Steam allowing paid workshop mods

[Taernath]

http://www.shacknews.com/article/89253/steam-opens-door-for-paid-mods-to-enter-steam-workshop-starting-with-skyrim


Steam Workshop has been offering new avenues of revenue for content creators, offering money for those that have contributed weapons, maps, and items. Now Valve is opening up a new path for contributors, allowing mod creators to put their work on Steam for sale.
Mod creators will be able to list a price for their work on Steam Workshop. Any work purchased will see that money go directly to the mod creators. Anything purchased will be available to play immediately. Valve is kicking the feature off with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, with other games set to be added soon.
Steam Workshop has brought in over $57 million for content creators, with mods providing the newest way for them to make a few bucks. Of course, free mods will still be available, for those that want to maintain the purity of the modding community.

Interesting. I wonder what the implications of this are. How long until someone plagiarizes free mod content to resell?

[Tgo01]

Interesting. I wonder what the implications of this are. How long until someone plagiarizes free mod content to resell?

Exactly what I was thinking. Someone could even buy a mod then put it up for sale themselves for a slightly cheaper price.

[Taernath]

It's a weird situation. Mods have traditionally been free and allowed the borrowing of code or meshes as long as you gave credit where it was due. How will Steam handle disputes? Will they even bother? I can't imagine many games allowing people to piggyback revenue off their IP.

I just wonder how this will effect future mods. Will it continue on like before or will everyone start charging? Right now there's a huge backlash against the paid modders on their workshop pages (big surprise).

On the bright side I'm glad to see Steam added a 24 hour refund policy specifically to these mods. Hopefully they'll expand that to the rest of their service.

[Tgo01]

Paid mods are probably the future now.

[Gelston]

http://www.shacknews.com/article/89253/steam-opens-door-for-paid-mods-to-enter-steam-workshop-starting-with-skyrim



Interesting. I wonder what the implications of this are. How long until someone plagiarizes free mod content to resell?

Heard about this about a year ago... What I read is that the game publisher still has to approve any and all mods going up for sale.

[Taernath]

http://i.imgur.com/omSfCLX.jpg

So for every $1 in mod sales, Valve gets 75 cents. That will probably do a lot to drive down modder participation.

Giving mods a donate button would have been a much better idea.

[Gelston]

http://i.imgur.com/omSfCLX.jpg

So for every $1, Valve gets 75 cents. That will probably do a lot to drive down modder participation.

Well, it is more than the big nothing they get now, though most really good mods are created by a team of people and they get paypal donations and crap.

[Gelston]

Thread: Steam allowing paid workshop mods
25% is a joke

Okay, then don't make mods. No one is forcing you to use Steam for mods anyways.

[Fallen]

One problem with this is that steam mods are limited in scope. There are certain things which are simply impossible to do on steam that are available through the nexus and similar sites.

There will be less incentive to do these more complex mods for fear of losing out on revenue. Hopefully steam will address this issue in the future.

[Gelston]

One problem with this is that steam mods are limited in scope. There are certain things which are simply impossible to do on steam that are available through the nexus and similar sites.

There will be less incentive to do these more complex mods for fear of losing out on revenue. Hopefully steam will address this issue in the future.

I imagine a lot of the more popular mods probably already made more via donations then they'll get from selling them on Steam. I'm curious, though, if Steam will have price caps.

I also want to see how they'd handle paying people who work on the mod as a group. Is it split? Does it go only to the uploader who then has to divy it out?

[Fallen]

Yeah, a lot of issues. You're also charging for something that will not have any promise of tech support, bug fixes, or updates. Hell, many mods run the risk of corrupting your save or worse.

Buyer beware is not the best policy to foster a happy client base.

[Androidpk]

Nice idea. I wish more developers (and publishers) were more open in allowing modding. I'm looking at you DICE/EA!

[caelric]

Interesting. I wonder what the implications of this are. How long until someone plagiarizes free mod content to resell?

Exactly 0.26 microseconds.

On a serious note, there are already issues with many steam mods taking content from nexus mods without proper (or any) attribution, at least WRT Skyrim mods, and I'm sure other games have the same issues.

[Taernath]

One problem with this is that steam mods are limited in scope. There are certain things which are simply impossible to do on steam that are available through the nexus and similar sites.

