Charging money for mods was almost a thing!

[Xtyfe]

Brumbek just updated his SMIM mod. He added commentary as well directed at recent events. His attitude should be followed as the example for all modders during this time, it earned him a few donations in fact on Nexus. This is how it should have been from the start.

[Snarboo]

Thinking on this, does anyone find it strange that mods are the only thing on Valve's storefront you can get a refund on? It's not built into their regular purchases, and it's really shitty to offer it only for mods that are hobbyist works, even if they don't work, when a large portion of Early Access games seem to be out and out scams.

[Trance]

Steam, in its basic form, is a good service. Most of the feature additions Steam has released over the years have been good, too. But someone in the company -- maybe Mr. Newell, maybe not -- is making policy decisions that are beginning to drag down Steam's reputation in the eyes of the gaming community. Greenlight and paid mods are either incredibly poorly thought out, or simply a cynical cash grab by a company that already makes a large pile of money.

I simply can't imagine it being anything other than the second option, because the higher-ups in the company must surely know about the current state of Greenlight and its being seen as a sea of shit by the gaming community. Nobody who has had enough experience in management to make company-wide decisions for a group like Valve can be so dense as to think this new paid mods system, in its current form, is a net good for the gaming world. They HAVE to know that the visible majority of content is going to be hastily-made garbage, or actual fraud, for short-term financial gain. It happened to Greenlight. It will happen to Workshop.

The root cause of all this, of course, is idiots with disposable income enabling this nonsense in the first place. The important question is whether or not there are enough idiots with enough money to sustain this enterprise.

Nobody would be doing this if they weren't reasonably certain they would make money off of somebody. Sure, a fool and his money are soon parted, but if garbage turns a profit, it motivates others to release garbage so they can make a quick buck. There are potential customers out there who want a quality product for their money and either give Greenlight a wide berth because of what they've heard, or quickly lose patience sifting through the trash that made it through to find something decent on the storefront.

Sure, this doesn't affect Steam's base functionality of being a convenient platform for digital distribution, and I'm certain that that side of Steam will stay exactly the way it is for years to come. But Valve's reputation is an important component of their success. They really should be treating it with more care, because these sorts of things stick in the minds of gamers, and might drive some of that money into the pockets of Steam's competitors.

(TL;DR paid mods is maybe a just bad idea altogether and is not a victory for the gaming world)

[Kostov]

According to Mardoxx, SkyUI's MCM system will remain the same between 4.1 and 5.0.

This is a huge relief.

[Nash]

According to Mardoxx

According to Notch, he wouldn't sell out. ;)

[Kostov]

I'm talking about a positive aspect here, but let's see if the word is held.

Schlangster hasn't said anything about it, and Mardoxx is a dick anyway...

[Zanieon]

[Arctangent]

According to Mardoxx

According to Notch, he wouldn't sell out.

"selling out" seems to be the same thing as "hipster", in that it means everything, apparently.

[Big C]

What I want to know is whether this was Bethesda's or Valve's idea first.

[merlin86]

If my memories are correct, Action Doom 2 was a paid mod for ZDooM, right? But it was a very good mod with only custom assets. So, yeah, I could pay someone if the quality of the mod worth it (and some mods for skyrim are just a simply weapon, or ripped content from other mods...)

PS : Imagine Grezzo 2 sold at 10 dollars

[edward850]

If my memories are correct, Action Doom 2 was a paid mod for ZDooM, right? But it was a very good mod with only custom assets. So, yeah, I could pay someone if the quality of the mod worth it.

Close but no cigar. Action Doom 2 was otherwise free, however Scuba Steve did sell some limited boxed copies and bonus content (of which is now also free).

[MetroidJunkie]

What I want to know is whether this was Bethesda's or Valve's idea first.

Given ID's statement about their partnership with Bethesda making it essentially impossible for them to release their new game engine as they'd been doing, it could easily have been Bethesda's idea but, then, Valve owns Steam.

[wildweasel]

If my memories are correct, Action Doom 2 was a paid mod for ZDooM, right? But it was a very good mod with only custom assets. So, yeah, I could pay someone if the quality of the mod worth it.

Close but no cigar. Action Doom 2 was otherwise free, however Scuba Steve did sell some limited boxed copies and bonus content (of which is now also free).

Still happy I bought it, though. It's awesome to have that little Urban Brawl case sitting on my Shelf of Interesting Games.

[Xtyfe]

BBBBBBREAKING NEWS! Things got worse!

http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/151685 ... -game-ads/

[scalliano]

And to think we were worried [/sarcasm]

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I hate to admit it, though, but I'm finding the whole thing strangely entertaining ...