The latest controversy in the gaming world is that Valve has started a program whereby mod creators can charge gamers for the mods they create and distribute via Steam. (Question: Would this apply to mods distributed through other services such as Nexus?) Here's the full details that Valve has provided about the program.
http://steamcommunity.com/w...
(The site loaded pretty slowly for me so give it a moment before closing)
Full Disclosure: I am not now, nor have I ever been a PC gamer. I am not now, nor have I ever, using/used mods for PC games. This blog will be observational and based solely on available information, common sense, and possible extrapolation.
Obviously this decision is pretty big and complex, it also has garnered A LOT of negativity from the PC gaming community. Here are 2 examples.
Gamers react to paying for mods on Steam
----------------------------- ----------------------------- -----------------------------
http://venturebeat.com/2015...
Remove the paid content of the Steam Workshop
----------------------------- ----------------------------- -----------------------------
https://www.change.org/p/va...
Didn't take long for a petition to start now did it?
So let's start about what's good about charging for mods since the list is not going to be that big.
The Good
==========
Mod creators are being paid for services rendered.
----------------------------- ----------------------------- -----------------------------
Creating mods takes skill, and it takes time. Some mods are better than entire games in quality, other mods are themselves made into entire games, and all of this requires effort on the part of the modder. Yes, passion is a key aspect itself, but one can't live off of passion.
Incentive to continue modding and/or fix and/or improve older mods.
----------------------------- ------------------------------ ------------------------------
Now that modders are getting paid for their work, they obviously will want to have a good reputation so as to build up their own consumer base of loyal buyers. Part of this means making more mods on a more regular basis, as well as fixing issues with or improving older already existing mods. I may not be a PC gamer, but I have seen plenty of complaints about old mods no longer working and the mod creator really not caring because they've moved on, or they've been banned, or whatever.
Money involved means customer satisfaction takes center stage
----------------------------- ------------------------------ - -----------------------------
If there is one thing about PC gamers everyone knows, it's that their money is precious to them. Give them a raw deal, make them feel unsatisfied or worse, and you'll definitely hear about it. Free mods means you lose nothing if there is a problem. Paid mods is a different story. Now, a common criticism against Valve is their very poor customer service and their hands off approach in dealing with things. Adding money and developers/publishers to the mix may potentially force that to be changed as there is a quantifiable loss with being unsatisfied with a mod you paid for. At the very least, since the mods are now supported by the dev or pub, that might be a new avenue to complain about a problem and hopefully receive better customer service.
More games may receive mod support*
----------------------------- -----------------------------
The asterisk denotes the fact that there is a proviso involved that will appear later. This isn't mentioned on Steam's paid content page, or in their page about being paid, but information online suggests that Valve and whatever publisher or developer that supports this program and allows for paid mods to appear on their games will take 75% of generated revenue from these mods. This means that developers and publishers will have an incentive to allow for mod support on their games since they can potentially make money off of them, and we all know how greedy the industry is these days.
Paying for mods is just one of 3 options
----------------------------- -----------------------------
This program allows for "pay what you want" and "free" payment schemes. The catch is that it is completely up to the modder to choose one of these schemes. Still, it's better than nothing.
The Bad
========
The Proviso
-----------------------------
Developers and Publishers will likely lock mod support behind this paywall, allowing only paid mods so as to get their cut of the revenue.
Free Mods will likely fade
----------------------------- -----------------------------
If people can charge 99¢ for some weapon retextures or skins, why wouldn't they beyond principle? Money can drive people.
Unofficial Patches and Fixes may be placed behind a paywall
----------------------------- ------------------------------ - -----------------------------
The first game allowing paid mods is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Anyone who played Skyrim at launch knows that it was a bug riddled mess. The PC version of Skyrim saw many patches and fixes made by the community to fix some glaring problems Bethesda couldn't care less about ensuring weren't there at launch. Patches and fixes not coming from the developer are technically mods since they alter aspects of the game, even if just to make it run more smoothly or allow quest progression to take place after a game breaking bug. Who's to say that there won't be charges put on Unofficial Patches and Fixes?
