I'm pretty sure Skyrim's EULA prohibits us from making money on mods, and in order for them to do that they'd have to change the EULA, meaning we'd have to reaccept, and if we don't, we'd technically be able to get a refund.

Besides the fact that you're pulling the "pay for mods" thing completely out of your ass, all of the consequences are the result of the modder's choices, not the developer/publisher.

It's not exclusive, so to be against it would be elitist and selfish of me.

If it brings more modders, mod users and true believers into the fold, it's always a good thing.

Say what you want about Steam Games, their modders are usually good folk.

Yes this is a possibility, but the chances of this happening now are very unlikely. If a mod gained enough traction through the nexus, Bethesda could buy it from the developer and release it as DLC if they wanted to already. For them to release any sort of mod to the PS3/360's crowd would require testing by both Sony and Microsoft to be certified as a DLC. This means small mods would be out of the question because it wouldn't be worth the time and effort for Bethesda to get the rights to said mod and contact Sony/Microsoft. That also brings up the next thing. If Bethesda were to do this it would require lots of time on their part. They would need to find the developer of the mod, get the rights from them, package it appropriately for Xbox 360 and PS3, make sure it doesn't cause any problems, contact Microsoft/Sony and then hopefully get it released. Does that sound like something they would go through just to release something for free? Look at the DLC for FONV the Couriers Pack (IIRC). That was composed of pre-created content (some of which was already in the game) and they released that for like $1.99. Now I realize Obsidian was the developer of that game, but Bethesda was the publisher so they played a hand in the DLC. Bethesda isn't going to do that just for free, they will ultimately be charging for minor compilations of mods that were created for free by paying the developer. That would pretty much invalidate the whole idea of creating mods for free.

I get faster speeds on Steam than P2P.

The point really is not that modders could get a small payment for their work, it's that someone else could get a much larger payment for work that modder has done.

Some people put years into creating new landmasses and massive questlines, so someone else makes money directly from the work that you have put into that, and you're supposed to be grateful for the few crumbs that have fallen off the table? Lap them up like a good little puppy while someone else eats the rest of the cake?

No thanks.

It's a totally optional service guys for distributing free content. You guys do realize that Bethesda profits from this in the exact same way they profited from Oblivion's, Fallout 3's, and Morrowind's mod communities, right? A game that keeps having new content created for it years after release by its fans is a game that continues selling, as opposed to games like Battlefield 3 that have a huge sales spike the first month and then virtually nothing afterwards.

Bethesda still makes some amount of money from Morrowind and Oblivion on the PC, due to the modding community keeping the games relevant even to this day. By making modding more accessible and more visible in the venue the game is going to be available through (Steam), Bethesda is ensuring that their game will generate income years from now even more, with the benefit that everybody involved (the mod creators, the users, and Bethesda) in some way benefits. And because it's optional, there are no drawbacks.


This is why developers really dislike developing for PC. They finally throw us a bone and instead of being excited, people complain about it or say it's not enough.

I for one am happy with this opportunity afforded us and the fact that Bethesda's doing special things (announced quicker patching and rebalancing for PC, Steam Workshop, etc) for the PC crowd.

EDIT* Nevermind they made this the main thread.

Bethesda won't charge for mods. Calling it now. I'll eat my hat in front of a live audience if I'm wrong.

I think Bethesda has conspired with the Greys and the Flat Earth Society to sell Skyrim mods to the Raelians.

We're swapping conspiracy theories here right?

While I agree I don't think they would on PC, I think thats the only mods will ever make it to consoles. (Most likely due to Sony and Microsoft.)

Best speed on Steam: 1.4 MB/s
Best speed on P2P: connection max of 5.8 MB/s
Best speed on Origin: 5.5 MB/s
Best speed on Microsoft's chronically overloaded servers: 4 MB/s
Best speed from Blizzard's WoW patch servers on patch day: 2.5 MB/s

Meaning everything is faster than Steam for me, even overloaded servers getting DDoSed by millions of players. For a frame of reference, I live in Vancouver, Canada and use Shaw Cable. Other friends who use Shaw also experience the same problem with Steam. Don't say switch ISPs, that isn't an option, as there isn't any others.

