam workshop. Before paid mods there was no incentive for Bethesda Softworks to excercise their rights over modifications of their games. Under these conditions, if a mod here becomes popular Bethesda Softworks is entirely in their rights to pluck it up, put it on the Steam Workshop with a price tag, and at the same time issue a Cease and Desist order to the Nexus and have the free edition removed. At that point, whether or not the modmaker will even recieve a 25% cut is unknown, but I do not doubt that, having gone so far already, Bethesda would use the possibility of witholding payment to blackmail modmakers into conceding. Now do you understand why so many people are reacting negatively to this? *mod edit* Thread closed since there are dozens like it that contain more valid information based on what is actually happening and not predictions or conjecture based on fear. - Vagrant0

I hope Valve doesn't think they can solve this just by raising the cut that modders get up from 25%. The problem is so much bigger than that. They aren't going to crawl away from this without a few burns.

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n437/Gespenst_sam/17%20v%20-%20VALVE%20MAKING%20A%20DUMB%20ASS%20MOVE%20THAT%20MIGHT%20KILL%20THE%20MOD%20COMMUNITY%20-%20Mozilla%20Firefox%20-%20Copy.jpg

Valve and Bethesda don't care, its up to the community to think about all the problems that will arise. And up to us to do something about it.

The whole idea of paid modifications is unbelievably grotesque. The game modding tradition was built on making mods pro-bono for the sake of enjoyment of the game; a mod you made was a testament to both your ability as a modder and as a tribute to the game you were modding for. The time you put in was given freely for the benefit of the community that shared mods, not as a career. If you honestly can't afford to make a certain mod and make it available for free, honestly I'd prefer that mod never be made no matter how wonderful or amazing it might have been, an outcome prefereable to the commercialization of the hobby of game modding. If you as a modder really had such talent to make a game mod worth paying for, you'd have done better to put your time into something worth buying, such as an actual videogame, instead of trying to piggyback off of a popular game for what amounts to beggar's change. Paid mods are harmful to the community. Money becomes a barrier that prevents certain people from enjoying certain works of labor, and draws lines that will bitterly divide the playerbase. Paid mods will become the bone of contention that turns users against modders, not to mention what would happen if Valve is allowed to have a monopoly on the distribution of unoficcial modifications.