Steam Workshop allowing creators to charge for mods

Just to question: if you had already subscribed to a mod and it is now a "pay to use" thing, does that mod now become unavailable to use until you then pay for it?

Sounds like a stupid question I know, but with say the AppStore on iPhone/Pad if a "premium" app becomes free for a limited time and you download it it is then free for you to delete and redownload as much as you so wish :3
 
This is bad news.

I'm not against spending money on good content, but i think it's going to drastically lower the quality of the current modding scene. Skyrims mods are exceptional. Some of those that add dozens of hours, professionally voice acted and released for FREE because the guy LOVED the game, and wanted to do something for the community (didnt he also get hired by someone?). Now it's going to be thousands of rubbish minigames and terrible anime textures and whatever else.

Modding for the love of the game > Modding for Cash.
 
I think it's good that more people will be able to support themselves financially while producing quality content. Lowers the barriers of entry into the gaming industry even more, which is only a good thing in my eyes.

On top of that, modding becomes a viable line of work for professional studios....expect more top quality mod content.
 
I dont understand that argument, it implies that these mod-makers are somehow taking time off work to create free mods and are unable to support themselves while doing so? Or they are somehow otherwise financially handicapped whilst making mods?

These people are already supporting themselves and are doing the modding for the love of it. That will always produce much higher quality than someone who is just doing something for easy money . Always.
 
So how does this work for mods which rip off other IPs? I have a mod which adds a load of LoTR weapons, imo its a good quality mod, but I highly doubt the creator would start paying royalties to the Tolkien estate/whoever owns the rights if they started charging for the mod...
 
I swear I've entered some alternate universe where Valve and EA have switched places.

The part that makes me worry is I see a very real possibility that come the next Bethesda game there won't be any 3rd party mod capability, only the workshop.
 
75% to Valve, 25% to the mod creator?

Does Valve disperse some of that 75% to the IP owner or something? Because if they don't, well I'm sure you can guess my opinion.

This is a total *** hat move on Valve's part, and silencing people in the community is just downright outrageous.

Sentment was there, but very poorly exectured. Bad form Valve.
 
DampCat said:
These people are already supporting themselves and are doing the modding for the love of it. That will always produce much higher quality than someone who is just doing something for easy money . Always.
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Ah, I forgot, anyone that tries to make a living in the games industry is a greedy sellout :rolleyes:

Being able to support yourself financially while developing mods means that more people can afford to spend time developing mods. How is this bad?
 
Haggisman said:
So how does this work for mods which rip off other IPs? I have a mod which adds a load of LoTR weapons, imo its a good quality mod, but I highly doubt the creator would start paying royalties to the Tolkien estate/whoever owns the rights if they started charging for the mod...
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Indeed, which is another issue.

Or what if a mod uses resources from another mod, or another game on steam?. How exactly is this policed?. I'd much prefer to see a donation system, so the modder can create a 'wishlist' of games which people can contribute a minor amount towards if they wish.

Mod contributors get given minor perks - which gives them a chance of getting free games, trading cards & discount codes.

That way, modders get rewarded - the mods remain free, players who wish to contribute get perks & Steam encourages additional modding content which drives sales.
 
Haggisman said:
So how does this work for mods which rip off other IPs? I have a mod which adds a load of LoTR weapons, imo its a good quality mod, but I highly doubt the creator would start paying royalties to the Tolkien estate/whoever owns the rights if they started charging for the mod...
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This has always been the elephant in the room with the modding scene. Ultimately it will come down to the copyright holders choosing to enforce their rights or not.
 
mid_gen said:
I think it's good that more people will be able to support themselves financially while producing quality content. Lowers the barriers of entry into the gaming industry even more, which is only a good thing in my eyes.

On top of that, modding becomes a viable line of work for professional studios....expect more top quality mod content.
Click to expand...

I can't see that happening. Mods already improve upon what professional stuidos turn out to begin with. I'm expecting masses of overpriced, low quality, 3rd party dlc to add to the already over the top use of dlc to make extra money by the game company itself.

In fact thinking about it I cant see many future games allowing the use of mods if what you say does happen. These 'professional studios' would be competing with the game company and hurting their dlc sales. Mods are already held in a dim light by games companies, so allowing people to profit from them would further damage their reputation and possibly put an end to it altogether.
 
Mark A said:
I can't see that happening. Mods already improve upon what professional stuidos turn out to begin with. I'm expecting masses of overpriced, low quality, 3rd party dlc to add to the already over the top use of dlc to make extra money by the game company itself.

In fact thinking about it I cant see many future games allowing the use of mods if what you say does happen. These 'professional studios' would be competing with the game company and hurting their dlc sales. Mods are already held in a dim light by games companies, so allowing people to profit from them would further damage their reputation and possibly put an end to it altogether.
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This is why I asked if the original game creator is taking a cut. Is Bethesda getting a little slice of the mod sales? If the answer is yes then I'd expect a boom in moddable games.
 
The only good thing would be additional expansion packs by third party developers, the thing is I just can' see how they can police the copyright issues or theft of design.
 
Same way everyone does....comply with DMCA takedown notices for copyright issues, and ignore the whole copycat thing.

Works for Apple/Google....
 
mid_gen said:
This is why I asked if the original game creator is taking a cut. Is Bethesda getting a little slice of the mod sales? If the answer is yes then I'd expect a boom in moddable games.
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I'm not sure. If they aren't then maybe the next game in the series they will charge a fortune for the development tools to get in on the action. Pricing the people that do it for the love of modding/ the game out of it.
 
I use mods extensively in most of the games I play , either to mix up replayability or to create a completely new game within a game like the response mod for gta IV , I have never payed for modifications , I never intend to . i hope it gets messy , pay for the game , get free mods , or do it the unreal way and give the game for free then pay for mods , doing it both ways is terrible business and is just another way to bleed the consumer. Pushing a minimum spend on new accounts for what was supposed to be a free service is sketchy but this is just not kool .
 
The first mod was removed after lack of permission due to mods using so many other contributors.

This will be such a massive headache for Valve, i actually find it hilarious.
 
No decent modders will do it now anyway. Take a massive reputation hit in order to make maybe a hundred dollars at some point. They will probably make more asking for donations.

The guy who made ultimate combat( I thnk) has kind of the right idea. He has released 2 versions of his mod on workshop. One for like 17p and one for free, with a note saying that they will both be updated and the free one will first.... Though still, how much money is he going to make from that?
 
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