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

[sesom]

In response to post #23967214.

Hello Project Brazil how is the ball rolling from the lazy & incompetant modmaker who made it ( :) me btw. in a very sarcastic way, so noone gets a wrong assumption here again)?

Don't you get it that I am talking about the attention seeking make a quick buck people in the modding scene they simply don't care what and which resources they are useing? No. Ok have fun with them and the few cents that Beth and Steam is willing to give you. Edited April 1, 2015 by sesom

[Deleted82156User]

In response to post #23836199. #23839154, #23845829, #23853369, #23858174, #23858619, #23868714, #23869794, #23870749, #23874494, #23889664, #23897239, #23907889, #23916764, #23947279, #23954734, #23963714, #23965734, #23966599 are all replies on the same post.

There always will be modders that won't sell their mods, Gopher, being one of the most well known of them, because they are making the mod for the mod, not money.

Not sure how I missed this before. You do know that Gopher is one of the lucky ones making a full living from making videos about mods, right?

It baffles the mind....how is it that it is okay for others to make money from modders work, yet not okay for modders too. Just thought I would throw that out for folks to think about. Edited April 1, 2015 by Guest

[mavalois]

Excellent essay ! I think you summarized the problem very well. Happy to see that I'm not the only one having concerns about that trend.

 

A similar system in terms of using the work of someone else to improve on it has been used for ages : patents. I can't say that it's been a very successful system. Many inventors have been stripped of their intellectual properties (and the potential income) by others who got away with it simply because suing is out of the question due to the legal fees involved.

 

I believe the only solution to that problem is to encourage discussion between content creators to promote sharing, but that is easier said than done when money is in play. Very easy for one party to become totally close minded and paralyze an entire project.

 

I don't think free and open modding will disappear but Curated Workshops will definitely hurt it for a simple reason : why would you want to help the other modders in the community (who are also your competitors) get better. Of course some individuals will always be willing to help, but will that be the majority ? Will the community stay as tightly knit together ? I doubt it.

 

PS Please excuse the spelling and grammar error, English is not my first language.

 

[Arthmoor]

In response to post #23967144.

You are wrong with all of this.

You have demonstrated no such thing. Your argument is purely opinion, not based in facts.

For one, there can be no facts since such a system as is being discussed does not exist.

For another, as I said, I've read up on the Sims 2 thing before. I have an entirely different opinion of what happened there. I don't think that makes either of us wrong. We just see the outcome in a different light. All I see are a bunch of whiners who are jealous of the ones who were able to make money off of what they do.

I have seen nothing posted yet by anyone opposed to the idea that is grounded in fact. It's all baseless speculation centered around the idea that mods should always and forever be free. Well. That ship already sailed since several modding communities now have officially approved pay systems in place for mods.

[sesom]

In response to post #23967144. #23971239 is also a reply to the same post.

Understood I am a enemy for you.

Welcome to the commercial world of modmaking! It will be fun. Business is war.... and war... never changes. (had to :) ). Edited April 1, 2015 by sesom

[Ironman5000]

Well, I remember a few years back getting pretty much slammed in the forums for supporting the idea of this and my opinion was very much contrary to the general consensus! I don't know if it's because my words were not very well chosen and my responses got a bit sidetracked(this happens to me a lot which is why I don't talk a lot IRL) or opinions and beliefs change when cash is on the table.

 

I kinda like how this turning, would be lovely to earn a few quid for what I love doing. Of course it would remain what is already an almost full-time hobby except I could buy some decent gear to be best I can be.

 

If some users want to see this as enhancing the competition element, well it just goes to show the mentality of the user who would consider the subject doesn't it? You people who are obsessed with the hot files and FOTM will crumble like wet cake when the change comes because you would already be modding for the wrong reasons.

 

In reference to the joint effort in mods i'm sure, should such an occasion occur, a system would be in place to divide any earnings but tbh I have yet to see a foolproof legal system for managing online content. Of course I wouldn't/couldn't upload anything like IW or MoWars because so many assets from all corners of the nexus were used and I remember some guys saying not to upload elsewhere, needless to say the scale of the divide in earnings would be meagre.

 

If you use assets by someone who NOW readily gives permissions to use their work, but later wants to get paid and changes their mind, an official compromise procedure should be put into place which could be difficult - say I use Author1's assets for IronmanMod > I vanish for a week or two > a couple hours after I vanish Author1 gets in touch with me telling me they want a share > a day later Author1 gets tired of waiting and contacts Valve to request IronmanMod removed because my lack of response is suspect > I return a week later to be greeted with some form of disciplinary action > Ironman is sad...wait, am I already disproving myself, or just worrying about scenarios which Valve will have already prepared for...? :/

 

If i'm honest I do welcome some real reward in the form of pennies, but objectively there will be negative repercussions to our community. Hopefully the more intelligent and less desperate authors can keep their s#*! together without alienating each other for the sake of profit, and carry on sharing their skills and guides for other prospective budding mod authors. After all there is information on learning career building skills in other areas outside modding so why would people assume that authors, especially given the way we started, would hole ourselves up in a money fort?

[Arthmoor]

In response to post #23967144. #23971239, #23971604 are all replies on the same post.

Seems like you're the one insisting there even needs to be enemies here. That doesn't need to happen. Can people not disagree without it turning into such things?

[phellen]

In response to post #23836199. #23839154, #23845829, #23853369, #23858174, #23858619, #23868714, #23869794, #23870749, #23874494, #23889664, #23897239, #23907889, #23916764, #23947279, #23954734, #23963714, #23965734, #23966599, #23968049 are all replies on the same post.

To add onto Shezrie's and Arthmoors points, why couldn't modders make money exactly the same way that Gopher makes money reviewing mods? Through advertising sponsors and page views.

One can assume most people watching Gopher's videos are going to be also viewing the mod pages to access the download. There's your coinage right there and users still get access to mods for free. Edited April 2, 2015 by phellen

[Asgardii]

In response to post #23602849. #23748509, #23749129, #23750109, #23835629, #23957149 are all replies on the same post.

You sell stuff = legislation kicks in and it means your (our) personal opinions about this don't matter much. If you are fine with incompatibility, crashing game or loosing save files after bying a mod, its ok. Everybody will not be and the one who sells the stuff is in trouble.

[Brigand231]

In response to post #23602849. #23748509, #23749129, #23750109, #23835629, #23957149, #23983489 are all replies on the same post.

Yep. In this case that's the licence holder, not the modder. That means the developers will have to be picky about what they accept.