Is Bethesda Trying to Kill Modding Community?

[showler]

Well, there's two kinds of "well-received".

 

Gamers: "This is a fun game that I am enjoying playing very much."

 

Modders: "This is an interesting platform to tear to shreds and try to force it to do things it was never intended to do."

[HeyYou]

Well, there's two kinds of "well-received".

 

Gamers: "This is a fun game that I am enjoying playing very much."

 

Modders: "This is an interesting platform to tear to shreds and try to force it to do things it was never intended to do."

I think that second one we will see regardless of what the gamers think. :)

[xrayy]

Well, there's two kinds of "well-received".

 

Gamers: "This is a fun game that I am enjoying playing very much."

 

Modders: "This is an interesting platform to tear to shreds and try to force it to do things it was never intended to do."

i'm not sure if it helps to oversimplify the situation by describing it that way. the "(well-)received" process is more complex. true is that gamers and modders are involved and modders can be also gamers and vice versa.

 

there is also nexusmods ifself which "receives" and also "manipulates" with new features like collections while changing rules in their interest and for "their future plans" while also "giving" and contributing like modders. not mentioned anywhere. and there is the game company contributing the game and their most important goal to earn as much money as possible with it.

 

the pure gamers category as the biggest part here is not contributing any game content at all but influences by articulating their "needs" and "wishes" while spending money to the game company and the necessary game infrastructure.

this part can be divided into pc gamers and console gamers. and as we all know bethesda care in the end for their budget and not for any group.

 

i'm not a friend of any assumptions out of the blue. so i just wait for starfield and we will watch this "skyrocket" and how it lands in the community.

like heyyou i see no problem at all in the community as long as all people act rational, patient and calm. early adopters as always will have the hardest time in the beginning and will naturally burn the most money. but they can say "I was one of the first..." :smile:

[Fkemman11]

What are you f*#@ing kidding? Bethesda relies on the modding community.

[gnarly1]

What are you f*#@ing kidding? Bethesda relies on the modding community.

How?

[SnowFox35]

What are you f*#@ing kidding? Bethesda relies on the modding community.

I think Bethesda still finds and has found tons of success outside of modding areas, and historically always has . . . unless you're saying something else?

[Fkemman11]

 

What are you f*#@ing kidding? Bethesda relies on the modding community.

How?

 

Do you play without the unofficial patches? I don't. That's just one example. Another is that Bethesda learns from their modding community with so many very, very good ideas and implements some of them into their later games. Sometimes I think they are just as amazed at what the community can pull off as the rest of us. :wink:

 

Also understand that I did not say they 'needed' the modding community, I said they rely on it- want it. There's the difference.

[gnarly1]

Do you play without the unofficial patches? I don't. That's just one example.

That benefits you and I, not Bethesda.

 

Another is that Bethesda learns from their modding community with so many very, very good ideas and implements some of them into their later games.

That they do but that still doesn't mean they rely on the modding community. They would get ideas from lots of places - other games is one of the more likely places. You wouldn't say that they rely on other developers, although I think you could make an argument for that that's more convincing than your assertion that Beth relies on modders.

 

Also understand that I did not say they 'needed' the modding community, I said they rely on it- want it. There's the difference.

I understand but I think it's a distinction without a tangible difference.

[HeyYou]

Actually, I think beth DOES rely on the modding community. It increases the popularity of their games, and it is something they talk about on a regular basis. They made a point to state the Starfield was going to be moddable.....

 

Beth takes ideas from mods, and implements them into subsequent games. Yes indeed. It is a great source of ideas for them, because it comes with NO LEGAL LIABILITY. Now, imagine if they 'copied' an idea from another publishers game..... The lawyers would have a field day.

 

Not to mention, Beth has actually HIRED modders. No, I am not talking CC content, I mean HIRED, as in full time employment. :) What better way to give yourself a HUGE talent pool to pick and choose from.

[gnarly1]

Actually, I think beth DOES rely on the modding community. It increases the popularity of their games, and it is something they talk about on a regular basis. They made a point to state the Starfield was going to be moddable.....

I vaguely recall at least one discussion on this forum (likely in GMAD) about the degree to which modding does actually increase the popularity of Beth's games, the gist of which was that since people who mod their game make up only a small fraction of the total player base, modding doesn't have as much of an effect on popularity as you might think.

 

So I'm sceptical of the claim that Beth relies on the modding community because we don't know to what degree it increases the popularity of the games. It could be fairly negligible.

 

Beth takes ideas from mods, and implements them into subsequent games. Yes indeed. It is a great source of ideas for them, because it comes with NO LEGAL LIABILITY. Now, imagine if they 'copied' an idea from another publishers game..... The lawyers would have a field day.

That's not how it works. We have genres such as 'souls-like' and 'rogue-like' precisely because developers take ideas from other games and implement them into their own game or use them as inspiration. And I never used the word 'copied' - you used that term so you could strawman my comment.

 

Not to mention, Beth has actually HIRED modders. No, I am not talking CC content, I mean HIRED, as in full time employment. :smile: What better way to give yourself a HUGE talent pool to pick and choose from.

That doesn't mean they rely on the modding community. They hire from other developers as well. That doesn't mean they rely on other developers.

Edited May 9, 2023 by gnarly1