There will be less incentive to do these more complex mods for fear of losing out on revenue. Hopefully steam will address this issue in the future.

I wonder how this will impact the major foundational mods like SkyUI, Wrye bash and SKSE. So many mods require those to be functional. If any of those go paid everything is fucked.


Nice idea. I wish more developers (and publishers) were more open in allowing modding. I'm looking at you DICE/EA!

I'm not sure you understand what this thread is about.

[Taernath]

Exactly 0.26 microseconds.

On a serious note, there are already issues with many steam mods taking content from nexus mods without proper (or any) attribution, at least WRT Skyrim mods, and I'm sure other games have the same issues.

It's kind-of-funny-but-not-really that I've seen mods which have been dormant for 3+ years suddenly get re-released as paid 'gold' versions.

[Androidpk]

I wonder how this will impact the major foundational mods like SkyUI, Wrye bash and SKSE. So many mods require those to be functional. If any of those go paid everything is fucked.



I'm not sure you understand what this thread is about.

I'm pretty sure I do.

[Taernath]

I'm pretty sure I do.

The thread isn't about Steam having modding support, the workshop has been around for a couple years. It's about Steam monetizing the workshop.

[Androidpk]

The thread isn't about Steam having modding support, the workshop has been around for a couple years. It's about Steam monetizing the workshop.

I know that. Which is why I said, "Nice idea."

[Taernath]

I know that. Which is why I said, "Nice idea."

Why do you think it's a good idea?

[Androidpk]

Why do you think it's a good idea?

Because some of the content created is awesome and the creators deserve to be able to make some money off their work.

[Thondalar]

Because some of the content created is awesome and the creators deserve to be able to make some money off their work.

People shouldn't be singularly rewarded for doing things, they should just do them because it is better for the collective.

[Androidpk]

People shouldn't be singularly rewarded for doing things, they should just do them because it is better for the collective.

True. Good call, comrade.

[Taernath]

Because some of the content created is awesome and the creators deserve to be able to make some money off their work.

That's what a donate button would be for. Steam is taking 75% of the price for themselves.

[Androidpk]

That's what a donate button would be for. Steam is taking 75% of the price for themselves.

A donate button would probably be better. I suppose 75% is a bit lopsided.

[Fallen]

Another issue is there will be games for which the publisher/Dev does not want there to be mods. If the best modders all switch to paid work going through Steam, we'll miss out on fun stuff like this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hcUH2hxhIc

[Androidpk]

This doesn't change anything if the devs don't allow for mod support. As far as I know if they don't release the mod tools to the public then it can't happen anyway.

[Fallen]

This doesn't change anything if the devs don't allow for mod support. As far as I know if they don't release the mod tools to the public then it can't happen anyway.

Once a paid mod market has been established, modders are unlikely to devote their time to unsupported games if they aren't going to be paid for their work.

[Gelston]

Once a paid mod market has been established, modders are unlikely to devote their time to unsupported games if they aren't going to be paid for their work.

I don't think it is going to really change from now. Like I said, good mods have donations that I bet exceed what they'd have made on Steam.

[Androidpk]

http://i.imgur.com/y8ocFFr.png

[Astray]

From what I can tell, a group of modders asks for money far more often than say a single dude who makes mods in his spare time.

[Fallen]

Even the non-gamers in my lab were cracking up at that. Awesome stuff.

[Astray]

Who makes that and why?!

On second thought, I don't want to know. The fucker is clearly mentally unsound.

[Androidpk]

Who makes that and why?!

On second thought, I don't want to know. The fucker is clearly mentally unsound.

Because people.

[Taernath]

http://i.imgur.com/y8ocFFr.png

That would complement my Realistic Milking Mod pretty well.

I can't wait for the Compleat Skyrim package with $5000 worth of mods.

[Silvean]

That would complement my Realistic Milking Mod pretty well.

Does it work with giraffes? I was interested in building a scaffolding for that sort of thing but I have since moved on to pogo stick based approach.

