Paid mods are now available on the workshop

[Ganda]

The Shadowscale armor looks like it was produced by pros who have never had to do anything for a Bethesda game. The artwork, models and textures have screenshots show from 3ds max or maya, but they clearly don't know much about the way Bethesda games work.

 

#IRCChatKnows :p

[TechAngel85]

Hey all. I want to quickly say "thanks" for such a well thought out, informative and, most important of all, civil discussion in regards to the paywall. I've spent the last couple of days reading this and considering all of the points made, which was a very welcome change from trying to keep up with the flow of events on the nexus mod's posts, which had become quite a disheartening and embarrassing display of human nature at its worst.

 

Honestly, I can't help but feel torn either way on the issue. Yes, the Steam workshop is horribly implemented, with numerous problems, but that doesn't seem to deal with the main point of whether or not mod author's should be able to charge for their mods. And while many of the mods being offered on the workshop are of terrible quality that alone doesn't seem to be an argument against the paywall. Those mods will surely be overlooked and, eventually, forced so far down the list that they will barely make any money, if any at all. That's how markets work and that's what we're witnessing now. Really great mods, such as Wet and Cold and Frostfall (RIP?!?! Say it ain't so... ), however, do seem to add such a huge amount to gameplay and system mechanics that it seems unfair for the author to spend countless hours on them and be condemned if they so much think of charging for their work. Yes, there is the "donation" button but, as anyone who has been following this forum or listening to the authors can tell you, that system is seriously broken and under-utilized. Worst yet, if the numbers are to be believed, too many people point to this system as the solution, implying that they have donated before, when the truth is most have not. Instead the battle cry is the pathetic "unendorsed!".

 

Ironically enough it is the authors who proclaim their mods as always being free that are further complicating matters. Please follow me here before you freak out: I love their dedication and commitment to what they love to do and, obviously ( I hope ) do not think they are bad for offering their time and energy for free to the community. My point is that their love and dedication shouldn't be used against authors who also share their love and dedication but would also like to make a career out of it, if not, at least, a simple part time job. Both parties are in the right and that paradox is a huge part of the problem. We don't think less of Michelangelo because Banksy is willing to put his work on every street corner for free.

 

My point isn't to rehash what we all know but it's to point out that this discussion has run its course. STEP is the premier league, the best modders, both authors and users, and it's time for solutions. Pretending that civil unrest is going to change the course is futility at its best. We all understand both sides and what is really needed now is the best compromise that can be devised. Reading through this two things jumped out at me: Keith's economic analysis and the idea of tying endorsements to a donation.

 

I don't fault Valve. As Chesko pointed out, they provide the infastructure and the marketing and certainly deserve a cut. Bethesda, however...well, it seems insane to me that they can now be motivated to release an unfinished/subpar game and not only rely on the modders to fix/improve the game but earn a cut as well. The community really should be focusing their energy on taking care of the authors and paying for the infastructure, while protecting against outright exploitation.

 

As I see it, it's the Nexus that needs to change. Maybe tying donations to endorsements isn't the best solution but, perhaps, displaying a "endorsement and donated" counter is at least a step in the right direction. First, it would provide a statistic people can actually point to when they cite donations as the solution, or, as has unfortunately more often been the case, the cause of the paywall. Additionally it would provide a more substantive measure of a mods popularity. Sure, it has a lot of endorsements but how many people have actually donated to it, really proving its worth? Now we would know. Finally it removes the small mental block of donating: I'll get to it later, Paypal is going to take a large cut, I can't really afford to throw what seems like a fair amount, say $5, to every mod I love, etc...

 

Say what you will about the Steam Wallet a form of it would be great on the Nexus. Say I could add $20 to my Nexus account. Paypal would take their cut, reducing the problem of "micro" transactions being further minimized by Paypal. Then I could easily endorse and donate to mods as I see fit. Maybe I feel Frostfall is worth $1 and Footprints, as great as it is, is worth $0.25. Alone a quarter seems terrible but, we have to be honest, a small donation is better than nothing and, in comparison to the price of the game is actually a fair deal. This is especially true if others are motivated to pursue this solution as well. What went from maybe a couple donations of a few dollars is now several hundred, if not thousands, of ten cent and 25 cent donations. It could, possibly, add up very quickly. Throw in the occasional multi-dollar donation and we seem to be headed towards a more stable and long-term solution.

