Monetization of mods?

[Skarzog]

So for those of you unaware, Valve and Bethesda have come to an agreement to allow Valve to monetize mods for Skyrim on their workshop. To this point as a modder it is almost impossible to profit from your mods directly because they use copy right material. But with Bethesda's blessing and Valve's platform this is now a possibility and many modders have already begun pulling their mods from other free sites to make them exclusive on Steam for all future updates of their mod. If you'd like to know more I suggest watching TotalBiscuit's video on the topic, he does a pretty good job of explaining it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGKOiQGeO-k


So bringing this back to WoW... does anyone else think this is just the beginning of whats to come for games and mods? Will other companies begin to sanction the monetization of mod's using their games for a cut of the profit? Could Blizzard come to a similar agreement with a site like Curse and we'd suddenly find that in order to have access to the latest version of Skada we'd need to cough up whatever the mod author deemed adequate?

In my opinion, just like DLCs and micro-transactions, this will catch on. Once video game companies realize they can make coin by doing nothing more than sanctioning other peoples' work, we will see many more games come out with similar arrangements. WoW is a bit of a trickier subject, the game has already been out for 10 years and has a subscription.

So what do people think? Will we be seeing cash for mods some time in the future?

[Slant]

I won't be paying for mods. Considering that it's the mods that made WoW what it is, it would be a dumb move.

[Deleted]

i don't get it why this game hardly tries to make me stop playing it.

- i refuse to do any content in the game until i get flying. it was there before so why remove it. If some fanatics loves to explore then let them use grousnd mounts and let them explore or seriously create realms with no flying because everyone does not care about how they play the game. I do not tell people how they should play their game , and i hate getting told on how i should thx blizzard.

so yeah in dreanor i'll only afk in garrison until they finally decide to allow us to fly then maybe just maybe i'll look forward to their future contents.


- ask for payment? even more? i hardly understand why we have to pay monthly for this game when the servers are still horrible. it's like they use our money for themself rather than the game itself. and i do not care how much ressources they have spent on twitter, selfies or fking content when i won't be part of it.


so yeah. i do not get why blizzard tries so hard on ruining the game for many. if raiding ends i'll quit the game. it's the only binding option left for me which makes me play the game.

i know that i didn't talk about the main point but i believe it's still quite relevant to the topic that blizzard doesn't care for so many. i've been sub all this time. just because of raiding so i really hope for them that they do not fk up

[Spray]

i don't get it why this game hardly tries to make me stop playing it.

- i refuse to do any content in the game until i get flying. it was there before so why remove it. If some fanatics loves to explore then let them use grousnd mounts and let them explore or seriously create realms with no flying because everyone does not care about how they play the game. I do not tell people how they should play their game , and i hate getting told on how i should thx blizzard.

so yeah in dreanor i'll only afk in garrison until they finally decide to allow us to fly then maybe just maybe i'll look forward to their future contents.


- ask for payment? even more? i hardly understand why we have to pay monthly for this game when the servers are still horrible. it's like they use our money for themself rather than the game itself. and i do not care how much ressources they have spent on twitter, selfies or fking content when i won't be part of it.


so yeah. i do not get why blizzard tries so hard on ruining the game for many. if raiding ends i'll quit the game. it's the only binding option left for me which makes me play the game.

i know that i didn't talk about the main point but i believe it's still quite relevant to the topic that blizzard doesn't care for so many. i've been sub all this time. just because of raiding so i really hope for them that they do not fk up

You realise this topic isn't about WoW, right? Or do you just use every chance you have to rant again and again about the same things we see on the board for the past year?

Also, you apparently have no clue about how business works - it's Blizzard's game, they can dictate whether they want flying or not and you can like it or not. In the end, it's you who is a sucker for paying for a game you don't even like anymore.

Back to the topic - given the fact how many hours some of these mods require to be what they are, I'm totally fine with that. Not everyone is making it for money anyways and most people with that skills have already well-paid jobs. Also, Steam Workshop already works in a similar way for Dota 2, so I don't really see that much of a problem here.

[Imnick]

I think there's basically no chance Blizzard will do this, right now they have an explicit ban on monetised mods in fact.

[Icaras]

My question would become: What quality control is there when it comes to monetised Mods?

If this is going to be fan made edits that are sold, is there going to be a system to ensure I get not only a quality mod(I wouldn't want some buggy junk made in a few hours on a weekend), but that I'm protected from things such bas a mods I buy that don't provide what was advertised or operate in a fashion that doesn't break the game from playing?

