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[BennyBlanco]

http://store.steampowered.com/about/communitymods/

I'm interested to see where this goes. Saw this on twitter.


Edit - Page is from last year. Updated today but not the paid mods bit. OP is kinda dumb for believing twitter.

http://web.archive.org/web/20141221185848/http://store.steampowered.com/about/communitymods/

 

[Tagyhag]

It was always going to come back, they just needed to do it with games that didn't have free mods in the first place.

There's still going to be some backlash but it will eventually be accepted.

 

[RK9039]

Getting ready for Fallout 4.

 

[James Scott]

I wonder if a developer could make a very mod friendly game and make money off of it this way. Something like the Disney Infinity toy box and have its selling point be just that. Buy to make/play games or to sell games

 

[Falk]

It just needs to be framed in a better manner.

Dota 2/CSGO cosmetics technically are paid mods.

 

[Syntsui]

I mean, if the guys create something they have all the rights in the world to monetize it, nothing to be outraged about.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Header image (presumably supported games)

Stop this, Valve. It will only end it broken hearts for both sides and a lot of bad blood between everyone... just like last time.

Nothing can change that this is actually outsourced, third-party DLC wrapped presented in a friendly "modder" package.

 

[Hero Prinny]

sigh, why? couldn't it have just stayed dead? why most greedy companies ruin everything.

 

[A-V-B]

I mean, if the guys create something they have all the rights in the world to monetize it, nothing to be outraged about.

However, there is the question of purposefully gimping a full-priced game so that you can reap the rewards of fan mods that bring it back up to spec. This seems like a form of entropy that would naturally occur in this system.

 

[Tenebrous]

It just needs to be framed in a better manner.

Dota 2/CSGO cosmetics technically are paid mods.

And they're damn near perfect to boot. Dota 2 has the best business model of any game ever, and Valve are doing so well out of it... It's pretty damn genius. You do Valve's work, sell it, they get a huge cut, the buyer sells it on the market, and they get a cut on that, etc.

Other than that though? Ehh... It will be interesting to see if someone can buy a mod, and then give it away for free themselves afterwards, haha.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

I grew up on free mods and I'm cheap so I'm getting less with new releases on PC which saddens me.

Something like Fallout 4 for instance I want to play on PC because of Mods but if I'm going to have to pay for every fix, a useful UI, etc. I might just get it on XBO and wait for the curated mods making it over there and then pay for them knowing they'll work under any circumstances sort of like user created DLC.

 

[border]

I thought the problem with mods ran much deeper than "Oh people got upset that they have to pay for them now".

Have they solved the issue of the developer/modder revenue split? Have they solved the problem of people submitting mods for sale that they did not create?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I wonder if a developer could make a very mod friendly game and make money off of it this way. Something like the Disney Infinity toy box and have its selling point be just that. Buy to make/play games or to sell games

I'd love for a bare bones Aki wrestling game framework like this.

 

[afternoon delight]

Getting ready for Fallout 4.

For sure.

 

[Red Blaster]

I thought the problem with mods ran much deeper than "Oh people got upset that they have to pay for them now".

Have they solved the issue of the developer/modded revenue split? Have they solved the problem of people submitting mods for sale that they did not create?

or how certain mods iterate on existing mods

or how some mods may conflict with others and break your game

 

[Dead Prince]

only modding should just be to make hats for games.

 

[Krejlooc]

Good

 

[Hari Seldon]

Yeah i'm waiting for this before I determine if I'm going to purchase anymore Bethesda games or not.

 

[Exuro]

Hasn't this page been there for a while now? I see it's been modified today though so maybe we'll hear about their new initiative soon.

 

[Omega]

and people want a steam monopoly

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Will never pay a single cent for mods, ever.


If Fallout 4 has paid mods I'll never buy it on PC. I was going to get PS4 at launch and PC with the inevitable GOTY Edition. But paid mods will make me get neither and I'll buy the PS4 version used.

 

[afternoon delight]

Yeah i'm waiting for this before I determine if I'm going to purchase anymore Bethesda games or not.

Same. I'm leaning toward no, but I always just replay Morrowind anyways so it's not like they're losing business from me abstaining.

 

[BennyBlanco]

or how certain mods iterate on existing mods

or how some mods may conflict with others and break your game

Yea, that's why implementing it with Skyrim first was so profoundly dumb. Everyone was iterating on existing mods and it was a total clusterfuck. Starting fresh with something like FO4 sounds better on paper.

And mods crossing streams and breaking the game is a very legit concern also.

 

[Jonneh3003]

So what's the issue with people being paid for their work again?

 

[A-V-B]

or how certain mods iterate on existing mods

or how some mods may conflict with others and break your game

"By downloading any mod from the Workshop, you agree to not hold any Party responsible, financially or otherwise, for the consequences. You waive all rights to customer support, and negate the privilege of refunding the Game through Steam."

That might fix it. Har har.

 

[afternoon delight]

So what's the issue with people being paid for their work again?

Why make a free mod when someone can upload its code and make money?

 

[Falk]

And they're damn near perfect to boot. Dota 2 has the best business model of any game ever, and Valve are doing so well out of it... It's pretty damn genius. You do Valve's work, sell it, they get a huge cut, the buyer sells it on the market, and they get a cut on that, etc.

Other than that though? Ehh... It will be interesting to see if someone can buy a mod, and then give it away for free themselves afterwards, haha.

I'm pretty sure that given (a short period of) time, shady entities from China (among many groups) are going to attempt to capitalize on selling other people's work. The only real way to combat that is community curation, and even then there's a lot of edge cases, gray areas and outright false positives.

