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[HowZatOZ]

This is pretty awesome. It being a open market means the user decides what price is acceptable, and anything that tries to rip players off will be pushed out pretty quick.

Also no way the next Elder Scrolls forgoes modding, no fucking way. Bethesda have made a business out of modding, and we may yet see other developers turn to that.

This is a terrible idea, IMO. People are uploading stuff that isn't theirs, game updates can break the mods, and it just feels wrong.

Good thing is players can get a refund on their purchases, so broken stuff won't make money nor will duplication/theft.

 

[HariKari]

The slippery slopes are sure steep in this thread.

Well, if there's one thing you can count on in gaming, it's that things will fall down that slope going mach 1.

 

[YuShtink]

Your heard it here folks, Durante is ruining all of it for everyone.


Jesus fucking Christ at the whiny entitled kids here.



And yeah man, the devs now are totally forced to charge for their mods. Free mods literally don't exist anymore. /s

If you can't see what the future holds going down this path, then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Arkage]

Bethesda and Valve. I'd speculate it is 50% Betheda, 25% Valve, 25% Creator (Based on Valve doing 50-50 split with their other games)

Even so, giving the creator only 25% revenue is ridiculous regardless of who's doing the taking. A once free mod pack being sold for $25? I might be ok with that if the creators got most of the money. But they aren't, they're getting $6.25, which is insanity.

If anything, this kind of revenue policy is going to make the mods artificially expensive since the creators, who determine the price, will have to account for only getting a quarter of the total revenue.

 

[Neverforget]

I rarely use mods in my games (minus the sims) , I rather have the original experience, the only mods I use are the ones getting ride of annoyances.

I won't be using any paid mod, if the need arises I will make my own mod to get ride of the said annoyances or add a skin.

I wish they added a donation button or at least a 70% cut to the modern but oh well...

 

[dLMN8R]

It's almost an impossible problem to solve, however. Which is why I think asking for donations is fine, but going beyond that is irresponsible.

Irresponsible?

If creators are going to be irresponsible by selling content they didn't create, that's a problem they can have regardless of whether they're selling it through Steam or taking donations through Patreon.

The ability to sell things through Steam does not change that dynamic.

 

[HowZatOZ]

If you can't see what the future holds going down this path, then I don't know what to tell you.

You aren't doing a little skip or jump to your conclusions but an entire canyon of distance. We don't know what the future holds and claiming that all mods will suddenly be priced is a tad absurd. Stop slippery slopping because it isn't always the case and ruins good discussion. You just jump to conclusions and that doesn't necessarily allow for proper discussion.

 

[Kade]

If you can't see what the future holds going down this path, then I don't know what to tell you.

I foresee a lot of free mods and some people charging for their mods now that they are given that option with approval from the publishers/developers.

 

[Bornstellar]

Mods are already being taken down from the nexus leaving only the paid option. Ancient ones even.

 

[YuShtink]

You aren't doing a little skip or jump to your conclusions but an entire canyon of distance. We don't know what the future holds and claiming that all mods will suddenly be priced is a tad absurd. Stop slippery slopping because it isn't always the case and ruins good discussion. You just jump to conclusions and that doesn't necessarily allow for proper discussion.

Nothing like this has ever worked out well for the end consumer. To think otherwise is silly.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

Even so, giving the creator only 25% revenue is ridiculous regardless of who's doing the taking. A once free mod pack being sold for $25? I might be ok with that if the creators got most of the money. But they aren't, they're getting $6.25, which is insanity.

If anything, this kind of revenue policy is going to make the mods artificially expensive since the creators, who determine the price, will have to account for only getting a quarter of the total revenue.

This.

There is no fucking doubt in my mind that this entire thing is not about "compensating mod creators" or anything so noble. Valve, and by extension, Bethesda, have found another way to make a bunch of money for almost 0 effort on their part. Now instead of a bunch of shitty piecemeal DLC from developers, we've got a bunch of shitty piecemeal DLC from random-ass dudes on the internet, and Valve/Beth get to walk away with 75% of every transaction.

