Paid mods are now available on the workshop

[Octopuss]

The example of AOS is disturbing.

Like I said few pages ago: this is a damn dead end. And it's only going to get worse as more mods only get updates published on Steam. Goddamnit.

[keithinhanoi]

The example of AOS is disturbing.

Like I said few pages ago: this is a damn dead end. And it's only going to get worse as more mods only get updates published on Steam. Goddamnit.

I'm dead in the water where the AOS patches are concerned. I've contacted LoRd KoRn to (unfortunately) put him on the spot to take a stance on the whole thing before I proceed. I told him he may want to set aside some time to read up on what happened and soak it all in.

 

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As I'm looking through the increasing list of "under review" paid mods, I notice, with great irony, that despite Valve calling this new venture a "community curated workshop" and having this message above each mod "under review":

 

 

This item is not yet availableThis item has not yet been approved for sale. To help with this approval process, please help identify content or behaviour that violates Workshop Terms or Steam Community Guidelines by using the report button below. Or, if this item looks interesting to you, please add it to your favorites or leave a comment.

 

... comments are currently blocked.

 

So I can't asked questions like "Is this actually newer than your Nexus version?" or "Did you ask X if they agree for their assets to be used / your mod to take advantage of X's mod to enhance your mod's features?", etc.

 

Nice system.

 

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EDIT: I guess I don't have to worry about making an AOS + Purity patch because the Skyrim mod pirates on Reddit have already taken care of that:

 

 

Clicking through that link I see that at least one person is already working on setting up a pirated Skyrim mod site.

 

Arrrrrrgh. (and not in the way a pirate would say!)

 

I've just had one of my front upper teeth yanked out of my head this morning, and seeing all of this gives me even more of a headache.

Edited April 27, 2015 by keithinhanoi

[Roberbond]

Mods will be the new DLCs. Why will the developers work in a game if the users do the same job (and many times a better job) and they still receive money?. Some games ripped entire levels, characters and even the real finale and they were packed as DLCs. Why can´t they do the same things disguised as mods?

[Nozzer66]

I'm just waiting for the time when Bethesda (most likely), but out some kick arse trailer of a new game. And advertises it for say 25 bucks on Steam. Of course the small print states: to get the game to look as the trailer you need Mods X, Y, Z, J, W, P and F at 10 bucks each on top of the 25 bucks.

 

Call me cynical...

[kryptopyr]

Because the base game still has to be good enough for people to want to buy, play, and mod it. 

 

Here's an example.  My husband likes Civ.  The last Civ game (Beyond Earth, I think it was called), didn't do very well.  The game before that had a fairly active modding community and some nice mod options available to change the game.  The newer Civ:BE seems pretty decent at it's core, but from what I've seen and heard about it, it sounds like it was released only 90% finished.  It's just missing a lot of the polish that the game before had.  As such, there is much less interest in the game, and modders don't seem to be producing very much content for it, even though you could argue that it would really benefit much more from mods than its predecessor.

 

Now, the introduction of money will help encourage modders a bit, but modders who are inspired by the financial incentive are also going to want to devote their time to making mods for the most popular games.  The game developer still needs to produce an initial game that is good enough and finished enough to grab the initial interest of users, get enough positive reviews that people are willing to purchase the game, and then develop enough of a following for the game that modders feel it is worth investing their time into modding it.  Neither the modders who are in it because they love a game or those in it for the money, will be interested in modding a poorly made game that flops on release.

 

Paid or not, how many modders do you think would have been willing to devote their time to fixing Ubisoft's Assassin Creed Unity?

[Nozzer66]

Not the right one to ask. Never played Assassin's Creed at all...

 

And of course the base game does have to be worth modding, I understand that. I can just see something like that happening is all.

[werewulfking]

honestly kryptopyr I am a Civ Fan too and for me the biggest problem was that the new game was really, really similar to CIV V and just not similar enough to the spirit of the game it kinda tried to emulate Alpha Centauri. I haven't played it because it just was too expensive for something that was so similar to a game I already owned. So I only base what I know of the few reviews that I read when it came out.