 

I really didn't want to make this long of a post so I'm going to stop here. My goal is simply to get the discussion moving towards looking for solutions instead of lamenting the inevitable. We can either try to get out in front of the changes we are seeing or we can stand by and do nothing. Either way, things are going to change, whether we like it or not. It is my sincere hope that this group, a group of professionals and enthusiasts, can find a solution that works for everyone and, perhaps, moves modding to a level we've never seen before or dared to even imagine.

 

Thanks.

Valiant effort, but even if we come up with something here, we don't have any real influence. The best we could do is submit the idea to Scott over at Nexus. You idea is an idea however, Scott already stated that he loathes the idea of touching any donation money for any reason so I'm not sure that would work for him.

[EssArrBee]

The problem about pay-for mods is not that MAs want to get paid for their work, but rather the behavior of MAs and MUs, given this new information about mods being sold as opposed to being given away freely.

 

• Some MAs are pulling their mods off of Nexus to prevent a-holes from stealing them for thier own credit to make $ on Steam.
• Some (many?) MUs are downloading mods like crazy before they are pulled.
• Some MAs are sabotaging their Nexus mods (heard this about SkyUI, but not sure if it is true) or creating different versions on free sites versus Steam (as if mod versioning was not confusing enough already in many cases).
• SkyUI 4.1 will remain free. SkyUI 5.0 will be on the SW for $1. The update doesn't touch MCM which is not his to charge for, that mod was made by an FNV modder named Pelinor. The update is for the crafting menus and it would not exist if Valve/Beth didn't approach him about making a buck.
• Some MUs are slandering MAs for opting in to the pay system on Steam.

 

The problem is and will be more related to outright reactive panic by the modding community. It is pandemonium, and it could change everything, albeit unnecessarily. I can't say much for the Beth/Steam implementation or timing either. This is a real mess, IMO, and the blame lies solely on Valve and Bethesda for not implementing this in a more piecemeal or controlled fashion. They should know more about market reaction than they seem to and that they could possibly taint the very opportunity that they are interested in. Very unprofessional at this point. Hope it gets cleaned up fast, but it is a fire drill right now.

It's really just people that have forgotten the real world doesn't exist through that little box in from of them. It may be time for them to turn off their computers and go outside for a bit.

[MosAnted]

The problem about pay-for mods is not that MAs want to get paid for their work, but rather the behavior of MAs and MUs, given this new information about mods being sold as opposed to being given away freely.

 

• Some MAs are pulling their mods off of Nexus to prevent a-holes from stealing them for thier own credit to make $ on Steam.
• Some (many?) MUs are downloading mods like crazy before they are pulled.
• Some MAs are sabotaging their Nexus mods (heard this about SkyUI, but not sure if it is true) or creating different versions on free sites versus Steam (as if mod versioning was not confusing enough already in many cases).
• Some MUs are slandering MAs for opting in to the pay system on Steam.

 

The problem is and will be more related to outright reactive panic by the modding community. It is pandemonium, and it could change everything, albeit unnecessarily. I can't say much for the Beth/Steam implementation or timing either. This is a real mess, IMO, and the blame lies solely on Valve and Bethesda for not implementing this in a more piecemeal or controlled fashion. They should know more about market reaction than they seem to and that they could possibly taint the very opportunity that they are interested in. Very unprofessional at this point. Hope it gets cleaned up fast, but it is a fire drill right now.

Gopher's relevant open letter to Valve: https://soundcloud.com/gophergaming/paying-for-mods-gabe-what-were-you-thinking

[z929669]

Yep, Gopher gets it and so do others ... wonder why Valve and Beth didn't get it?

 

My guess is that they just wanted to start making $ as quickly as possible that felt that it would all work out after the initial pandemonium. Never mind about alienating select MAs and MUs forever.

[Octopuss]

delete this please

Edited April 26, 2015 by Octopuss

[cstarkey42]

Valiant effort, but even if we come up with something here, we don't have any real influence. The best we could do is submit the idea to Scott over at Nexus. You idea is an idea however, Scott already stated that he loathes the idea of touching any donation money for any reason so I'm not sure that would work for him.

Thanks.  I've always understood and appreciated their position but in the past few days everything has changed.  And I don't think that that's an overstatement.  Think about games ten years ago and everything that has changed since then that gamers hated, thought would go away and never did.  Pay for play, preorders, not-quite-dlc content, tokens...the industry is all about nickeling and diming their customer base and the consumer becomes immune to it and eventually accepts it as the way it is and, soon, can't remember what it was like before then.  Kim Kardashian is expected to have made $85 million on her iphone game.  Let that sink in for a second.  Kim Kardashian is expected to have made $85 million on her iphone game AFTER earning her 45% of the $200 million in profits it earned.  Things are not going back to how they were and the best we can hope for is a reasonable solution that accommodates everyone and doesn't tear modding apart.

