That’s it. I won’t go to consoles because with two kids and my wife I rarely use the tv! And I have been on the pc since the '80s! Love my mouse and keyboard.
It may sound illlogical, but if mods are the thing that make PC gaming > Console gaming on the aggregate, it makes sense. For me, if Steam charged a monthly fee for the service, that would make me leave.
I think all those potential issues will happen like people stealing from each other (I don’t think mod files are encrypted. They are often mere configure files).
Also how will Bethesda react if someone mods some highly questionable content into their game (think some Nazi faction or child slavers in Fallout 4). Block the mod on Steamworks? Can they even do that? Not sure how the Zenimax board will react to such modifications.
The point is shit that can happen will happen in gaming. Gamers are a very creative bunch. I strongly suggest Valve gets and listens to some folk before rolling out shit like this. If they’d had asked the people in this thread they’d should have seen what can of worms they are about to open.
With no vetting, I can’t see how Steam and Bethesda can take money and still avoid responsibility. It’s one thing if Bob makes a mod for Skyrim that shows full on porn. Bethesda isn’t responsible for it in any way. Now if Bethesda gets a cut of Bob’s Porn Mod (and remember no vetting, so Bob could call it “better flowers” if he wanted or whatever) now Bethesda’s game is AO. I mean if the mere existence of files that you can’t even access can change things (ask Rockstar about that one), I don’t see how actually taking money for said things can’t factor in.
I guess they could… refund the money and ban Bob’s mod or something. What if Bob’s mod steals your credit card number and send it to Russia? Can Bethesda just say “well that’s the chance you take with mods or whatever” when they’re actually taking in money on said thing?
It’s just a clusterfuck on about every level. If there was a vetting process of any sort I could see it. With no vetting and them just pocketing money, it seems to me they’re saying “we approve of X” and I’m fairly sure legally (or ESRBily?) they could get nailed on it. Honestly the biggest issue is Bethesda getting their fingers in the pie (and for MORE of the pie than the people that actually make the fucking thing no less). If it was purely Steam and modders, it would still be an issue, but at least Bethesda would have deniability. Once you start making money, you’re involved. Involved in something you have no control over, no oversight, no quality control, nothing.
Wouldn’t ‘vetting’ simply be “someone complains and we remove it”? What more does anyone need? If no one complains then leave it, since it’s bothering no one. If there’s a complaint, about adult material for instance, remove it and you’ve shown you don’t support that sort of thing. You could even ban the modder for violating terms of service.
And since you don’t vet, I’m going to report every single mod ever for something. Except mine. Mine are cool.
If people find out about that, you’ll then see folks troll by complaining about everything. People who hate this idea are going to make it hell on everyone.
This is silly. If this was going to happen, why would companies wait for rise of paid mods? Why not release release a game NOW with low res textures, no end game, just a few cars and sell DLC’s to fix it? Then you don’t even have to share the revenue with modders. The reason this isn’t happening and won’t happen is because it would destroy a franchise, the public backlash would be too great. Companies and the buying public aren’t stupid. The idea that companies could successfully released half finished games and paid DLC’s or paid mods to fix them on a regular basis is crazy talk.
There is a ton of speculation about things that market pressure will correct rather easily.
-Todd
I think that even in the dark, dystopian future where this specific implementation of monetizing mods takes off, it’s a real stretch to suggest that it would lead to mods ceasing to be an advantage for PC as a platform. Even if we posit they would all be paid, they’d still offer a wealth of content and customizability which I don’t see coming to consoles in any significant way anytime soon. And it seems unlikely they will all go pay to play, considering that there are plenty of modders who object to the idea and plenty of others that would run into substantial legal issues if they tried to monetize (because they don’t own the IP they’re using), like the Game of Thrones mod for Crusader Kings II or the various Total War Warhammer/LOTR/etc TCs.
I’d love to believe that but that’s not really borne out by history.
What history?
Market forces have worked beautifully for me (as a regular consumer) on the PC platform. And most of the craziness is very easy to ignore if it is not your thing.
-Todd
The wat. Hahaha. HAHAHA.
Other success of the free market include stoping EA from killing franchises and stopping the practice of in-disc DLC’s.
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is barely 7 months old and I just bought every single piece of DLC for $6.25! I am pre-ordering tent-pole AAA titles for $30. DRM-free GOG has ridiculously deep discounts on great titles every single week allowing me to build up an amazing library of DRM-free games I could archive on an external drive and take into my bunker when the mod monetization apocalypse takes away our free speech and right to keep and bear arms Thanks Obama.
We live in an amazing time in PC gaming.
But please don’t let me stop your misery party.
-Todd
Around 10 years ago Bioware implemented an effective solution to this problem.
Once someone finished proving themselves in the mod community, they could form up a mod team with others of renown, incorporate, then contract out to Bioware for making Neverwinter Nights DLC. But this opportunity would present itself only if the team could convince the company they and the product selling were worth the attention.
A percentage of the sales got poured into developing future game patches with new features, mod crews got paid, modders suddenly now had a reputable portfolio to be taken seriously, customers get new products to buy, Bioware increases sales, and all the priced content was inevitably released in raw form after final support ended.
The feedback loop produced a better game in the long run. The trick was bringing in only the longest and most respected members who had given to the community already. It would be nice if the entire industry had learned something from it.
I don’t see roses and raspberries growing everywhere, but I applaud your attitude and want to be part of it. Let drink mead all the night and fight all the day!, yay!! :D
When the first piece of horse armor DLC was released, I’m sure the idea of paying for mods seemed preposterous. Now DLC is commonplace and paying for mods is here, and is supported by the largest digital distributor of PC games. Despite the backlash, I’m sure paying for mods is here to stay. How much longer until we’re paying for patches?
Or paying to download the game more than once. ;)
Some would argue we already do in some games. Game is borked, buy the expansion/DLC that adds new features and makes it playable! Fortunately that’s very much the minority and consumer backlash for those that pulled it was severe.
I think paying for mods COULD work, but the way they have things set up is a recipe for chaos where no one wins, other than maybe Steam because they get some cash on the side for doing something they were already doing anyway.
I remember the Horse Armor not going over so well. Didn’t Bethsoft release Shivering Isles to make up for it? The horse armor was viciously ridiculed at the time. But while I avoid crap like that (almost) all the time, I feel like an idiot for buying a gun for Dead Space 3 last night… It made me feel dirty and ashamed. And the gun sucked.