BLOG PIECE: Modding as a hobby versus modding as a career, and the position of the Nexus

[Blaydestorm]

Among my many concerns about this topic, one of the biggest is the control shift to Valve (in this case). I try many mods because there is no cost (and thank you to all mod authors for your effort and hard work) and often, they aren't what I expected or cause a conflict with some other mod (running about 200 mods right now). So they get deleted. If I had to pay for mods, I would be far less likely to try them at all.

 

Then there's the issue of support. Knowing that a mod author has done his work at no cost to myself, I greatly appreciate support but don't expect it (meaning I don't feel they owe me anything). If I paid for a mod then I expect support. What happens when a mod author gets 2000 support questions in a few days? Are they going to hire staff? Quit their day jobs? Or get frustrated and quit writing mods.

 

How about this scenario? "Valve only supports mods if all your mods have been purchased from us so we can insure proper conflict management." Now they've locked me into their world entirely. Bye-bye Nexus.

 

Sadly, this whole scenario reminds me of what IAP has done to gaming on mobile devices. It has basically destroyed it. Most games created in the Apple mobile universe are architected to let you play for a while and then force you to constantly open your wallet to be competitive or enjoy it further. I hate that crap and have almost given up gaming on mobile over it.

 

It's probably inevitable. Once companies smell real money, they usually figure out a way for it to happen. In the end, I think we'll be worse off for it.

[falconer14]

In response to post #23680394.

vote ^^^

[Thaiauxn]

I just want to congratulate everyone on making it to page 23 until the EULA was quoted and the Nazis were brought up. That's a proud achievement right there. This community is maturing!

 

Hahaha!

 

*Godwin fist!*

 

But seriously though.

 

Content packs made by 3rd parties would be amazing.

 

If Zenimax were willing, they would have an application process that can cipher out stat and performance tweaks versus content packs. They would make a tremendous profit, help career folks and beginners learn how to manage a profitable business, and improve the overall quality expected from mods without the assumption of self-entitlement we have now. But a content pack vs a performance tweak should be taken into consideration.

 

Content packs -- add 3D, Texture, Voice, Sound, Video assets to the game. They may also add extra functionality, menus, and quests. Weather mods, flora overhauls, armour, weapons, retextures, ENB, Quests, New lands.

 

Performance tweaks - Adjust ini values alone, rebalance weapon stats, character stats, role playing stats, xp gain, add lots of mini-nukes to an assault rifle, etc.

 

To me, a mod is a performance tweak. That really shouldn't be sold, ever. That's the heart of making a "mod."

 

A content pack made of original 3D assets is not a "mod in the classic sense." That is a content pack. It's a completely separate beast. Semantically, yes, it's a modification of the base software. But by that logic, so is any programme operating in an OS. The Nexus is a mod of PhP. Fallout New Vegas is a mod of Fallout 3, which is a mod of TES.

 

So I think the idea of the user base selling content packs is absolutely a valid idea, and the risks are way overblown. Most mods would still be, probably 95%, free. Those that aren't may be just .99 to 5$.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Thaiauxn

[Arthmoor]

In response to post #23672494. #23673089 is also a reply to the same post.

Well we tried... you know I can't resist EULA quoting :P

@RJ: Twitter has less words to use to get there. Wild leaps save time... :P

[Arthmoor]

In response to post #23665029. #23665619, #23668824 are all replies on the same post.

The difference is you quoted the wrong document which has terms and conditions that do not apply to the CK's use to make mods. Were we to go by the biolerplate legalese for the game itself, modding TES/Fallout games would be in a heap of legal trouble the moment people began distributing them - free or not.

I'm pretty sure the actual discussion is that if a paid system comes into being, neither of these agreements will apply to the mods being sold. They would have to craft a new one to cover it.

[Triaxx2]

This is one of those things that holds the absolute potential to utterly destroy modding. If it's mishandled. Do I trust Bethesda to do it perfectly? As much as I trust Fallout 4 to be completely bug free. Do I expect them to go the EA route? No.

 

They're going to look at figures like you came up with, which they're liable to get more accurate from Valve, and go hey, they made 171 million dollars for zero input. They didn't do anything except make the stuff available on the website and made a ton of money. All we have to do is distribute free modding tools and make profit? Sign us up.

