http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/aboutpaidcontent/ This is possibly the most anti consumer idea that I have yet to see besides digital rights management. One of the points PC gaming is known for, mods that people make because they are passionate about the games, which give you more content, are now being monetized. Not only this, but the creators only receive 25% of the revenue. I love co8 and can say without a doubt that the work you people have done with this game have transformed it into my second favorite game of all time, I would donate if I had paypal. But locking content behind a pay wall, effectively third party dlc that has no guarantee of compatibility or lasting support by the creator, is an absolutely scummy practice.
I know of at least two cases in this very place where the lack of pay meant a cessation of activity. Not because of greed, but because of necessity - not everyone has a well paying job, or lives in a 1st world country for that matter, and it's hard to justify the countless hours that go into modding when you have a hole in your pocket. (not talking about myself here, and definitely not naming names) If this allows those people to pursue modding with the knowledge that it helps ends meet, then that's potentially a good thing. Besides, Steam allows a Pay-What-You-Want model, which I'm a fan of - it's then on the modder to decide. I have however heard of two main downsides so far that I agree with somewhat: One is that it might encourage companies to DMCA free mods to force them to sell them on the market, since they get a cut. But I think that kind of dickery would trigger a huge backlash / boycott movement. Modding is big, and mod users and creators definitely have power, which I hope they'll exercise if that comes to pass. The other is that mods are usually not standalone things, many building on top of what others have made, which can be a big issue. But I'd say that's solvable - you can offer the pre-existing version for free, ask permissions from other authors, and only charge for additional content (kind of like open source software). There will doubtless be a lot of scams and misappropriation, but ultimately I think the users have enough sense to judge for themselves who's worthy of their money.
Ideally it would create a better modding situation. But human nature sets in and all it will do is cut the modding bases in half. Many people will stop putting effort in and make simple changes to a game just so they can charge for it. Modders on nexusmods are already pulling their mods from the website to put behind a paywall on the steam workshop.
Wow... Better have your Skyrim mod back-ups ready, then. I don't think that introducing free market rules everywhere is the way to go. I understand why some modders would want to get paid but I also know from experience that most worthwhile mods are not made by one person and make use of other people's content and, like Sitra said, putting them without the other people's permission would simply be theft. There's also another problem that might arise - video game companies might be inclined to stop patching games and relegate all the burden to fans who, in turn, make a profit off of it. The way I see it is that the modders should be paid by publishers themselves, since they are the ones who drive their games' sales.
Steam is handling the paying out end for teams of modders, it says it will even handle the taxes involved. Selling mods has actually been going on for quite a while with other games and it just makes sense that companies as successful as Bethesda and a few others will not pass up the chance to milk a few more dollars from folks. Myself, I'm not happy about it because many of the mods that make small helpful changes might end up being done by players and simply not shared in order to avoid the stigma that accompanies selling a mod.
How generous of them. They also take 75% of the revenue... That's quite a lot. Another thing is, the authors of the most popular mods have taken them down from Nexus and moved them to Steam and got them behind a 5$ paywall. Not cool. Can you imagine playing Neverwinter Nights 1/2 and having to pay a few bucks for every module you download? The modding community used to be about overcoming technological limitations, figuring out how the game works, Valve are changing it into a business, one that is self-employed, gets a really shitty cut of the profit, has no healthcare plan. It's a win-win for publishers. The game is kept alive by a steady influx of new content, people keep buying it, moddes are motivated to provide it to players and furthermore every sold mod gives the publisher 75% of the profit for no effort at all! Why hire a team to make an expansion when a modder can do it for their own money? Next thing you know, devs will stop patching and make modders fix games for money. So, not only will there be paid-non-official DLC but also paid patches.
Your preaching to the choir Maggot. I agree with you 100%, but I still believe change it is acome'n. There is an excellent opinion posted on the Nexus Blog by the Nexus founder that really encompasses all aspects of the coming changes and the effect it may, or may not have on the modding community.
It was an interesting read, I saw it before writing my second response. I he didn't make this particular point at least I don't think he did.
http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1516829-discussion-for-workshop-paid-mods-thread-5/?p=23943699 Just some stats for the first day of monetized mods.
Also, this is the sort of thing monetizing mods is creating. https://archive.is/7WTzl#selection-1543.0-1563.123
Buy my 5 new spells! :blink: Liv always said modding was the future. Hey look, we're living in the future. :no: I still play CounterStrike 1.6 - the last pre-Steam version - because personally I want nothing to do with Steam, and this is all one more reason for that.
After merely half a week. https://www.change.org/p/valve-remove-the-paid-content-of-the-steam-workshop Valve was forced down. https://steamcommunity.com/games/SteamWorkshop/announcements/detail/208632365253244218 Understand though, Valve has had this planned for years, since 2012 in fact. https://archive.is/nNXIs A company looked at a decades long tradition that has been free and by the passionate community. They not only thought, "How can we turn this into a system that includes money?", they thought "How can we somehow take a cut of that profit, despite doing none of that work?". That this idea could have even been thought of as possible violates so many ethical, moral, and legal bounds.
