Bethesda Creation Club - 3rd Party DLC

[EssArrBee]

Bethesda is bringing in an official modding to FO4 and SSE it seems. This is different from what happened with Steam Workshop where anyone could upload a mod. Instead this is made internally and with external developers that Bethesda brings on to make content. 

 

• Current mods will not be allowed to be ported into this system and only original content will be allowed. 
• This could hlep them get around Sony's rule that 3rd party content is not allowed on their system.
• There is a points system for buying the content. You purchase the points on Steam, Xbox Live, or PSN.
• Creators must go through a full development cycle with Bethesda developers to release something and get paid. They set milestones for your project that you much reach, so bethesda QA can approve your content. They pay you for certain development milestones before release.
• You must have already submitted content before they will accept you to the creation club.

 

It's a closed system that Bethesda is curating this time. We all knew this was coming back eventually. It doesn't affect any mods coming out for free or any mods already released, so that is good.

 

Here's the FAQ:

 

• What is the Creation Club?

  Creation Club is a collection of all-new content for both Fallout 4 and Skyrim. It features new items, abilities, and gameplay created by Bethesda Games Studiosand outside development partners including the best community creators. Creation Club content is fully curated and compatible with the main game and official add-ons.

• What types of content will be included in Creation Club?

  Creation Club will feature a wide variety of content including but not limited to:

  • WEAPONS: New weapons, material skins, parts, etc.
  • APPAREL: New outfits, armor, and items for your character.
  • WORLD: New locations, decorations, foliage, etc.
  • CHARACTERS: New abilities, characters, companions, etc.
  • CREATURES: New enemies, mounts, pets, etc.
  • GAMEPLAY: New types of gameplay like survival mode, etc.
• What platforms will Creation Club support?

  Creation Club will be available in Summer 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition.

• How do I get Creation Club content?

  Creation Club is available via in-game digital marketplaces in both Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition and purchased with Credits. Credits are available for purchase on PSN, Xbox Live, and Steam. Your Credits are transferable and can be used in both games on the same platform.

• Can I become a Creator?
  Whether you are a professional developer, artist, or modder; you can apply to be a Creator here. Be ready to share work you’ve already done as part of your application.
• If I’m accepted to be a Creator, what can I create and what is the dev process?
  Creators are required to submit documentation pitches which go through an approval process. All content must be new and original. Once a concept is approved, a development schedule with Alpha, Beta and Release milestones is created. Creations go through our full development pipeline, which Creators participate in. Bethesda Game Studios developers work with Creators to iterate and polish their work along with full QA cycles. The content is fully localized, as well. This ensures compatibility with the original game, official add-ons and achievements.
• Are Creators Paid For Their Work?
  Yes. Just like our own game developers, Creators are paid for their work and start receiving payment as soon as their proposal is accepted and through development milestones.
• Is Creation Club paid mods?
  No. Mods will remain a free and open system where anyone can create and share what they’d like. Also, we won’t allow any existing mods to be retrofitted into Creation Club, it must all be original content. Most of the Creation Club content is created internally, some with external partners who have worked on our games, and some by external Creators. All the content is approved, curated, and taken through the full internal dev cycle; including localization, polishing, and testing. This also guarantees that all content works together. We’ve looked at many ways to do “paid modsâ€, and the problems outweigh the benefits. We’ve encountered many of those issues before. But, there’s a constant demand from our fans to add more official high quality content to our games, and while we are able to create a lot of it, we think many in our community have the talent to work directly with us and create some amazing new things.

 

EDIT: I'll add more info as I go through it.

 

Link: https://creationclub.bethesda.net/en

[baronaatista]

Unfortunate that this is the big news from BGS this year... nothing on a new Fallout / Elder Scrolls / or Game of Thrones / Skyfall rumors.

 

Seems like a step in the right direction though?  I suppose the devil is in the details - what type of content will they be curating?  what will the relationship be with modders / the community?

