The Video Game Industry's Monetisation of Mods discussion

[youg3]

Hey people, awesome to see the cool discussion taking off!

 

Firstly, I just want to clear up about the cherry picking element. I am eager to find out if any of you, as active members of this community (and/or other communities) feel like this has been the case in the past and if so, were there any noticeable effects when these creators left?

 

@Hey You, would you say that because of the way Beth has approached bringing mods through the CC to console and their current implementation, it’s essentially given a terrible impression to console gamers what mods can actually do for their enjoyment of these older titles?

 

So, would Nexusmods itself be a better example of current monetisation than what is usually assumed as being paids mods in the form of the Creation Club?

 

Or how about the people over at the Race Sim Studio who create and sell their content for racing sims while not being officially licensed/endorsed/contracted by the game developer? Or can anyone think of any other worthy examples?

[HeyYou]

Beth is all about making money, that's what the creation club was for. No idea how well that is working out for them...... As for the 'free' mods..... Xbox has pretty free reign on what they can add to their game, limited only by the amount of space Microsoft allows them to use for 'third party content'. No real idea just why MS put such a restriction in place though..... Hardware related? No clue. PS/4, on the other hand, is severely restricted on what free mods they can use. (and also have a limited amount of space for them.) But, again, those restrictions are in place from Sony. So, PS/4 only gets .esp/.esm mods. No additional assets allowed. THAT puts a severe restriction on just what they can do. Neither of those situations does beth have any control over. From my perspective, I think the console players are just happy to have ANY modding capability at all. I am sure the PS/4 folks would dearly love for Sony to relax the restrictions some... (quite a bit....) but, as it hasn't happened yet, I am not holding my breath that it ever will.

 

Beth will never allow Nexus to sell mods, regardless of the source of the content. It is my understanding that MS, and Sony, won't allow their consoles to download from third party sites either, only directly from the game publisher. So, while Nexus likely wouldn't mind getting that opportunity, I don't see it happening. Ever. :D

 

That said, Nexus does a MUCH better job of hosting, and supporting mod authors. Beth has been improving, but, when you start at the very bottom of the barrel, improvement really isn't all that hard to come by. Don't recall if I have said it before in this thread.... but, Beths original site for forums/hosting was absolutely terrible. Three teenagers with a zero dollar budget could have done a better job. (and they have.....)

[MrJoseCuervo]

100% of Mods for TES 6 and probably all of their other titles will be CC only. The current iteration of CC is just the foundation for their endgame of eliminating the Modding community and turning modding into another revenue stream.

[HeyYou]

100% of Mods for TES 6 and probably all of their other titles will be CC only. The current iteration of CC is just the foundation for their endgame of eliminating the Modding community and turning modding into another revenue stream.

I would like to think that even Beth isn't that stupid. Free mods is the REASON their games have been so long-lived. If they do away with free mods, they will lose their modding community, and some customers for their games. Including their main audience, console players. The console players are now buying beth games BECAUSE they can get free mods.

[gnarly1]

100% of Mods for TES 6 and probably all of their other titles will be CC only. The current iteration of CC is just the foundation for their endgame of eliminating the Modding community and turning modding into another revenue stream.

Remember you predicted nearly three years ago that the modding community was "...about to die."? Hopefully you've recalibrated your crystal ball since then....

[MrJoseCuervo]

 

100% of Mods for TES 6 and probably all of their other titles will be CC only. The current iteration of CC is just the foundation for their endgame of eliminating the Modding community and turning modding into another revenue stream.

Remember you predicted nearly three years ago that the modding community was "...about to die."? Hopefully you've recalibrated your crystal ball since then....

 

 

Nothing of consequence has been released by Beth in 3 years. So no. I will not be recalibrating. And what I posted was not a prediction it was information. How are those Fallout 76 Modding tools working for you? Tommy boy said modding in your own private world in 76 would be a thing.. To get the Private world you need to pay $100 a year for a private server to use them, That right there is paid mods. They are just getting the money up front and modders are getting none of that $$$

 

[gnarly1]

Nothing of consequence has been released by Beth in 3 years.

 

 

And the modding community is still very much alive and kicking. Which means you were wrong. But then after making this comment you mentioned Fallout76 - is that not something "...of consequence"? Er, so you're wrong again....? So Bugthesda has released something of consequence and even though you have to pay for a private server to mod it, the modding community is still steamrolling along.

 

Predictions become information when they're accurate and so far you've been a pretty poor barometer for what's going to happen in the modding community.

[MrJoseCuervo]

 

Nothing of consequence has been released by Beth in 3 years.

 

 

And the modding community is still very much alive and kicking. Which means you were wrong. But then after making this comment you mentioned Fallout76 - is that not something "...of consequence"? Er, so you're wrong again....? So Bugthesda has released something of consequence and even though you have to pay for a private server to mod it, the modding community is still steamrolling along.

 

Predictions become information when they're accurate and so far you've been a pretty poor barometer for what's going to happen in the modding community.

 

 

Fallout 76 is of no consequence to the modding community and to gaming in general other than exposing the greed and lack of quality coming out of AAA companies as of late. But of course a Beth fanboi / bootlicker may disagree.

 

I would like nothing more than to be completely wrong and look like a chicken little fool on this topic, but I have seen nothing to suggest I am incorrect in the direction of the industry. I hope I can come to this thread in the future and eat crow.. but I have a felling it will be an "I told you so" post.

[gnarly1]

Fallout 76 is of no consequence to the modding community

But before you were asserting it will be consequential in the demise of the modding community. So which is it....? You seem confused.

 

You have me at somewhat of a disadvantage: I'm obliged to argue logically, consistently and rationally.

 

You seem to place no such burden upon yourself.

 

I hope I can come to this thread in the future and eat crow.. but I have a felling it will be an "I told you so" post.

Since you clearly lack the humility to admit when you're wrong, a smug "I told you so" post would be completely in character for you....

 

Oh, and if the fanboi comment was aimed at me, even a cursory glance through my previous forums posts should be pretty convincing that I'm not a fan of Bethesda.

 

I do agree re the lack of quality from AAA game companies.

Edited August 15, 2020 by gnarly1

[MrJoseCuervo]

Logic dictates that if you make a product unfriendly to modding it would be no consequence to the modding community.. correct? Fallout 76 can be modded to some extent, however the game is s#*! so that is a factor determining it's appeal to the modding community.

 

And I know not, nor care about your support for whatever company. I merely was pointing out that there are always those who will defend particular companies to the bitter end to save face for personal gain or to make themselves feel better about their investment..

 

 

Not necessarily you. I try not to present things in absolute terms since there are always exceptions.