Valve/Bethesda announce paid modding for Skyrim, more games to follow

[RavegedPyro]

I'm pretty damn upset about this because what I loved about the modding skyrim was that I didn't have to spend any money on it, I could just have hours of fun. Unfortunately when you're a teenager and trying to save money this is a real kick in the balls, I already bought the game and modders mod for fun right? Well i'm pissed about this they should have just added a donate feature.

[LordAnorak]

In response to post #24568089. #24568194, #24568259, #24568389, #24568499, #24568534, #24568589, #24568629, #24568659, #24568809, #24568894, #24569004, #24569054, #24569089 are all replies on the same post.

lilquickguy wrote:

Reaper0021 wrote: You're not seeing the broader picture. Until you do....no sense in explaining it as I can't type that well or fast. Research what this CAN lead too. Logic and Intelligence walk hand in hand and are close bed fellows.

boulegue wrote: sadly real developer jobs are rare especially those most modders want to do.... not agreeing with reaper since i think he is massively exaggerating but just getting a real developer job is not that easy... and theres a huge difference between working as a modder for yourself having free creativity and working for the "big evil" developers

Reaper0021 wrote: Not agreeing with boulegue as I think he is underestimating the true ramifications of what can happen here, but this can lead to all sorts of OTHER paywall issues here. THOSE are the problems.

mkess wrote: Yes, otherwise we would not have:

- micro-DLC frauds.
- Payed beta called "early access"
- Preorder, leading to bughells.
- Casual games, for the braindead masses.
- Unplayable Vanilla games like Gothic 3
- Bad and cheap console ports. Like Skyrim .... Remember the vanilla menu!

In all these cases, there is ONE and ONLY ONE reason:

GREED!

And so, the mods will be another point on that list:

- Paid mods. With DMCA takedown notice danger for ALL other modders and the community. They even mention it in their description!

WELL DONE, STEAM!

I am so angry.

boulegue wrote: please share your research with us

Reaper0021 wrote: THAT "boulegue" is the issues in small form what I'm referring to thank you mkess. He listed only some of the problems that can arise from this. Modding is a very small part of where this sort of thing can lead.


No research needed go look at "Early Access" games or "Pay to Win" or the DLC issues with games being cut apart and levels being held back until you pay $7.99 for them, etc. STEAM is full of "Research".

boulegue wrote: the DMCA claim through steam only goes for the mods posted for charge on the steam workshop, the DMCA claim option exists since the DMCA not just since today....

calfurius wrote: @mkess well with that logic everything should be free. Just because greed has caused some problems, doesn't mean charging money for something will always be a bad idea.

Paying for mods will have a learning period, and it will be bumpy. But I honestly think that this could be a good idea if it's done correctly.

boulegue wrote: mods are not full price titles and the FAQ page explaines that rather well.... the consumer not doing research is the problem.... a company trying to sell you things is not.... you can grow your own tomatos for free in your backyard... stop buying them at a grocery store its just a ripoff you can get them for free!

mkess wrote: No, not everthing should be free. But it would be nice to pay for a complete and bugfree game with modding tools, instead for the crap I mentioned earlier.

This is, in short, the reason I buy only GotY/Gold/Whatever editions for max. 15 bucks and less I am not willing to play their games any longer.

I am no fool, thank you. I was even willing to pay preorder full price for the witcher 3 .... until they announced, that you have to pay for future DLC, breaking their promise of a full game.

Keinichn wrote: Why worry? Because if some force makes it mildly successful, people will stop posting mods on here and put them on the workshop instead. The implications of this are huge. For example, if the guy who made Wet and Cold starts making money there do you really think he's going to leave that mod up here? I highly doubt it.

