Getting paid to mod? Great! Paying for mods? Ohh....

[cooltrickle]

And as far as mods are concerned, we can already download mods, and if someone wants to financially compensate a modder, they could just use PayPal. We do not need Steam to do these things. It offers nothing that we can't do already.

 

Don't be fooled by arguments saying, Steam is convenient or makes things easier. Instead, you should be insulted that Steam thinks you need help to download a file and apply it. Steam *has* to make things easier, because it offers nothing else. Steam is nothing but a parasite that sits on your PC, pretending to look useful, while it nickel and dimes, lazy people.

 

Someone will probably defend Steam, perhaps invoking the Steam sales argument. But, aren't downloaded games *supposed* to be cheap? They require no distribution, or physical material. Assuming that the bulk of retail value is due to these things, and we aren't just being ripped off, then downloaded games should *always* be cheap. Not just during a sale, but always. They're obviously not, otherwise there wouldn't be events called "sales". The question is, why not?

 

I'm not anti-capitalism. People should reap the *full* rewards of *their* labour, but not the labour of someone else. That's what Steam is attempting to do here. It will muscle in the profits of other people, in return for offering it's unnecessary services. And it will do this, while spouting it's "Valve is good", propaganda. Good is, as Good does. And good things don't tax the labours of others. This is not capitalism; it's parasitism.

 

Despite, saying all this, I believe all this will achieve is the creation of a few satellite professional modding groups, that will create DLC quality mods, that some people may be willing to pay for. Ordinary modders will likely be unaffected. It does make you wonder whether Bethesda is not trying to avoid DLC in future, and just hand it off to third parties.

[Einarth]

My answers: no, and a resounding no.

I don't like the very fact that money gets brought into the equation. Actually I'm increasingly concerned at the direction that Bethesda is taking...

[Arcadiast]

a "mod" charging money I would consider a "DLC" and not a proper mod.

 

People should reap the *full* rewards of *their* labour

 

they do! look at the forums, some modders who have contributed great works are considered "Rock Stars" and gain much respect from the community. This respect comes from knowing that they are sharing something with us. I am sure they also get donations probably not enough for a Ferrari but if thats your thing you can make money far easier by becoming "Copyright infringement Lawyer".

 

What do you think is the reason that we get a game with a suboptimal UI and suboptimal graphics? when Money comes into modding we will have the same "7000 Steps" of agony like we have in PC Gaming now. Well at least you will have because I will find a new Hobby by then.

Edited December 2, 2011 by Arcadiast

[brevard1986]

I agree with a Donate button applied to the modder not the mod. This means you're not selling anything and the feature will truly act like a donation.

 

I've used mods shamelessly and think it would be nice for people to show their appreciation to modders if they wanted to.

 

A simple maximum limit of £10 and reminder message during downloading would go a long way.

 

I like how XDA (the android developer forum) has done it and I've met some great coders and modders. This would encourage a lot more people to mod as well as more people to help out.

 

There's a bunch of concerns however:

 

1) Team Modders & Leaders - it's difficult to split the pot and if not everybody on the team is above board this could raise a lot of problems.

2) Mod theft - people passing on aspects of their mods as their own.

3) Extremely protectionist modders - they no longer think 'credit me in the readme file' is enough and demand higher profile.

 

This will be entirely dependant on the modders themselves and a liberal use of features similar to the 'endorsement' button. You need to build a certain amount of reputation and be known to your peers (other modders) in your work before a 'Donation' button is granted. You also would need to detail how you managed to create the mod and where the assets may have come from.

 

This encourages modders to have and maintain a presence with every part of the game community as well as allow a level of sharing for everyone. Money then comes from people wishing to give thanks and recognise your dedication rather than feeling obliged to buy a one off product.

[LadyAubrie]

Everyone here is making such excellent, eloquent points, all laden to the brim with things that are absolutely 100% true.

 

I truly hope that the decision-makers on this subject are reading this thread.

[agno]

I want to see a hybrid solution, Valve is not involved, Beth is barely involved.

 

so who is involved? anyone who wants to sponsor a project with advert revenue.

 

my wish is that a large website, something akin to tesnexus sets up deals with top mod makers

to release their mods freely, at no charge and with no restriction on their own site.

 

they would have a fairly substantial amount of advertising involved, you would see

adds for interesting and related products, you would get steam offers for

33% off MW3 etc.... youd get adverts for other games etc, online poker etc...

 

all the mods are free, the website hosting and the modmaker split up the advert

revenues in a fair way.

 

the only permission required might be from bethesda (fair use means no profits,

once you get profits involved, you need permission, as long as the mods dont

um....place bethesda in legal harm )

[OnlyOneWing]

Labor is a commodity also, ideas are are also a commodity. Bethesda gets both of these from modders. Some modders are extremely gifted and do things that were not thought of, nor fully experimented with.

Mods completely elevated Oblivion to the next level. Some people put months and even years into single mods. These are the mods that I would be willing to pay for... or at least they would inspire me to donate.

 

Yeah, Bethesda owns the legal rights to Skyrim and the Creation Kit and the in-game content... donating would not be an exchange of goods, it would be more like an ovation to the creativity and hard work of a modder. Where the individual amount may not be much and the sum-total would not be boundless, but it would be a trophy.

 

 

Another interesting system would be a competition where donations are taken. The mod which gains the most votes within a week will win the donation pot for that week.

[PsYchotic666Joker]

No way in hell am i gonna pay for mods, nor would i charge for my mods, a donation thing to the website would be nice but i'm broke and no job so i wouldn't do that either....anyways...to put it short if mods cost money i'm done playing and will find a new game to play, it should be free everywhere 100% of the time, they want to charge they will lose me as a buyer of their games plain and simple

[Aikospacerogue]

Not paying and not charging.

 

Modding is like art to me ,I put up my stuff on DA for folks to see, just as I'll put up my work for people to use if they want it. If I want money I'll get a job.

[OnlyOneWing]

Not paying and not charging.

 

Modding is like art to me ,I put up my stuff on DA for folks to see, just as I'll put up my work for people to use if they want it. If I want money I'll get a job.

Some mods definitely are art, but even artists some times receive compensation. I understand though, if it becomes about money then it loses it's soul and modding becomes commercial.

 

However, donations aren't mandatory or forced. Not everyone is wealthy, but a lot of people could afford to throw a dollar around every now and then. A great mod that is downloaded 100,000 times and if 1 out of 100 people donate 1$ it will leave the modder with 1,000$.

It's not a huge amount, but it could help the modder/artist get some new equipment and software to keep the mods coming.

Or at least cover their electric bill from being on their computer for hundreds/thousands of hours lol

Edited December 2, 2011 by OnlyOneWing