Steam and Bethesda remove paid modding from Skyrim Workshop

[Guinefort1]

A part of me finds it kind of darkly hilarious how fast the plug was pulled on this. I'm going, "Wow, that didn't take long."

 

That said, I am sorry that so many people had their reputations smeared, hopes dashed, or were otherwise harmed/let down by this controversy. The community erupted over this, and got a response, for better and for worse. I can't say that I'm not relieved by this reversal, if only because of the problems I foresaw with purchased mods, but I am sorry that this went down the way that it did.

 

Take that vacation Dark0ne. You've certainly earned it by now.

[Naky]

While I don't discount the value of the editor they've released, Bethesda seems to be rather unaware of the fact that the other 75% of the tools the community uses to make the best mods are all community made in order to make up for the short comings of the toolset and sometimes the games themselves. Niftools, the import/export plugins for Blender/3ds max, etc, NVSE/SKSE, FNVEdit, GECK power up (so we can actually know WHY our scripts won't save) and so on. All made by the community for free; all practically necessary to make quality mods.

 

The community literally drove itself to its own success with little to no thanks to Bethesda. The comment in their article that refers to their projections being that some modders would have made more from the sales of their mods than the staffers who created the content their editing is a load of bull. The editors they've released with every game have never been enough, nor have any of the best mods for any of their games just relied on them. They should stop patting themselves so hard on the back for the inadequate toolsets they've released time and time again and start recognizing that their modding community is only as big a success as it is through the hard work and efforts of the unpaid technical wizards that worked behind the scenes to reverse engineer their platforms to provide the tools needed to get the jobs properly done.

 

Want to earn my respect back Bethesda? Want to prove to me that you are about the modding community? Start with releasing a proper import/exportation plugin for a 3D application with at least some level of basic documentation and let's go from there. That alone would be a vast improvement to the community. Maybe then we'll have more than half a dozen completely self-taught animators to help improve the modding experience.

[headlesswonder]

I'm so pleased that this debacle was so quickly resolved! Another example that proves voices actually can be heard. It's a shame that people don't often unite so fiercely to enact change for real world problems. Let this be a lesson, folks, and be proactive IRL, as well! :)

 

As for the authors who pulled their mods and made them purchase only or those who essentially inserted popups into their remaining free mods, I don't believe the damage done is irreparable. With a little humility and sincerity, I'm sure the modding community will welcome them back gladly. And I don't think Valve will be so bold as to interfere with the future of those mods.

 

All in all, cheers! Well done!

Edited April 28, 2015 by headlesswonder

[JCDNWarrior]

In response to post #24731924. #24732119, #24732384, #24732499, #24732644, #24732764 are all replies on the same post.

Mitch2129 wrote:

Cauldar wrote: Absolutely this. I have quietly sat back and watch the craziness over the last few days and it's been really difficult

I am going right now to donate to SkyUI, Frostfall, Immersive iHud and Wet & Cold. I've used their mods from the beginning and this has served as a good reminder that they've worked hard to make a great game even better. Thank you to all the modders for your great work!

JCDNWarrior wrote: This doesn't even have to be just donations, but supporting with friendly words and understanding, as well as offer even more support for beginning modders and promoting small-time modder's works if found to be potentially good.

spar117 wrote: It makes me realize just how under appreciated and under-rewarding mod developers are. Steam/Valve wanted modders rewarded for their work but went around it the wrong way. That system should have had a donation button in its place. I would certainly donate, but I am not that rich... **** it, I am going donate.

EvilDeadAsh34 wrote: I wouldn't donate to SkyUI if someone gave me the money to donate. Their arrogance has been absolutely ridiculous.

Cauldar wrote: Successfully donated to Frostfall and Wet & Cold but there were no donate tabs for SkyUI and Immersive Hud. Pity. Those are two of my absolute favorites.

Well, if Steam and Bethesda wanted to reward modders, surely they would've made it a whole lot more developer-friendly, such as 80-90% of the income rather than the measily 25%.

Still, when money gets involved in something as great as this, it really causes massive problems or even destroying the idea entirely. Competitors don't tend to share or work together.

[madsdafe]

united we stood and thus were unbroken. Good Job everyone. Those who did break-away i get it, you just wanted to make some profit for your hard work, just wanted to earn a lil coin, i get it. Still hope ya'll return to the fold.

[shadowphoenix343]

Well technically Steam is a form of DRM and Shivering Isles shipped with a nerfed version of SecureROM, so still DRM in a way.

[jfisha]

In response to post #24732839.

lisa1162 wrote:

Exactly. Can't remember where I picked it up at, but I saw someone post something like...

"I will pay for a great mod. I will not, however, pay to see if a mod is great."

[Haelrc]

It's kinda a bittersweet victory... Great modders who tought of monetized mods were pictured as evil beings and had been threatened, and those wounds won't heal quickly... on the other side, workshop, nexus and every modder community has proved that they are exactly that: a community. A place to share, not to buy or sell, just sharing.

If we have learned something it's that we should appreciate more the free work that great modders do, and if we can spare (and sure we can) a few bucks they DESERVE it. Personally I want to thank every modder on the Nexus for giving me the chance to play Skyrim the way I like it, with all the modifications that I like... If you really can't put money into the mods you like at least give them kudos and some cheerful words.

Now it's starting to be a sweeter victory...

[HellRaz]

I hope people at least have the courtesy to apologize to the modders who have been verbally / socially abused in this horrible situation and try to "donate" a little to them(any not only the abused one) if you can afford it. Edited April 28, 2015 by HellRaz

[BarnabasCollins]

In response to post #24732344. #24732604, #24732704, #24732709, #24732774, #24732869, #24732879 are all replies on the same post.

CelticPaladin wrote:

calfurius wrote: I know quite a few modders became disgusted with the way some members of the modding community treated them. I'm mostly concerned if Chesko is coming back or not, he didn't deserve anywhere near the level of hate that he got.

phantompally76 wrote: I hope that's not the case.

I do, however, hope that in future they think twice about arrogantly condescending mod users looking for assistance with their mods in comments sections, like they have in the past. I'd stopped using some of their mods before this crap ever started because of that.

Riprock wrote: Hopefully time will make him realize that words on the internet are just words. We put way too much stock in typed messages.

CelticPaladin wrote: The number of vitriol and death threats were insane. I couldn't blame them for leaving this community behind. It'd be depressing, but there you go.

meredithmiles wrote: What I don't understand is why Arthmoor, Chesko and Isoku don't already have job offers in hand. Seriously, they are all three hardworking, dedicated and skilled. If I ran a game company I'd have snatched them up ages ago.

This is a great time to donate to them, I think.

jfisha wrote: Each team only lost a handful of endorsements. Yes, there was some angry vitriol, but most people respectfully disagreed with what they did. No more, no less.

I don't even see why people were targeting the modders anyway. For me this was never even about the modders, but the future of modding itself. The modders are innocent.