Reaper0021 wrote: You are missing the point here. Let me try it this way:
This isn't just about "Mods". Following me? Okay. What this says to Valve and other companies is this: "It's okay to cut certain parts from games, outfits and levels and weapons cause we can make them "DLC" and charge for them"."Hey, we can take a staple of our games, in this case modding, and since most mod authors pour their own time into these games, we can offer the modders a way to charge fees for their game mods yet let's give them maybe 25% of what they make, we keep the rest""Early Access games...there is an amazing idea. You pay $14.99 for the ability to play a game that's maybe 20% done....then later on when we finish the games (could be another 5 months or 3 years) we'll charge you the balance. All of this is a way to shake money from the consumer. I have been a member of this community for some time. I have paid and supported many mod makers. Not opposed to that following me? I'm opposed to "Big Business" sticking there already rich hands into it even more.

boulegue wrote: he already say he will release the mods on the nexus for free after a certain period of time
theres a very good open letter by cheesko
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s53/sh/3c4f3e29-9b4e-41cf-9a72-1b3ed9f70c62/c727dccbb3398aebb5946afac7faaaea

theres also great responses by elianora, trainwiz, rigmor and a few others where they state they will never charge money for it....

And then there's Isoku who hasn't said a word and only released his 2.0 version of Wet and Cold on the workshop. Which has led to a massive **** storm on his comments section (which has been locked and the storm is continuing on his workshop page.)

[Aahzmandias]

In response to post #24565489. #24565664, #24565754, #24565979, #24569024, #24569279, #24569374, #24569639 are all replies on the same post.

Elegost75 wrote:

boulegue wrote: if you created original content it's yours. you are fully protected if someone puts up your mods/resources without your permission.

Elegost75 wrote: I mean consumer protections laws, mostly.

Things like mods not working based on load order and such.

boulegue wrote: you have the 24h return option but thats basically it. and for some of the larger mods which maybe show CTD's etc etc after a long while thats sadly not enough

Elegost75 wrote: Yep, that's what I mean. And there are plenty EU laws according to that. And the way the Workshop is completely unchecked by Valve, I can see a whole can of worms there.

killerkerberos6 wrote: the 24h period is kind of a joke. Not only does the refund only go to steam wallet, but if say the update next week broke and the mod created won't/can't fix it, there goes your money.

fipse wrote: That is what Valve says but the EU has been annoyed by their practices for quite some time now.

mkess wrote: Yes, they really do not like the "No refunds" policy of steam.

Yep, customer protection laws in europe. It will be fun and games, for the modders. :D


.... for 25% of the income, 100% fun ... Edited April 23, 2015 by mkess

[Lunyra]

In response to post #24569119.

coelacanth wrote:

He has so much talent he needs SKSE to make his Mods work.

You knew?

[TheBomBoomBaby]

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[LordAnorak]

In response to post #24569504.

lemonez13 wrote:

I use mod organizer, it doesn't work well with workshop mods, so anyone who uses Mod Organizer will be hesitant to pay for any mod through the workshop.

[Aahzmandias]

In response to post #24565489. #24565664, #24565754, #24565979, #24569024, #24569279, #24569374, #24569579 are all replies on the same post.

Elegost75 wrote:

boulegue wrote: if you created original content it's yours. you are fully protected if someone puts up your mods/resources without your permission.

Elegost75 wrote: I mean consumer protections laws, mostly.

Things like mods not working based on load order and such.

boulegue wrote: you have the 24h return option but thats basically it. and for some of the larger mods which maybe show CTD's etc etc after a long while thats sadly not enough

Elegost75 wrote: Yep, that's what I mean. And there are plenty EU laws according to that. And the way the Workshop is completely unchecked by Valve, I can see a whole can of worms there.

killerkerberos6 wrote: the 24h period is kind of a joke. Not only does the refund only go to steam wallet, but if say the update next week broke and the mod created won't/can't fix it, there goes your money.

fipse wrote: That is what Valve says but the EU has been annoyed by their practices for quite some time now.

mkess wrote: Yep, customer protection laws in europe. It will be fun and games, for the modders. :D

Yes, they really do not like the "No refunds" policy of steam.