I hope the backlash on this is big enough that they kill it real quick.

 

[MUnited83]

If you can't see what the future holds going down this path, then I don't know what to tell you.

Free mods will continue to exist, more people will be drawn to modding, big-ass projects and complete conversion mods take will way less time to develop, creators are rewarded for what they create, overall mod quality will be higher because people won't bother with crappy mods.


Dunno man, seems like an alright future to me.

 

[tuxfool]

Well of course! Valve wouldn't want your money to leave their system Better keep your Steam wallet full for next weekend's Premium Moddable Games Super Springtime Sale!*

*the games that support the mods will be on sale but the mods remain full price.

Therefore in practice you're not really getting your money back. Paying for broken mods isn't consequence free.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Nothing like this has ever worked out well for the end consumer. To think otherwise is silly.

modern economics is a sham

wake up sheeple

 

[Dorsal Axe]

I can forsee some people would start selling patches to fix Bethesda usual terrible QA on future games.

Yeah, now we can pay people to fix the game to what it should have been in the first place. Yay.

Interesting idea for Falskaar/Nehrim scale mods, but honestly I think this is a death knell for Elder Scrolls modding (on the Workshop at least, which has always been really crappy to use anyway). Most mods are terrible or at best dubious in quality, and even the good mods have previously suffered from random acts of dev insanity (anyone here remember Arthmoor and Obliviongate?).

Profiting off the modding community is one of the scummiest practices around, let alone the 25% cut to the creator, let alone having to make $400 from a mod before being allowed to get that cut (ha good luck Skyrim modders), let alone the fact that Bethesda no longer supports Skyrim (which is still broken beyond belief). No good is going to come of this and unfortunately nobody seems to want to acknowledge what kind of company Valve really is.

 

[Saturday]

Hell of a divisive topic. I'm one of those fellas who have modded their game to high hell and back, and the thought of paying a quarter minimum for each of the mods I've downloaded (I'm well past the 255 limit!) is a knee-jerk reaction. Still, the things some of these modders do, they deserve mad stacks of cash. If, say, Immersive NPCS was up for sale, I wouldn't bat an eye at it being paid DLC, because it offers more content than, quite frankly, all of these currently listed paid mods put together. That last bit is my opinion, though.

 

[wickfut]

You aren't doing a little skip or jump to your conclusions but an entire canyon of distance. We don't know what the future holds and claiming that all mods will suddenly be priced is a tad absurd. Stop slippery slopping because it isn't always the case and ruins good discussion. You just jump to conclusions and that doesn't necessarily allow for proper discussion.

It has been out for 1 day.

In that 1 day we have a download pack containing mostly weapon and armour skins which costs 8x more than the actual current game price and a paid for alpha stage fishing animation mod.

Let's hope it can only get better, yeah?

 

[Keasar]

Honestly. I am changing my mind to that this is not looking so good for the future.

People sarcastically talk about "Oh yeah, free mods totally doesn't exist anymore.", sure they do, but for how long? Looking at the Workshop page, more and more mods are slowly putting on a price tag. The prices seem small, 1.5 euros for a armor, 2.9 euros for a armor, 5 euros for a mod that adds wet or cold effects to your character, but then when you start adding all these together, this is turning into a hefty bill that is expensive for a lot of people. The amount of mods I've used would at this rate put me back probably 500 euros or something, many to just try and see how they are and change the game.

I wouldn't be able to support that anymore and would most likely all out quit the game.

So much in this industry is starting to ask for money from me now. The initial price of the game, the microtransactions, the DLC, subscription fees, now mods are gonna turn to that as well, everything is clawing at my wallet and I honestly don't like it.