 

I want to believe that they're going to assemble an all-star cast and create some full-size DLC content, but I imagine it will be mostly weapon / armor mods and maybe some light gameplay stuff.

[TechAngel85]

"Creation Club"...certainly doesn't sound like they'll be dropping the creation engine anytime soon.

[Audley]

I will be one of the first to say it: I think this is a good thing. I don't think they deserve the amount of backlash they are getting. It looks like they took time to figure this out and do it in a way that should please most people. I am all for mod authors to get paid for doing good work. If it is curated and Bethesda supports it 100%, then I think it will be a great place for mod authors to make money out of countless hours spent making mods. I don't think this is Bethesda being greedy, I think it's the other way around.

[Mator]

Lots of discussion over here on the subreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/6gpzho/creationclub_bethesda_announces_paid_mods_at_e3/

Overall, there's a lot of mixed messaging going on here. I don't think we should grab our pitchforks and torches just yet, but it's hard to tell exactly what Bethesda's going for here. I personally feel cynical, and perhaps cautiously optimistic. Make of it what you will, it'll ultimately come down to the details of Bethesda's curation process. This could be alright... or it could be effectively the same as the Steam Workshop. We're just going to have to wait and see.

Edited June 12, 2017 by Mator

[Genius384]

I think enforcing guidelines and curating the process is what the original paid mods thing lacked. At first glance this looks like an improvement.

[Octopuss]

Too bad they won't bring talented programmers from outside of the company to fix engine and CK bugs Bethesda blatantly ignores instead. I'd pay for that.

[TechAngel85]

Too bad they won't bring talented programmers from outside of the company to fix engine and CK bugs Bethesda blatantly ignores instead. I'd pay for that.

I kind of second that. If they're going to be paying people, they need to fix the tools involved. CK64 for SSE is still fairly buggy.

[EssArrBee]

They recognize the mistake of last time and that's why this is going to content from official Beth employees and outside developers will have to go through QA.

 

I'm wondering if the Script Extender guys will be offered anything. I wouldn't be surprised if they were real Beth employees anyways and never told anyone.

[TechAngel85]

I'm curious how hard it is to get into the club. You can't port previous work, but you must have previous work to submit like a "portfolio". Then you have to pitch your idea which has to be original, unique, and very compatible...so the design has to be solid. I can see only the best of the best being able to join, if they stick to standards. I'm also curious what the pay scale is.

[EssArrBee]

I'm curious how hard it is to get into the club. You can't port previous work, but you must have previous work to submit like a "portfolio". Then you have to pitch your idea which has to be original, unique, and very compatible...so the design has to be solid. I can see only the best of the best being able to join, if they stick to standards. I'm also curious what the pay scale is.

I think that a lot of the initial stuff will be from the game devs. Stuff they made in game jam or that got cut from the games due to time or it didn't fit. They'll accept stuff from people as time goes on though. Those contracts with Beth devs and QA helping are going to be really small until launch when they can actually sell some stuff. 

 

I want to know how the pricing will break down. I'm guessing one point is one cent, and that Bethesda will set the price with the creators they bring on. 

[Rebel47]

Speaking of fixing the CK, if anyone knows how to reverse engineer and decompile the code there are a few of us trying to fix the CK for modders everywhere, any help is appreciated.

 

This started on IcecreamAssassins Discord channel and continues to be debugged there when we are able.

Your input is widely appreciated in helping us find a solution for it.

[Mator]

Speaking of fixing the CK, if anyone knows how to reverse engineer and decompile the code there are a few of us trying to fix the CK for modders everywhere, any help is appreciated.

 

This started on IcecreamAssassins Discord channel and continues to be debugged there when we are able.

Your input is widely appreciated in helping us find a solution for it.

Can you link the Discord?

[GrantSP]

Can you link the Discord?

I second this. Any efforts to improve those tools would be a good idea.

[Rebel47]

Yeah of course, Instant invite link without expiration found right here https://discord.gg/9T7JX5J, there is many other discussions on going as well.