Charging money for mods was almost a thing!

[Nash]

At least Bethesda (that I know of for now) is allowing modders to charge money for mods put up on the Steam workshop. Thoughts? I'm kind of divided between "cool, modding is now a viable means of income" and "fuck, way to encourage more greedy entitled authors with closed-source mentality".

Here's another looong article where the Nexus Mods founder voices his thoughts.

What do you think this means for game modding communities in future?

After a huge internet shitstorm, Valve and Bethesda have pulled back for now. Hurray!

[scalliano]

In a word, fucked.

Given the shit we see on Steam's Early Access on a daily basis, I can't honestly see anything good come out of this.

[FuzzballFox]

I guess...it they have worked super hard on it, have fully custom content not ripped from other things...maybe for a lil' fee it might encourage and reward those who put the effort in? Sorta like a donation thing~

[Zanieon]

Epic Games are doing the same for Unreal Tournament 4

[xenoxols]

So what's the difference between a paid mod and an expansion pack?

[Big C]

Fucked sideways. That Valve thinks this is a good use of their time when shitty, copyright-infringing Hotline Miami knockoffs can make it through Greenlight tells me everything I could possibly need to know about how they think a good business should be run.

[SamVision]

"It keeps happening. It still keeps happening."

[Jeimuzu73]

Imagine Sgt Mark IV charging money for Brutal Doom.

[xenoxols]

I'm almost certain that selling (G)ZDoom mods is illegal.

[Nash]

I'm almost certain that selling (G)ZDoom mods is illegal.

I wonder if this statement will remain true 2 - 5 years from now. :D

[Kinsie]

Charging money for mods is now a thing.

It's been a thing since 2006, and over eight million people have bought in.

[xenoxols]

You seem to be forgetting about counter-strike.

[Nash]

Charging money for mods is now a thing.

It's been a thing since 2006, and over eight million people have bought in.

Ah, well played Kinsie (and xenoxols).

For Beth games at least, I think this sucks if only for one thing - we all know Beth has a habit of releasing buggy, unfinished games and as far as PC players are concerned, the Unofficial Patches are considered compulsory. Well be prepared to pay $60 for the next huge Beth game and whatever else on top of that when the UP teams decide to charge money for their projects too...

[Kinsie]

We all know Beth has a habit of releasing buggy, unfinished games and as far as PC players are concerned, the Unofficial Patches are considered compulsory. Well be prepared to pay $60 for the next huge Beth game and whatever else on top of that when the UP teams decide to charge money for their projects too...

And be prepared for someone to make their own fixes, for free. Fan patches, even when legally sellable, will be unable to compete with free alternatives purely on account of their ease of imitation.

Now, intricate original artwork, that's a different ballpark.

[TheUnrealRogue]

bethesda? more like methesda!