A pay system and free model must coexist

[RexSeptim]

My thoughts on this mess Steam created are myriad and scattered.

 

I think there will have to be a way for a pay system to coexist with the free model.

 

As a user perusing the Nexus, I amazed to find how the free model has led to such an incredible array of creative, clever, thoughtful and artistic mods.

 

But behind the curtain, I can't ignore that there are untold hours of labor going to creating, and updating, these mods.

 

Yes, I would pay for some mods. Not all of them, but some. The micro-transaction model would need a platform online where mods could be found and considered in a market. Nexus, Steam, something. SKSE is the basis on which who knows how many mods work. They'd need to be paid. SkyUI has become a standard. They'd need to be paid. FNIS, the "Unofficials" - Unofficial Skyrim, Unofficial Dragonborn, etc. Those are standards too, for most people, I'd guess. I'd pay for something on that level. But what about houses, castles, abodes, for example? Reaper's the Dark Tower is a masterpiece, to my mind, and worthy of a fee, perhaps. Rayek's End is on an entirely different scale as an abode but also a wonderful addition to the game. What of Ethereal Elven Overhaul? Yeah, that's been in my game for years now. aMidianBorn? Oh yeah. Chesko, Gopher... the names of famed modders has become a long list. They don't know me, don't know I appreciate their work, other than an endorsement, but the value they've added to Skyrim for me is well worth a micro-transaction. I just discovered Jaxonz Positioner. That has made a whole new way for me to enjoy a four year old game - I'm building my own castle with textures found here and there, some vanilla, some mode originated!

 

Indeed Chesko. Got burned by daring to dip a toe in this troubled water. Unfairly, I'd say. Nexus, it seems, had some sort of tangential backdoor agreement that would have netted some amount of revenue and Dark0ne got burned for that. Also unfairly, I'd say. Called out, sure, but the backlash was probably unfair.

 

Folks, the next chapter of the Elder Scrolls is fast upon us, maybe this year, maybe next year, but soon in any case. Bethesda is a business. They have bills to pay. Their programmers don't work for free, their lights aren't on for free. I'll gladly ante up $59.99, $69.99, $79.99 when it comes out and I won't curse their name for the price - not them, nor the retailer who gets their cut, nor the shipping companies who distribute to retailers and get a cut, nor the cardboard company who supplied the packaging and get a cut, nor the - who knows how many companies supplied something of what it takes to get that game to my system. Plus tax too. The government gets their cut. What did they have to do with it? Supplied the road I took to get to the store and back, or else supplied the road UPS used to deliver it to me.

 

If all of that is worth my bucks, I can't say these mods aren't.

 

Surely Bethesda is considering what happened with this. Surely, the best and the brightest of modders, such as Chesko, are considering what happened with this. Surely Dark0ne is considering the investment of time and money that is the Nexus, and how few are the paid subscribers. They all have their bills to pay and only so much time to devote to something that can provide to me so much value.

 

We, the hungry consumers, ought to well consider that value and not be so quick to despise a pay system that, if implemented in a thoughtful way considerate to modders, could mean we get to continue to enjoy all this clever creativity. Heated commentary against Steam and this mess they created is certainly deserved but we ought to be careful we keep it crystal clear - we appreciate what we have enjoyed and hope to continue to enjoy. Let us recognize too that Bethesda and Steam and the Nexus do have some part even in a mod. Bethesda created the backbone for all of this and Steam and the Nexus host, at expense, the mods for me to find and download.

 

The balance must be that the free model also remain. I don't think anyone will want to pay for every new dagger, or new edit to some function within the game or whatever. For some things, the value is in their availability widespread, and not in a single transaction. A pay system must not kill that. Likewise, a pay system must not kill the network of inter-dependence that has built up between mods built up on assets and functionality of other mods.

 

The internet has both free and paid models. They do coexist on the rest of the internet. Perhaps a pay system's time has come. Perhaps this is the TES mod community maturing. I think this can work. Let's find a way for a professional modder to emerge without killing the amateur who does it for the love of the game.

 

I love my TES.

 

 

 

[MrDisaster88]

So what stops them from allowing modders to sell their work freely? Oh wait, cant make a profit from that so why even think about it..

[pedantic]

There's an old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

[jones177]

The only 2 games I know that are modded more than Skyrim are MS Flight Simulator & MS Train Simulator. They booth have payware & shareware.

Microsoft had the good sense at the time to keep their hand out of other peoples pockets. So the system worked.

[pandachan90]

Everyone can agree that a pay system wouldn't be harmful but that only counts if it was there in the games from the beginning.

 

Skyrim has had a mod community for many years now based around being free and coöperative with eachother. You can't simply add a pay system like steam did and expect it won't tear apart the current community.