[icecreamassassin]

In response to post #24565684. #24565749, #24565819, #24565874, #24565944, #24566139, #24566154, #24566189, #24566214, #24566264, #24566339, #24566349, #24566439, #24566459, #24566504, #24566524, #24566569, #24566579, #24566644, #24566769, #24566779, #24566819, #24566909, #24566934, #24567024, #24567079, #24567154, #24567239, #24567264, #24567269, #24567344, #24567354, #24567469, #24567539, #24567564, #24567664, #24568174, #24568504, #24568524 are all replies on the same post.

Brumbek wrote:

Zaldiir wrote: Wait a little bit. See if the updated donation system here on NexusMods will make more people donate. :thumbsup:

If it doesn't increase the amount of donations, then I don't blame you for wanting just a little bit of compensation for your hours of work. $1 or $2 is definitely not greedy - just a shock for a lot of people.

athiust wrote: Your awesome you have caused alot of joy in alot of people and have created satisfaction and an echo within the community

RJ the Shadow wrote: What I think is an option, and an error on Valve's part for not thinking of/considering this, is to make payment optional.

Was there not a thing in the music market (with CD sales only suffering more as years go by) where some artists put up a "pay what you want, or nothing at all" for the mp3's and the sales made for them reached above what they had earned on previous works?

A non-negotiable option should have been to have the mod for free, with payment a convenient option (ideal with Steam have it's Wallet).

There ARE people out there who want to vote with their wallet. But they're not given the option. Instead, they are forced to offer their wallet or are refused the content. And as made obvious, Valve will paywall anything, not even trusting us to use our money to show thanks.

It differs from Paypal Donations because the question is directly forced upon the user. Whereas a Donation button can be skipped or ignored.
Being asked on the spot if you actually want to pay nothing for the content you're about to receive, plays on our sense of morality.

Velgath wrote: My biggest problem with the new system as-is is it kind of screws with people using alternative modding tools like Mod Organizer. Your mod is very worth a fee, but I still wouldn't buy it if it were on Workshop... that said, I may have just clicked a button on your profile page.

Brumbek wrote: Thank you for the comments. Again, I'm so torn. I view myself as an average person. I don't want to be greedy or unfair. Sadly, this new system will bring out the greed in many. Valve, itself, is already pushing $1-3 weapons/armor. Then there's my mod and others like it...so much effort and passion into it. I hate to say human nature is the real issue here...

SMIM does accept donations on Nexus of course (much thanks to you and others who have donated), but in truth my total donations has been very, very low. So for Steam, I see why they want to force a price...people just won't pay if they don't have to, even if they adore a mod and wouldn't play without it. I'm not judging. I will continue to develop my thoughts. Thanks again to everyone who makes this a great community.

heero328 wrote: Do what you have to do. I don't believe anybody would blame you for charging around $2 for SMIM. For what the mod does, that's incredibly generous on your part. I think many are more concerned with the long term implications this could have on modding and the adverse effects of it. It's not necessarily the issue of mod authors receiving money, but the fact publishers and developers are now trying to get a piece of the pie as well.

1erCru wrote: Torn? Um, you have 2.3 million unique downloads. If you charge $2 bucks for the SMIM and take 25% of the cut thats over a million bucks bro.

This is a game changer.

A1Shareef wrote: Its not greedy but think about the modding community as a howl, i bet if you write this in the description of your mod people would be happy to donate you anyway. Its not worth for 25% killing this Community and putting Gamers out there into Electronic Slavery. Plz think about it.

boulegue wrote: to be honest before the paid service for the steam workshop came out i have never even seen the donation button (im not using SMIM since i play on a potato) but you sir defnetly deserve donations or payment period.
you can also set up your mod on both the steam workshop and the nexus and just see what happens

ambria wrote: @ 1erCru
That's presuming everyone who'd downloaded would pay though.
As someone who's made music and put it on bandcamp I can tell you the drop off between downloading for free and paying is huge, even with a tiny paywall like $0.50
I'll have 100 download for free, but only 5-10 with that paywall there

Blademaster1215 wrote: All I'm going to say, while I very much love SMIM, and I appreciate the work you do. I would uninstall SMIM right now if you started paygating. I'd more than happily donate to you -- In fact I'll drop you 10 buck through the Nexus donation system if you don't do paygating.