Dota/CS is a little different in that it's a completely online affair, so client-server interaction helps enforce the 'legitimacy' of whether you've paid for/own a cosmetic or not, making shenanigans easier to track down.

And mods crossing streams and breaking the game is a very legit concern also.

Nothing honestly can be done about it. I mean you can just as well pay for a mod which breaks the base game in some ways and be just about as stuck. It's probably up to the consumer to decide if it's worth their money/risk.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Unless it's something so obvious to pay for like ooo was for oblivion or fwe was for fallout 3 (seriously those made those games so much better). I'll wait for a fallout 4 gems style website before dropping coin on dog meat armor.

 

[NormalFish]

dunno if this will actually come back, but I'll welcome it openly. Modders deserve to be able to monetize their creations.

 

[kabel]

Mod
Script Hook V + Native Trainer
by: Rockstar Games
$9.99

hehe

 

[Vlaphor]

Some people think it's wrong to berate people for wanting to get paid for mods

I think it's wrong to walk into a 30-year old hobbyist community and demand a paycheck.

 

[Syril]

or how certain mods iterate on existing mods

or how some mods may conflict with others and break your game

Yeah one of the main problems last time was that Valve wasn't prepared to deal with these issues.

 

[SigSig]

I think it's wrong to walk into a 30-year old hobbyist community and demand a paycheck.

What about, like, you know, not buying the mod? I know crazy idea when these people are literally DEMANDING money from you. A paycheck even.

 

[Sou Da]

I'd love for a bare bones Aki wrestling game framework like this.

ChortlingYukesdevelopers.gif


It's dead, man.

 

[Valnen]

This will never be okay Valve.

 

[A-V-B]

What about, like, you know, not buying the mod?

Of course, if most mods became pay2play, this is basically alienating an entire cross-section of a community.

And the purpose of community is to bring people together. This is still a really risky move from that standpoint. I know they're hoping it functions kosher like microtransactions, but that remains to be seen.

 

[LurkerPrime]

So what's the issue with people being paid for their work again?

A complex web of ownership issues due to the iterative and collaborative nature of modding, licensing issues with other IPs, revenue split between the modder(s) and rights-holder(s), pricing of mods, scummy sales practices in free version of established mods, and, of course, the grand issue of compatibility and tech support for paid mods. Probably other stuff I'm overlooking, as well.

It's Pandora's Box.

 

[TemplaerDude]

I don't mind paying for mods as long as the vast majority of that money goes to the person who made the mod and not the other way around.

 

[SigSig]

Of course, if most mods became pay2play, this is basically alienating an entire cross-section of a community.

Yes because "most mods" will totally become pay2play. Just like nobody makes those free indiegames anymore, right?
What, theres even more of them than ever before?
If it alienates an entire cross-section of the community, they won't sell and people won't sell them and instead release for free, like they are doing now.

 

[Tain]

Good.

I hope good mod developers can get paid for making dope mods, and I hope most game developers choose reasonable cuts.

 

[WillyFive]

So what's the issue with people being paid for their work again?

Nothing. Let the modding renaissance expand.

Problem is when they upload someone else's mod that was intended to be free and charge money for it.

 

[thelatestmodel]

Valve.

Did you learn nothing from last time?

 

[SwiftDeath]

I'm fairly conflicted on the idea of paid mods

On the one hand I love mods, the modding community and so on. I think they deserve recognition and respect for what they do and would love for them to earn money off the mods they make.

On the other hand, modding is so great due to a number of reasons that having paid mods might upset: mods that depend on other mods to help each other out, community effort to fix mods/improve mods etc. and so on. A lot of this gets fairly complicated when you have people start paying for mods

I assume mods have the same or close to refund policy as games on valve [or will]?

Because if you are making a paid mod, people are going to expect a whole heck of a lot out of the product in regards to how well it runs/works at the very least

 

[Nzyme32]

This is from ages ago. Refers to stuff that has been on Steam for ages such as Aperture Tag - http://store.steampowered.com/app/280740/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1


For more proof look at the identical page from 2014 via web cache - http://web.archive.org/web/20141221185848/http://store.steampowered.com/about/communitymods/

 

[AU Tiger]

I was never against paid mods unless they broke other mods that were free. If a mod is good and genuinely improves my game play experience then I'll pay for it.

Question is whether the mods will be updated (i.e. a game patch breaks the mod's ability to work)

That's when things start getting shady.

 

[A-V-B]

Yes because "most mods" will totally become pay2play. Just like nobody makes those free indiegames anymore, right?
What, theres even more of them than ever before?

Huh?

All I'm saying is that mods create a community that brings people together. If you have a large pay2play modding community, you've basically divided that community and created a class system.

 

[Darkwater]

The German version of this page dates back to august 1st. Might be a remnant from SteamPaidModsGate-1, right? It's probably that.

 

[Corronchilejano]

sigh, why? couldn't it have just stayed dead? why most greedy companies ruin everything.

Greedy people wanting money from their work. Buncha assholes if you ask me.

and people want a steam monopoly

Yeah, unlike Origin which lets you download free community mods, right?

 

[King_Moc]

No mods for fallout 4 for me then. With mods, you never know what you're going to get, or if you're going to prefer it to the original game or not. I'm not paying for that.

 

[Tain]

Nothing. Problem is when they upload someone else's mod that was intended to be free and charge money for it.

There will be measures in place to minimize this. Some dude getting a few sales he didn't earn and then having the funds refunded to buyers when Steam takes the mod down is a very minor issue compared to the giant positive of mod devs having the option of getting paid for their work.