Paid mods are now available on the workshop

[TirigonX]

I just noticed my downloads have had a  jump in the last few days. 2.5k a day just over. That only usually happens after a massive update, but it wasn't. Before it was 2.5k in 3 days.

 

 

Could also be related to the fact that Skyrim is currently on sale on Steam. (It's actually even free to play until Sunday). DarkOne once mentioned that downloads on Nexus always increase when Skyrim is on sale.

[torminater]

Well I've been keeping more or less track of this matter since it started to get public attention.

I think that there will need to be some changes to how this pay-for-mod-method works right now. It will require a offline-time for the workshop and a ton of work from lawyers and execs from Valve to figure out what went wrong and how they can adapt their concept.

I find that 75% for Valve/Beth is too high as well, however I am REALLY interested to see, how much Bethesda gets from the 75%?!

 

I think the "pay what you want" was an incentive from the modders they contacted early on, because they were sure that a simple price tag is not the right way with how our community is set up. It didn't work that well though, since the 0,- option is not an option.

 

The steam wallet has been a major rip off anyways even before being used as a mod money gatherer for Valve. They have too much power in the gaming and marketing industry nowadays. They will become something obscure like Google, if they aren't already.

 

The 100$ minimum is per month. So if you earn 160$ in a month you will get 160$ at the end of it. However as soon as the mod loses attention and rides down the wave of popularity it will be really unlikely to get that sum of money together in less than a year. What some people also do not seem to get right, is that the mod needs to generate 400$ of revenue per month, before the modder gets anything. Until then Valve (and presumably Beth?) keep everything.

Now what I do not understand is how this will affect mods that are created by a team. Will they need to generate 800$ before the authors get paid? If the limit is still the same 400$, then this is a rip-off. There shouldn't be any limit then, since you could have 10 authors who will receive 10$ each, so why not give a single author 10$ he earned?

I also don't know whether it is possible to have a co-author who did around 10% of the work to get only 10% of the mod author's share? Why would anybody want to cooperate with other authors if he will need to split equally even if he has most of the work?

 

There is a lot more that needs careful consideration, especially concerning pirated mods with pay walls on them for quick cash.

 

All of us should be aware that this change is not for Skyrim only. Skyrim is a guinea pig which both Valve and Beth are willing to sacrifice in a real-time experiment to see whether workshop 2.0 for Fallout 4 or TES 6 with this function will be able to make even more money. The sold copies of Skyrim have probably declined so much, that it wouldn't be much of a financial loss anyways for those guys.

 

It is sad to see that both of those companies have not taken into account that modders have kept the hype over FO and TES alive on games that were out of support for such a long time. Almost every steam sale of Skyrim after the first two sale offers has been a direct effect by how much more the community offers to this game.

 

I also want to make clear that I personally don't blame any of the developers for this affair. They have shown support and love for the community, even if they have moved on after a while. Bethesda is part of a pretty large company that has less incentive to be associative with fans and rather squeeze every drop out of a really successful franchise. Those are the guys responsible. Don't yell at Bethesda, yell at Zenimax.

 

I could go on for another hour at least, but I need to get dinner ready and I'm running experiments today, so I'm out of time already.

 

I am happy to be part of a community in which it is possible to express yourselves without fear to be torn into a *********/flame war/ or whatever else media has started to call choleric idiots raging on the internet like maniacs.

[TechAngel85]

I think what makes me the most angry is how little Valve understands the modding community, they literally just up and one day thought "we could make some money off this, look how many people use these mods!", The protests, the hate, the petitions, ect. and I doubt Valve will care that they have essentially invaded a foreign land and forcefully established a new government.

 

On a side note, I love this forum. I view this place as a little safe haven for posting and reading legitimate concerns within the community without worrying about the storm outside :)

Love the invasion/government analogy!

 

I've been proud of the members in this thread. I've not seen any real moderation having to take place besides adding a couple swear words to our filter. This is a testament to just how mature the STEP community is and the type of users we attract. Makes me proud to be a part of STEP!

[oqhansoloqo]

All of us should be aware that this change is not for Skyrim only. Skyrim is a guinea pig which both Valve and Beth are willing to sacrifice in a real-time experiment to see whether workshop 2.0 for Fallout 4 or TES 6 with this function will be able to make even more money. The sold copies of Skyrim have probably declined so much, that it wouldn't be much of a financial loss anyways for those guys.

 

Exactly my thoughts right there.

[hazelwolf]

Love the invasion/government analogy!

 

I've been proud of the members in this thread. I've not seen any real moderation having to take place besides adding a couple swear words to our filter. This is a testament to just how mature the STEP community is and the type of users we attract. Makes me proud to be a part of STEP!

Probably because so many people here are mod-authors themselves and so are in a better position to be able to see the more nuanced elements to this debacle.

 

And those members who don't have probably become used to the pace and pitfalls of modding their game and thus have learned to be (or already were) more patient than your average consumer.

