What benefit is the CK the Bethsoft?

[Judasace]

I was looking at the Diablo 3 forums recently, and saw someone complaining about the lack of toolset for that game. Someone said that it kept the game on the shelves longer, promoted sales, etc...but I had to wonder if this was really true. I mean, Diablo II had no toolset, and that thing is STILL on the shelves at my local BB.

 

Then consider that most sales of these games are on console...and the idea that the CK is in any way increasing Beth's bottom line sarts to seem unlikely. In fact, it seem like it would actually lose them money, because many of the mods that are made take the place of some easy DLCs...look at something like GRA for New Vegas and then at some of the better quality free weapon mods available on the Nexus and tell me which you'd rather have.

 

So it occurs to me that Beth and/or Zenimax have finally realized this, and that's the impetus for Steamworks integration with the CK...it's a way for them to monetize Modding. Which really isn't a bad thing, because in the end, if they can't monetize the products of the CK, they may just stop making them altogether.

 

So, for all people out there hoping that the Steamworks thing tanks, that no one uploads mods to it (Or those that do get "blacklisted" as someone suggested) I really urge you to think again. Because my bet is that right now having a modding community costs Beth quite a bit of money, and if Steamworks doesn't work out, I wouldn't expect to see any future toolsets for their games.

[gahnzz]

I was looking at the Diablo 3 forums recently, and saw someone complaining about the lack of toolset for that game. Someone said that it kept the game on the shelves longer, promoted sales, etc...but I had to wonder if this was really true. I mean, Diablo II had no toolset, and that thing is STILL on the shelves at my local BB.

 

Then consider that most sales of these games are on console...and the idea that the CK is in any way increasing Beth's bottom line sarts to seem unlikely. In fact, it seem like it would actually lose them money, because many of the mods that are made take the place of some easy DLCs...look at something like GRA for New Vegas and then at some of the better quality free weapon mods available on the Nexus and tell me which you'd rather have.

 

So it occurs to me that Beth and/or Zenimax have finally realized this, and that's the impetus for Steamworks integration with the CK...it's a way for them to monetize Modding. Which really isn't a bad thing, because in the end, if they can't monetize the products of the CK, they may just stop making them altogether.

 

So, for all people out there hoping that the Steamworks thing tanks, that no one uploads mods to it (Or those that do get "blacklisted" as someone suggested) I really urge you to think again. Because my bet is that right now having a modding community costs Beth quite a bit of money, and if Steamworks doesn't work out, I wouldn't expect to see any future toolsets for their games.

 

Modding for Beth games has been around at least a decade, growing exponentially each year. Yes, Steamworks is being done... but it's only the first time that developers have entered into the mod creation and organization space to any real degree. I'd be betting that the Steam Workshop is only the first of several steps we'll see over the next year or so to finally allow to modding across all forms that a game comes in... Steam is available on PS3 and Beth has said in numerous interviews that they are ready to start coding for consoles...

 

Even without the consoles, PC modding goes back a long time and it's not going anywhere. The Creation Kit (apparently) is the most robust tool for end-user modifications ever released and will allow for a whole new level of customization and extension of a brands lifecycle.

 

Oblivion and Morrowwind have been off the top 10 for quite a while (6 and 10 years respectively) yet still are sold actively simply because of the mod community. I'm willing to bet that Valve isn't shouldering the cost of the Workshop alone... I wouldn't be surprised if some big developers aren't looking at Steam Workshop as a way to keep their brands active for YEARS after release. It just makes sense financially... they create the world and the initial forays into it, then modders come in and extend the life of their product by leaps and bounds - at no cost to the developer themselves outside of burning new discs and a very low level of advertising.

[Werne]

Here we go again :rolleyes:. All you have are guesses about things that may or may not happen. I sure hope mods will stay free, but if they don't I won't make them or download them. And I believe CK actually gains money for bethesda, judging by simple logic thinking: CK = mods = people wanting mods = people buying PC version to get mods = profit. Plus, the modding comunities make the game more popular cause the first thought that appears in my brain when I hear "Bethesda" is mods (but that's just me). Edited February 7, 2012 by Werne

[Judasace]

Here we go again :rolleyes:. All you have are guesses about things that may or may not happen. I sure hope mods will stay free, but if they don't I won't make them or download them. And I believe CK actually gains money for bethesda, judging by simple logic thinking: CK = mods = people wanting mods = people buying PC version to get mods = profit. Plus, the modding comunities make the game more popular cause the first thought that appears in my brain when I hear "Bethesda" is mods (but that's just me).

 

I'm not saying they will charge for mods. There are plenty of ways to make money from people using a website that don't involve charging those people a dime. Whether it's advertising for other games or related products/services or some other method, I dount they will charge money for the mods themselves.

[Judasace]

I was looking at the Diablo 3 forums recently, and saw someone complaining about the lack of toolset for that game. Someone said that it kept the game on the shelves longer, promoted sales, etc...but I had to wonder if this was really true. I mean, Diablo II had no toolset, and that thing is STILL on the shelves at my local BB.

