Skyrim Workshop Now Supports Paid Mods Options

[Acadian]

Gstaff, of Bethesda, announced on the Bethesda forum that Skyrim Workshop Now Supports Paid Mods. Here's the thread.

To say the reaction there has been underwhelming is a massive understatement. If I spend more than a moment pondering unintended consequences and pitfalls, I’m afraid I must agree with the ominous implications this has for the future of modding. A ton of posts on that thread already beat up the subject pretty well.

I confess I prefer as little to do with Steam as possible and have never touched their 'workshop'. I get my mods from Nexus, but the implications are disturbing - even for private hobby modders. Naturally, Steam is taking a big cut of all proceeds. Does this mean that for future games, the CK/CS will only be made available to 'for profit' Steam workshoppers? This seems to validate the concerns many of us have about Steam and their ability to control what you thought you paid for.

[Grits]

Here's some news from Chesko, I think. Wow. Link.

[SubRosa]

Here's some news from Chesko, I think. Wow. Link.

That shows just the kind of acrimony and legal issues I expected.

Some of the comments below also highlight even another issue. With mods-for-pay, it means that making a super successful mod will not provide you with the cred to get hired by a gaming company like Valve or Bethesda. Because there is no reason for them to buy the cow when they can get the milk for free. They stand to get rich off of the work of regular people, all without doing the slightest thing themselves. These for-pay mods are basically content made by employees they do not have to pay.

This statement by Valve really made me say WTF?

[Valve] Officer Mar 25 @ 4:47pm
Usual caveat: I am not a lawyer, so this does not constitute legal advice. If you are unsure, you should contact a lawyer. That said, I spoke with our lawyer and having mod A depend on mod B is fine--it doesn't matter if mod A is for sale and mod B is free, or if mod A is free or mod B is for sale.

I am not a lawyer either, but it sounds like a surefire lawsuit to me! And really, it does not matter if you even stand a chance of winning a lawsuit when you bring one. If you are rich, you can use a frivolous suit to bleed someone who is not rich of money, and financially destroy them.

Yes. . . Turning a hobby into profits tends to introduce enough headaches to kill any passion. That is why I would never consider writing for profit. I figure the problems Chesko discusses are simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to brand new headaches for modders.

Absolutely. Adding money to any situation never improves it.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Apr 24 2015, 10:16 PM