[Androidpk]

Shots fired.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--AxOErmcx--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1223190296204945512.png

[Taernath]

Some free version mods now have in-game popups to encourage you to buy the paid versions.

http://i.4cdn.org/v/1429952656706.png

[Tgo01]

Some free version mods now have in-game popups to encourage you to buy the paid versions.

http://i.4cdn.org/v/1429952656706.png

I love how even the author is like "Yeah, the pop ups are fucking annoying" in an attempt to get people to hate the popups so much that they just opt to buy the paid version. But hey it apparently works so why not.

The future of gaming: pay full price for a half finished game, buy the next 25% of the game via expansion packs and DLC, and buy the last 25% of the game via paid for player created mods.

[Astray]

A mod that actually fixes things that are broken? I don't mind paying for.

A mod that does nothing worthwhile (all nude mods)? No thanks!

One of those will charge, the other will just be released for free.

[Fallen]

Rather than X-posting what the owner of The Nexus has been saying (unless that's requested) I definitely recommend those interested read the news posting up on the site for information on the whole Paid Mod situation.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/?

Scroll down to see the news section of the site.

[Androidpk]

I'm changing my opinion. This is a giant clusterfuck.

[Astray]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65034/?

Amazing mod right there. I'd pay 350$ for it.

[Fallen]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65034/?

Amazing mod right there. I'd pay 350$ for it.

That one will likely win FOTM, which is hilarious.

[Astray]

That one will likely win FOTM, which is hilarious.

The creator has spoken on that, funnily enough.

[Androidpk]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65034/?

Amazing mod right there. I'd pay 350$ for it.

It would be even more hilarious if it had Hillary's face.

[Astray]

It would be even more hilarious if it had Hillary's face.

That'd be too easy.

[Fallen]

Lord GabeN in conversation on Reddit regarding the topic of paid mods: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/33uplp/mods_and_steam/?sort=qa

[Gelston]

He kept saying the mod creators put what % goes where... So it isn't 75% to steam, they set it.. I guess... So, why would I give any % to anyone other than me if that is the case? Unless the more money that steam gets off your mod the more it is seen..

[Fallen]

He kept saying the mod creators put what % goes where... So it isn't 75% to steam, they set it.. I guess... So, why would I give any % to anyone other than me if that is the case? Unless the more money that steam gets off your mod the more it is seen..

"The pay-outs are set by the owner of the game that is being modded."

Owner of the game would be Bethesda, not the modders. Modders can set the dollar amount, though.

[Whirlin]

From what I've heard about this... it's less about the ability to offer pay-mods, and more about Steam's implementation of the potential new pay structure.

No oversight on prices of mods versus prices of the game.
Rating systems on mods were seemingly removed, and you can't vote on things unless they're purchased.
No recourse/refunds for broken mods.

[Taernath]

You have a 24 hour refund window for mods, which is strangely more forgiving than the one for actual games. Beyond that, yeah, it's a literal 'ask nicely and see if the modder will fix the issue' situation.

[Fallen]

From what I've heard about this... it's less about the ability to offer pay-mods, and more about Steam's implementation of the potential new pay structure.

No oversight on prices of mods versus prices of the game.
Rating systems on mods were seemingly removed, and you can't vote on things unless they're purchased.
No recourse/refunds for broken mods.

Other issues are pay mods using other free mods content
No oversight on stolen mods (claiming another's mod entirely as your own)
No means of division of proceeds from a mod with more than 1 developer (which are most of the more complex ones)

[Androidpk]

Some people are saying if you refund a mod you get locked out of the market for 7 days.

[Gelston]

"The pay-outs are set by the owner of the game that is being modded."

Owner of the game would be Bethesda, not the modders. Modders can set the dollar amount, though.

Ah, yeah. Misread it. Still, that seems to take the money grab off Valve a bit and put it more on the individual devs. Be interesting if this causes more mod support from Devs/Publishers since they can now get a piece of that pie without having to do as much work in making expansions.

[Androidpk]

Ah, yeah. Misread it. Still, that seems to take the money grab off Valve a bit and put it more on the individual devs. Be interesting if this causes more mod support from Devs/Publishers since they can now get a piece of that pie without having to do as much work in making expansions.

Awesome. First we pay them to beta test their games and now we pay them to create additional content for their games.

[Whirlin]

Awesome. First we pay them to beta test their games and now we pay them to create additional content for their games.

Arguably, EA has been been doing that forever with DLC.