 

The reason why skyrim mods flourished was exactly because they were free and even if they crashed your save a few times, you wouldn't even be upset but work together with the mod maker to fix the bugs and thus get a superior product. Asking money at this point however will result in less mods, less resources and only a fraction of higher quality. That's not what this community needs, it needs a lot of resources, the quality will heighten by itself.

[Hseeker25]

OP you forget alot of the mods created use work of other creators its a combinend effort, how would you monetize something wich is the work of several individuals.

Will you split your mod of 1$ in to several cents to pay to each respected person fair share ? It would be a huge pain to do so.

 

And who will check if Mods dont use textures found on the internet witouth permision, not to mention intelectual properties, it would be a total cluster****.

Modding has alwas exsisted for many years, now since steam came with this idea sundenly "some" modders see it as a way to make a living like those lazy youtubers doing comentary all day.

 

But that wont work, because the Gaming community is already fed up with cashshops - paywalls and DLC, make modding into another paywall is making people go shout "enough is enough"

 

But yes I do agree Modders that do alot of work should get compensated its just a very trickery slope to go on.

[soupdragon1234]

OP you forget a lot of the mods created use work of other creators its a combinend effort, how would you monetize something wich is the work of several individuals.

Will you split your mod of 1$ in to several cents to pay to each respected person fair share ? It would be a huge pain to do so.

 

Is it? If they get on well enough to cooperate on the project in the first place I'm sure they can agree on how the money will be shared. Failing that they'll call in the lawyers.

 

 

And who will check if Mods dont use textures found on the internet witouth permision, not to mention intelectual properties, it would be a total cluster****.

 

 

The people who care about them i.e. the IP owners. If they feel they have a right to the cut or flatly refuse permission then they'll issue a takedown request or demand a cut. Same as everything else on the 'net.

 

 

Modding has alwas exsisted for many years, now since steam came with this idea sundenly "some" modders see it as a way to make a living like those lazy youtubers doing comentary all day.

 

 

Just because something-is-the-way-it-is-should-always-be-the-way-it-is is a common fallacy. If you were to follow that argument we'd still be using stone tools and living in caves. "Why should I pay someone who collected that ore, smelted that iron and made those tools be entitled to any payment? I've always had free stone tools! I can pick the stones off the ground myself! Why should I pay for those iron tools? Free stone tools forever!!!!" And you know what? No-one is stopping them. Theres still plenty of stones last time I looked.

 

 

But that wont work, because the Gaming community is already fed up with cashshops - paywalls and DLC, make modding into another paywall is making people go shout "enough is enough"

 

 

Fed up or not, they'll pay. Or choose not to purchase. Same as anything else in the world. If you walk into a supermarket and want something do you expect to pay for it or not? No-one is forcing you to purchase anything. And there will still be free mods because the authors choose to make them so. But thats their decision, no-one has the right to take that choice away from them.

 

The only reason it "won't work" is because of Bethesda's EULA. Otherwise paid mods would be a fact a long time ago. And I'm sure it will come in FO4 or TESVI and I'm willing to bet on that. And people will pay. Maybe not you, but others will.

[firepower02]

The difference is when you go to a market, you pay for goods or services that they will exert effort on for every sale they make. You get a haircut and you pay for that haircutter's skill and time spent on you approximately an hour. A mod (if it doesnt have bugs) needs only to be spent time once to create, a modder does not have to spend another time to work on the same mod each time they make a sale. Paying for mods does not equate to paying for something in the real world.

Edited April 30, 2015 by firepower02

[georgejbps]

All good points! One might consider...as seen on TV...the idea of "try before you buy" I know this would be a logistical nightmare, BUT it seems to work for many things...like vacuum cleaners etc. You get a 15 day "trial period" you are then asked to "pay" if you don't, the mod removes itself! I'm sure in 15 days you know weather you actually WANT that mod! This would eliminated those "crap" mods, and only the more worthwhile mods would stand the test of time. The modder would also benefit as he/she would KNOW just how much his/her mod is worth! If it was just some money grabbing crap...no one would pay for it! If it was worthwhile the modder would get SOMETHING for it. AND of course be encouraged to produce more! I have had to contract many "business" to do work for the company I worked for....some were "just in it for the money" others did a great job for us and we used them again. The "crappy" businesses found their names on the complaint list of the BBB!

[RurikNiall]

 

You get a 15 day "trial period" you are then asked to "pay" if you don't, the mod removes itself!

 

The trouble is that's not how these trial periods work on the internet. The way they work is they get your billing info, if after 15 days you haven't contacted them to cancel they automatically bill you. You don't get an e-mail reminder about it or anything, they could on people either not knowing how it works and thinking they have the full fifteen days when in actuality they have fourteen and the fifteenth is the deadline to contact them, or people simply forgetting that they need to cancel until they get charged for it.