Jump to content

Steam and Bethesda remove paid modding from Skyrim Workshop


Dark0ne

Recommended Posts

In response to post #24742594. #24742759, #24742849, #24742924, #24742934, #24743009, #24743059, #24743149, #24743254, #24743299, #24743359, #24743449, #24743474, #24743514, #24743524, #24743584, #24743604, #24743624, #24743724, #24743739, #24743769, #24743774, #24743884, #24743929, #24743984, #24744049, #24744139, #24744159, #24744279, #24744479, #24744519, #24744574, #24744719, #24744789, #24744794, #24744929, #24744964, #24744989, #24745004, #24745054, #24745174, #24745279, #24745339, #24745449, #24745494, #24745729, #24745734, #24745839, #24745939, #24746154, #24746294, #24746544, #24746674, #24746704, #24746719, #24747064, #24747169, #24747379, #24747459, #24747514, #24747554, #24747774, #24747799, #24747909, #24748204, #24748329, #24748344, #24748534, #24748849, #24749024, #24749029, #24749224, #24749279, #24749419, #24750314, #24751879, #24752384, #24752494, #24752744, #24753274, #24753624, #24753979, #24754244, #24754444, #24754479, #24754484, #24754654, #24755899, #24761019, #24762099, #24764289, #24765089, #24765834 are all replies on the same post.


  Reveal hidden contents


I have to say I agree with Rekkhan. One thing that didn't seem to come up often in the paid vs free debate was that when you expect payment for a mod you have to take it to the next level in terms of customer support, mod compatability, mod stability etc (i.e. you expect that if you purchase all the DLC for a game you will be able to run all the DLC in your game and not suffer from DLC incompatibilty. This isn't true for mods and I didn't see much on how the community was going to get from modding as a hobby to DLC standards in the steam expt).

I can see why people might want to profit from their work, but feel very sorry for everyone involved in this. It was badly thought though by Valve and Bethesda on pretty much everything from fair pay for mod authors and consumers, policing mod content, customer support etc and caused a lot of damage as a consequence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 2.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

In response to post #24748294. #24748909, #24748959, #24749014, #24749054, #24749074, #24749089, #24749114, #24749169, #24749269, #24749289, #24749409, #24749439, #24749529, #24749564, #24749574, #24749674, #24749709, #24749814, #24749884, #24749889, #24749954, #24750114, #24750204, #24750249, #24750254, #24750279, #24750544, #24750564, #24750709, #24750814, #24750904, #24751449, #24751489, #24751899, #24751974, #24752079, #24752334, #24752454, #24753799, #24754219, #24754259, #24754609, #24754739, #24754979, #24755419, #24755704, #24755774, #24755999, #24756039, #24756394, #24756489, #24756599, #24756669, #24756944, #24757404, #24757709, #24757794, #24757819, #24757959, #24758109, #24758244, #24758549, #24758604, #24758779, #24758789, #24759069, #24760799, #24760824, #24765454, #24765899, #24766564, #24766884, #24767039, #24767164, #24769074, #24769604, #24770129, #24770469, #24770524, #24770899 are all replies on the same post.


  Reveal hidden contents


There are plenty of mods I've downloaded multiple times, but can only endorse once.
Also just because i download a mod, it doesn't mean I'll like it, most of them I uninstall.
Your whole reasoning is based on the false belief that if you download something it means you are going to use it and just steal it for yourself.
The mods I use and enjoy I endorse and most people do the same. But that's a lot smaller group than all the downloaded mods.

Honestly your use of data in this post is so wrong and bleeds form so many wounds there is no point in countering what you were actually trying to say, but if you really want to know what the community is like check the forums. I usually post something there about the mods I download. Usually something nice.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to post #24738304. #24738404, #24738464, #24738479, #24738524, #24738604, #24738659, #24738679, #24738694, #24738739, #24738779, #24738799, #24738804, #24738919, #24738944, #24738974, #24739104, #24739184, #24739199, #24739204, #24739289, #24739329, #24739359, #24739394, #24739409, #24739474, #24739514, #24739544, #24739564, #24739609, #24739619, #24739639, #24739689, #24739759, #24739784, #24739884, #24739949, #24739999, #24740019, #24740029, #24740039, #24740124, #24740139, #24740174, #24740184, #24740199, #24740234, #24740349, #24740469, #24740494, #24740509, #24740569, #24740579, #24740584, #24740694, #24740734, #24740789, #24740809, #24740814, #24740834, #24740844, #24740859, #24740899, #24740939, #24740959, #24741039, #24741074, #24741079, #24741154, #24741159, #24741164, #24741289, #24741369, #24741419, #24741429, #24741444, #24741449, #24741529, #24741644, #24741674, #24741699, #24741714, #24741744, #24741754, #24741764, #24741784, #24741804, #24741884, #24741959, #24742024, #24742104, #24742119, #24742154, #24742169, #24742194, #24742314, #24742444, #24742464, #24742489, #24742509, #24742524, #24742564, #24742579, #24742634, #24742744, #24742799, #24742804, #24742964, #24743039, #24743319, #24743439, #24743614, #24743699, #24743779, #24743799, #24743809, #24743899, #24743969, #24744239, #24744704, #24746029, #24747899, #24749729, #24750024, #24751049, #24751199, #24766859, #24767519, #24767764, #24770099 are all replies on the same post.


