Mods for sale

iggyigauna89

Valve are now allowing modders to sell their wares on the Steam Workshop, beginning with Skyrim mods.

I have to say I'm not a big fan of this new feature. I'm all for donating to modders (which nexus already allows) but actually selling of mods? I'm not sure it will work in the long run. Especially seeing as nexus has several of the Skyrim mods at least for zilch.

***
From one of the mod developers:
"It is indeed correct that we only get 25% of the cut, 25% goes to valve and 50% if I'm not wrong to Bethesda for this title. We get in general when someone pays the minimum price of 1.49$ around 0.375 cents which we then need to divide between two (me and corvalho)."

Another reason why donating directly to the developer of the mod is a far better idea!

Digital Solitude

Essentially buggy (Hey Bethesda!) DLC really. Can't see many people going for it tbh, given there's several mods for everything anyways

Tinie

Its valve trying to monopolise the modding community online. Apparently there's a ****storm brewing as people are uploading mods they didn't make to the workshop and charging for them, so this will lead to many legal cases more than likely.

dreamers75

Think of this system if it was launched the day before Skyrim came out.

my 0.02 I think it will lead to the below but fairly sure valve will do something about it, mods should be free but sometimes certain mods you play you think fcukin hell whoever made should get money (Falksaar for one)

Tinie wrote: »

Its valve trying to monopolise the modding community online. Apparently there's a ****storm brewing as people are uploading mods they didn't make to the workshop and charging for them, so this will lead to many legal cases more than likely.

That was always going to happen.

pablomakaveli

Absolutely idiotic idea. A donation scheme would be much better.Just seems to be a greedy move from valve.

ShadowHearth

Do I believe modders should get rewarded for their work - Yes.
Would I pay for mod, which is high quality and easy to install - Yes.

Now lets open a can of worms:

A lot of mods are based on some other licensed theme. This will bring a **** storm in legal department and destroy some of the cool mods as they will become sort of illegal ( not that they are not in grey area already )
Valve is taking 75% cut and has a monopoly... Just feck off.
Prices for some mods are just a bit mad.
Mods are buggy and need a lot of updates. What kind of legal power binds modder to keep supporting it?

gizmo

dreamers75 wrote: »

Think of this system if it was launched the day before Skyrim came out.

my 0.02 I think it will lead to the below but fairly sure valve will do something about it, mods should be free but sometimes certain mods you play you think fcukin hell whoever made should get money (Falksaar for one)

Playing Devil's advocate here, why should mods be free? What's the difference between someone spending a few weeks creating new content for a title for the purpose of a mod and someone creating the same content and selling it on say, the Unity Asset Store or TurboSquid?

EoinHef

Should good modders that produce good content get paid? Most definitely

However this implementation seems terribly ham fisted from the information that ive seen so far. I think most people who mod games would be willing to pay some sort of fee for quality content.

How can that content be guarenteed though? Anybody who mods games knows that sometimes mod creators just stop updating there mod for whatever game and for numerous reasons. What guarntee does anybody have if they pay money for a mod that its going to be continued/supported?

Still early days so hopefully there will be more clarity with time as to how its really going to work.

To finish on a positive note,this could be the making of the modding community in some ways. Small studios that dedicate themselves to the games we all love and know to make them better and enhance and change the experiences of these games. As a platform one of the strengths of PC is its flexibility,and modding is a huge part of that,for me at least. I hope there can be a system in place where good content creators can get rewarded for there work and players get rewarded with good content,surely everybody would be happy with that.

I just really hope we dont end up with early access mods.......ffs

Kiith

Terrible idea. As above, allowing donations to modders who make good work if fine and should be encouraged. But allowing anyone to just charge for them is stupid. Modding has been one of the best features of Pc Gaming for years, and trying to monetize them is absolutely idiotic. People will just steal every single idea they can possibly come up with, in the hopes that someone will spend a few euro on it.

