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

[lordburnch]

In response to post #23598784.

AMEN! That jerk who is making a living with that illegal upload of The Ice blade of the Monarch on Steam, used the ability ban my comments warning people that it was uploaded without permission. So that everyone thinks he was the original author all along.

It's times like this that wished the Nexus had a news alert every time some uploaded a mod elsewhere, just so that we could get a dozen+ modders over there to report it.

[lordburnch]

In response to post #23599019.

Bethesda has not decided yet f they will use the new pay for system. And if they do, than they can ask Steam to change it.

The EULA is for users NOT developers.

[EnaiSiaion]

In response to post #23598784. #23599049 is also a reply to the same post.

That too. The download curve is MASSIVELY skewed towards the first week of release. Apocalypse is near the top of the first page of the magic category and it barely doubled its installed base since the first week. Every one of my other mods spiked during the first week and then collapsed like a pudding.

People simply look at the first page and pretty much nothing else.

Which also means the best way to get market share is by.............. constantly reuploading the same mod. Well.

[EnaiSiaion]

In response to post #23596219. #23596384, #23596664, #23597949 are all replies on the same post.

Here is what I could do when this goes live.

- Develop Ordinator asap (the competitor to PerMa I put in the freezer because I don't want to compete against PerMa). Then release it, leveraging the success of Apocalypse to get lots of publicity and "asking" people like MMOxReview to cover the mod. The mod should be fairly popular.

- Spread lies about PerMa, file horrifying fake bug reports (my character was IRRECOVERABLY CORRUPTED), post troll videos about PerMa on youtube, and bully T3nd0 on social networks unti he quits.

- Once the mod is big enough, find small mods that are being sold and send them this message: "Hi! Nice mod you have there, and good to see you're making money by selling a mod that modifies dog AI. It would be most unfortunate if an ITM in the dog packages were to sneak its way into the next Ordinator update and your mod doesn't work anymore. Because then people would ask for a refund and ruin your online standing and perhaps your career in game development. I can make sure it won't happen, for only 25% of your profits".

- Buy that Murciélago.

Good thing I'm a nice guy. Most of the time. Edited March 19, 2015 by EnaiSiaion

[Natterforme]

In response to post #23599019. #23599134 is also a reply to the same post.

In relation to stolen mods on the SW, dont ever talk about how the mod is stolen in the comments section of that page. There are two things that need to be done in that instace:

1. Report the item using the report tool. ( it sucks that you can not report more than once or be more specific as to why the item is being reported.)

2. Go to the Bethsoft forum and contact GStaff. They will respond to your message within the week and remove the offending mod. Though this does not ban the user outright and as far as I am aware does not incur a penalty on the users account.

-Natterforme

[forli]

In response to post #23599019. #23599134, #23599379 are all replies on the same post.

The EULA is the contract you accept when you buy and install the game and it apply to everybody who accept this contract, which state:

Customized Game Materials must be distributed solely for free

Everyone on this site playing a Bethesda game accepted it, so nobody can sell anything, even if the Nexus site give us the tools to do that. Edited March 19, 2015 by forli

[Arthmoor]

In response to post #23599019. #23599134, #23599379, #23599429 are all replies on the same post.

The EULA would become irrelevant in that case. If Bethesda were to negotiate a way with Valve to allow mods for sale, then you would certainly have a new agreement that would have to be presented in order for that to work.

Bethesda effectively cannot break their EULA as it isn't meant to apply to THEM. It's their conditions for use that apply to YOU. It's basically the copyright license that tells you what you are and are not allowed to do with your copy of the game.

[Natterforme]

In response to post #23598784. #23599049, #23599254 are all replies on the same post.

The reason that the download curve is so bad on the SW has much to do with the poor search functionality. Since it is very difficult to find mods that you dont know the exact name of, finding anything that is not on the first page or so is too much of a hassle.

The SW fills a niche for gamers who want to mod their game without any real effort or understanding of what they are doing. They dont want to deal with things like load order, archive invalidation, unofficial patches, merged patches, bashed patches, or skyproc patches. Its a great way for new modders who want to get their feet wet but they dont realize that they are in the kiddie pool and that they can have the ocean with just a little bit of education.

-Natterforme

[Arthmoor]

In response to post #23596219. #23596384, #23596664, #23597949, #23599274 are all replies on the same post.

You know, Enai, I suspect if something like this actually happened that it would take a matter of days before the smear campaign was exposed and it wouldn't be the reputations of other people in jeopardy :P

[forli]

In response to post #23599019. #23599134, #23599379, #23599429, #23599559 are all replies on the same post.

In fact, I'm not saying what Bethesda can or cannot do.
I'm saying we (end users) agree to not sell anything or making "commercial exploits" with the game, while the OP talk about some mod authors making money with mods, which could be allowed in some games, but surely not in Bethesda games.

Bethesda need to release an update for their games (even for Morrowind, Oblivion and older games) with a new EULA players must accept to allow modders to "farm" money. Edited March 19, 2015 by forli