Steam Workshop Mods Can Now Be Sold

[George]

In a recent update, Valve and Bethesda have allowed modders to charge for their mods. What makes modding so special is that the only purpose of it is to improve the games we love. If it becomes another product people try to sell, the focus will turn to money and gimmicks. Money doesn't inspire great creations.

A petition has been made against this.

I'm a modder from the glory days (Quake, Doom, Duke3d) and this whole situation hurts a lot. I was never very good at programming but I do art, sound and music. I, for one, will not be buying any mods. It feels wrong. I want to support the modders. But I also want Valve to not turn into Electronic Arts 

[Grey]

This makes me sad, and also frustrated because I love mods. Not to say that I well never ever give money to modders, but making it a matter of money utterly ruins the culture that the modding community has.

Modders share their work for free and everyone has a good time. If they need money they can always set up a donation page. I'm sure people would happily donate if the mood is good or shows potential.

"Oh hey this mod looks cool! fff ohhh... £1.23? Nah never mind then"

"This mod was pretty cool and I have some spare cash so I think I'll donate."

Putting prices on things can make them ugly and unattractive. I for one have little enough money without Valve and Bethesda milking this community like some sort of cash cow.

Another concern of mine is that theft could become more common now that money is involved. At first it was just an annoyance, but now it could become a serious problem.

[George]

 

 making it a matter of money utterly ruins the culture that the modding community has.

This is my main problem with this whole thing. To me, modding is a labor of love done solely with the intent of improving the game you already love. If it becomes another market, it'll just be about pushing product and the quality will drop. When you're trying to sell something, you make what you think will sell. When you're making something just for the sake of the work's quality itself, you pour your soul into it and do the very best you can.

The fact that it is even more incentive for bethesda and future developers to release even more incomplete games, relying on modders to fix it while taking 3/4th of the money.

Valve and Bethesda have driven an Ebony dagger straight through the heart of pc gaming.

[saph the sergal]

i say screw this im possibly only gonna keep steam for chatting now and if i have to pay for that still have twitter and skype




also add a article or such so it cant be classed as a joke ill provide one best to use 3 atleast just a hint




http://www.pcgamer.com/valve-allows-mod-makers-to-sell-their-creations-on-steam/

lets use dice as such a example

heres black ops 2 with new maps but to get them you need to pay up

[Angder]

Watching my face as I read this must have been... amusing:
 
Oh hey cool, being paid for their good work?
 
Wait? this is a negative thing?
 
Whats the iss--- Oh
 
Oh...  
 
 
 
 
Took me a few seconds to see why this is such a bad thing...
 
As soon as I am home I am signing.

[MrRazot]

I think this is a good thing that modders can opt to be paid for their mods.
I'm actually a bit surprised that so many people are against this...

It means that the modding community can expand and potentially become a source of income for the developers.
This will go on to promote the development of higher quality mods.
Can you imagine how much faster mods like Tamriel Rebuilt could be turned out and further developed and worked on if they could use the income as a living?

I also think you're overlooking that not all mods will be charged for.
Paying for mods isn't paying to win and it isn't hidden DLC that the original devs are hiding from you.
It'll be like hats in TF2 in the way that everyone can make them and if they get good then maybe they'll start charging for it.

I'd also like to throw out the example of art in the furry community.
You're willing to pay the artist because you know that they produce high quality content, but there are just as many artists who are willing to produce content for free.
There are people making a living from making youtube videos, making art and making TF2 hats.
Why can't some people opt in for being paid to make mods for their favourite game?


Don't be so selfish, amirite?

[anoni]

I agree with Razot, but I also agree there could be improvement.

Basically, everything Razot just said, this will grow mods out rather than diminish them. Imagine a world where no one could make money from their mods. Hey, you know that game counter strike? NEVER EXISTS, team fortress? NEVER EXISTS, garrys mod? NEVER EXISTS. Killing floor? NEVER EXISTS. etc. etc. etc.

People deserve money for their work and might convince more professional programmers to start developing cheap, awesome mods for games.

That said, the biggest issue I see is the fact that the market is LAWLESS atm, ie: Stealing is a big problem. People can steal someone elses mod and sell it as their own and currently there isn't a whole lot anyone can do about it. Placing restrictions would be very difficult to contain AND that'd make mods a real "legal thing" which would defeat the whole purpose of modding by getting rid of creative license. The other problem is the fact that if someone sells a mod the mod could be shit or break your game and there isn't too much you can do about that.

The solution to the second thing is to have a refund time, which valve currently has (though it's only 24 hours). The solution to the second thing I believe is to have a commission fee. IE: If you want to sell a mod you first have to pay a certain amount to the company up front, say, $300 or something. This stops all the people who release cheap and bad mods and also deters people from stealing mods without knowing they're gonna get a return.

[MrRazot]

I will agree that the flaw is that it's not being policed.

[anoni]

TBH it not being policed defeats the entire purpose of it being payed.

I mean, I could just buy the mod, then take the source files and release it for free. Nothing is stopping me

[MrRazot]

That and people are downloading the files from other sites then uploading them and claiming as their own.

[Dragonbragoshago]

I personally think that having the option to pay for mods is good for everyone but the implementation of this is just awful shameful really. It seems like a cheap way for valve to make a quick buck buy having the pay out be 25 for the creator 75% between Bethesda and valve and you only get payouts at the $100 mark. It would haven been better if they had a button that linked to mod creators patrons right next to the subscribe. Plus the mods that you can pay for are basically micro-dlc nothing really of substance. I feel if they started the program with a mod like moonpath to elysware, or that new one The grey cowl of nocturnal more people would have been accepting to the idea. As far as I am concerned this about on the level as micro transaction in paid games you can have it but I wont buy it. Also I feel as those mods where a form of community service to help better a community you are apart of.

 

[MrRazot]

I recently published a map on the workshop for Gmod the other day
I already have 1000 subscribers. Imagine I charged $4?
I admit I probably wouldn't have gotten that many subscribers, but say I gather a following for my mods and guaranteed a few thousand subscribers first day?


Also it makes sense that Steam would charge for file hosting and use of their platform and then some money also going to the original game developers.


Gmod, Counter Strike and Team Fortress were all mods of games and people buy them.


The implementation of this really is rubbish though, but dear god, if done propperly, could lead to a new golden age of modding.