Psijonica wrote: what is the difference if I pay or donate? If people think that they will get donations then they might as well sell them.

I will never donate or pay. I will sooner stop playing these games altogether just like I don't buy music any more... There will always be a way to get these mods for free...

This is a sad sad day indeed... sadder still is that the Nexus sees it's future in begging people top donate money for their modders... this place lacks vision and the Nexus will fall apart if they don't change they way they conduct business.

SirTopas wrote: Brumbek, I understand your position. You've put in a ton of work on SMIM and you certainly have kept it supported and working. You certainly deserve compensation for your work, but does Steam/BethSoft deserve 75% of the proceeds?

RJ the Shadow wrote: Torn or not, if you join in the paywall game, the rules will change. Nothing guarantees you'll get a lion's share of those 2.3 million unique downloads to be turned into people paying.
And you'll still be paying a huge part of the result to Valve and Bethesda.

If this proves a successful venture (for Valve) in the end, there is very little stopping these companies from looking for ways to counter websites like the Nexus. Valve has proven well enough to happily chase after any angles that make money, consequences be damned.

I know, I know. It's real easy for me to talk like this and not be in your position. It's very easy for me to say that taking part could set a worse precedent for the future. And I am, deeply, sorry that you are forced to find yourself in this position.
But it doesn't make it any less true.

EvilDeadAsh34 wrote: @1erCru

You think that many people would download it if he charged? Think again.

Don't get me wrong. I love what he did and i have made compatibility patches for one of my mods to work with his, but if he charged i wouldn't use it. That goes for any mod.

1erCru wrote: that wasnt my point. My point was simply that a mod like SMIM could generate enough money to make millions of dollars assuming that eventually all mods will be pay to play ( I'd bet on this being true after 5-7 years, its what happens when you monetize just about anything )

Even a fraction of those numbers is hundreds of thousands of dollars. I was clarifying that this isnt about making some " extra coin ". Top modders will get rich off this.

Free modding is dead.

IgnacyOrder wrote: Im for rewarding a modder who did spend a lot of time on his work. Im not a fan of iddea that all mods will be charged. Especially before testing them out. I mean I saw a crowbar for 1$...

I hope donations will work better. Especially since modder will get 100% for his work than 25% only

Uranium - 235 wrote: I think in part the reason donations are low is because Nexus has no unified, easy way to do it. Logging into a paypal and s#*! is just way too much work, not to mention Paypal is garbage in its own right.

If I had a 'Nexus Wallet' or something where you could easily chip $0.50 or $1 in the direction of a mod with a single click of a button, that'd be one thing, but the other problem is you have to get people to fill their wallet.

RiffyDivine wrote: Don't make me pay steam and I'll give you two dollars but since I paid for it I will expect support and updates since I now bought something. This adds expectations on you since you are selling a product now.

Brumbek wrote: Thanks for the continued input. To be clear, SMIM will NEVER, EVER be removed from Skyrim Nexus. It will always be free here, ALWAYS. I've never enjoyed sharing donation info because it makes me seem like I'm pressuring people. But changes to Nexus to improve the visibility of donations would be fine of course.

As for Steam, I understand people not wanting modding to die or something, but honestly I doubt that would happen. The type of people who overcharge or force people to pay are generally not the people we want in our community anyway. Also, there's no denying thousands of people on Steam way overspend on nonsense stuff. Just look at DOTA2 and CS:GO. Artists put out a simple skin and make lots of money. It pains me that people pay so much for so little...plus it tends to drown out the truly worthy content...and in my mind SMIM is worth $2 for the convenience of using Steam Workshop for casual users.

For clarity, SW currently doesn't allow us to truly limit prices. We pick a default price and then the range of $0.25 to $99 always shows in the list. You can force a minimum but not maximum! I do not want to let users pay over $2 because I don't want to engage in extortion! But currently I can't limit it...hence why I'm undecided.