[pStyl3]

Regarding compatibility patches between free (e.g. AOS) and paid mods (e.g. Purity). How about adding a statement to the free mods' description/FAQ like this:

"Q: Can you make a compatibility patch for this particular to-be-paid mod X (e.g. Purity)?
A: That depends. If you want a compatibility patch between our mod and that particular to-be-paid mod (e.g. Purity) then please head over to Puritys Steam Workshop page and ask the author of said to-be-paid mod, to send us a free version of his/her mod. If he doesn't want to, there will be no compatibility patch, as we will not go around and buy mods to then create compatibility patches for them. It's all up to whether or not the author of the to-be-paid mod sends us a free example or not."


Something like that would be a clear position and whether or not you will be able to create a compatbility patch (in case you want to in the first place, of course) all depends on the authors of to-be-paid mods.

[kryptopyr]

I've never played Unity either...sort of my point though.  I wouldn't pay $5 for that game after everything I've heard (though, to be fair, I'm also not a AC fan).

 

You may have a point about Civ.  I'm not overly familiar with that franchise, just going off of what my husband has said.  I'm willing to concede that it might not have been the best example.  However, again, my primary point is that it will continue to fall to the game developers to make a game that is good enough (or in this case, different enough) that people want to buy it.  We got the new Civ for free as part of a special offer.  My husband, as much as he loves the Civ games, felt the same way you did.  He wasn't willing to purchase the new game based on the reviews and what he'd read about it.

[WilliamImm]

I've never played Unity either...sort of my point though.  I wouldn't pay $5 for that game after everything I've heard (though, to be fair, I'm also not a AC fan).

Hell... I was actually offered in a promotion to get AC Unity for free, with a choice between two other Ubi games. After everything I've heard about Unity, I ended up beelining for Far Cry 4 instead (which was also offered in the promotion).

 

I've also sent a message to the author of Better Vanilla Hairs, telling him how well the new donation system worked for me on the Nexus. And that he should at least try enabling it for the Nexus version of the mod.

[CJ2311]

/r/modpiracy for providing the mods? What the hell is that non-sense? It's not okay to trash people after stealing from them. You're just as big of an ****** for being thief as the people trying to pass off weapons or armor as a cash grab. 

Not that it matters much, but the guy only downloaded the mods to showcase the flaws with them, he said he didn't intend to use them either way. Also, with the fact that your money is stuck with steam and the fact that you get banned for 7 days from the marketplace if you ask for a refund, I can't really blame him for acquiring the mods through piracy.

[Octopuss]

and the fact that you get banned for 7 days from the marketplace if you ask for a refund

...what?

It only gets better and better.

[TehKaoZ]

 

"better than ENB"

HA, sorry this made my laugh out loud. Even if purity is a good standalone mod, anyone whose played enough with enb knows better (See Prod80's work).

 

But the compatibility thing is already starting, on several mods I see people asking for patches as if it's "business as usual". I always use to tell rude users that mod authors are not customer service at Wal-Mart. But honestly, if your selling a mod, you ARE customer service and need to take full responsibility for your customers, which includes patches, support, compatibility help. I am not for spewing hatred or negativity at mod authors but if you paid for something and can't get help for that product you paid for, welcome to the "raging dissatisfied customer"

[Ganda]

[...]you get banned for 7 days from the marketplace if you ask for a refund[...]

Getting better and better...

[kryptopyr]

I feel if you're charging for a mod, then you are responsible for providing a certain level of support.  However, I do not believe that creating compatibility patches for other authors' mods fall under an author's required responsibilities, regardless of whether or not they charge for their mod. 

 

Mods that conflict with other popular mods may have their value decreased if compatibility patches aren't made available, but neither author is required to provide that compatibility.  I would see such efforts as providing exceptional support for their mod, but it's beyond the baseline support and customer service that a paid customer should expect to receive by default.