Ok, but don't be surprised when you start seeing your mods on torrent sites.

And definitely don't take legal action against them. That would be such a d!ck move. Take it as a sign that people can't afford to invest money by buying mods that SHOULD have had been in the Vanilla release. Not all mods should be in the Vanillla game, of course, but I'm talking about the mods that fix major issues with the game. Surely those mods would be the ones you would charge for, no?

I appreciate you modding oblivion, though It's a shame that Bethesda released Skyrim on 11-11-11 instead of waiting at least a few months to really polish and improve the game. 11-11-11 was obviously a marketing ploy to make it sound all epic and crap. And now we have game breaking bugs that need patches, and patches that break the game even further. So fail.

TF2 is valve game, the mods that TF2 has do not just pop up every day they go through Valve and they post it for sale in game. Can't just make a mod and put it on the market they go through various steps Valve/Steam has no rights to sell mods created for Skyrim only Bethesda does.

It's called an example. You don't think that the Steam Workshop will also have such a certification system in place?

no I don't and if they did would be utterly useless you have separate site to go too which has been part of TES for a very long time and it the #1 trusted source for any TES mod.

Oh, please. Don't give me the "can't afford" excuse. They just spent $60 on a game. They can easily afford another $1 or 50 cents for a (major) mod.

Also, my life would have been way easier if Bethesda had simply included all the content that "should" have been in Oblivion / Skyrim. My Interiors Mod? Should've been in Skyrim. My Guard Overhaul? Ditto. My Ship Sailing mod? Yup. Gold has weight? Yes.

And if my mods happen to show up on torrent sites, you know what I would do? Send a nice, polite e-mail to the people who host those sites and ask them to kindly remove my copywritten material.

Agreed.

So then why is Bethesda / Valve investing the time and money necessary to create the Steam Workshop for Skyrim if we already have Skyrim Nexus?

As long as Bethesda only offers premium mods and does not mandate it, I think that would be a great thing. You would still be able to get your free mods (they will always be out there short of Bethesda discontinuing that privilege) and also have the option for what will have to be "higher quality" mods (otherwise no one would purchase them over the free ones).

Plus, it is in all of our interests to give Bethesda incentive to want to put out more content for this awesome game. Let none of us be naive, a company (even Bethesda) isn't going to do something if they can't make some money out of it.... And that's only fair because look how much enjoyment we all get out of it. So if we keep demanding / expecting free stuff, Bethesda is just going to move on to the next thing that will make them money.

That is why, buggy or not, I will always purchase a TES game at release for full price along with all the expansions. Not because I'm a tool, but because I see it as an investment in my personal entertainment.

Because it simple, they make it they can use the same system if successful for future games which might include PS4 and 720 as well as PC depending on MS and Sony attitude (Sony would agree MS may not) for some form regulation of mods so every platform can modsafely.)

If your modder and your doing mods not for hobby (free) better move on don't mod no one is forcing you to do it so don't hope for any profit margin at all.

Nothing I have read about this Steam Workshop (which would be pretty much a new feature to us average Steam users) says it will be monetized.

From all accounts (IE that one post) it's pretty much an alternative to the Nexus or other download sites, but with a direct interface on Steam to install the mods in a "safe" environment.

And like the poster above me said, it could be a way for them to get mods for PS3 users, as the PS3 has Steam on it.

So what about modding sites that sell Sims mods / additions? They charge roughly $2-3 per piece. And they're certainly making money.

mind linking such site, http://www.thesimsresource.com/, other then the [censored] EA sells at 2-3$ which is not modders property its EA's

1. That site has mods that are only available via a http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims3-materials-masonry/title/marble-pattern19/id/1116449/ (which, I assume, means that the subscriber has to pay to keep their subscription current).
2. I assume that means that the modders get paid in some fashion for the work that is downloaded. Or not.

There also wouldn't be any refunds, I assume.