Rigmor wrote: You will eventually isolate yourself, maybe not you IF all your work is your own. But take my mod, employs a team of over 12 voice actors, who pays them? never mind about the other mod authors works included, with their kind permissions, and I worked over 1300 hours in the CK, but I cannot (wont) charge a fee. It's untenable. So why should YOU make money, but not ME? Already the split is showing.

It will eventually be greed wins the day, modders will change the way they do things cynically based of making money. The users, should speak with their wallets, and NEVER entertain this disgusting act Valve and Bethesda (shame on them) have unleashed, a pandoras box, endorse and donate yes. Pay to play NO!

RJ the Shadow wrote: More like pay for the luxury of having it modded...
sigh

1erCru wrote: Rigmor you nailed it. This is real bad stuff. The money involved is just way too much.

Greed never loses

icecreamassassin wrote: @Brumbek

I too am very torn for sure. I've spent well over 5000 hours on my mod in the 1+ year it's been in development, have a half million views, 100K downloads, 2000 endorsements and maybe $120 in total donations? if I were working at McDonalds during that entire time instead of modding I could have made over $20,000. Yes I do mod because I enjoy it, but I think the VAST majority of users takes us for granted under the pretense of it being a community aimed effort, which I am very big on, but the fact of the matter is that most people won't pay for anything they can get for free if given the choice, sad fact of the matter. I do think though that the lack of exposure of the donation option is at least a little to blame. Half of folks who would donate don't even notice it and I know that if it popped up a little more often like on the download sever like the endorsement reminder does, more folks might give a few dollars. I know I certainly didn't notice the button until a user asked if I accepted them and then I looked into it and realized I could set the button up.

It's a hard thing because there are so many legal and ethical ramifications to consider

HeloMAN wrote: +1 To Rigmor.

How many mods use SKSE or other assets that aren't theirs? It's unfair to take payment for something you may have spent alot of time on...but isn't all yours. Rigmor you earn mine and many other's respect.

While I currenlt don't use your mod (and never have), I may in the future, and when I do I will surely hand a few dollars over as thanks for your work if you accept donations. Don't cave in like these greedy traitors.

While I can understand some people's "need" to make some money off their work, theres just too many things wrong with it. Plus, if they really can't work on their mods because of limitations, then stop. Modding is about the enjoyment, not about money, and if you cease to enjoy it or simply cannot do it, then stop.

EDIT: LOL one of my posts was deleted, nice censorship nexus mods! Can't believe they are supporting steam's workshop BS.

ambria wrote: I'm very skeptical that even the biggest of the big modders could "get rich" from this.
Because of the aforementioned drop off from free to pay wall, plus the 75% cut taken.
It would have to be a very big and popular mod, and those normally include a lot of mod resources, voice actors, quality insurance testers, you name it, and the mod author would have to be giving all those a cut??

I think the best a mod author could hope to make out of this would equate to minimum wage when compared to the hours they put in.

But I could be wrong, I guess we'll see

ramccoid wrote: We are here to play a game, it's a game not life. We mod to make the game more enjoyable and we share that experience, so others can enjoy the difference we have made. Where does money come in to it.

antipax wrote: 1erCru: 2 million downloads over a few years, and unless he removed SMIM from the Nexus, people will still download the free, old version from here, not to mention who already downloaded it won't have to download it again, especially just for an update as it works pretty well.

RiffyDivine wrote: You've got to remember that if a high price is set for a type of mod, let's say armor mods. If I charge 25 USD for it then the next guy to upload one will go s#*! I like 25 USD also then you set a standard of high prices and people will pay it making it a standard. I'd sooner pay you to not be on steam.

iceburg wrote: You're mod is a delight and a necessity.

It scares me that someone may realize the profit in stealing other peoples mods and placing them up for sale on steam. Now we mod authors need to monitor our mods on the nexus, and on steam, or someone could profit from our work!