  Reveal hidden contents


Don't take this whole event so hard. Looking at MannyGT's post earlier, about the ratio of downloads to endorsements, The people that are endorsing are the real community. to add more, being a freeloader, i supported free mods. but I support your right to feel like you deserve some compensation and I do agree with you to a level. now, realistically, consumers like to save money, and the moochers (like myself), bought the game in large for the game itself, and then for the mods. After I found how awesome the mods are, I really want the hours worth of user generated content that comes for free with the game. This whole week has raised my awareness of how much modders put into making them. Realisticly, they deserve compensation and I will love to help now that i'm aware. however the push was made too fast without proper notice. in comparison this is still the amateur league of game-developing. When the money gets involved we go pro. And in pro we start to play by bigger rules, and I honestly think nobody knows what those rules will be as of yet. I have no clue. I don't think anyone really knows because they really haven't been made, but the way it was implemented and the lack of transparency was like drafting a rec league teen into the Major leagues without telling him the fine print. That is honestly where complications and real problems occur. even Bethesda said they were experimenting with large details in their blog. the skyrim community was too well developed and too large to change 4 years of growth in a week with less than a month's partial-notice.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to post #24748294. #24748909, #24748959, #24749014, #24749054, #24749074, #24749089, #24749114, #24749169, #24749269, #24749289, #24749409, #24749439, #24749529, #24749564, #24749574, #24749674, #24749709, #24749814, #24749884, #24749889, #24749954, #24750114, #24750204, #24750249, #24750254, #24750279, #24750544, #24750564, #24750709, #24750814, #24750904, #24751449, #24751489, #24751899, #24751974, #24752079, #24752334, #24752454, #24753799, #24754219, #24754259, #24754609, #24754739, #24754979, #24755419, #24755704, #24755774, #24755999, #24756039, #24756394, #24756489, #24756599, #24756669, #24756944, #24757404, #24757709, #24757794, #24757819, #24757959, #24758109, #24758244, #24758549, #24758604, #24758779, #24758789, #24759069, #24760799, #24760824, #24765454, #24765899, #24766564, #24766884, #24767039, #24767164, #24769074, #24769604, #24770129, #24770469, #24770524, #24770899, #24771494, #24771729 are all replies on the same post.


  Reveal hidden contents


Manny,

You have received more endorsements in the past month than most mod authors have received in 4 years. Why are you complaining about endorsements?

I endorse quality mods that I personally enjoy. That's as far as the social contract goes.

I'm no more obligated to endorse every mod I download than I am to pay money for them. There are simply too many mod authors with rotten attitudes, too many poor-quality mods, too many offensive/sexist/racist mods out there that shouldn't even be allowed to be hosted on this site for me to adapt a mentality that now everyone deserves endorsements just because they can't get paid.

I don't like Gray Cowl of Nocturne. I tested it, and I didn't like it. It doesn't add anything to my personal gameplay experience. I'm not about to tell people that DO like it that they're wrong, because different strokes for different folks. But I won't be putting it in my load order. Ergo, vis a vis, condordantly.....I'm not going to endorse it.

Conversely, I absolutely adore Silverfish Grotto. It's one of my very favorite player homes, and it's on my Top Five list of player homes extant. It's one of the most immersive houses to have been created for the game, and it's perfect for my tastes and sensibilities. Hence.....I have LONG since endorsed it, and would endorse it AGAIN if I could.

The point here is that just because I don't endorse a mod doesn't mean I don't appreciate the mod author. It doesn't mean I'm a jerk. It doesn't mean anything other than I didn't like that particular mod. Don't take it so personally.

Endorsements are on a mod-by-mod basis. In plain English, when a user clicks the ENDORSE button, they are endorsing the mod, not the mod author. You can argue the semantics of the dictionary definition of "endorsement" all you want to, but if you want the setup to change, then you need to request Dark0ne to put the ENDORSE button on the author's profile page rather than on individual mods....where it will be even LESS visible and LESS likely to be clicked.

