sgtchase

I have been keeping tabs on this since the whole thing launched. I understand the points both sides are making in this. On the side of Bethesda and Valve. They did have good intentions for this. The biggest issue is they kept it under the woodworking for so long and didn't get the communities input on this and how they should proceed properly was the downfall for it. Paid mods will come up again. The door has been opened and it won't close so easy. As we look at the paid mod or donate mod group. That brings much better content out into the light. SKYUI is a great improvement for skyrim. The issue with something like SkyUI is it requires a free piece of content to be used (SKSE), and that in itself has danger written all over it. As the vast majority of mods use SKSE any one that went on to be paid is a target for a halt of distribution. On the side of the Modding Community. Most of the people who install mods are mainly wanting free content. That is clear, but also if the mod is extremely well done there is always ways to support them. Donating to the modder is the primary way of making that happen. There are vast amounts of mods that don't work well or they are stopped being developed due to the fact that it takes time to learn and understand the tools. They juggle that with their own personal lives and the personal life takes priority over the mod and the mod falls. How many great mods have been released with grand promise and showing then they fall into nothing due to the time needed to the time they can work on it. Dark0ne hits all the points well. I have ran through the conversation with Gabe a number of times looking at the angle of the community and the angle of a Developer. Both have strong cases for each side but ultimately Valve didn't fully understand the long history of the Elder Scrolls/Fallout community that Bethesda has. Bethesda also didn't fully get it either. Both have taken a huge hit to their trust with community members but they will still produce and develop improvements. If they had asked the community which would be the better choice. Forced Pay mods or Donation mods, they would have had a much better voice from the community as to which would be better to have. Granted I am not a full expert on the subject but when you look at it from a logical standpoint, both parties were in the right on things and both parties were in the wrong on things. We can't say this won't happen again because it is going to with new titles that come out. As a community we do need to work with the Developer or a game to make it right. Same with the medium providing the services for us (Valve). When you get the main parties together of all 3 groups they can come up with the best course of action. I personally wasn't fully against paid mods. I am happy to spend a few bucks here and there for a mod that brings in a vast quality to a game and series I have loved for many years. It's just when they leave out that 3rd party and make the decision based on the 2 parties views causes a massive backlash that we saw over the past week. So closing points for this long comment. Valve/Bethesda- They had a good intention for doing this, they just put it out in the wrong fashion which caused a PR Nightmare. Modding community- They also had good intentions in their defense. But there were lines crossed that should have never happened (death threats, verbal and written abuse). This can cause developers to stop released the Dev Kits for their games out of fear. It's best to convene with the developers and talk it out peacefully to get a resolution to the problem. This issue was a powder keg waiting to be lit, and when it was lit the backlash hit all effected parties. We have top notch modders pulling their content from all areas of distribution out of fear and needing time to process what has happened and what role they will have in the future. I just hope in the future the developers and valve will open a forum to discuss this matter with the communities that have been a long standing support for them, because without their communities the games they make would no longer be played after the final updates for most people. Regards sgtchase