Buyer Beware Issues
-----------------------------
You never know if a mod is going to work for you or not. Previously, you lost nothing but time in downloading and installing a mod that didn't work or crashed your game. In rare cases it would really hurt your game to the point of your game needing a reinstall or worse, but you knew going into it that this was something you chose, you got the mod for free, and it could be brushed off as a "you get what you pay for" incident. Paid mods SHOULD mean better quality control, but the fact that the PC market is so varied still makes the risk of damaging or non-functioning mods a very real problem. This time, you'll lose money along with time and sanity. Information online claims that Valve has stated there will be a 24 hour refund period in case mods don't function, or are incompatible, or whatever other kind of problem you may have, but people have brought up that 24 hours is not a sufficient length of time as one may end up busy with other things and not use the mod right away, thus finding problems much later and being unable to do anything about it. Again, free mods mean you can live with it better, but losing your money for a mod that crashes your game?
Erratic Pricing Schemes
-----------------------------
Valve is taking a hands off approach on this, allowing any manner of pricing schemes to be handled completely by the modders. This results in mods that are potentially more expensive than the actual game depending on how old the game is. The price gouging is real folks.
DMCA
--------
DMCA claims exist with this program now. Due to the question of what happens if some unscrupulous individual downloads mods from some other place than Steam and uploads them on Steam to be paid for work they didn't do, Valve has responded that DMCA claims can be made on mods. If Valve's DMCA system is anything like Youtube's, this means abuse of that system is very likely.
The Ugly
==========
This list will really only contain 2 items.
The Cut
-----------
75% of the revenue generated will be split between Valve and whatever Publisher or Developer that supports this, meaning that for the work people do to add value to a game well past its prime, they only receive 25% of what the mods make in revenue while Valve and *insert Publisher or Developer* get the lion's share for literally doing nothing. That's highway robbery no matter how you look at it. On the plus side, it might mean that modders don't want to reward that kind of theft and may keep their mods free of charge just out of spite, but I doubt it.
The Modding Landscape will change in big, yet mostly unknown ways
----------------------------- ------------------------------ - -----------------------------
There is a lot of potential for this cause some big problems as far as consumers are concerned in the long run. The gaming industry is already filled with price gouging and nickle and diming tactics, this move is sending a message. Whether that message is a good or a bad thing can only be determined by time, but if history is any indication I wouldn't expect good things to come of this. Not without HUGE fine print attached to it. This is part of the ugly list because the negative implications are more likely and more damaging than any positives in my opinion.
The Irony
===========
PC Elitists, those people who continuously spout "PC Master Race" everywhere have a lot of crow to eat. Consistently mocking the "console peasants" for having to pay for DLC, now a program was made that could likely eventually force all mods to be paid mods. Many "peasants" will not pass up the opportunity to bring this up every chance they get.
Those are my observations on this new program Valve is trying out. Personally speaking, I can't blame the PC community for being upset about this. There are far reaching implications that don't bode well for the community when you look at how big publishers have been acting of late. I wouldn't put it past any one of them to lock mod support behind a pay wall, and although the PC community prides itself on being steadfast against anti-consumer practices, everyone has their limits.
In a world where the value of a dollar becomes more and more important, especially in the gaming industry, monetizing things that at one time were done in good faith and for passion just adds to the bonfire of cynicism that's been growing among the core gamer community (both in consoles and PC) for years now. This incessant greed coming from the suits of the gaming industry is distasteful, especially when they are trying to lock away all levels of extra satisfaction we could find with a game behind various paywalls, then blaming us and saying we are the reason they have to take such measures because we buy used games and don't want to pay $100 for a 5 hour game.
What are your thoughts about this blog, and/or this program? I look forward to some usual commentators defending bad practices and attacking me or my position in the comments, and also people who actually want to discuss the topic.
**UPDATE** The modding community has already begun using mods to protest this program. Seen here.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
“I would like to say that there’s a lot of space for very high quality games," says Yves Guillemot.
" very high quality "
That's only true for one of the two though, and we all know which one that'll be.
I promise, only one of them will.
And it's the one that is the better franchise and respects the historical context of the region.
Dude’s getting the sweat because star wars outlaws underperformed, and that’s with far smaller controversy compared to AC shadows.
Well of course, but AC: Shadows will be on more platforms so I would expect it to sell more than Ghost.
TheGamer Writes "Zelda's first solo outing is a bold and inventive adventure loaded with charm."
