Malphisto001

JuiceHead made a video about this on his youtube channel where he asked the same thing. I've been quietly reading through various threads and checking out mods on both Nexus and Bethesda.net, and in my honest opinion I don't really see why some think modding is dying out. At least from my perspective, it seems rather healthy. I'm not a modder, but I am an Indie Dev so maybe I can contribute a bit to this conversation. There are many similarities between the two. From my own personal experience, this kind of stuff is time consuming. I've been working on my project for years now and there have been plenty of roadblocks for me. For example, I apparently have no artistic ability whatsoever. My strength lies more in story writing, so the game itself looks pretty damn retro. (My computer isn't exactly all that good, either) Which I'm fine with because hey, its a passion project. Something I do in my spare time. It basically looks like Ultima 3: Exodus for the NES. (Which still remains one of my Top 10 RPGs of all time, despite the graphics compared to more modern games) I was going to college for Game Design but life ended up happening and well, yeah. s#*! happens. That being said, I'm sure its no different for Mod Authors. Life comes first. And in that regard? You "could" attribute this lull in released content to the ever degrading state of the economy. At least for those of us in the United States. This country has been going to hell in a hand basket. Another issue could be lack of incentive. Some friends of mine from class were working on projects as well and last I heard, most of them had been cancelled or put on hold until further notice. They were putting way more in than they felt they were going to be getting back. I think a couple of them were looking into Steam Green Light, but I don't know what ever became of them. In my opinion, I would love to see modders getting paid for their work. Any opportunity to get paid doing what you enjoy? We need more of those, ya know? And I think of it in terms of how the Youtube Community has come along over the years and how content creators on there have been able to make a living with their channels. It also takes a great deal of time and effort to work up to that, obviously, but there is loads of real potential with a system like that. Imagine creating a mod and uploading it to a site. For every view the mod page receives, the author makes money from it. This would require the site in question to function off of ad revenue. Donations are great as well, but the income from ads opens up whole other avenues and new opportunities within the industry itself. I disagreed with the way in which Valve tried to handle monetizing mods, though. There's a right and wrong way to go about handling this matter. Mods coming over to Console is a rather big deal for a number of reasons. Not just because its bridging the gap between two platforms which have spent years divided from one another, but because of the possibilities it presents for the future. The important thing to remember is to always move forward and keep striving for a better tomorrow. There will always be those looking to create problems and stir up conflict, because trolls will be trolls. Bare in mind, the vast majority of Console Gamers are typically ignorant when it comes to the various problems like Mod Thefts and such. One can't judge an entire group of people based on the actions of a few. Hopefully this post helped a bit.

Greetings. I recently made a post on Bethesda.net where I was addressing my fellow Console Gamers regarding some of the piss poor behavior I've seen from the trolls. The post itself can be found here: https://community.bethesda.net/thread/80961 This is my first time being here on the Nexus. After making that post, I started thinking to myself that maybe it would be a good idea to actually come over here and try to get a better perspective from both sides. After skimming through some of the pages, I saw some threads that kinda...stood out. Like the one calling for a boycott of Bethesda.net. That sort of prompted me to go ahead and make an account and toss my own hat in so to speak. Please don't think poorly of the Console Community. From my own personal experience being on consoles as far back as the ATARI 7800, the industry has not been kind to us. I've noticed a significant difference between us older console folks compared to the newer generations and the kind of influence modern gaming is having on them. The Trolls are real. Seems like each time we try to motivate the rest of the Console Community to try and push back against these anti-consumer practices, there is always this group looking to derail our efforts and support the corporations keeping us forced into submission. But despite that, I can promise you there are still plenty of us around who aren't like that. We respect the Modding Community and the amount of time and effort it takes. Life is shitty, I know that lesson well after having lost my job due to a back injury. I used to be a PC Gamer for a number of years, but unfortunately my rig eventually died on me and I couldn't afford to fix it. There are plenty of people who play on console because that is the only option for us. Others just prefer to play on console because that is the platform they grew up with. But whether its Console or PC, we're all the same. We are all Gamers who share and love this culture. I personally view Mods as an Art and even though I've been unable to experience them, I have always enjoyed Youtube Channels like MxR Mods who showcases them. The Skyrim Mods I've seen are friggen insane, beyond epic. It was depressing to know that I would never be able to experience them firsthand for myself. That is why when Bethesda announced their plans to try and bridge that gap and bring mods to console, it was this huge monumental event. My friends and console players all over celebrated. I remember walking into Gamestop the next day and seeing a crap ton of people in the store looking to pre-order Fallout 4 just because of it. I've seen some make comments that their mods have been getting more attention on console than compared to PC, and perhaps that is the reason why. Console Gamers don't have much in the way of freedom. For years the industry has been beating us down and looking to control every little thing we do. So its only natural that we would have a VERY strong appreciation for Mods. Not just because of how great they are, but also because of what they symbolize; Freedom. Sorry for the long post, its rather late at night and I just felt the need to say all that. If you are a Modder who has had their work stolen or who has been wronged in some way by anyone from the console community, I apologize and humbly ask for your forgiveness. I don't know if anyone else has tried doing something like this, but I just feel like this needs to be said. Again, not all of us are like that. There are soooooooo many mods for Fallout 4 and Skyrim that I would love to be able to use myself on console. I just hope that none of the negative experiences dealing with Bethesda.net prevents that from happening. Thank you for your time reading this. -Malphisto [AJSA]