 

Not to blow our own horns or anything. :)

Edited April 25, 2015 by hazelwolf

[kryptopyr]

 

I'd like to comment about the "I can't give a mod for free here on Nexus, and asking for money for the same mod on Steam" thing you mentioned. That doesn't necessarily have to come from Valve (and even if there is such a clause in their terms, I really doubt they'd bother enforcing it). It might also be from the modder's own volition, because can you really ask money for something on one platform, and give it away somewhere else? How would you feel if you spent money on something and only later found out that you didn't need to? Customers who miss the Nexus link for some reason could quite easily feel duped and complain. So I think it's more a question of good form, rather than a legal issue.

I don't have a moral objection to offering a mod for a charge on one site and free on another, easily found and accessed site.  Nexus is far from an obscure site, and so having a free mod there should make it fairly easy to find for anyone who bothers to look.  

 

Many people view Steam as easier and more convenient.  They don't want to deal with mod managers or worrying about having to update their mods.  Now we all know the downfalls to this, but regardless, that seems to be what some people prefer.  You only have to look at how many people are still subscribing to the free mods on Steam to see this.  If people view Steam as more convenient and are willing to pay for that, then that's their choice.  While it's not a perfect analogy, I see it a bit like deciding whether to get a book for free at the library or order it on Amazon.

 

Also, there is an additional value you get when purchasing a mod from Steam...the guarantee that you will continue to have access to that mod.  How many of us have been disappointed when we see a great mod disappear unexpectedly from Nexus?  By purchasing from Steam, you are paying for the assurance that no matter what happens elsewhere, you'll be able to continue using that mod. 

 

And on the matter of Valve refusing to remove mods, this is their standard policy, not just for mods but applies to the big game companies as well.  If a company removes their game from Valve's store, those titles will remain available for users who bought them before removal.  I think this is fair.  If you've purchased a game and it becomes unavailable later, you shouldn't lose the right to continue using that game.  If Steam didn't guarantee that, then everyone would be insisting on physical copies of their games instead of direct downloads, and Steam's wouldn't be able to even exist in the form it does.

 

Edit:  I do see it as the responsibility of the mod author to make sure their mods, and any updates to those mods, will work within the automatic update system that Steam uses.  Any mods uploaded for sale should be designed with this consideration in mind.  That definitely is something I'd feel largely responsibility for and would want to assure my customers that future updates won't cause issues with their current game.

[EssArrBee]

Just nitpicking here but since this is a relatively unknown forum with not many people attending it, and possibly the best way to reach you:

 

I ALSO DO NOT TAKE DONATIONS, BUT I DO NOT CONDONE DONATIONS! 

 

Do you hate donations or do you mean "condemn" ?? :P

Fixed that little bit. Now says OBJECT TO instead CONDONE.

[kryptopyr]

I'm a bit torn about the pop-ups in Midas Magic.  On one hand, pop-up adds in a free mod seems pretty awful.  On the other hand, people have been objecting to the 24 hour trial period (with refunds being given as Steam credit and not a true refund) as too short and limiting to fully try out a mod.  Or the restrictions that paid mods place on modders who might want to double-check compatibility or other issues between mods. 

 

I don't necessarily see this as a ridiculous compromise.  It's not really a free mod with pop-up adds.  It's a free unlimited trial version for the paid mod.  Maybe that wasn't the author's intention here, but I can see gimmicks like this as one way for modders to legitimately offer less restrictive, no money changing hands, trail periods for their mods.

[uncleseano]

I took a break from Skyrim Modding to mess around with Dragon Age (use two mods, guess old habits die hard eh?) now I find all this, it breaks my heart. Guess I'll take awhile out and see how all this panes out. Chesko..Isoku and the SKY UI lad all down the *******... it does feel like the end of an era

[A_Dim_Mismatch]

The more I look at it, the more it looks like the Workshop store is already petering out. Outside of a couple of weapons and armors, most of the mods aren't selling much at all, and even the ones that are selling well are subscribed at a tiny fraction of views (Gifts of Akatosh has 110k unique views and 1k subscribers).

 

Not to mention Chesko's mods are down and Wet and Cold has a DMCA takedown notice on it.

 

This is just a mess.

[Octopuss]

I just wish things return to exactly the same state they were before. This **** is too much.

[Neovalen]

I just wish things return to exactly the same state they were before. This **** is too much.

"So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil." Gandalf, LOTR

 

Now is the time the community must stand together for what they believe is right. Not all is lost, not yet. Remember the horse armor.

 

This fight is not only for Skyrim, but also for FO4 and TES6.

[TechAngel85]

Interesting that Wet and Cold had a DMCA. I know that Isoku reached out to the other authors...unless someone backed out of saying it was okay or he missed someone.

[EssArrBee]

False DCMAs are pretty common. 

[Octopuss]

Now is the time the community must stand together for what they believe is right.

I have big doubts about what the "community" believes in, because right now it seems to say "we DESERVE everything free, we want it right now, and even if we get everything we want you still suxx blablabla".

I really like what mardoxx said: "

It doesn't apply to everyone, but it sure as hell looks like it's the way it is. Especially if you regularly read Nexus forums for at least two months time.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Octopuss