In a move that is not even remotely surprising to me, Valve has started rolling out the ability for mod authors to sell their works. I think it’s a nice move, and could even help some even more amazing mods be created. You already had some mods release as a full paid game on Steam, but they still required you own specific games.
It was a given that Steam Workshop would work towards this, and I’m surprised anyone is shocked by it. The first game to allow it is Skyrim, so it doesn't mean much for us Linux gamers yet, but in future we hope to see it rolled out to many more games.
This has already been met with a ton of negative feedback from a whiny crowd, and there’s even a petition going against it. No surprise that it has over 24,000 votes already, but it won’t stop Valve, and it shouldn’t. It’s a good business decision, and the whiny crowd will get over it eventually.
QuoteThe workshop is a place for people to share content with each other they made so all can enjoy it for free.
Since recently this is not the case for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Workshop. Valve has now erected a paywall for the mods.
Mods should be a free creation. Creations made by people who wish to add to the game so others can also enjoy said creation with the game.
We need to unite and reject this act by Valve. Unite have Valve remove the paid content of the Workshop.
It seems the creator of the petition feels that mods are supposed to be free, but I completely disagree. Mods can end up creating an entirely new campaign, or even an entirely different game, so why should developers have to release them for free? They shouldn't.
I just don’t get the big hoohaa about it. Nothing stops people releasing mods for free as the petition suggests by calling it a “paywall”, and there’s even a simple to use filtering system to filter-out paid mods.
What are your thoughts?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: EikeTotalBiscuits thoughts about it. Worth hearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGKOiQGeO-k
Go watch this video right now! He's spot on!
Abusing calling it a mod to reduce customer protection is not something i can support.
If a modder wanna start a business with his work he is free to do so. But than under the useall rules. With proper refund rules / with the customer having the right to have a working product / with the author being fully responsible in terms of following the law.
So mod's should stay free and valve should provide a donate button do compensate modders for their work.
If someone wants to make money out of it, give him the possibility to make a dlc.
All problems fixed. But yeah that means suddenly valve and bethesda realy need to change ... which won't happen.
So nope there is no logical reason to support and even praise what valve is doing right now.
As it stands I don't feel the current program is friendly to modders. Not having a say in intellectual ownership over content once in the workshop is a dealbreaker for me. I hope these are just teething problems but somehow I doubt it.
Buyers protection is indeed a valid concern.
Another interesting point, "why doesn't a modder deserve something as much as the game maker?" Sadly in this litigious society it's hard to do much without stepping on somebodies toes who is willing to sue. However lets take a game like Minecraft for example. I got my child this game thinking they wanted to play the game... yeah no.. could of cared two turtle shits less about vanilla Minecraft just wanted a pokemon mod.
Side note: Those who are against this aren't automatically whiny... even though some probably are. Sadly anything that doesn't align with the offical gol viewpoints don't seem well received around here.
Comandante Ñoñardo Apr 24, 2015
Quoting: BTRE3) I'm not sure how intellectual property for purposes of publishing mods will work out. What of paid mods that use components of other mods, a practice usual in the scene? Furthermore, there's already been mods uploaded without permission from the original owner and while they might crack down on some egregious cases I'm not sure there's a practical way to impose a proof of ownership because of how the internet works.
Exactly, that was my point when I mentioned Lawsuits: The commercial use of homemade assets from other (Free) mods..
No, mods should stay free...
Unless they were Stand alone mods, like Crysis: Wreckage (I was involved in the making of the spanish subtitles)
Crysis: Wreckage is FREE, but is a good example of mods that I am minded to pay: Stand alone mods that doesn't force you to have the full game.
If you pay for a mod that requires the full game, You are paying for what is in fact an unofficial DLC... (an unofficial DLC without any warranty)
I can pay for Half Life Black Mesa: Source (because it doesn't force you to have the original game )if they offer a COMPLETE experience, and that includes multilanguage voiceovers.
It's their work, and if the original developers allow it and they want money for it, and people are willing to pay - ok.
Depending on the price, I'd be willing to pay for mods, especially for "unofficial addons" and stuff like that. Depending on the price of course, should be worth the cash.
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