Alenderis

In response to post #24829394. #24829699, #24830229 are all replies on the same post. I think what saddens me the most is this entire thing became an "Us Vs Them" situation where no one wins. Neither side can see the point of the other, and the middle ground gets completely forgotten or touted as the "other side" and insulted. The Paid Mod system was horrendously implemented, not a bad idea, but horrendously implemented. As someone looking from the outside in (I want to get into modding but really the only thing I'm good at is programming, I can't model anything to save my life) and not putting himself on either side of the fence you see how much the system was designed to screw everyone. This gets lost as the modders who saw their chances to turn their hobbies into jobs slowly wither away, and those who are just against the whole thing cry in elation about how they won. It was implemented in a way that screwed everyone, but each side of the pitch doesn't want to admit it screwed the other. Instead of crying "FREE MODS FREE MODS" or "PAID MODS PAIDS MODS" and yelling " I hate all you you entitled brats" at each other everyone should be crying "Fix the system fix the system!". There was no protection for the consumer, caveats in place so they could lower the percentages that Modders get to single digit numbers (they're a business, that's what "tweak the percentages" means), and a system designed in a way that only the big mods that already have a following had a chance. All of this is lost, everyone on both sides was blinded by the money and didn't see the bigger picture: This was a chance to take the system that was designed to screw everyone, and make it work for both sides. Guess what, we f*#@ed up and lost that chance because everyone was too busy bickering while not seeing the middle ground. And the thing is it was a stroke of genius on Bethesda's part. They tested a bad system in an attempt to gouge as much money out of the community as they could and threw the modders to the wolves. They pushed the button, and you modders took the critical fallout. This isn't going to effect Bethesda's pocketbook everyone will still go buy the next Fallout and Elder Scrolls they won't see any real damage done to them. Instead what happens is the mod community is attempting to rip itself apart at the seams. TL:DR version: I"m for Paid Mods, Modders deserve to be paid for their work if their work is good. I was against the Paid Mods system, it was horribly designed specifically to screw the Modders and the Consumers while padding Valve and Bethesda's pocketbooks. If the system makes a comeback it needs to be fixed with protections for both sides in place.

In response to post #24811984. #24812039, #24813429, #24814149, #24814369, #24814459, #24814579, #24814829, #24815214, #24815539, #24815809, #24815829, #24816074, #24816474, #24816529, #24816694 are all replies on the same post. Well no, no modder should be held accountable to make his mod work with every other mod. I just think you should be able to test compatibility before you buy. I know they'd have to wait for the money, but give me a month to try it before I have to give you my money. If it doesn't work for me, causes crashes, or anything of the sort I can uninstall it and it won't cut into my budget. Steam remembers how much of my time I used, and if I go back to the mod, I need to remember I have less time to test it before buying. If its a mod I enjoy, well I've got a month. Once that months up I need to buy it or never use it again. It means in the long run good modders get money, and those of us modding our games aren't left in a lurch because we got to use the mod a bit before handing over our money. I just want something to protect both sides from getting screwed.

In response to post #24811984. #24812039, #24813429, #24814149, #24814369, #24814459, #24814579, #24814829 are all replies on the same post. blackasm, if you're responding to me I think you chose the wrong comment to respond to. You're essentially insulting me while making the exact same points I made in my initial post... just in a rather standoffish way. If you're going to insult me and argue with me, make sure you're not trying to say the same thing I just said. My post can be boiled down to a simple statement that I honestly don't understand why you're arguing against: "Paid Mods are not a bad thing, but we should be able to TRY the mods before making the purchase if for a limited time. Also the modders should make more of a cut from it." My only mention of donations was stating "Hey, we should donate more". I'm arguing for Paid Mods to be done correctly, how does that make me an entitled loafer and cheap? Mods aren't an exact science here, its not official and in a lot of cases there's no between-mod support so mods just don't work together. All I stated was that we should be able to TRY the mod for a short time before buying it to make sure it works for us before we pay money.

I was sort of on the border with this whole fiasco, and hence kept my mouth shut on it until this point. I'm not against Paid Mods, the concept makes sense and I can see it being utilized well. If I wasn't poor and had the money to give modders something I would donate in a heartbeat. The issue is the system Valve put in place screwed everyone and for some reason the whole thing seemed to devolve into a fight between Free Modders and Paid Modders. Not only were the modders making a rather insignificant cut (its their work, Valve shouldn't be making a bigger cut just for hosting it), but the system seemed specifically set up to make people not want to try new mods. When I see a mod I want to try, I'm not sure its going to last two days in my game before being removed because all I have to work off of is pictures. I was looking at mods during it would see a pay for mod go "oh, this looks pretty cool...oh its $3, well I'm not sure I'm ever going to use it so I'll pass." I have no idea if I'll enjoy it, or if it'll even work with my mod load or if in 4 days it'll cause a major crash due to another mod and I'll need to remove it. In the long run only the standing giants such as Midas, SkyUI, etc. would have made any money out of the system and people would just avoid the little guys trying to get a start because...who knows you might not like it. Once again, I'm not saying the concept is bad what I am saying is that there needs to be some system in place to get us through the "I don't know stage" before we're asked to hand over our money. My money is limited, I'm not a rich man, and a picture isn't going to prove to me that I need your mod. It could be that each mod that sets a price needs to have a "free version" that contains the main points of the mod, with all updates and some extra stuff being hidden behind the paywall so those of us who never used it before could play the free version to see if it was worth the money to us. It could also be a 2 or 3 week "trial period" on each mod before we have to put any money down to see if it works for us. The system as it was would just make me not want to try new mods, only pay for the few major mods that don't disappear from my list and move on. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would do this and in the end the big mods that made a name for themselves thanks to the free modding community would make money, and anyone who's just getting into modding or wanting to learn how to do it (such as myself) were going to get screwed. Until such time as the system is created in a way that doesn't screw everyone but the corporations behind it, I think the Paid Mod system is better dead. Despite this I do think that we need to donate more to those mods that just don't seem to leave our mod list, and once I find a job now that I've graduated (here's hoping) I know a few that'll get a beer out of me through donations. The mod community has existed and thrived up to this point being free, I think a few bucks out of each of us wouldn't be bad.