Publisher-Approved Paid Modding Policy

[henryetha]

4 hours ago, showler said:

NOBODY is saying they are banning patches for free mods.  We're upset that they are banning patches for Paid mods that make those paid mods work with free mods.

If you can't keep up with what the complaint is, then stop arguing about it.

You can just host the patch elsewhere (GitHub, Google Drive, etc.), and link to it. No one is banning patches, you just need to upload them elsewhere. 

And honestly — I don't see why, as a premium user, I should pay for bandwidth used for content, I am locked out from (unless I would buy the creation).

These mod authors chose to sell their product, so they should at least do so as professionals and actively provide support (and if it is only providing a platform where users can upload compatibility patches).

[Chernobylite12]

6 minutes ago, henryetha said:

You can just host the patch elsewhere (GitHub, Google Drive, etc.), and link to it. No one is banning patches, you just need to upload them elsewhere. 

And honestly — I don't see why, as a premium user, I should pay for bandwidth used for content, I am locked out from (unless I would buy the creation).

These mod authors chose to sell their product, so they should at least do so as professionals and actively provide support (and if it is only providing a platform where users can upload compatibility patches).

For the same reason you're paying to host any other mods that you choose not to use - because that's the bargain. When dawnguard, or shivering isles came out, nexus wasn't blocking mods for those till everyone had them.  "But *I* can't use it" isn't a good justification. It's like saying nexus can't host patches for Cities of the North because you use JK's. (And don't want to mix them...i know they cam be patched together - but if one was on CC then you couldn't with the policy anyways.) 

 

Nexus was successful because it centralized all the different places where mods were getting hosted. 

[Arredamaal]

7 minutes ago, henryetha said:

And honestly — I don't see why, as a premium user, I should pay for bandwidth used for content, I am locked out from (unless I would buy the creation).

These mod authors chose to sell their product, so they should at least do so as professionals and actively provide support (and if it is only providing a platform where users can upload compatibility patches).

 

You also pay for bandwidth and storage of mods for games you don't own, and are locked out from (unless you buy the game).

The problem with the idea of requiring the VC mod authors to provide their own hosting or use a third-party site like Drive or Github is that some of the previous CC content was arbitrarily exempted from these new rules, including some by the same authors.

Quote

We consider Creation Club content as "official content" in line with Bethesda's stance and therefore will treat it like DLC. This also extends to any Creations published by the official Bethesda Game Studios account on their website. You can view the list of mods for Skyrim and Starfield here.

 

[Kant3n]

8 minutes ago, Arredamaal said:

The problem with the idea of requiring the VC mod authors to provide their own hosting or use a third-party site like Drive or Github is that some of the previous CC content was arbitrarily exempted from these new rules, including some by the same authors.

It goes beyond that. A not-insignificant number of compatibility patches are made and released (with permission) by people other than the original mod author. This is just forcing the onus of patching onto the mod authors while locking out many of the contributors making those patches from the process entirely.

In addition to compatibility patches, another casualty of this mess will be any NPC replacers, lighting changes and many other cosmetic updates for any VCs. Nexus is throwing the baby out with the bathwater in every conceivable way. This new rule set needs to be constricted to the demo versions and collection requirements, which are reasonable restrictions; the rest of it helps nobody and hurts everybody.

[Khundiann]

6 hours ago, ScytheBearer said:

 

I know that reading comprehension is no longer stressed in the education system, but I would think even you would understand that "work of mod authors which is freely donated to their site" means "mod authors do not need to pay Nexusmods to host their mods".  

As for the rest of your screed, NexusMods makes a profit, but without those free mods to share, where would NexusMods' profit come from?  Here again, I think even you are smart enough to understand that "no mods" means "no NexusMods".  So, NexusMods profits come from the work of mod makers, but NexusMods will not support mod makers who which to profit from their work.    

As for your fruit reference, all I see are sour grapes.        

 

FYI, I live in a trilingual country and English is my 4th language. Education system comments coming from the US, now thats rich! 

My point is that Nexusmods provides a FREE service to both mod authors and mod users, they are not profiting from mod authors their work in the same way that Beth is profiting from it. Nexusmods doesn't make anyone pay to use their website or upload/download mods, the only thing you pay for is the premium website features.