I don't know where you or anyone else get off thinking it's my obligation to endorse every mod I download. I realize we live in a time where everyone is a unique snowflake, and everyone gets a participation trophy, and everyone can easily audition for American Idol and be humiliated and crushed and realize we might not be as special as the enablers surrounding us led us to believe. But I'm not about to compromise my own ethics, morality, ideals and beliefs just to make your or anyone else feel better about themselves.

Endorsements are a privilege, not a right. Edited by phantompally76
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Manny,

As a beginning mod author myself I can attest to the system. My first mod did the whole front page thing for six days. My endorsement level is about 9%. My mod did not have the smoothest of introductions and I am sure that my lower than average rating may be a small part in that. I am also guilty of not hitting the Endorse button. But in my case it because I am spending time making meshes for mods and have not even had the time to play Skyrim and test the mods I have downloaded, yours included. It does not mean I won't do it, it just the time issue. And I strongly believe I cant hit that endorse button until the mod is loaded and I have tried it. I will explain below my thinking.

 

OK, so is there a way to make things better. Yes. I think the site needs tweaking. Simple color changes can be applied that may go a long way to improving things. I think some new visitors to the site may be confusing Endorse with Donate. I think it might be a good idea to simply change the wording. Instead of Endorse change it Thank You. When you endorse something you are essentially standing up and making a speech about a product, that's how an endorsement has always worked and I never liked the term endorse on this site. Hitting a button that says Endorse is just not the same thing. Endorsing a mod is really done in the post section where people can come in and tell you that they tried your mod and found it great and they recommend it to everyone that is into the idea of the mod. That is an endorsement. It is totally different than hitting a button. So again change the Endorse button to a Thank You instead.

 

Color, the site need more color. As anyone knows we are a visual people and color variation grabs are attention better than anything. I never liked all the buttons on the site being all green. Each button should have it own color, Green for Download buttons, Blue for track, Red for Endorse or Thank You, Orange for Vote, and gold for Donate. These simple changes may go a long way to help making things better. The main thing is if you want to grab attention to the donation system you have to make the button stand out and presently it simply does not do that. Its just another green button in the list. By making it Gold its says this button has value. Of course; the colors I chose are not the ones that have to be us used but the Endorse - Thank You button needs to stand out from the other buttons as does the donate button. It has been a long time proven feature on websites that simple button colors can make or break a site. So if Robin did this for the Nexus just as a trail to see if it increased the uptake of certain button clicks then I prove my point. Color is a magic thing, and the right colors on the right buttons will mean the world to site and the mod authors. Just a few ideas that I am sure will get lost in all of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's clear to me that these companies should be encouraging donations, openly making it easy to do and in turn taking a small percentage for their efforts. This would be justifable and doesn't act as a "pay wall" to access mods, but it at least potentially rewards good modders by those kind enough to donate (And i'm certain great mods would certainly get donations).

 

 

Donations - fantastic, bring it on, but pay walls? No. Not right, not on.

 

It's absolutely awesome that Bethesda recognize the importance of mod communities though. After all, the blessing it's had on TES is huge and it's in large part why they have such a long lifespan. A perfect example of this simple truth is the popularity of mod reviewers and how many mods go viral and boost sales/popularity of their games.

 

Skyrim was no exception, in fact it probably made this ever more apparent for many people.

 

This is a concept many other game developers simply can't get their head around. They want strict, tight control of their titles but this stifles their games and reduces their shelf life in the long run.

 

Nonetheless, I sincerely hope Bethesda can learn from this steam "pay" mod fiasco and learn that the only right way to involve money in these free, open and sharing communities is to promote an easy means of donating.

Edited by Thingamajig
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to post #24748294. #24748909, #24748959, #24749014, #24749054, #24749074, #24749089, #24749114, #24749169, #24749269, #24749289, #24749409, #24749439, #24749529, #24749564, #24749574, #24749674, #24749709, #24749814, #24749884, #24749889, #24749954, #24750114, #24750204, #24750249, #24750254, #24750279, #24750544, #24750564, #24750709, #24750814, #24750904, #24751449, #24751489, #24751899, #24751974, #24752079, #24752334, #24752454, #24753799, #24754219, #24754259, #24754609, #24754739, #24754979, #24755419, #24755704, #24755774, #24755999, #24756039, #24756394, #24756489, #24756599, #24756669, #24756944, #24757404, #24757709, #24757794, #24757819, #24757959, #24758109, #24758244, #24758549, #24758604, #24758779, #24758789, #24759069, #24760799, #24760824, #24765454, #24765899, #24766564, #24766884, #24767039, #24767164, #24769074, #24769604, #24770129, #24770469, #24770524, #24770899, #24771494, #24771584 are all replies on the same post.


  Reveal hidden contents


Gotta be honest, I didn't even know what endorsments meant/did. I am absoultely grateful that these mods are free and well put together so I guess I will endorse all the mods I have downloaded :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...