Seems like a nightmare situation to me.

jediakyrol wrote: holy crap, man...don't know how I've passed over your mod before...I am downloading, endorsing, and sending you a fiver right now!

mcguffin wrote: Just a thought:
Endorsements show the number of people who actually care enough to just click something to say thank you, so people who will give money will be far lower, imho

Brumbek wrote: @Rigmor: great points. Charging for mods does suddenly make us competitors. I obviously can't say your whole group deserves less than my mod. I would never want to imply my mod deserves anything. But this is the nature of the free market I suppose. People will pay for one thing over another. And often what people pay for is less deserving than something else. Valve are masters of getting people to pay for dumb stuff. CS:GO knives prove the insanity of the human mind.

@icecreamassassin: point taken.

Now I'm even more torn than ever! Thanks guys!! ;) At the end of the day though, the honest truth is I've come back to modding today because of this announcement...I'd like to think not out of greed but just...practicality?

mkess wrote: Maybe the donation button should be a button direct behind the download button, with "If you like this mod, donate" Or something like that, with direct use of paypal. As a matter of fact, paypal was fdeveloped exactly for that reason.

The button to be able to pay someone for his time and efforts should be more in palin side, and it should be worked into the mod-manager, too.

Directly beside the endorse function. Because if you think about endorsing something, you are only one step away from spending a little money on it.

And make it very easy to spend money. No registration. Only ONE click. I sometimes do not give any money at all, if I have to register with at least 10 data fields. Holy crap, are the insane? It should be as easy as taking a coin out of my purse, and gve it to someone.

That's my oppinion.

Teria23 wrote: I think you may get more people to donate if you simply state that you won't move SMIM over to the Dark Side, no matter how many cookies they offer...

NoDebate wrote: Brumbek, I love SMIM. It's on my list with SkyUI and SKSE as mods I install regardless. All three are quintessential to improving the overall Skyrim experience. They're absolutely necessary. SMIM is high quality, unobtrusive, and fixes a great many things noticed (and appreciated) by those of us with an eye for detail. That said, charging two bucks for SMIM is not greedy. I find it to be reasonable for the work you've put into the project.

However, as the current Steam Workshop model stands, a two dollar price tag turns into some fifty cents for you, given your work manages to sell so many copies. What has been offered up by Steam in exchange for taking the other 1.50? A little bit of advertising? A self regulated market? What has been offered by Bethesda for failing to provide appropriate meshes in the first place? Are they providing staff to assist you in creating, maintaining, or troubleshooting SMIM? I'm having a hard time now justifying the two bucks, knowing that 1.50 is going to plop on top of the eighty-some (for the game + DLC) I've given to some combination of Valve and Bethesda.

I sympathize with your current position. You see an opportunity for some compensation and want that. I get it. What human being doesn't want to be formally recognized and compensated for their artistic work? Popular artistic work. Why do YouTubers doing mod spotlights make a bit of cash and you don't? Fifty cents is better than zero cents, right? Perhaps. However (and now I will fear-monger a bit), what does that 1.50 communicate in the long run? That a team of professionals can skip by on low-poly meshes and let ole' Brumbek fix up their Nuka-Cola machines in Fallout 4 with his FMIM? Take a 75% cut of his pricetag to boot? Smells like fishsticks to me.

All this comes with a million and one questions regarding a "self-regulated market." To name a few... What determines the pricetag on a mod? As you've said and as I've seen, we already have minor cosmetics for a couple bucks as the recommended price tag. Chesko's Art of the Catch is essentially Skyrim Mod Early Access. Is there any accountability there? What determines a completed mod? Stable mod? Compatible mod? Can we trade mods on the Steam Market? Am I refunded if a mod no longer satisfies certain requirements? Am I refunded if a mod is no longer maintained? You get my point. I don't have any strong feelings regarding what you should do. I appreciate you communicating your concerns to the 'general public' and would welcome the opportunity to continue the discussion.