 

[RK9039]

One part of the fun of modding Skyrim was trying out all kinds of mixes, mod variants, troubleshooting compatibility issues, basically shaping the game on your personal whims, using the mod library as this great toolset to insert and remove whatever your pleased. I spent an entire day doing so, and it was lots of fun to explore all the different options and creations people had made available.

If, let's say, one third of such content is behind a paywall because these modders don't want 'entitled people' enjoying their content for some reason, how the hell am I going to replicate that feeling of shaping a personalized version of Skyrim, or whatever game? How can I mix and match if I first have to hand over some coin, no matter how small the value, just to access some content? And there isn't even quality control involved, like a genuine commercial product would be subjected to.

Mods being free to all was a great thing. It was an inherent part of the appeal to me. Free flow of creativity in all directions. It made PC gaming great. DOOM still has content produced for it because of that dynamic.

Sad to see some modders would rather have their products evolve to some kind of third party DLC. I'm sure they'll be successful, financially. But the dynamic will never be the same.

There is no quality control at all, much like some launch day games on Steam. I already saw two early access mods, people are actually buying work in progress mods without knowing if they'll even end up with a finished mod (some of them are complaining which I find hilarious).

 

[justjim89]

Free mods will continue to exist but less so because the increased incentive to monetize, more people will be drawn to modding, big-ass projects and complete conversion mods take will way less time to develop, creators are rewarded for what they create as long they generate $400 in profit first, overall mod quality will be higher because people won't bother with crappy mods unfortunately even after a refund their money won't really be refunded, just put into their Steam wallet to roll the dice on another mod.


Dunno man, seems like an alright future to me, as a stockholder for Bethesda and Valve because they've finally found a way to make money off of those damn free mods

Fixed that for you, buddy.

 

[Branson]

Free mods will continue to exist, more people will be drawn to modding, big-ass projects and complete conversion mods take will way less time to develop, creators are rewarded for what they create, overall mod quality will be higher because people won't bother with crappy mods.


Dunno man, seems like an alright future to me.

I think the point is that it was fine the way it was. Mod quality was good. There is a follower on there for 4.99. Adding ONE npc to your game for $5. What kind of bullshit is that? There could be good aspects of this but I wont ever buy or support a mod thats on the workshop. Thats crazy in my head. Nexus is better anyway.

 

[YuShtink]

Free mods will continue to exist, more people will be drawn to modding, big-ass projects and complete conversion mods take will way less time to develop, creators are rewarded for what they create, overall mod quality will be higher because people won't bother with crappy mods.


Dunno man, seems like an alright future to me.

Only bottom of the barrel mods will remain free, scam artists and cheap swindlers will be drawn to modding, consumers will get less and less for their money, mod quality won't change because most people are dumb and won't realize they are getting swindled and will continue paying small sums of money for useless mods ensuring the awful cycle continues.

Just look at the mobile game wasteland that exists today. The only thing you do get out of it is some big full conversion mods that might not have happened otherwise. Which IMO is not at all worth everything else that comes with it.

 

[afternoon delight]

I look forward to Fallout 4 mods being locked to the terrible Workshop by the mod tools. Although I'm sure there will be ways around that. Frustrating all around, and I hope it doesnt go down a bad path. Which it probably will, they usually do.

Ugh didnt even consider this possibility.

Being home now and looking at the shop in person, its obviously more repellent. Two dollars for a skull staff? 3.50 for a set of armor and one weapon? I'm sure such lunacy will spread since money is involved. Great.

 

[Zexen]

Because they are there now


Bethesda and Valve. I'd speculate it is 50% Betheda, 25% Valve, 25% Creator (Based on Valve doing 50-50 split with their other games)

It's 45-30-25 actually. For Skyrim at least.

On these 30%, Valve has to share with any other source the mod's based on (a share for the MCM Team, one another for the SKSE Team etc...).

 

[scoobidoo112]

You are not entitled to get content that can take in some cases several years to make. Stop having your head up your own ass. Is it nice that there's cool free mods? Yes it is. You are in no way entitled to them. You are not entitled to people working for your enjoyment for free. Feel free to try and argue otherwise, but you won't, as the only reply you could think of was starting calling people fanboys.