 

Personally I would love to see no only the Nexus Wallet with the ability to make quick and easy micro-transactions but also a separate chat forum for those who have donated to a mod.  If people don't want to donate they can still easily download the mod, use it and post feedback/look for help in a forum.  The author would now receive a signal, however, to prioritize users who are really into the mod and trying to make it work in their set up vs others.  The free forum will still have plenty of users helping each other out and the author can receive valuable feedback while not wasting as much time with "I installed duel combat, ultimate combat, skyre combat, requiem, enhanced ai and combat evolved and now my trees are purple!  Your mod broke my game!  UNENDORSED!!".  The motivation to donate $5, $10 or $20 a month to their Nexus account ( which is still WAY less then I spent as a kid at the local video arcade.  Goggle it kids. ) and pass it on to the modders they claim to love and support would significantly be strengthened by this while still providing mods and support to those who cannot or will not donate.

 

Trust me, I'd rather things just went back to how they were a week ago but that is never going to happen.  The sooner Nexus realizes this ( to be fair they have, to an extent, but need to do much, much more ) the better.

 

Thanks.

[MosAnted]

Yep, Gopher gets it and so do others ... wonder why Valve and Beth didn't get it?

 

My guess is that they just wanted to start making $ as quickly as possible that felt that it would all work out after the initial pandemonium. Never mind about alienating select MAs and MUs forever.

I think part of the problem is they tried to handle it like they do with TF2/CSGO "mods". Neither Valve nor Bethesda/Zenimax seemed to understand the complexity of Skyrim modding.

[crime_syndicate]

The Shadowscale armor looks like it was produced by pros who have never had to do anything for a Bethesda game. The artwork, models and textures have screenshots show from 3ds max or maya, but they clearly don't know much about the way Bethesda games work.

Some armor / weapon mods on nexus have renders on their description too (usually they also have ingame shots though, and there's always user screenshots I suppose)

 

 

on topic : I'm betting a cookie that gaben / volvo and Bethesda make a damage control announcement along the lines of "We have listened to the community, and we have decided to lower our cut of the paid mods revenue, and increase the modders'" or "We will give xxx % of our cut to charities, etc". I doubt they will be bold enough to kill the thing entirely, but who knows.

 

Also and despite this having been already mentioned, I would like to add myself to the list of the people disgusted by the amount of outright hate and horseshit being dumped on the so called "rogue" mod authors by hordes of often 1 post users who generally have contributed nothing to the community...

[NameTaken]

When I read on another forum that Steam was now allowing mods to be paid for I did not really understand what it meant or how it would change things. Needless to say, when I went to find out more about it I was appalled by the sheer amount of bile that flooded forums & comment sections. Still, it's hard to dispute that Steam did a terrible job regarding communication around this new feature. I mean, they basically told mod users "We are thrilled to announce you that you can now pay for what has always been available for free!". Seriously, what were they expecting?

 

To a certain extent, the same goes for the mod authors who participated in the initiative. There is, obviously, nothing wrong with them being retributed for their work if they choose to, but how could they not think that announcing overnight, without the slightest bit of preparation, that some mods would now have to be paid for would generate a strong backlash? (maybe they did, told Valve about that, were told that it would not be a problem, and choose to have faith in the community; in that case, fair enough) This do not warrant the disproportionate response, and I am saddened by how the community was torn because Valve and Beth decided that there was something to milk out of it.

 

The good thing, however, is that the amidst all this mess one thing has been made perfectly clear: some mods authors are interested in being compensated for the amount of energy they put into their mods. Maybe there are "donation" links on some mod pages that have ben saying the same but they are really easy to overlook. Well, not anymore.

 

I think that every problem with paywalls have been exposed here, both for mod users and mod authors, so I will not labour the point. Donations have problem too, but I believe they are easier to overcome. The main one is — well, first, which mod author do I want to donate to, and where is that donation link? How much will I give? Let's say $5. Alright, but that mod author really deserves it too, and that one too, so, er, either I'll give $1.5 each or $5 to the first one this month, then the same to the other next month and so on. Alright, so where is that "donate" link again for the first author on my list?