In closing, I'll offer you a bit of background on myself. I have been playing Bethesda games since the release of Daggerfall. I will be coming up on twenty years here real quick. I'm in the middle of (yet another) Morrowind playthrough. Loaded to the gills with mods. I have mods saved on my portable drive from the PlanetElderScrolls days. We're talking at least ten years (go check out the Morrowind Mod History site). Everything from Morrowind Rebirth to the House of Armors. Modding is the life's blood of any Bethesda game, it's the only thing that allows me to play Morrowind here in 2015. I understand that no one works for free, I understand the thousands of hours people pour into intricate creations that rival (and often far out-do) the work of professionals but, the expectation is that this work has been done out of the passion of the series, Elder Scrolls or Fallout. That's what makes mods superior to any DLC Bethesda decides to vomit our way. Establishing a monetized modding scene goes a long way towards soaking up that passion. It also has me very concerned for the pending release of Fallout 4.

Brumbek wrote: @NoDebate: great points, NoDebate (ah, the irony). You do have a good point about what it communicates if I let Valve/Bethesda take the large portion of my efforts. But my efforts would be impossible without their efforts. Ultimately, they take the majority of the money because *they can*. Those with the power, dictate the rules.

The question I still wonder: will charging on Steam Workshop truly worsen modding? Again, it will be the charlatans and the greedy who overrun Steam Workshop, ultimately ruining it for everyone. So yes, should someone like me, a self-proclaimed nice guy who just loves modding, join the ugly fray? I don't know...I have these delusions that maybe the masses will recognize quality. Maybe I'm too optimistic. Thanks again, keep the discussion going.

Monkeynutz76 wrote: as a part time modder myself I'm having the same delema many have donated there hard earned funds in thanks to my various mods on mount and blade FONV and skyrim but i find Very few donate .. even when they post how wonderful the mod is and heap praise upon my many hours .. sometimes months or in one case years of work ... while it is true i do it out of some sort of twisted love and desire to produce excellence in each of my mods ... yes im being cagey about which ones as many have an X disclaimer here .....the thought of being paid each download is appealing i wont deny. however i still believe that you should not be forced to pay for something you may not enjoy .... perhaps a trial period for each mod could offset the instant pain for each mod as well as a maximum fee cap so some of the greedy types can be controlled
im not an advocate for the PAY TO PLAY system we are being forced to swallow like a load of ....
that being said instant gratification is rather nice

On the note about competition there is literally nothing stopping modders from imitating one another's work and then basically undercutting them. Another thing to think about.

[Ladyhellion]

There have been mods for Skyrim that I can honestly say that if they did not exist I would not have the same experience and fun I had without them.

 

I am willing to donate to mod projects if they are indeed, worthy of it and simply that good. but It makes me sick to my stomache that the "paywall" virus has come to our community's doorstep, so to speak.

 

Honestly though.I feel that *if* mod authors want to get paid for the mods they offer then they should be the ones getting the full cut, not 25%, but before a person can actually judge the quality of the product it first has to be bought, wich makes no sense. should demo's or extensive gameplay demonstrations be required before you can offer it for sale?

 

with just this one little greedy strategy of Steam, the modding community is going to see alot of frustration on both sides, people who want to have mods stay free for all and user friendly and the people who work hard on their creations and maybe try to make a living out of it.

 

So, uh, Where do we stand?

[boulegue]

In response to post #24569029. #24569109, #24569344 are all replies on the same post.

Areaii wrote:

boulegue wrote: the milking will continue as long as we let ourselves get milked.... if it wasnt successful companies wouldnt do it

grelf wrote: I really miss it when game developing had at least a portion of passion involved. Nowadays it seems like everything is about publishers and their newest scheme to milk money from gamers.

companies trying to make money is not a new thing.... and we recently seen what happens to companies (crytek for example) that do not cater to the ADHD casual battlefield microtransaction player.... but this isnt a new concept this whole millenium has been about publishers and not developers... there has been very few groundbreaking games because its to expensive to produce a game and a possible failure will shut you down if youre not EA, Valve or Blizzard