Nexusmods' existence is directly related to the historically "free" nature of mods, as there was no legal framework to profit from the intellectual properties by mod authors or websites like Nexusmods. Now some of the greedy corps are tapping into the modding community and monetizing it, why would Nexusmods be obligated to help anyone destroy the free nature of the modding community and by extension jeopardize their own business plan?

If Beth had their way we would be paying for every small mod you can imagine, remember the Oblivion horse armor anyone? If i'm not mistaken this is widely regarded as the root of the evil we know today as crappy paid DLC. This is just the beginning imo, wouldn't suprise me at all that in the future the TOS of Beth games will change to only allow mods to exist on their own paid platform or something.

I applaud Nexusmods for taking a firm stance against publishers trying to wiggle their way into and exploiting the modding community!

[henryetha]

1 hour ago, Chernobylite12 said:

For the same reason you're paying to host any other mods that you choose not to use - because that's the bargain. When dawnguard, or shivering isles came out, nexus wasn't blocking mods for those till everyone had them.  "But *I* can't use it" isn't a good justification. It's like saying nexus can't host patches for Cities of the North because you use JK's. (And don't want to mix them...i know they cam be patched together - but if one was on CC then you couldn't with the policy anyways.) 

 

Nexus was successful because it centralized all the different places where mods were getting hosted. 

There is a difference. COTN and JK's are both free to use. The choice is ours from begin with, without having to first pay extra money in order to use one of those. When I choose not to use JK's, then it is because it's my choice, and not because of a paywall.

Dawnguard is an official DLC by Bethesda. It's to be expected that it becomes supported. Same with other games I might not have bought. And tbh, I would gladly pay another €15~€25 for an official DLC like Dawnguard or Dragonborn. But starting on microtransactions on this old game? Bethesda milking the cow from content made by other people — not even by themselves? While relying on the free modding community to fix their bugs? (bugs that have been known for years!) This is something, I don't want and will not support.

[showler]

1 hour ago, henryetha said:

You can just host the patch elsewhere (GitHub, Google Drive, etc.), and link to it. No one is banning patches, you just need to upload them elsewhere. 

And honestly — I don't see why, as a premium user, I should pay for bandwidth used for content, I am locked out from (unless I would buy the creation).

First, you can't link to it.  NM has an existing policy that you can't provide links to mods that break the rules of the site.  If it can't be hosted here it can't be linked to.

Second, hosting files MAKES NM MONEY.  Claiming that hosting these mods will cost extra ignores the entire business structure of the site.

26 minutes ago, Khundiann said:

This is just the beginning imo, wouldn't suprise me at all that in the future the TOS of Beth games will change to only allow mods to exist on their own paid platform or something.

This exact argument has been made since the horse armor was announced and yet the exact opposite has happened.  It's tired and completely misunderstands the benefits of mods to Bethesda.

Edited October 30 by showler

[henryetha]

1 minute ago, showler said:

First, you can't link to it.  NM has an existing policy that you can't provide links to mods that break the rules of the site.  If it can't be hosted here it can't be linked to.

 

It's in the announcements, that links to paid mods are allowed. Maybe clarify if this includes links to their patches. Alternatively, seek out the creator of the paid mod, so they include the patch links in their mod's description. 

[Khundiann]

4 minutes ago, showler said:

This exact argument has been made since the horse armor was announced and yet the exact opposite has happened.  It's tired and completely misunderstands the benefits of mods to Bethesda.

And between the release of the horse armor and now, creating a platform to monetize modding isn't raising an eyebrow? Ok then...

[Czasior]

9 hours ago, Arthmoor said:

Actually we can, so long as they're free. Bethesda has done nothing to discourage the creation of compatibility patches as long as all of the authors involved agree to allow it.

The VC rules from Beth's page state that "Creations must be standalone, so it cannot depend on other community releases, free or paid." But I won't argue with you, Arthmoor. You have much more experience in the matter. Apparently, the official statement is misleading. 

But I understand you can publish the patches as free mods, not the Verified Creations.