To Pay Or Not To Pay, That Is The Question.

[clintonius]

The purpose of this poll and discussion is to determine how you feel about Bethesda charging for content that either used to come with the original game or was free, as well as, discussing what you believe to be fair concerning the price of said content.

 

Legend:

 

Individual Mod: any mod that contains a small amount of content

Package of Mods: a grouping of individual mods

Mini Expansion: a package of mods or an individual mod that results in a large amount of content

Complete Expansion: practically a whole other game in itself

Yes: a yes, no matter the cost

No: a no, no matter the cost

Only if the price is right: will purchase only if the purchaser deems the price to be fair

Undecided: no opinion as of now

 

There has also been some discussion over whether or not Bethesda will charge for patches. These claims have already been denied by Bethesda and, besides, it is illegal for them to not support their own software. So, cast your vote and make your voice heard... or not... whatever.

[Peregrine]

There has also been some discussion over whether or not Bethesda will charge for patches. These claims have already been denied by Bethesda and, besides, it is illegal for them to not support their own software. So, cast your vote and make your voice heard... or not... whatever.

 

It's not illegal, it's just not very nice. There's no law requiring you to give the customer what they want, at the price they want. And that includes patches... as a customer, you always have the choice of not buying a product that doesn't perform to your satisfaction. If you buy it anyway, you don't have a legal right to have it fixed at no cost. Sure, a company might lose all their sales by refusing to support their products, but it's not illegal.

 

As for the question:

Individual Mod: Probably not, unless it actually fixes one of the issues I've listed elsewhere. I'd pay for a mod that added spears as a separate skill (assuming I didn't do it myself first), but not for yet another "Your House in Balmora" mod. Anything besides solutions to those issues will probably be done by the community, for free. The only reason I'd pay money for them is because they'd require modifications to things that are (apparently) hard-coded and can't be fixed by the community. I'd do it reluctantly, but I'd pay for it... Oblivion at its full potential with all those issues fixed would be such an amazing game, I think it would be worth it.

 

Package of Mods: Since I wouldn't buy the mods individually, I won't be buying them in groups. Especially since the price will be higher, and I'd be stuck paying for a pile of garbage just to get the one I might actually want.

Mini Expansion: Depends on the price. Something like the ones for Neverwinter Nights, I'd probably buy, assuming they were done at an acceptable level of quality.

Full Expansion: Probably, assuming the price is within reason.

[clintonius]

It's not illegal, it's just not very nice. There's no law requiring you to give the customer what they want, at the price they want. And that includes patches... as a customer, you always have the choice of not buying a product that doesn't perform to your satisfaction. If you buy it anyway, you don't have a legal right to have it fixed at no cost. Sure, a company might lose all their sales by refusing to support their products, but it's not illegal.

 

As for the question:

Individual Mod: Probably not, unless it actually fixes one of the issues I've listed elsewhere. I'd pay for a mod that added spears as a separate skill (assuming I didn't do it myself first), but not for yet another "Your House in Balmora" mod. Anything besides solutions to those issues will probably be done by the community, for free. The only reason I'd pay money for them is because they'd require modifications to things that are (apparently) hard-coded and can't be fixed by the community. I'd do it reluctantly, but I'd pay for it... Oblivion at its full potential with all those issues fixed would be such an amazing game, I think it would be worth it.

 

Package of Mods: Since I wouldn't buy the mods individually, I won't be buying them in groups. Especially since the price will be higher, and I'd be stuck paying for a pile of garbage just to get the one I might actually want.

Mini Expansion: Depends on the price. Something like the ones for Neverwinter Nights, I'd probably buy, assuming they were done at an acceptable level of quality.

Full Expansion: Probably, assuming the price is within reason.

If a mod added polearms to the game it would require all new animation which would add a large amount of content to the game. In addition, I don't see why Bethesda would group a bunch of unrelated mods together.

 

As far as charging for patches being illegal, I don't think the case could be tried in criminal court but it definitely could be tried in civil court (ie a class action suit). That is what I was refering to.

[ChaosShade]

unfortunately polls like this arn't going to get the attention of Bethesda or convince them to change their policy. The only thing that will get them to drop the idea of purchased official mods is if the sales are so low that they arn't worth doing.

[Aianna]

Individual: I'm not buying horse armor, but I'll probably buy the next two. The Mages tower and the other one, they sound worth two dollars. Horse armor doesn't. So I guess what I'm saying is, if the price and content are "right", sure.

 

Package: The same thing would apply here, if the price and content are "right".

 

Small expansion: Once again, this depends on how small, and how much.

 

Expansion: Something like Tribunal or Bloodmoon? Sure.

[Peregrine]

If a mod added polearms to the game it would require all new animation which would add a large amount of content to the game.

 

And that's the only reason I'd pay for it, because it adds something to the game that us mere mortals can't. Of course I could easily do it myself if I had access to the animations, but as it is, I'd (reluctantly) settle for making Oblivion the game it should be through a little extra money.

 

In addition, I don't see why Bethesda would group a bunch of unrelated mods together.

 

For more profit of course, the same reason they're charging for them at all. Group a popular mod in with a lot of poorly-selling ones, raise the price, and people buy the whole package to get the good one.

 

As far as charging for patches being illegal, I don't think the case could be tried in criminal court but it definitely could be tried in civil court (ie a class action suit). That is what I was refering to.

 

And any sane judge would laugh as he throws out the case. Unless it is explicitly promised that the publisher will provide free support for the product, they'd have no case. The fact that you aren't happy with the performance of something you bought is not enough to win even a civil case. Neither is you making the assumption that you will be given a service that isn't promised.

[ThetaOrionis01]

r3t's post removed - advocating software piracy is not permitted on these forums.

[Adras]

Thed other question is- How do you pay for them? If it is credit or debit card, then I'm out. I dont have either one and my dad is the only one who might consider it. THat mages tower did look cool, but unless I can pay with check or cash, then I probably wont get any.

[VaanicOne]

I selected "yes" for all of them.

 

Why? Because it's never going to be any other way, that's why. I'm not going to complain about spending my money on these because I understand the manpower it takes to make them and all that - and because I know that they're never going to change it.

 

Besides, it's only £1.50.

[clintonius]

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised that, more than likely, most people won't purchase individual mods. Other than that, the poll seems to be going the way I would've predicted. Although, I could be wrong. Only time will tell.