So do it for free.

It's optional for all of us. If you want to get paid to mod, go apply for a job at Obsidian, Bethesda, Etc.

EULA can claim ownership of stuff created in the CK, but it cant (regardless of claim) seize ownership of any textures and 3d work made by another person, accessed by the CK. The mod product and anything created by the CK is Bethesdas, otherwise a Middle Earth mod would be an interesting legal condundrum wouldnt it. So lets say you write a book, published or not, and decide to make a mod of it. You retain intellectual rights of everything except what the CK produces. The company cant then lay claim to all the 3d work on your computer and your novel or idea!

Anyway its all rhetotical. From my experience Bethesda have always been a decent company and I see nothing so far to say they arent still. I struggle to think of any other game or company so modder friendly.

Cool I guess? Steam is the only thing that maxes my line speed.

Also: Skyrim's usage of the Steam Workshop is different from TF2's usage of the Steam Workshop, the only way they can be compared is the interface... maybe.

And: Everyone is going to forget about this within a few days, or maybe a few days after release if enough people keep trying to hype up their perceived issues.

I would like to point out that Origin is most likely so fast because EA is unquestionably one of the most wealthy companies on Earth, so they can afford great servers, and like nobody uses Origin.

Or maybe because they actually put a server in my city, one of the largest cities in Canada. Steam's Vancouver server is like, somebody's 486 in a basemant or something, as I'm lucky to break a kilobyte per second on it.

Ok i havent read all the post, but this is a topic that im interested in. As i will be trying to mod.

Let me start by saying that im so far impressed will what Beth has done with Skyrim definitly game of the year material

So that being send Beth most likely try to make modders happy will a place that has support for their mods. (however there are alot of people who hate steam and would rather see it die) My guess is steam is pushing for user paid modding so they can grab some commission it would ruin a perfect modding community.

However i would like to see some good modders rewarded for the ideas they come up with. So i hope they implement a idea that is similar to youtube where every e.g 1000 downloads over 100Mb give you a certian percentage of adv commission. Although i still cant see how people might be able to create mods that may hack the game (say goodbye to major overhauls)

I can only hope they make a CK and download manager that is equal to the level they made skyrim

EXACTLY!

This is the meat of the matter that people are getting scared and butt-hurt about. Bethesda has always been fair about mod use. The TES series as a whole has been helped along since 2002, by modders innovating what's already there; and extending those functions with Script Extenders.

They let us do all sorts of crazy things to their art; and instead of complaining, they take note of it... to better the next game (I'm looking at you: bows, crafting, scripting).

I agree completely its a bunch of [censored] is what it is...they are just going to try and snaggle our money somehow. Bethesda should have never teamed up with Steam imo. Right now they say we will have a choice where we get our mods from but you know for a fact what they are gonna end up doing is shutting down the Nexus completely. Shame on you bethesda I thought you were better than this!

Again, because they are so wealthy. EA could afford to put a server in every major city (Over 200,000 population?) on Earth. Easy.

Maybe Steam should do that in between Gabe Newell swimming in his pools of money. It's not like they don't have lots of money.

I hate people like you. There's always some agenda right? Everything always has to be viewed with cynicism, correct?

They announce plans to implement a convenient place for players to download and install mods without any hassle yet some of you still find reason to complain. Sort your ungrateful attitudes out, it's embarrassing

Yes, because such things are totally unheard of elsewhere, aren't they? I'm sure Bethesda, just as any other
good company, never ever would come up with the idea of checking out what others do, what works and what
does not work in your own market. Then if it works, if money can be made, they themselves wouldn't even for
a second consider to implement anything of the sort in their own ways.

...and I said an example of what could happen...and I never said it was not the modder's choice if this would
come through whether to sell, or not. However, who's choice, if it happens, who is going to pay for it I think
we can agree on, is without doubt.

Why should we be grateful for a service we never plan to use and was probably the entire reason for the delay in the first place?