If you download a game-fixing mod, and then sometime later someone releases one that fixes it better, but the price is more expensive, and this would probably happen quite frequently with the idea of competition in the marketplace, I wouldn't be surprised if people start blowing more money on mods than they did on the game itself.

Especially with all of the fixes that this game needs. Oh god, the guards are psychic again. And the spells, where are the spells? Why does it feel like every character moves and jumps at the exact same speed/height? And how can someone survive with 2 arrows lodged through their brain? And why do they say "oh, I guess it was nothing" after they get hit in the face with an arrow? someone stop me before I turn this into a b*tching thread xD

I'll be fixing the psychic guards, most likely. For free, I imagine.

Would it be copyright infringement, if you pay for a mod, change it ever so slightly, and then release it for free?

Oh, and before you attack me for saying this.....I have no experience in modding TES. I wouldn't be able to figure out how to do this. But, I do plan on trying out modding once the CK comes out

I have the full game on steam and at the moment i am bypassing their ridiculous drm with cracked patches so i dont have to run steam at all.

I dont really care if the ck is integrated with steam aslong i can get mods from nexus wich is far better, simpler and faster.

All I know is I would have gladly supported Skycaptain's Deadly Reflex for Oblivion, seeing as how it actually made the combat fun (which is why it's had such a big influence on Skyrim's combat overhaul).

I admit, putting it that way does make me sound weird. But it's not so much the idea of a very small number of really good mods costing a very small amount of money that bothers me. It's the potential of lots of mods, of varying size and quality, being essentially off limits to me unless I pay for them. At least with official DLC, there's bound to be only so many, and some mods will inevitably require them for something.

Perhaps I sound selfish, but at the end of the day, we all need to look out for our own interests. Like I said, I'm fine with a donation option. Yeah, most people wouldn't pay anything, but some may. And any amount of money that is greater than $0 is more than $0. The mods that you'd need to pay for would just end up on other sites, and even if you get it taken down once, you'd need to nuke the whole internet to stop it entirely (amputating an arm because the finger is infected).

Also, something just occurred to me. Now, I don't know how it works for TF2, so feel free to correct me. Since the transaction would be going through Steam, would the modder get "real" money, or will it just be added to their Steam Wallet (basically the same as Store Credit at GameStop)? If it's added to their Steam Wallet, the only thing they could buy with it would be other mods and games on Steam. I guess that's better than nothing, but given the way some people around here feel about Steam, I don't think they'd find much use for it.

Now, if I personally got into making big mods, I'd want to make money off them too. But the kind of mods I've made in the past were just little tweaks, personal preference stuff, none of which I ever made public. My pockets aren't overflowing with cash, and I don't have a way to personally buy stuff online. I either need to ask someone to buy it for me, or I need to use gift cards and such (as far as I know, Steam doesn't have gift cards). So any money that I'd be able to put into the system, would need to come out of the system first. Essentially, I wouldn't even be making money at all if I did that. If I can spend that money anywhere, great. If I can only spend it on Steam, than there's only so much I can do with it.

And if you're gonna tell me "What's the big deal about a few bucks when you bought the game for $60?", then get this, I bought Skyrim entierly with GameStop store credit, all of which came from trading in other games, and I actually liked some of those games. My wallet contains exactly $40 right now, and I don't know when I'll be getting more. That is how much a "few bucks" is to me. So like I said, if I need to pay money for potentially hundreds of mods, then I'd be better off saving my money, and spending it on other things that aren't trying to milk me for every penny I have.

If its work for you then don't do it.
I have spent thousands of hours modding - just for myself - I do it because it's a great hobby - not for praise or rewards.
But... If it became work I would not want do it for free either.
However, I do agree that modders should be able to sell their mods if they want to.

OP
Steam is being used as a deterrent to piracy . It's also considered the easiest way to distribute - as owners need a steam acct anyways.
Mods can be 'screened' for illegal content easier ( copyright textures and models, music and soundtracks etc.)
It's a case of suits getting together for corporate control of their products.

