Steam Launches Paid Mod Support

[Toonces]

^ Holy overreaction, Batman (at Panzerde)!

It is not mandatory to charge for mods- it's up to the modder.  So feel free to mod to your heart's content!

It's not a whole lot different than choosing a freeware plane for FSX vs. a payware plane for FSX.  Think of it like that.  You don't have to buy the payware if you don't want it.

I suspect this is going to be an epic fail, so don't lose sleep over it Panzer.   8)

[Sir Slash]

To me this seems like more of a way to stop mods than support them. Who actually gets the money? The modder or Steam? If the workshop is a financial burden on Steam then they should say so and be up front about it. The workshop was always a draw to Steam for me, an advantage over their competitors and made running mods a simple and easy way to enjoy them while making their games better. But I agree it'll probably last about as long as it takes people to figure out there are free mods to be had and by this time next year it will be my new April Fool's Day joke.

[GibbyG]

Both get a portion.  Not sure of the split.

[panzerde]

Both get a portion.  Not sure of the split.

75% to Valve/Bethesda, 25% to the modder. The modder has to generate sufficient sales to get a $100 payout before getting anything, so $400 in mod sales.

[Staggerwing]

If the 'featured' Skyrim mods in the linked Steamworks page are any indication,  at 99 cents per D/L some of these modders may never see a dime.

[Ian C]

75% to Valve/Bethesda, 25% to the modder. The modder has to generate sufficient sales to get a $100 payout before getting anything, so $400 in mod sales.

That's a terrible deal, by any standard.

If the 'featured' Skyrim mods in the linked Steamworks page are any indication,  at 99 cents per D/L some of these modders may never see a dime.

Quote from the STEAM splash page:

"...the Workshop is also a great place for community content creators to earn a living by selling their greatest works".

Earn A Living. I'm not going to do the math, but at those rates, I doubt it.

[JudgeDredd]

To me this seems like more of a way to stop mods than support them. Who actually gets the money? The modder or Steam? If the workshop is a financial burden on Steam then they should say so and be up front about it. The workshop was always a draw to Steam for me, an advantage over their competitors and made running mods a simple and easy way to enjoy them while making their games better. But I agree it'll probably last about as long as it takes people to figure out there are free mods to be had and by this time next year it will be my new April Fool's Day joke.

I agree.

Whilst I think people should give to modders if they can, I don't ever think it;s a good idea to force a charge. That would be up to the modder and as such he would need to be fully able and willing to support said mod

I think it's a way of killing mods off. I've always wondered why gaming companies might think it's a good idea to release a game that can be modded when it takes away from them DLC - especially now DLC is much much more prevalent.

[Gusington]

There's also the fact that Steam isn't the only place to get mods. For TW and Civ games, just to name two, there are lots of sites to grab user created content by the truckload. So...all is not lost.

[JudgeDredd]

There's also the fact that Steam isn't the only place to get mods. For TW and Civ games, just to name two, there are lots of sites to grab user created content by the truckload. So...all is not lost.

Yeah - but would your Steam game allow those mods?

[Ian C]

Yeah - but would your Steam game allow those mods?

Logically speaking, for this business model to work, no.

[Gusington]

Would this then backfire so bad that users will start buying non Steam versions of everything possible?

[Freyland]

What if Bethesda is just pushing this as a chance to make over-priced dlc and pass it off as a community mod?  People complained about them releasing horse armor as dlc, but would be more willing to support a passionate "modder".

[Bison]

This is a horrible idea.  I wonder what the monetary breakdown is between Steam, the developer, and the modder. 

[Sir Slash]

I'd be happier with Steam's Workshop if they would just FINALLY get the Attila Workshop up and running. They posted Tuesday announcing the release but still nothing. I've seen some mods for 99 cents and some for as much as $5 or $6. Who determines how much a mod is worth? The modder or Steam? And why the big differences I wonder? Smacks to me of a big Govt. conspiracy :o. But you didn't hear that from me. Shhhh.... :-X

[Pete Dero]

Is this only for new mods ?

Just checked and i currently have 107 workshop mods installed.  If free mods become paid mods these will undoubtedly be removed from you libary, probably making old savegames corrupt unless you pay up.