Plus, Valve are apparently taking 25-75% (depending on where you read it) of the fee for doing nothing but hosting the content. There's no way this will work as long as Nexus and the likes will host them for free.

Valve have had some really poor idea's in the last few years.

Ri_Nollaig

This makes me think of the joke that is that greenlight/early access system.
Sure you might get a few gems like Kerbal Space Program but the vast majority are just crap and Valve are more then happy to wash their hands of any involvement but take their cut from the initial transaction.

I know there are some very high quality mods that are equal or even surpass any of the official DLC packs but end of the day its something made by someone in their free time. Support is non-existent and thats fine when its something you added yourself for free or perhaps a donation if you felt the need.
At least you know DLCs aren't going to conflict with each other!

They have developed a lot of good will, mainly due to the fact that they basically made digital distribution for games a thing. Their sales were/are epic but they have a lot of problems too. Up until recently steam the application has been fairly crap and their customer support is non-existent.

Its kinda funny how if you check Reddit and the like, there is a surprising amount supporting this.
Had EA or Ubisoft done this would they be saying the same thing?

Kiith

I actually said to myself after reading this...even EA wouldn't do this. That's how bad an idea this is.

I emailed them as well, to register my disappointment. Not that it'll do anything.

jumbobreakfast

I reckon Arma is going to do the same

Ri_Nollaig

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

I reckon Arma is going to do the same

Definitely, that game was always about creating the platform and letting their community actually create the content. I am sure that will go down well with them.

Skerries

CastorTroy

Does this mean they'll be attempting to update the games in an attempt to stop them from being modded from outside steam workshop?

They'll probably add it to Portal 2 down the line as well for the extra levels

gizmo

Oh, to add to the above point. What's the difference in charging for a mod and charging for new in-game items for the likes of DOTA 2, TF2 and CS:GO?

People are quite right though, the implementation as it stands seems to be open to abuse. The first case having come up already...

The first paid Skyrim mod has been pulled

Shiminay

Yea, it's a nice way to lock in modding to Steam Workshop. They're cleaning up with DOTA transactions and the likes, this is an attempt to corner all that market as they have done with digital distribution in the Steam Platform itself.

I won't be using it. Not when NexusMods is there and is better than Steam Workshop for a lot of things anyway.

Kiith

The official Steam line if a mod breaks the game is to post on the Workshop page and "ask politely" for it to be fixed :eek:

You couldn't make this up.

Taylor365

Death of the modding community and a bigger rise in piracy is where this road leads.

I wouldn't buy a title in the future if i knew i had to fork out for all the mods too.

I bought skyrim twice just because of the modding community (albeit a total of €28).

EoinHef

I take back my earlier misplaced optimism about this after looking at the paid mods section on skyrim workshop. The debut bundle in particular is a joke,although its on sale now for €25.82 is rrp is €34.33. It includes just seventeen mods:mad:

I know there are people here who have over 50 skyrim mods installed. If thats the pricing that person would be on the hook for about €100. Well if they keep this up that will be the end of the workshop for me. Never really used it anyway but this will definitely kill it off for me.

Just wait,at some point there will be early access mods aswell. They are acting as if these mods are official content yet your offered none of the support/protections you receive when you buy official content.

Digital Solitude

Running memtest so I can't check steam, but I'm assuming there are still free mods, and the dev has a day in keeping it free or paid?

EoinHef

Ye there are still free mods and the devs can decide to make there mod free or not.

pablomakaveli

Cant say if this is an official policy or not but it's been reported on reddit that mod creators with donation page links on steam have been having those links removed.

super_furry

Not sure why anyone's surprised by this. Valve can be as skeevy as the next company - just ask anyone who has ever had to deal with their customer service, and they already implement almost everything that had people going ape**** about the Xbox One's original announcement.

The fact that they pocket 75% of the money from the mods while giving the people who made them 25% is a bit much for them even.

Kiith

They only get 25% apparently, with the rest going to Bethesda.