 

Then consider that most sales of these games are on console...and the idea that the CK is in any way increasing Beth's bottom line sarts to seem unlikely. In fact, it seem like it would actually lose them money, because many of the mods that are made take the place of some easy DLCs...look at something like GRA for New Vegas and then at some of the better quality free weapon mods available on the Nexus and tell me which you'd rather have.

 

So it occurs to me that Beth and/or Zenimax have finally realized this, and that's the impetus for Steamworks integration with the CK...it's a way for them to monetize Modding. Which really isn't a bad thing, because in the end, if they can't monetize the products of the CK, they may just stop making them altogether.

 

So, for all people out there hoping that the Steamworks thing tanks, that no one uploads mods to it (Or those that do get "blacklisted" as someone suggested) I really urge you to think again. Because my bet is that right now having a modding community costs Beth quite a bit of money, and if Steamworks doesn't work out, I wouldn't expect to see any future toolsets for their games.

 

Modding for Beth games has been around at least a decade, growing exponentially each year. Yes, Steamworks is being done... but it's only the first time that developers have entered into the mod creation and organization space to any real degree. I'd be betting that the Steam Workshop is only the first of several steps we'll see over the next year or so to finally allow to modding across all forms that a game comes in... Steam is available on PS3 and Beth has said in numerous interviews that they are ready to start coding for consoles...

 

Even without the consoles, PC modding goes back a long time and it's not going anywhere. The Creation Kit (apparently) is the most robust tool for end-user modifications ever released and will allow for a whole new level of customization and extension of a brands lifecycle.

 

Oblivion and Morrowwind have been off the top 10 for quite a while (6 and 10 years respectively) yet still are sold actively simply because of the mod community. I'm willing to bet that Valve isn't shouldering the cost of the Workshop alone... I wouldn't be surprised if some big developers aren't looking at Steam Workshop as a way to keep their brands active for YEARS after release. It just makes sense financially... they create the world and the initial forays into it, then modders come in and extend the life of their product by leaps and bounds - at no cost to the developer themselves outside of burning new discs and a very low level of advertising.

 

 

Modding may have been around for a long time...but it now is direct competition for DLC...after all, why buy Horse Armor when you can get 20 variations of Horse Armor for free?

 

I think the rise of DLC, especially item-oriented DLC like Horse Armor, GRA, etc. Is the biggest threat to modding as we know it.

[jimhsu]

That's why developers are realizing that item based-DLCs aren't the way to go (glances annoyingly at Dragon Age 2) but rather substantial quest content (voice acted and all) is the next step. This has (debatably) progressed to the point where critical elements of the story are missing from the game, just because someone (again, glances at Bioware) sees a profit opportunity. Fortunately Bethesda has been committed to delivering full experiences with the stock game without this DLC incentivization strategy, and you wouldn't argue that their games aren't selling as well because of it.

 

That said, the other games I support (a quick list: Mount and Blade, Egosoft's X Series, the Sims games) all have relatively healthy modding communities (not sure about the last one though). Also some indie games (Minecraft, Terraria for example pop up) but that's another debate.

[Sunnie]

Bethesda has done a really great job of giving us really substantial DLC, the likes of can't be done by even the most talented modding groups. You can't compare other developers like Bioware to Bethesda in this area because they don't support the modding community like Bethesda does. While Bethesda continually gives us better and better toolsets, Bioware (EA) decided the modding community wasn't that important when EA got their hooks sunk in. They don't care if you mod the games that don't have toolsets support (TOR excluded for obvious reasons), but they sure aren't helping us in any way shape or form. I'm of the opinion that failing to release a toolset for DA2 was ultimately a huge fail on their part. Don't even get me started on ME series, the modding potential for that series was pretty epic, but again, they decided the cost was too high to do any more than decide to not do it. Edited February 7, 2012 by Sunnie

[throttlekitty]

Despite no tools and support from Blizzard, Diablo II has had a pretty healthy modding scene. Gameplay and player interest! Also, modding for Bethesda games wouldn't be nearly as successful if it weren't for the many community-developed tools. Maybe someone will come up with something tricky, but I don't see any pay-per-mod scheme working.

 

flamebait / low jab: releasing a sequel to DA was fail.

[Borborygmus]

so how accessable will the CK be to the complete modding novice? i have absolutely no background in programming or really in computers at all. will i be able to use the CK to rig up story lines i like, or do i need a much higher degree of coding experience etc to even use the thing?

[NetDigger]

if the compenys will ofer money to the modders,mods will not stay free.i mean they will "hire" modders.this kind of move will kill the modders community.and games will stay lame..

but then again,anybady can make mods.

 

Borborygmus,you can do anyting whit the CK,just like in oblivion and fallout.

Edited February 7, 2012 by NetDigger