 

Whatever profit they make is just that, profit. That's after the cut to the modders, and the cut to Valve for hosting and whatever other things Valve gets. They're not paying for more man hours. They're not required to provide any support at all.

 

If it were EA? They'd look, see twenty-five percent of the profit they're not getting and say NO. And start throwing lawsuits around so fast their lawyers would catch on fire.

 

As for paying for mods? Like anything else that's entirely a case by case basis. If you're going to make me pay for something like SKSE, or SkyUI? I'll simply not use them at all. That means I can't play with mods? Then I move on. Some people are going to be annoyed that they're not getting compensation. I don't mod for money. I'm not that good and it takes enough time that I'm not going to do it for money because it wouldn't be worth it. Then again, I spent a weekend on an Oblivion mod. I didn't do it because I expected anything out of it. I didn't do it because I'd been asked. I did it, because I enjoyed doing it. It was a fun project, it became part of my game, and I released it, because I thought others might use it. My most downloaded mod took less than an hour. And most of that was path finding. Even at a dollar, it wouldn't make enough money to be worth it.

 

So will I continue to mod? Yeah. If it goes pay for distro? Then I'll mod for me, or not bother.

[CZukoff]

In response to post #23665029. #23665619, #23668824, #23687779 are all replies on the same post.

The real fun is when people start stealing content from free distributors and selling it for profit and vice versa. With the sheer volume of content available on the nexus alone this would make it nigh impossible to keep track of whose assets are original and whose are stolen. Think of "type 3", been around what since Oblivion, one of the most universally ported/modded/altered/used assets in the Bethesda modding sphere, so what happens when this suddenly gets put up for sale?

This is going to be a clusterf*#@ of unmitigated proportions. As much as I think it's awesome for modders to be able to reap the benefit of their labors, the proverbial fallout from this can only amount in a PR nightmare worse than Diablo 3's launch and potential open a massive rift between the two sides.

Saddle up boys were headed for the modding dark ages!

[Sakorona]

In response to post #23674119.

50%, since 25% is split back to the game's developer. Valve is selling itself as a service, which is why it takes half.

[Thaiauxn]

I guess we shouldn't own bikes. They just get stolen anyway. We shouldn't paint them either, because you only paint bikes for passion, which it's all about. Otherwise it just ruins everything!

 

If I have to pay to paint my bike, I'll quit painting bikes. Not that I own a bike, because it'd just get stolen anyway. But if I did I'd paint it Artax Black, like the future of mods!

 

Edited March 22, 2015 by Thaiauxn

[N7R]

I will always be against mods costing money (donations fine, but requiring money to download no). It should always be for the love of the game and the community. When I mean game not just Skyrim but ANY game where modding is available. I don't mod for Skyrim but I do for another game and due to legal reasons no monetary gain can be involved ever (thank goodness). They gave us the tools to make stuff but no selling. It's a perfect world really since everyone shares resources, tutorials, and content is made freely to the community.

 

The day I have to pay for a mod is the day that mod may not be as easily accessible for all those who are too poor to afford it. I feel the competition and secret information to make mods get better becomes hidden to only the few 'elite' in the community have the keys. It also constrains the risk - reward factor as people would spend less time being creative trying to make out of the box mods for something more 'safe' that will earn them money instead.

 

I've given hours, days, weeks, and years of my time to modding in the game I love and I've lost money doing it buying the tools or programs to do so and never once thought about earning anything from it. As a modder it was all about my game experience that more enriched whatever improvements I was adding to the game and nothing more. I'm tired of everything requiring money and modding was one of those safe havens where really anyone could join in on the fun, learn, and contribute to a community having personal satisfaction of giving selflessly.

 

It also filtered out the morons. You don't see many jerks trying to mod because they never get very far or don't have any determination to actually sit down and learn how to mod. They simply don't have the will and skill needed to produce content and are the one who complain, trash, and tear apart modders because "so and so didn't do this perfect" yet they sit on the sidelines contributing nothing. Once money gets involved I have no doubt we'd see more people like that try to join in for selfish gain without regard to the community or having no love for the game at all. Money tarnishes all that really.

Edited March 23, 2015 by N7R