From Skryim Nexus: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/

Update: A couple of people have tried to point out that talking about Steam Workshop opening up charging for mods at this stage is pointless since the Bethesda announcement clearly says "Using the Workshop, you’ll have free user content with the push of a button.". Perhaps I'm a bit more sceptical over press releases but suggesting you can get free user content does not mean there won't be paid for user content as well. If the Apple App Store had a statement reading "Using the Apple App Store, you'll have free user content with the push of a button" they'd be right and wouldn't be lying. There are many free apps on the Apple App Store. There are even more paid apps. But the paid apps in the Apple App Store don't make that statement any less true.I decided to send off a quick email to Matt Grandstaff, the Bethesda community manager, to ask him about the potential for mod authors to earn money through the Steam Workshop system:

I just wanted to get some clarification on "mods for money". Obviously TF2 and Steam Works allow users to upload their mods and get money for it, and with this announcement there's some speculation that Steam Works is going to allow this for Skyrim as well in some form or another.

Matt responded:

So, basically your argument comes down to "people will pirate your stuff if you sell it, so don't sell it?"

And people wonder why Bethesda and other companies don't value the PC market anymore.

And donation options? I've had a donation button up on my website for years and I've never seen a penny come from it.

Honestly, no idea on how that works. I'd be happy with money in my Steam Wallet, though.

You paid for those games at one point, yes? (I understand your point, however. You're broke.)

Creating the mod itself isn't work. I enjoy it. Dealing with mod users complaining, telling me my work svcks and generally pissing me off in the worst way, now that is work. If I didn't enjoy modding to at least some degree, I wouldn't do it at all. I don't use my mods. I haven't really played Oblivion in maybe two years. Right now, I do it for the people who actually appreciate my work and for the challenge it brings me.

Seriously, though, the fact that you're in dire straits money-wise does not mean that modders should not hope to see anything back from the time and effort they put into mods.

If I could re-work the system, or have any control over it, I'd look at it like this:

If anyone comes out with a mod that is in essence a glitch fix (and does not, after testing, cause any other issues), Bethesda should provide some sort of "reward" to the provider, and then forward that on for free to the end user. After all, even though we all accept that Bethesda open-world games will have issues - or open-world games in general - it does not mean they should never be resolved.

However, if someone makes an expansion, or something to change the way something is done to a way that some may enjoy - something that does not specifically just "fix" things - I say this should be at a cost if the modder so chooses. It should not be mandatory, but they can add their own price, allow them to provide anything to help the buyer decide - clips on YouTube, links to their own forums talking about it - whatever. Best case scenario, review sites start popping up specifically for Skyrim mods like you see for Apps on the iTouch/iPhone etc.

Modders put a lot of time and effort in - I believe they should have the option to get paid for their work if they can.

I have been offered money to continue modding projects I had to drop for a while or completely, I turned them all down considering the reason I stopped working on said mod was usually because I picked up a Job or Two and had no time to continue modding.

There are people willing to pay for certain types of mods.


I would probably never use it, although it is hard to say considering My Steam Wallet has never had money in it and never will if that money has to come from my own wallet.

That's the thing - I have a side business going where I send people things from Japan - and that money goes into my PayPal account. I buy things I wouldn't normally since the money is already there. You might find it would be the same thing if you got paid through Steam for your work - much like I have used gift certificates for stores I hate to their capacity just because (now) if you don't use them, the store wins out. Oh, for the days gift certs could be used even just a bit and the rest was given back in cash...

I've had mods I've released be reposted to other sites by people without my permission. I don't think releasing a mod for money via Steam would end up bringing in much cash.

What I would like to see is Steam making a real effort towards streamlining the modding process, with the goal of eventually making it viable for consoles. Having that kind of audience for the work I produce would be awesome.

In my experience in downloading mods I've run into some that really deserve to be paid for. If there's a mod that its capable of transforming the vanilla game to incredible heights, I wouldn't mind paying for it at all. For example, if there was a modder who is capable of making a runtime CS(CK) I would definitely pay $$ for it.