Not that i'm ok with it though. There's no way Bethesda should get anything (as the mods themselves result in higher game sales), and Valve can only reasonably charge for hosting the files, so maybe 10% would be justifiable? As it is, it's an absolute disgrace.

EoinHef

I dont think thats right,from having a look at the faq it seems the split the modder gets is up to the publisher of the game there modding. Eg Bethesda have decided that 25% should go to the modders for skyrim in this case. Then the 75% is split between bethesda and valve. Thats my understanding of it anyway.

As far as i can see there would be nothing stopping a publisher giving the whole fee minus valves take to the modder

Ri_Nollaig

super_furry wrote: »

Not sure why anyone's surprised by this. Valve can be as skeevy as the next company - just ask anyone who has ever had to deal with their customer service, and they already implement almost everything that had people going ape**** about the Xbox One's original announcement.

The fact that they pocket 75% of the money from the mods while giving the people who made them 25% is a bit much for them even.

This is pretty much it in a nutshell.

I really cringe at the "Gabe save us from EA..." etc style comments, seem to forget that Valve is a company just like all the rest. Would probably try even more daft ideas if we didn't have competition from Origin, UPlay, etc.

Skerries

next Steam sale

fergus1001

So steam are locking down there platform exactly the opposite of what admiral gaben preached against on the consoles

What next

I had better see some sign of half life Three or admiral gaben can go suck a lemon

cadete

petition on the go
"Remove the paid content of the Steam Workshop"
https://www.change.org/p/valve-remove-the-paid-content-of-the-steam-workshop

pablomakaveli

Those petitions never really achieve anything unfortunately. I can see Steam just trying to ride this one out. Sadly this nonsense is here to stay.

Ri_Nollaig

The only petition that really matter is the sales figures Valve will review later. If enough people ignore this then it might go away, otherwise I can only assume other games are gearing up to do the same.

Retr0gamer

Agree with modern getting a cut. Also agree with Valve as well since they are effectively the publisher. The developer and publisher of the original game can feck off though.

Venom

The modder's share needs to be much higher as 25% is an insult.

Varik

The original game's developer/ publisher should get a cut it's their IP that valve/modders are profiting off.

Venom

Varik wrote: »

The original game's developer/ publisher should get a cut it's their IP that valve/modders are profiting off.

But the developer/publisher of moddable games do make more money due to the game having a much longer shelf life/ selling period. Arma 2 (Day Z) and Skyrim both sold a ton of extra copies of the product due to the modding scene of those games,

Burgo

Gabe replies on reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/33uplp/mods_and_steam/

pablomakaveli

Venom wrote: »

But the developer/publisher of moddable games do make more money due to the game having a much longer shelf life/ selling period. Arma 2 (Day Z) and Skyrim both sold a ton of extra copies of the product due to the modding scene of those games,

It looks like Bethesda had a hand in this idea with Valve and are the ones who decided on the 25% share for the modder. I know a lot of the hate is towards Valve at the moment but Bethesdas involvement is very cynical given how the free modding community have made their TES games the success they are.

SterlingArcher

its alot more complicated than valve just taking 75 %. Other factors involved, Tax blah blah etc.

Not a fan of the idea. Not because I don't think some modders deserve to be payed. They do. This is not the answer.

Agricola

This certainly isnt the answer. Now, instead of mods being made purely based on a love of the game and a desire to improve it, we will probably see an avalanche of mediocre or worse content, which is made purely to cash in. In the case of Skyrim, where once a modder might make a complete weapon set in intricate detail, updating and improving over time, now we may well see tiny one weapon mods hastily knocked up.

It seems like free mods on places like the Nexus are safe for now, and free mods are still coming out in the last couple of days. Wonder what will happen though if a modder decides he wants his work only on the workshop and wants to get paid for it, calling on all free hosting of it to be taken down.....

Massive blow to PC gaming this.

Dave_The_Sheep

One of the best suggestions was a "Donate" button. Gabe did a small thread response to the selling mods furore and this was his response:

In response to a request to add a donation button to paid mod pages on Steam:
"We are adding a pay what you want button where the mod author can set the starting amount wherever they want."