You entire contribution to this thread so far consists of you aggressively going after anyone who criticizes this type of paid content and calling them entitled. Level 7 susceptible confirmed. It's just hilarious to me how many people have taken on the "entitlement" attitude ever since the gaming media started throwing that word around after the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle. Marketing works apparently.

 

[Netherscourge]

Can an author take an existing free mod and make it paid? Or does it have to originate as a brand new mod to be "paid"?

If I'm "subscribed" to a currently free Skyrim Workshop mod that becomes paid, do I lose the mod until I pay for it?

Or will I be able to keep the most recent "free" version of it indefinitely?


I didn't see it mentioned in the FAQ. Unless I'm blind.

I am currently subscribed to a few free mods like Beautiful Water, Glowing Unread Books, Personal Hideaway Treehouse, Companion Mods, etc... they were all free. Will they stay free for me so long as I don't unsubscribe?

How does that work?

 

[crazyrabbits]

It's 45-30-25 actually. For Skyrim at least.

On these 30%, Valve has to share with any other source the mod's based on (a share for the MCM Team, one another for the SKSE Team etc...).

It doesn't say that, nor is there any proof that this is something they built into the agreement from what's currently listed on the site. Payouts are currently for one creator only, and the onus is on said creator to divvy it up afterwards to who they see fit.

Not sure how they're going to do that when the money is only in their Steam wallet, though.

EDIT: I am apparently mistaken, as said below.

 

[justjim89]

I think the point is that it was fine the way it was. Mod quality was good. There is a follower on there for 4.99. Adding ONE npc to your game for $5. What kind of bullshit is that? There could be good aspects of this but I wont ever buy or support a mod thats on the workshop. Thats crazy in my head. Nexus is better anyway.

You say that as though there's some sort of value imbalance in charging the same price for a single NPC companion as the whole base game the companion dwells in, which was worked on for years by hundreds of people! Preposterous!

 

[RulkezX]

Free mods will continue to exist, more people will be drawn to modding, big-ass projects and complete conversion mods take will way less time to develop, creators are rewarded for what they create, overall mod quality will be higher because people won't bother with crappy mods.


Dunno man, seems like an alright future to me.

Sounds like you live in a fantasy bubble all on your own.

They're is nothing to suggest that mods will improve and development time will speed up all because the creators *might* be able to make some money on the workshop In the future.

 

[ashecitism]

https://twitter.com/tylerglaiel/status/591370556559077376

 

[Qassim]

FUCK YOU, WORK FOR FREE.

 

[YuShtink]

FUCK YOU, WORK FOR FREE.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK TO BEGIN WITH


Complaining about not getting paid for modding is like complaining for not getting paid to volunteer at a soup kitchen.

 

[Gurrry]

Not a fan of this, especially when it comes to tabletop sim. :/.

 

[Bornstellar]

https://twitter.com/tylerglaiel/status/591370556559077376

How the hell does that even manifest? That's meaningless. I've contributed to USKP - I doubt I'll ever see a cent (nor did I ever expect to).

 

[Netherscourge]

It doesn't say that, nor is there any proof that this is something they built into the agreement. Payouts are currently for one creator only, and the onus is on said creator to divvy it up afterwards to who they see fit.

Not sure how they're going to do that when the money is only in their Steam wallet, though.

The FAQ says you can assign portions of the 25% to other authors, if your mod shares stuff from other authors' mods. But I'm not sure how it works for a single TEAM of authors working on the same mod. It's probably up to them to figure it out, as you said.

 

[Qassim]

YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK TO BEGIN WITH

Yeah, those mods magically appear out of thin out.

 

[justjim89]

FUCK YOU, WORK FOR FREE.

Just like you did before today without complaint!