 

Perhaps I am pushing an open door, but what if there was a global donation system to mod authors that allowed mod users to donate a certain sum each month, and to specify a list of authors they want to donate to? Let's say I want to give $10 each month to the authors I want to support (anyone is free to choose a sum that will not hurt his wallet), and put five authors in my "supported" list; each month, each author would get $2 from me as long as I keep them in my list (let's say a small % or a fixed fee would go towards maintaining the donation platform). If I remove one of them by the next donation day, the remaining four would get $2.5. If I add more authors, they will get less. But they will get my support without me having to fiddle with the technicalities of micropayments. And above all, the monthly sum is small enough for me to keep donating even when I stop playing Skyrim for a few weeks/months, while still being contributive.

 

It would make donations easier (and help systematize them) for people who want to support authors but are put off by the details; it would allow authors to be paid if they want to, while not preventing anyone to try/use/enjoy their mods if they cannot/do not want to pay for them. Also, it avoids the problems of paid mods (mentioned earlier in the topic): you do not pay for a product, you give money to support its author (the difference being that in one case you expect something as a customer, while in the other you do not expect anything in return — you are already giving in return). In an ideal world, both mod users and authors win. The only losers would be Valve and Bethesda who would not get their cut.

 

Oh, and maybe something like this exists, but if that's the case, I have not seen it promoted as it should be.

Edited April 26, 2015 by NameTaken

[dovahklon]

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," and Now is such a time for the modding community.

 

As we all have a few days to absorb the facts and think about the situation, it should already become crystal clear that the Skyrim community is the guinea pig to test the waters for the paid-for-mod scheme in future games. What this also means is, the future generation of games and modding depends on us, US right here right now, to defend the art of modding.

 

The art of modding. Regardless of what belief we are supporting, we all love modding. Whether you are a modder or a mod user, there was someone, somewhere along the way, who taught you how to install a mod, how to optimize the game, how to sort load order, how to script, model, texture, animate, etc., and give you the satisfaction on expanding the gameplay, or feeling accomplished because you made a change.

 

Yes, making changes, isn't that what we are all about? Recall that ultimate satisfaction and joy that overcome us when something is working, so powerful that it just let us forgive and forget the hours of frustration we've put in. And don't forget the mentors and friends we've made along the way. That, my friends, is the beauty of modding, the willingness to learn and selflessness to teach. And we all know too well that this will cease to exist when monetary profit is involved in the wrong way. Whether or not you want to support modders with money, we should see by now that this isn't heading in the right direction.

 

When the paywall was implemented, we know it was coming, we just never knew it was this soon. And that, is not a poor planning on Valve/Bethesda's part, it was exactly how they wanted it. We expected a backlash, and so has they. In the mix of the backlash, there was lots of hate and anger, and with the purposefully poor communication by Valve/Bethesda, the strong emotions were directed everywhere, dividing us and wearing us out. Yes, we have recovered and regrouped a little since. We have a petition, we have spoken why, some has uploaded some very amusing mods to both Nexus and steam, both free and paid. But is that enough? No, I don't think so. Because this was never the experiment for profit or trying to smooth out the system to begin with.

 

Let's think forward for a little bit. Here are some of the spotlight issues we have focused on: permission on using others' assets, legality of using 3rd party developer softwares/tools, how to address mod compatibilities, the refund system, the DRMification of mods and modding tools, and ultimately our rights to "our" content. Yes, to each of their own, they are all very valid issues, and there have been already many posts explaining them much better than I will ever can. But that's besides the point. The point is, these are our issues, never are they Valve/Bethesda's.

 

Being a major games DRM platform and game studio, it's suffice to say they know how to deal with all these issues much better than we will ever equip to be. Yet, they choose to not address them, they choose to make themselves appear ignorant and led us to think that straightening out the kinks is what the experiment about. Perhaps they might not know it all, but anyone would be a fool to say that they didn't really think it through.

 

So what exactly is the experiment about then? You might ask. I think the better question is, WHO is the experiment about? We'd like to think the presumed target audience is us, and Valve/Bethesda like our presumption as well. But the truth is, the target audience aren't us, but instead, this is targeted to all other game studios/companies in the market. But aren't we the gamers, the loyal customers? Of course, but they aren't trying to keep us. So if there's a few of us who like the idea of the paywall, great! If there are a few legal issues against them that was brought up and they can figure out it along the way, even better. But in the end, they aren't trying to appeal to us. We might be a sizeable community, but we are only a small fraction of all the gamers in the world. All they really have to do is to wait, wait for us to wear ourselves out (hence the community "policing" and nothing more), because all the issues we have brought up, they will all shrink to nothing when we get tired trying. And no, they don't need to prove how much the profit margin is and they don't need to retain any of us. It's a bonus if they actually do. Keep in mind the world we are living in today, there will always be people who are willing to spend money on their digital avatars, and there are already billions of dollars of profit made by in game purchases everywhere else, especially in the mobile platforms, willingly or naively.