[Gelston]

Awesome. First we pay them to beta test their games and now we pay them to create additional content for their games.

No, because the mod creator doesn't have to set a price for the mod. If they do, then the Dev/Publisher sets the price for disbursal of profits.

[JackWhisper]

No, because the mod creator doesn't have to set a price for the mod. If they do, then the Dev/Publisher sets the price for disbursal of profits.

This. And it's stupid.

[Gelston]

This. And it's stupid.

I don't see what is stupid about it, tbh. Don't like the mod, don't buy it. Don't like the concept, don't pay into it. There will, undoubtedly, always be people making mods for free and only asking for donations... As most do now.

[Fallen]

Right now, the big problem is the general lack of planning and oversight in the process. These issues aren't out of left field. They should have put far more planning into the implementation of this system than they did. Hell, the first fucking mod out on the shop was pulled for using content without permission.

[Astray]

God, I can only imagine the collusion of modders.

"To use this mod, it requires the following:" Followed by a laundry list of mods, all referring to one or another of their friends.

[Fallen]

There are already mods being released with continual pop-ups if you don't have the paid version. Fun times.

I don't know how big you guys got into modding of Fallout/Skyrim, but i've easily had over 50 mods running at once. Even for games with a less mod potential, it wasn't uncommon to be running 10-20 mods. At a dollar a piece that is approaching 50-100% of the cost of the product itself. I doubt big mods like Project Nevada or graphics overhaul mods will only cost a dollar, either.

[JackWhisper]

I don't see what is stupid about it, tbh. Don't like the mod, don't buy it. Don't like the concept, don't pay into it. There will, undoubtedly, always be people making mods for free and only asking for donations... As most do now.

I think that there should be some separation that doesn't allow the Dev/Publisher complete autonomy over setting how much the creators get paid. I just don't agree with that.

Edit: Spelling.

[Astray]

Look, Jack. I worked 10 hours to get the right amount of sway to these pixelated tits. You're giving me 99.99$ for my hard work.

[Whirlin]

Look, Jack. I worked 10 hours to get the right amount of sway to these pixelated tits. You're giving me 99.99$ for my hard work.
said every dead or alive developer ever.

[Astray]

said every dead or alive developer ever.

Dude... that studio just needs to say fuck it and make porn already.

[Androidpk]

There are already mods being released with continual pop-ups if you don't have the paid version. Fun times.

I don't know how big you guys got into modding of Fallout/Skyrim, but i've easily had over 50 mods running at once. Even for games with a less mod potential, it wasn't uncommon to be running 10-20 mods. At a dollar a piece that is approaching 50-100% of the cost of the product itself. I doubt big mods like Project Nevada or graphics overhaul mods will only cost a dollar, either.

I had about 110 mods installed on Skyrim.

[Wrathbringer]

I had about 110 mods installed on Skyrim.

I was really enjoying Oblivion and looking forward to Skyrim but then kids. Still have the release day white/chrome 360 complete W/MASSIVE 10 OR 20 GIG MEMORY on the bookshelf, hooked up even, too. Mine never overheated like all the others, but then it didn't see too many 8 hr+ gaming sessions either.

[Gelston]

There are already mods being released with continual pop-ups if you don't have the paid version. Fun times.

I don't know how big you guys got into modding of Fallout/Skyrim, but i've easily had over 50 mods running at once. Even for games with a less mod potential, it wasn't uncommon to be running 10-20 mods. At a dollar a piece that is approaching 50-100% of the cost of the product itself. I doubt big mods like Project Nevada or graphics overhaul mods will only cost a dollar, either.

Well, and then there is SKSE, a mod that probably 90% of the other mods that are worth a shit require. Well, and also SkyUI. Monetize those two and mother of God.

[caelric]

I'm pushing the 255 mod limit on Skyrim. And some of the graphics are getting to the photo-realistic level.

[Gelston]

I was really enjoying Oblivion and looking forward to Skyrim but then kids. Still have the release day white/chrome 360 complete W/MASSIVE 10 OR 20 GIG MEMORY on the bookshelf, hooked up even, too. Mine never overheated like all the others, but then it didn't see too many 8 hr+ gaming sessions either.

Yeah... That game would overheat it after one or two hours. No other game I ever had did it, just that one. $20 xbox fan fixed it though.

