Charging for Mods

[Corey]

Since nobody's brought it up yet, this has been destroying the internet lately:


http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/04/27/gabe-newell-garry-newman-defend-steams-paid-mods/


Steam is now letting modders charge for their mods, openning a lot of criticism for Valve and probably a lot of C&Ds. Or lawsuits.

[tlmiller]

As long as you don't charge for mods, I'll be fine.  I play all of 4 mods.  2 are by you, then SoGE, and the one Star Trek mod for SoaSE:R that I can't think of the name right now because it's been so long since I played due to it being so badly unbalanced (play as Borg, win without trying).

[Slornie]

As long as you don't charge for mods, I'll be fine.  I play all of 4 mods.  2 are by you, then SoGE, and the one Star Trek mod for SoaSE:R that I can't think of the name right now because it's been so long since I played due to it being so badly unbalanced (play as Borg, win without trying).

I think mods based around substantial franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings etc are safe from becoming paid-for.  The enormous threat of being squished by the rights holder would probably discourage all but the most foolhardy modder from even attempting it.

In terms of the general concept of paid mods, I don't have anything particularly against it.  I know I've downloaded and used several mods for various games which have given me more enjoyment/extras than some official paid DLC content so I can understand how a market could develop in this area.  That said, I would like to see the system become more donation-orientated, e.g. make it mandatory to have a "pay what you want" option, with fixed prices limited to deluxe editions or officially sanctioned mods.

I also hope that if other developers follow Bethseda down this road that they are more generous to the modders and promise to take a more active role in moderating and/or curating the paid mods in their Steam workshop(s).  Maybe they/Valve could extend the free weekend stuff Steam has for normal games to workshop mods too, allowing players the occasional chance to test mods out before buying?

[Pali]

Maybe they/Valve could extend the free weekend stuff Steam has for normal games to workshop mods too, allowing players the occasional chance to test mods out before buying?

From what I read, there's a 24-hour refund period where one can get their money back (into their Steam wallet, anyway - not quite the same thing) if the mod doesn't work/isn't liked/etc.

[Pentastar Enforcer]

Aw man, this is quite the issue indeed. Both sides are sort of right in this whole mess of a situation. I really REALLY like my mods for the games I play, and I wouldn't play said games without them otherwise. Quality increase with mods (not saying all are lackluster) but with funding, some mods could have more 'effort' put into them I guess, I don't know..

I'd be certainly pissed though if something I bought doesn't work, so that brings into play a whole new host of problems with compatibility and fixing mods and such so they work for so and so and customer support.

Overall, I guess I'm leaning for free mods and just leave it at that, as there are two tons of issues to be dealt with that not many have the time to fight.

[Pentastar Enforcer]

Now that I think about it more, I didn't really think about how much of a hand Valve is putting into this, trying to make profits off of mods. Now that's ridiculous, when modding is supposed to be the free surprise at the end of purchasing a game, and the best damn thing to come out of it for most games.

[tlmiller]

Now that I think about it more, I didn't really think about how much of a hand Valve is putting into this, trying to make profits off of mods. Now that's ridiculous, when modding is supposed to be the free surprise at the end of purchasing a game, and the best damn thing to come out of it for most games.

Definitely I agree with that.  I bought SoaSE:R only for this mod.  I literally have played the unmodded game MAYBE a total of 5 times, I dislike it so much.

[Pentastar Enforcer]

Definitely I agree with that.  I bought SoaSE:R only for this mod.  I literally have played the unmodded game MAYBE a total of 5 times, I dislike it so much.

I bought it originally because it looked like star wars, I played it a little, and immediately I was like "these aliens have terrible ship designs" and uninstalled it for like 3 years until this grand mod came along. Thanks team!

[Mat8876]

I say the same thing but the game itself is good but the ship designs and combat was what ruined it for me.