 

So what's the goal of opening this can of worms? It is exactly for the sake of opening a can of worms, to let the worms crawl out to all sorts of directions and let us die off in our own. Once we are tired and out of the picture, we also take away all the nasty issues with us. And then comes the new games, and the new players who know nothing about any of these, happily buying the games and getting the opportunity to make money by creating their own content in the restricted platform with tools they have to pay for. Once they commercialize some comprehensive game editing tools along with tutorials (charged separately or having the cost incurred with the game's price), gone are those innovative/creative days when we try to figure out something on our own, and there will be no more legal issues that they have to worry about (just as how helpless we are with anything created from CK). The scary part? This isn't FO 4 or TES 6 we are talking about, we are talking about most if not all games by all sorts of companies, because they are all watching this event unfolds with us right now. Conspiracy theory, perhaps, but it's certainly possible. And I would think this is the kind of strategic foresight someone spearheading a large company would have.

 

Those of us who will remain, will remain. Those of us who like to move on, will as well. We will be able to continue to make mods and play with mods, but never to the extend or the freedom of creativity that we have today. Yes, there will be money that can sustain certain modders, and the optimistic opinion of making money allow modders to produce better mods. Could be, but I think not, with the very forseeable future of restricted modding and EULA agreements, there leaves little room for adventure and passion.

 

There's no absolute right or wrong with the stance each of us take in this and it really doesn't matter, the bottom line is, we all love making mods and playing with mods. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to make a career out of what you love, and quite frankly, that's what we all would like. My goal here isn't to take sides, but to simply point out what I think will likely to happen in the future. I admire those who are optimistic and want to make a career out of this, whether as a full-time modder or as a stepping stone to a full-time game developer job. But the sad truth is, I don't think modding will ever be as enjoyable as it does now if we just keep watching and eventually allow ourselves to pack up and leave. And for those who are prospecting, keep to your endeavors and thank you for what you have contributed before, but don't take our hobby out of our hands, your hands.

 

How can we keep modding alive? We should return to the roots of modding, and once again come together as a community, one that shares files, knowledge, skills, and methods openly and selflessly with the sole intention of improving modding as a hobby without violating anyone's intellectual properties. We don't have to compete against each other, we don't have to downvote anyone. And no, this does not equate to stopping someone from having a career, but an effort to remain true to our passion, and to remind ourselves that many, if not all, of the skills and knowledge each of us possess came from the community. And we should give back to the community via acts of passion instead of buying something off. We should be braver than before and keep producing quality mods and sharing ideas for free and openly, even post them on Steam and announce that they will remain free. Yes, there will be conflicts of interest, but if there are many quality mods remaining free, less there is the prospect of stealing ideas and assets. The robust community will speak for itself and will continue to inspire us and the new gamers who follow, and allow us to showcase our passion and advance our skills, which I think in itself is already one of the best portfolio opportunities to pave way for future careers.

 

Hey, don't forget, we are a tenacious bunch. Now is exactly the time to show everyone that we are the game changers!

 

 

-- Originally written in Vilja's WIP forum, 4/26/2015

 

This is certainly a big talk coming from someone who doesn't release mods, but I hope you will find something I have said agreeable. My only goal is to spark new trends of critical thinking, and let the ideas circulate the community before the situation gets worse. I am pasting this into several places: here, here, here, here, and here.

Edited April 26, 2015 by dovahklon

[TechAngel85]

When I read on another forum that Steam was now allowing mods to be paid for I did not really understand what it meant or how it would change things. Needless to say, when I went to find out more about it I was appalled by the sheer amount of bile that flooded forums & comment sections. Still, it's hard to dispute that Steam did a terrible job regarding communication around this new feature. I mean, they basically told mod users "We are thrilled to announce you that you can now pay for what has always been available for free!". Seriously, what were they expecting?

 

To a certain extent, the same goes for the mod authors who participated in the initiative. There is, obviously, nothing wrong with them being retributed for their work if they choose to, but how could they not think that announcing overnight, without the slightest bit of preparation, that some mods would now have to be paid for would generate a strong backlash? (maybe they did, told Valve about that, were told that it would not be a problem, and choose to have faith in the community; in that case, fair enough) This do not warrant the disproportionate response, and I am saddened by how the community was torn because Valve and Beth decided that there was something to milk out of it.

