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

[Stampede]

This poll should be limited to X-Box users only, not PC users. PC users shouldn't ever have to worry about buying mods, as the free mod community has the power to always put out something equivalent and in most cases better than anything you can pay for.

 

No. That is not possible for now in the case of elaborate modelling as Bethesda have yet to release the import/export tools. Texturing may be possible but that is it.

[aleswigger]

OK, I guess I just assumed modding for Oblivion was basically the same as modding for Morrowind, with just using the Oblivion TES Construction set. I haven't actually used or created any Oblivion mods yet, so I'm talking out of my ass a little bit here. But I've come across many websites hosting hundreds of user-created mods, ranging from new items, game tweaks, new buildings, NPC's, new quests, more armor and weapons, new faces and hairstyles you can use, and much, much more, including horse armor. So what is it that the modder cannot do? Why can't I just make my own original horse armor? Can you define "elaborate modelling" and the import/export tools that you refer to?

[Stampede]

Sure.

 

Modding is basically the same, with a few new features and a few missing and much loved ones. (The ability to add new skills and player animations.)

 

While not a 3d modeller myself, if I had to explain the import/export factor, it means that Bethesdas models are licensed to Bethesda themselves. Their format requires a special 'plugin' for it to be edited by 3d Studio for example, or for 3d Studio to be able to create new meshes that Oblivion would recognise and accept.

 

Bethesda released a plugin for an older version of 3ds for Morrowind. However we require one for Oblivion now in order to see new 3d models. Which I think is a real pity, but I have no doubt that in the future Bethesda will see the light and release the import/export features...albeit at a price. ;)

[aleswigger]

Sure.

 

Modding is basically the same, with a few new features and a few missing and much loved ones. (The ability to add new skills and player animations.)

 

While not a 3d modeller myself, if I had to explain the import/export factor, it means that Bethesdas models are licensed to Bethesda themselves. Their format requires a special 'plugin' for it to be edited by 3d Studio for example, or for 3d Studio to be able to create new meshes that Oblivion would recognise and accept.

 

Bethesda released a plugin for an older version of 3ds for Morrowind. However we require one for Oblivion now in order to see new 3d models. Which I think is a real pity, but I have no doubt that in the future Bethesda will see the light and release the import/export features...albeit at a price. ;)

Thanks for the explanation. So you're saying that the horse is one of these off-limits models? That confused me, because I remember seeing horse armor mods at what is in my opinion the best mod site so far at http://www.tessource.net/files/index.php (if anyone knows of any better, let me know!)

 

Well, I just went there to look them up again to prove my point, and they're no longer there, or at least I can't find them. When I saw them there before, it was early after Oblivion's release, the same day the official horse armor mod was released. I went to that mod site originally that day upset that I had to pay for the horse armor and was hoping to find a different free horse armor mod that would make me feel better. There was a horse armor mod there for free download and that made me feel better, and I thought "Great! I'll download them later on when I've played the stock game enough and I'm ready to add some mods!" I mentioned that to a fellow Morrowind/Oblivion fan (my 65 year old dad actually) who knows more about computer stuff than I do, after he complained about the pay-for horse armor mod. He frowned, and said he thought it was probably the same official mod somehow, not a different one. I dismissed that statement, thinking it was indeed a different original mod and he was just ignorant about the possibilites of the free-mod world.

 

Looking back at it now with your statements in mind, I think he was right and I was the ignorant one, and the site must've removed it from their database after that first couple of days. I did a thorough search, and nothing came up. I came across a couple of "skins" that says after you buy the horse armor mod, you can use these for variety.

 

Anyway, that's why I was confused, as I saw the horse armor mod for free download briefly and thought it was an original. Dang, wish I downloaded it back then when I saw it. So there are some things that modders can do, and things they can't do, and the things that they can't do are going to be what's released on a pay-for basis I realize now. I can now understand all the pay-for complaints, as I thought it was a moot point for PC players, but now I understand. Thanks for the clarification! I'm now as upset as everyone else. Thanks, thanks alot. :rolleyes:

 

Now I must rant for a minute now that I know I'm supposed to be mad about this.

 

I don't foresee Bethesda eventually releasing this stuff later on for us to mod for free, because wouldn't that just piss off everybody who's been paying for it all htis time? As it stands now, I'm going to really have to consider buying the damn horse armor now when I'm ready to add mods, all this time I incorrectly thought I could armor my horse for free through the mod community. If I thought Bethesda would later down the road release this stuff so we could mod it ourselves, I would be tempted to wait it out and not buy it, and that would be a bad business model for makers of that horse armor I think.