 

[Krejlooc]

YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK TO BEGIN WITH

Truly a better option. No mods at all, but at least you hang on to your "principles."

 

[Krejlooc]

Just like you did before today without complaint!

Modders have been asking for this for years now.

 

[YuShtink]

Yeah, those mods magically appear out of thin out.

Modding has always been a service to the pc gaming community, not a career with entitlements.

 

[Qassim]

Just like you did before today without complaint!

1. That's a poor basis for an argument. It happened in history, therefore you should never have the option to change.
2. No I didn't.

Modding has always been a service to the pc gaming community, not a career with entitlements.

People have always been entitled to charge for their work, we don't live in a society where you're entitled to take people's work for free if that person doesn't wish to give it away for free.

I like how some of you are missing all those games that started off as mods but became commercial products, charging for "mods" isn't new.

 

[StarlordDial]

wait..what if someone has an old version of the Wet and Cold mod from Nexus and Steam finds that and doesn't allow u to play it since it clearly states that if u have the same file name ..it will ask you if you bought it first ?

then it will not allow you to play then?

 

[Nzyme32]

Even so, giving the creator only 25% revenue is ridiculous regardless of who's doing the taking. A once free mod pack being sold for $25? I might be ok with that if the creators got most of the money. But they aren't, they're getting $6.25, which is insanity.

If anything, this kind of revenue policy is going to make the mods artificially expensive since the creators, who determine the price, will have to account for only getting a quarter of the total revenue.

Where?!

The only pack that seems expensive is a collection of mods the Valve and Bethesda have selected. The mods of that pack remain available as their old versions, free via the workshop (or at least that is still the case for Wet & Cold). The choice is in the users hands, no one has to pay for them, and that will push them to either lower the prices, follow the "pay what you want" option which scales to free if the creator chooses it, or they can offer more meaningful content to justify the price.

I agree with some of the pricing being wrong and even pointless compared to the scale of the updates to them, hence why you shouldn't bother with them - but this is early days and everyone is experimenting with pricing. It will be months before it stabilises into something where users and creators agree, and I'm betting the "pay what you want" style of pricing that scales to free, will be the most predominant and only the few mods that have the biggest following / large scale / collaboration and provide regular support, updates and content AND are priced very reasonably, will see any success and agreement with users.

 

[Klossen]

Maybe it's time to rename mods to third-party DLC?

 

[SpecialAgentZ]

So, Mods will become like gaming videos on Youtube:

Before monetization: videos from people who love games, quality stuff and no assholes talking shit and thinking they are funny.
Now - you can see for yourselves.

Mods will be the next thing. Soon everyone and their moms will not make mods because they like it, because of the community or the passion for the game. The focus will change for dat money.
Stupid, stupid fucking thing.

 

[Branson]

FUCK YOU, WORK FOR FREE.

Mods have been mostly free for 25 years. Why the fuck should that change now? People mod the games because they love it and want to make it better in their image for the fans of the game. Now its going to turn into a pointless cash-grab from pathetic people trying to make a quick buck.

 

[Kinyou]

Not sure if I like it. Considering the revenue share it also seems like valve and bethesda will benefit the most from it.

It sure will be intersting to see how this plays out.

 

[justjim89]

Modders have been asking for this for years now.

And now they can finally profit from their hard work, alongside Bethesda and Valve at a much more substantial margin!

Assuming they make $400 first, of course.

 

[Zexen]

It doesn't say that, nor is there any proof that this is something they built into the agreement from what's currently listed on the site. Payouts are currently for one creator only, and the onus is on said creator to divvy it up afterwards to who they see fit.

Not sure how they're going to do that when the money is only in their Steam wallet, though.

Well, not my words, Chesko's from the Workshop.

 

[Cday]

The idea that this will lead to higher quality mods is pure fantasy. The only thing this is going to do is flood the workshop with more garbage that may even discourage people from putting effort into paid mods when they just end up surrounded by cheap crap hoping to make a quick buck.