 

The good thing, however, is that the amidst all this mess one thing has been made perfectly clear: some mods authors are interested in being compensated for the amount of energy they put into their mods. Maybe there are "donation" links on some mod pages that have ben saying the same but they are really easy to overlook. Well, not anymore.

 

I think that every problem with paywalls have been exposed here, both for mod users and mod authors, so I will not labour the point. Donations have problem too, but I believe they are easier to overcome. The main one is — well, first, which mod author do I want to donate to, and where is that donation link? How much will I give? Let's say $5. Alright, but that mod author really deserves it too, and that one too, so, er, either I'll give $1.5 each or $5 to the first one this month, then the same to the other next month and so on. Alright, so where is that "donate" link again for the first author on my list?

 

Perhaps I am pushing an open door, but what if there was a global donation system to mod authors that allowed mod users to donate a certain sum each month, and to specify a list of authors they want to donate to? Let's say I want to give $10 each month to the authors I want to support (anyone is free to choose a sum that will not hurt his wallet), and put five authors in my "supported" list; each month, each author would get $2 from me as long as I keep them in my list (let's say a small % or a fixed fee would go towards maintaining the donation platform). If I remove one of them by the next donation day, the remaining four would get $2.5. If I add more authors, they will get less. But they will get my support without me having to fiddle with the technicalities of micropayments. And above all, the monthly sum is small enough for me to keep donating even when I stop playing Skyrim for a few weeks/months, while still being contributive.

 

It would make donations easier (and help systematize them) for people who want to support authors but are put off by the details; it would allow authors to be paid if they want to, while not preventing anyone to try/use/enjoy their mods if they cannot/do not want to pay for them. Also, it avoids the problems of paid mods (mentioned earlier in the topic): you do not pay for a product, you give money to support its author (the difference being that in one case you expect something as a customer, while in the other you do not expect anything in return — you are already giving in return). In an ideal world, both mod users and authors win. The only losers would be Valve and Bethesda who would not get their cut.

 

Oh, and maybe something like this exists, but if that's the case, I have not seen it promoted as it should be.

I like your idea for donations.

[Aiyen]

Modding will stay alive because there are always going to be some people who love the tinkering approach. However that sort of modding is not going to be what can be monetized. Which is the main issue here. 

Valve and bethesda did not really make modding what it is today, neither did their tools. If they in the future manage to sort that out, then it will be an option. 

 

Just look at battle.net. Imagine how some people at activision really must be annoyed that valve managed to secure dota as a franchise. Look at the massive improvements to modding that starcraft 2 received in the wake of that. Yes compared to skyrim modding it is a very closed system.. but it is streamlined, it works, and ultimately it can easily be converted into an income source since the system is better made for it. And it blizzards case.. it can work for many of their games, since they are all made to share the same platform. 

 

You can be sure that once they have sorted out the technical details that user created cosmetic items for WoW is going to be a thing... Just too much money involved not to do it. Heck perhaps even new dungeons etc. there are many options once they manage to flush out the tools so they can be sure they will always be the legal owners of any content.. in order to prevent any 3rd party legal issues. 

[Starac]

Mods is not made by professionals and there is bugs and conflicts between mods that will make it impossible to use a mod with certain other mods. And will it be patches to fix issues and what about customer service?

Because of this facts I think mods work best with a donation system like there is on Nexus site. To make it into a paid product will create many issues and possible conflicts with consumer laws.

But in the end it is up to the producer of a product to decide what they want to do with it, and the same goes for makers of mods.

 

Personally I use many mods, not 10 or 20 but several hundred mods. I can't do that if I have to pay for all the mods. With a paying system, buying 10-20 mods will cost more than the game itself. Considering that the game itself was developed by a professional company that used several years to make a game, and that they produce patches and have a customer service, I cant defend the cost of more than a few mods.

 

What consequences this will have in the long run is uncertain but I fear that some of the community will die and that the interest around mods will decrease. I also fear that this system will be exploited by for example persons that is selling mods that they have not produced them-self. And if that happen what can valve do? kick them out? what about the players that have bought the product already?

This actually isn't true. 

 

Some mods are better then those so called professional works. Of course i talk here about very small percentage.

 

Some things that Bethesda did in Skyrim are very amateurish for example.   

[TehKaoZ]

It's funny because by the end of the day, at least for me, even if the system in place was a good one, I probably still wouldn't use it,

 

 

... because that would mean I would need to use the Steam Workshop