 

Aargh, $2 for some simple little thing like horse armor? That's 5% of what I paid for the entire game. Give me something that adds 5% to the Oblivion game world, and I'll pay $2 for it. But stinkin' horse armor? That's gotta be like not even adding one tenth of one percent to the Oblibion game world. And yet, I want it, I must have it!!! Those bastards!!!!!!! :wacko: >:( :excl: :( o_O :ohmy:

[clintonius]

So far the reviews for Bethesda's first two official mods have not been so good. Most people who have posted have really reamed them and I have yet to read any glowing reviews for either of these mods. It seems that Bethesda's first attempt at Pay-For-Download content isn't going so well, but I have absolutely no idea what their profits are like so... jury is still out I guess.

[Baraka]

I would not be likely to pay for a single mod from the devs of Obliv unless it was something so cool that I really really felt I couldn't play the game without it.

 

Of course I would pay for future expansions of Obliv, and I pray that there will be some that will remedy the glaring ommissions of some vital things we had in Morrowind .... Levitatiion, throwing weapons, etc. :ph34r:

[Stampede]

I doubt very much that levitation will be added back, seeing as how the gates to the cities act as activators and doorways to seperate cells. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

[dc4bs]

I could mostly care less about a few small "uber-tested" official mods.

 

I would FAR rather see them put the efforts into bug fixes and patches than small bit's and pieces of fluff and window dressing that really add noithing of major impact to the game. And even with all the testing, the shear volume of complaints over on the main bethesda site about problems with these "tested & official" mods tells me they really were not tested all that well after all.

 

EG: for those who bought but didn't like the horse armor after all and tried to uninstall it, it deletes your current horse even if it's shadowmare? That just screames of a BADLY done mod.

 

I see this attitude in so much software today. EG: "Hey, _MY_ product is so cool, noone will ever want to uninstall it so we won't bother to test what really happens when you try to do so.. This is true of full on, professionaly made, purchased software as well... "Hey, why isn't there any way to uninstall this thing that is screwing up my PC?"

 

Amature/player created mods, for the most part, seem to be far better behaved and safer to install and uninstall at will than the official ones so far. This tells me QA is asleap at the wheel and to be warry of ANY further products. Um. Hmmm... SHOULD I download the patch and install it when it DOES show up? Will that make the game better or will it screw it up WORSE? tough call at the moment. We can only wait and see.

 

After patches and fixes, then full expansions (EG: Tribuneral and Bloodmoon style) are great as they provide whole new playgrounds to romp around in. They are where any major additional work and addons like polearms or the ability to fight (or do ANYTHING usefull from horseback) SHOULD be included, NOT in some dinky, half-baked $1.99 mod. The amount of new goodies and quests, etc. would determine the price for said expansion package(s).

[clintonius]

This poll should be limited to X-Box users only, not PC users. PC users shouldn't ever have to worry about buying mods, as the free mod community has the power to always put out something equivalent and in most cases better than anything you can pay for.

That is, in essence, the real problem. Bethesda built the game around the XBox instead of the PC, which made for some slightly disappointed PC gamers. In a perfect world the game would have been built for both formats, however, that would have meant creating two seperate games; not cost effective. Hopefully patches will close the gaps created by the XBox version.

[Amelorn]

Here is my take on it, i think all of these mods are decent...going by content and what theya dd to the game. It is the pricing that it faulty.

 

(note: the following prices are in US dollars)

 

WIzard's tower, orrery, and Thieves den are each 1.89. Horse Armour is 1.99. Together, that totals $7.66. The Wizard tower, orrery, and thieves den are OK by themselves. THey add some buildings/areas of exploration. Horse armour is absurd for 1.99. If the bundled them together for 5 dollars, then it might be more reasonable.

 

By megabyte: Thieves den is 4.5mb, WIzard's tower is 17.6mb, and orrery is 18mb. Horse armour is 6.2mb.

 

The biggest joke is the comign soon plug in. Mehrune's razor. It is $2.99. It is a whopping 2 megabytes in size, so it seems Bethesda is getting more greedy as they see people are willing to pay for these rinky dink add-ons. It won't break the bank, but how long before we see 5 and 10 dollar plug ins?

 

Bottom Line: They are a great idea when you bundle these together into a 10 dollar mini expansion, but being nickel and dimed for each one is annoying.