[Androidpk]

Skyui is going to be a paid mod according to the owner.

[Wrathbringer]

Yeah... That game would overheat it after one or two hours. No other game I ever had did it, just that one. $20 xbox fan fixed it though.

Thinking about this made me remember that I've got this still in the box in a closet somewhere with the arcade kollection and MK9 because kids. Pre-ordered all that from gamestop when it came out, played it twice and now mk10 is out. :/

7390

[Taernath]

I'm pushing the 255 mod limit on Skyrim. And some of the graphics are getting to the photo-realistic level.

I have a shit-ton of ENB presets and realism mods. Game is amazing with them.


Yeah... That game would overheat it after one or two hours. No other game I ever had did it, just that one. $20 xbox fan fixed it though.

Weird to think Oblivion was really close to being a 360 launch title. I remember watching the announcement and demo videos thinking 'holy shit, he just shot a bucket and it moved'. Then Skyrim comes along 5 years later and can be run on the same hardware while looking 100x better.

[Gelston]

Skyui is going to be a paid mod according to the owner.

Too bad I already have it and am mostly done with Skyrim.

[Taernath]

Skyui is going to be a paid mod according to the owner.

SkyUI and SKSE are as close to essential mods as you can get. I think it sucks that the SkyUI modders are going that way, I would much rather pay them directly via donations or otherwise than allowing Valve/Bethesda to take a cut simply for existing and putting out a shitty UI which required modding. That being said, the devs say they will keep the old/free version updated with core functionality:

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/33quz6/skyui_pretty_much_one_of_the_most_essential_mods/

I think I'm okay with it. I don't see myself adding too many more crazy mods this far into Skyrim's life, and SkyUI is opensource anyway. I do worry about what this means for Fallout 4 or the next TES title though.

[Taernath]

http://steamcommunity.com/games/SteamWorkshop/announcements/detail/208632365253244218


We're going to remove the payment feature from the Skyrim workshop. For anyone who spent money on a mod, we'll be refunding you the complete amount. We talked to the team at Bethesda and they agree.

We've done this because it's clear we didn't understand exactly what we were doing. We've been shipping many features over the years aimed at allowing community creators to receive a share of the rewards, and in the past, they've been received well. It's obvious now that this case is different.

To help you understand why we thought this was a good idea, our main goals were to allow mod makers the opportunity to work on their mods full time if they wanted to, and to encourage developers to provide better support to their mod communities. We thought this would result in better mods for everyone, both free & paid. We wanted more great mods becoming great products, like Dota, Counter-strike, DayZ, and Killing Floor, and we wanted that to happen organically for any mod maker who wanted to take a shot at it.

But we underestimated the differences between our previously successful revenue sharing models, and the addition of paid mods to Skyrim's workshop. We understand our own game's communities pretty well, but stepping into an established, years old modding community in Skyrim was probably not the right place to start iterating. We think this made us miss the mark pretty badly, even though we believe there's a useful feature somewhere here.

Now that you've backed a dump truck of feedback onto our inboxes, we'll be chewing through that, but if you have any further thoughts let us know.

https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/fyeahamerica-montage.jpg

[caelric]

That, that....that picture brings tears to my eyes!

On a serious note, it's good to see companies admit when they made a mistake.

[Gelston]

So... No Skyrim pay mods? Help me read this, gents.

[Gelston]

Also, I found someone that is Steam level 569 through his friend links. Anyone seen anyone higher?

http://steamcommunity.com/id/palmdesert

[Taernath]

Also, I found someone that is Steam level 569 through his friend links. Anyone seen anyone higher?

http://steamcommunity.com/id/palmdesert

There are a couple other users that palmdesert competed with who were at times higher than he was. At least, that was the case a year ago, maybe they gave up.

[Gelston]

There are a couple other users that palmdesert competed with who were at times higher than he was. At least, that was the case a year ago, maybe they gave up.

Insane. Must have too much money and time on his hands.

[Fallen]

We're going to remove the payment feature from the Skyrim workshop.

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/clubpenguinpookie/images/3/32/Grumpy_Cat_Good.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140306235947

[Astray]

We've done this because it's clear we didn't understand exactly what we were doing.

Noooooooooo, really?