Which is a load of balls. It's exactly the same as it is now, but with the option to give them even more money. No thank you.

I only use the Workshop for Civ 5 and Torchlight 2 mods. If this becomes widespread, I won't be using it anymore to be honest. I've donated to mods in the past, but I don't fancy giving money to Valve (or at least that kind of percentage) or the Publisher (none) for something they don't deserve.

A slider not unlike the Humble Bundle would be ideal, but Valve/Publishers won't go for it, because they'd lose out.

Kiith

Unless they make it so the modder gets the vast majority of the fee, people will never be ok with it. Adding a slider doesn't change anything. Gabe's AMA was just an attempt at damage control, which seemed to have very mixed reactions.

Will be interesting to see if they back down, but i doubt it.

Sierra Oscar

I can't see Valve doing a complete u-turn but it is pretty clear that there are very few happy with this decision.

fergus1001

Lord gaben is locking down a system exactly the opposite of what he preaches, gabe newel is a false profit !

Skerries

fergus1001 wrote: »

gabe newel is a false profit !

intentional pun?

Sierra Oscar

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I can't see Valve doing a complete u-turn but it is pretty clear that there are very few happy with this decision.

Looks like I was wrong - complete u-turn it is.

Removing Payment Feature From Skyrim Workshop

We're going to remove the payment feature from the Skyrim workshop. For anyone who spent money on a mod, we'll be refunding you the complete amount. We talked to the team at Bethesda and they agree.

Lets hope it stays like that.

Mr Bloat

Edit: Beaten to the post by Sierra Oscar!

Dave_The_Sheep

Cynical me is thinking ... they're backing off until the next attempt at a money grab which will be far less bluntly put out there.

Hopeful me is thinking ... they're going to implement a far better system in the future which allows for both quality mods and for creators of quality mods to get money for them.

The two aren't necessarily different of course. Just depends on your point of view.

gizmo

More info on Bethesda's response in the EG article here.

I found this line rather interesting in the context of the claim that donations should be enough for mod creators.

Yet, in just one day, a popular mod developer made more on the Skyrim paid workshop than he made in all the years he asked for donations.

It'd be interesting to know who the modder in question was and what mods he offered on the service.

AlmightyCushion

Unlike pretty much everyone on the internet (or at least reddit) I don't hate this idea. I seen the thread on reddit the day this happened and all the negative reactions and couldn't believe the outcry. Some of the arguments against it are just stupid. Nobody forced the modders to charge for their mods, Valve just gave them the option to do it. Some on reddit were saying that because Steam is now charging for mods they need to ensure the quality of the content. That's bullshít. There are plenty of shít games and overpriced games on Steam and no one cared that Valve wasn't ensuring the quality of them so why should they do it for mods. There are some very valid concerns. Two big ones that stand out for me is people selling mods that they didn't develop. That isn't on and if paid mods do come back (I suspect they will at some stage) then this is something that Valve would really need to ensure doesn't happen. The other is the paltry cut the modder gets. 25% is nothing and I'd find it pretty insulting if I was a modder. 70% plus for the modder after any taxes if any would be a decent cut I think and is in line with what games developers get on steam and the mobile app stores.

Taylor365

gizmo wrote: »

More info on Bethesda's response in the EG article here.

I found this line rather interesting in the context of the claim that donations should be enough for mod creators.



It'd be interesting to know who the modder in question was and what mods he offered on the service.

Sounds sensationalist.

Him making 20 cents would hardly be a revelation yet would fit that quote.

Any of the popular mods (million + downloads) have made money through donations over the years.

The proper way to handle this would be to absorb the most popular mods into 1 polished package and release as DLC.

E.G. Frostfall+Cloaks+wet and cold+realistic needs. Call it some BS like 'The Survivor Package' and stick a $5-10 tag on it.

Nobody in their right mind is gonna pay money just for a sword or crabs with hats! (although outrageously suave)