Valve officially canned paid mods

[Chimpster]

While this isn't directly related to KF, TWI did ban paid mods in their EULA update. Now Valve has canceled the program altogether, at least for Skyrim. I'm sure they'll come up with another game in the future that attempts this model, but for now it's gone.

http://kotaku.com/valve-cancels-paid-mods-for-skyrim-1700526130

 

[SporUS]

Paid mods was one of the worst ideas Valve has ever had. If you want to support, or are a modder, set up a Patreon account like some others have. It is a good way for people to give thanks to their favorite modders and gives modders the extra resources to make better mods. Win-Win.

 

[Paronine]

Emphasis on the "for now." I have a feeling whatever game Bethesda has next in the pipeline is going to be the first game they try this on again.

 

[M34T-B4G_441]

Well, that was fast.

At the risk of sounding like a tool, I'd like to congratulate Valve for realizing that this was a bad decision and pulling back, at least for now.

 

[CrashFu]

I assume the reason they had to cancel was because of the flood of fraudulent and or joke entries drowning out any legitimate ones. Oh well. It's not like really good mods haven't wound up becoming separate games without that program in place, right?

 

[M34T-B4G_441]

I assume the reason they had to cancel was because of the flood of fraudulent and or joke entries drowning out any legitimate ones. Oh well. It's not like really good mods haven't wound up becoming separate games without that program in place, right?

I'd blame it more on the unmitigated ****ing ****storm that the community threw.

I mean, don't get me wrong, this was a ****ty idea, but Jesus, I haven't seem so much anger since the third reich.

 

[UserSD]

I'd blame it more on the unmitigated ****ing ****storm that the community threw.

I mean, don't get me wrong, this was a ****ty idea, but Jesus, I haven't seem so much anger since the third reich.

True, I hated the idea, but ****ing hell... Guess that's what happens when you piss off an entire subculture.

It's like trying to poke a biker gang with a stick I guess, enough hate and fury to make satan cry.

 

[MultiSlayer]

Today is a glorious day for me. First the removal of paid mods, and also a new Atreyu album was announced! All of my yes, I feel so good right now.

 

[Jovial]

I think it was Bethesda/Zenimaxes idea though? They were the ones who got a 50% cut.

 

[Shotyyy]

Easy solution for the mod makers- add a

button and if anyone wants to give the mod maker money- he will.

 

[poosh]

Valve could put "Donate" button to Steam workshop pages next to Subscribe button. That would really simplify donation process (especially if subscribers could donate money from their Steam wallets) while keeping mods free.

 

[Don Draper]

Dumb question, but who would get the money from the Paid Mods?

If the mod creator got the money (plus some for steam and the original engine SDK owner) then i think it is a great idea.

Gives incentive to both make mods and more so to finish them off, or continual improvement of them.

As long as the Mod make gets the best cut of money.

 

[2Clicks]

Valve could put "Donate" button to Steam workshop pages next to Subscribe button. That would really simplify donation process (especially if subscribers could donate money from their Steam wallets) while keeping mods free.

Good idea... give that man a job!


I guess it probably wont float at Valve though... they and the game developer/publisher wont get a cut.


....


I imagine the idea of paying for user content will be "reinvented" somewhere down the line. Just hope its not for the next Fallout title....

 

[moleculo]

Dumb question, but who would get the money from the Paid Mods?

If the mod creator got the money (plus some for steam and the original engine SDK owner) then i think it is a great idea.

Gives incentive to both make mods and more so to finish them off, or continual improvement of them.

As long as the Mod make gets the best cut of money.

It used to be so that modders got a very small cut. That was the worst thing about it.

Now that I've given the idea some thought I have to agree that there are some really impressive mods whose creators deserve credit for their work. The problem is that people would start trying to profit with simple skins and stuff, and seeing even the smallest things cost something, like 0.29, 0.39, 0.99 etc would be pretty annoying. I still do think you should pass some arbitrary line before you start asking money for your work. Think about a simple calculator program or a mine sweeper game, it's just wrong to ask money for some things.

And there should always have been a donate button like everyone suggests.

 

[King Sumo]

Valve could put "Donate" button to Steam workshop pages next to Subscribe button. That would really simplify donation process (especially if subscribers could donate money from their Steam wallets) while keeping mods free.

strongly agree
+1

 

[Rocker Fox]

Really glad they decided to stop the insanity, it pretty much looked like Greenlight launch 2: fail another day.

I get what they intended to do but the execution was all wrong, especially with taking 75% of profits from mod purchases. If anything it should have been a donation feature where if you tried the mod and liked it you could donate, not holing it behind a pay wall.

They really dodged a bullet down the road regarding a ton of problems and to give them a little credit at least they didn't run with a bad idea like some companies did (*cough Origin *cough*).

 

[Chimpster]

One of the biggest mistakes they made was taking an existing game with tons of Workshop mods then allowing people to set up a pay wall. This should have been done with a game from the ground up, not letting people retroactively add pay walls to a game that previously had nothing but free mods. I'm still against the idea in general beyond a donate button, but at least if it was an experiment with a new game it wouldn't have received as much backlash. Sure, people probably would have thought it was dumb, but when you start screwing with a game they already own and love you're going to enrage them.

The other problem is that there wasn't any policing or curating. Mod makers could submit a take down request for stolen work, but there was nothing stopping people from flooding the market with worthless crap with a price tag hoping to make quick change. There would have to be some sort of system where only the best mods could actually charge money, which would require a lot of work on Valve's part.

It was a terrible idea to begin with and I hope it never catches on, but those two points are probably the biggest reasons why this idea fell flat on its face.

 

[moleculo]

One of the biggest mistakes they made was taking an existing game with tons of Workshop mods then allowing people to set up a pay wall. This should have been done with a game from the ground up, not letting people retroactively add pay walls to a game that previously had nothing but free mods. I'm still against the idea in general beyond a donate button, but at least if it was an experiment with a new game it wouldn't have received as much backlash. Sure, people probably would have thought it was dumb, but when you start screwing with a game they already own and love you're going to enrage them.

The other problem is that there wasn't any policing or curating. Mod makers could submit a take down request for stolen work, but there was nothing stopping people from flooding the market with worthless crap with a price tag hoping to make quick change. There would have to be some sort of system where only the best mods could actually charge money, which would require a lot of work on Valve's part.

It was a terrible idea to begin with and I hope it never catches on, but those two points are probably the biggest reasons why this idea fell flat on its face.

Agreed. If they had done those 2 things better and taken only a reasonable cut of the selling prices I think it would have been justified and actually well-deserved for the modders who really put a large amount of work in their creations.

 

[Paronine]

I think when it got out that Valve & Bethesda would be taking a 75% cut, the program was doomed.

Now, my big fear is that it'll be reintroduced when Fallout 4 finally comes out.

 

[heavycommando3]

I assume the reason they had to cancel was because of the flood of fraudulent and or joke entries drowning out any legitimate ones. Oh well. It's not like really good mods haven't wound up becoming separate games without that program in place, right?

Idk about you but id certainly pay 100 bucks for some high resolution horse genitals. Just saying, it really enhances the experience of horse riding and is NOT a joke.