Game reviews have been around since the mid-1970s. Play Meter was the first of its kind. During their time, it was mainly coin-operated machines that were covered, as certain arcade games that many of us consider classics such as Space Invaders were popular. Other publications sprang up, such as Arcade Alley in 1979. From then on, gaming journalism was on the rise. Electronic Games Magazine, Famitsu, The Games Machine, Nintendo Power, and others all gave way to gaming journalism’s growing popularity and importance. In the beginning, gaming journalism was about the love of the games, the history of the product, and giving potential consumers genuine insight. The passion was there. The commitment was there. The insight was there. And most importantly, the trust was there.
They've become nothing more than corporate shills. Rather than speaking truth to power, they're just looking at the latest clickbait no matter how false it is.
The straight up lies are annoying. Then journalists claim that a lie is an opinion. Um... no.
yea its been like this for years and only has gotten worse during covid.
they are sometimes worse than celeb. trash news ha.
"you will NOT believe what the DEV of XYZ said"
or and those are my favourites,
"XYZ game gets REMASTER TREATMENT" and you click on the link and its just a god damn mod ha.
"XYZ Players are saying THIS about the new update!"
And the article is based on a single tweet from someone with an anime profile image
The gaming landscape today is full of corporations trying to suck as much money out of us as possible while giving us as little as possible in return that's the biggest problem I see right now and the fact the journos should be the ones calling the gross practices out now suckle at the teat of the publishers to stay in favour and maintain working relationships to avoid being blacklisted for reviews and preview events show their interests do not align with ours.
I doubt this'll stick at all. Hardcore PC gamers, aka the ones installing mods, are way too stubborn. And i mean this in a good way. Or maybe i'm just hopeful.
I think this is a good opportunity for modders to promote their tip jars as an alternative to paying. I always donote to good modders when i have some cash on the side, and i hope after seeing what could potentially happen to mods others do to.
I say potentially because i can't see this becoming concrete.
Valve has done goofed with their implementation of the mod store this is not the way to do it and pc gamers won't stand for it i get where people are coming from but this shit is bad bad bad i took a look at the modding community on the steam forums for skyrim and it is a clusterfuck of people accusing each other of so many things when just a few days ago it was one of the most tightly knit groups on steam this mod store is bad the shitstorm this has created is not worth it has to go valve is messing with something that can really blow up in their face they can get away with the steam greenlight and early access crap because they made that stuff but with modding they have caused perhaps irreparable damage to their respective modding communites with more games to be subject to this in the future i can only look at this mod store at the moment as a cancer to the pc gaming community and as far as i see it this will not stand and has to go immediatly.
It is interesting about the cut and really highlight how lazy Valve have become. It is the same with their Steam machines. The are going to try and make money of a product someone else makes. With this they are basically trying to make DLC a big thing on PCs. Instead of creating their own compelling content they are just going to put independent products there were free behind a pay wall.
I really don't see the good in a service like this. Sure modders will get paid but putting things behind a paywall has never fostered creativity. It tends to do the opposite which I don't think will be helped by the DMCA policy and Valve's history of running services into the ground (like early access and greenlight)
"PC Elitists, those people who continuously spout "PC Master Race" everywhere have a lot of crow to eat. Consistently mocking the "console peasants" for having to pay for DLC"
http://www.nexusmods.com/sk...
Nexus won't monetize mods. Unlike console gamers we, pc gamers, aren't slaves to corporate greed an can fight against it. More than anything the freedom that PC gaming offers is what made me get into it after being a console gamer for decades and witnessing how console gaming has become an exercise of bending over to multi-billion $ companies. I do still play on consoles and still love some of its exclusives but most of my time and money is spent on PC gaming.
I was initially pro selling mods.
After it was revealed what share the modders get I changed my opinion about this. I still think that people who spend a lot of time and work on doing the mods should get some money for their work and I don`t see an issue with Valve and the Publisher/Developer getting some money given that Valve provides the service where they can sell their mod and the developer provides the game they can mod, but a 25% share for the people that do all the work versus a 75% for the people who provide a service and provide a game doesnt seem right to me.
I also think it`s a joke that after Valve takes a huge junk of money they don`t have a process in place where they check the content for any copyright issues and instead tell the community to do the work.
@Superman
Funny that you mention Steam machines, at the first announcement I was also pro Steam machines until they spilled more details on how they won`t do anything besides of the Steam OS and how they won`t do any restrictions. I was hopping initially that they would have a set amount of configurations that developers can optimize for instead it`s just a normal PC in a smaller box that provides the same issues as any other PC, meaning there won`t be any real optimization for it because there are just too many configurations.