Also, is there going to be an expectation of how much original content a monetised mod is expected to contain? As it seems a bit dodgy for a mod that it mostly editing existing content to be something you have to pay for, if it contain minimal to no original content. (For example, a "super hard" mod that merely doubles the damage of all mobs by editing files in the game that control how much damage they do.)

Given the amount of mods games like Skyrim inspire, I'd be worried if they just allowed anyone and everyone to post whatever junk they wanted and charge whatever for it.

That then raises the question of if there is quality control, who provides? I don't think I could trust the modder themselves, and the steam people just sell games theses days, does this mean there will be expectation the game publisher or designers need to actually play and approved each mod?

I think this seems like a potentially bad idea.

[Deleted]

You realise this topic isn't about WoW, right? Or do you just use every chance you have to rant again and again about the same things we see on the board for the past year?

Also, you apparently have no clue about how business works - it's Blizzard's game, they can dictate whether they want flying or not and you can like it or not. In the end, it's you who is a sucker for paying for a game you don't even like anymore.

Back to the topic - given the fact how many hours some of these mods require to be what they are, I'm totally fine with that. Not everyone is making it for money anyways and most people with that skills have already well-paid jobs. Also, Steam Workshop already works in a similar way for Dota 2, so I don't really see that much of a problem here.

you do realize he wrote if we believed that blizzard would do something similar, hence i replied that they proly would since they are doing their best.

[Noomz]

I very much agree with TB on the matter. He expresses himself well about it. There both good and bad sides to this and my biggest beef about this is how Valve is actually taking 75% of the revenue.

Ontop of that, content theft is a MASSIVE problem with this, especially considering that Valve are fucking awful at moderating Steam in the slightest.

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My question would become: What quality control is there when it comes to monetised Mods?

If this is going to be fan made edits that are sold, is there going to be a system to ensure I get not only a quality mod(I wouldn't want some buggy junk made in a few hours on a weekend), but that I'm protected from things such bas a mods I buy that don't provide what was advertised or operate in a fashion that doesn't break the game from playing?

Also, is there going to be an expectation of how much original content a monetised mod is expected to contain? As it seems a bit dodgy for a mod that it mostly editing existing content to be something you have to pay for, if it contain minimal to no original content. (For example, a "super hard" mod that merely doubles the damage of all mobs by editing files in the game that control how much damage they do.)

Given the amount of mods games like Skyrim inspire, I'd be worried if they just allowed anyone and everyone to post whatever junk they wanted and charge whatever for it.

That then raises the question of if there is quality control, who provides? I don't think I could trust the modder themselves, and the steam people just sell games theses days, does this mean there will be expectation the game publisher or designers need to actually play and approved each mod?

I think this seems like a potentially bad idea.

The reputation of the mod creator and word of mouth.
If the players dont like the content or the price, it will be known.

[Amerissis]

Mods for Skyrim are not comparable with addons in WoW. The first adds models, lighting, story, quests, etc. in the world. The second adds an UI modification only, nothing in the game itself. As soon as you can start adding models, quests, dungeons and the likes in WoW, you can compare the two and yes, then Blizzard might allow charging for such mods.

[Imnick]

Remember in your Blizzard/Steam comparisons that Steam already has an integrated workshop and has for years whereas WoW does not, and they would need to develop one before they could monetise mods.
While they provide a lot of support for mod makers, I do not think that they want to officiate them to that degree.

[bluspacecow]

Addons are not derivative works and remain fully copyrighted by the addon author unless stated otherwise by a specific license.

So for this to happen Blizzard would have to either [a] Buy the rights to the addon off the author or [b] Offer an "addon" store similar in function to the Android or Apple Store

Neither of which I can see them doing anytime soon - they would rather just meld functions into the base UI "inspired" by a certain addon rather then charge for the addon itself.

[Ballrug]

I think there's basically no chance Blizzard will do this, right now they have an explicit ban on monetised mods in fact.

Some folks have tried to monetize mods, like the oQueue dick who decided everyone needed to go see his web site full of ads every time his mod requested an unnecessary upgrade. Good riddance to that asshole.

[prwraith]

Yea..pirating of mods is going to go up. Nobody is going to pay for mods..

[Adarian]

I very much agree with TB on the matter. He expresses himself well about it. There both good and bad sides to this and my biggest beef about this is how Valve is actually taking 75% of the revenue.

Ontop of that, content theft is a MASSIVE problem with this, especially considering that Valve are fucking awful at moderating Steam in the slightest.

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The reputation of the mod creator and word of mouth.
If the players dont like the content or the price, it will be known.

my issue is the rather how everything surrounding the idea sounds like it was penned by Scrooge himself.

here's the revenue page.
-Setting Prices. The Publisher will have the ultimate discretion to determine the suggested retail price for your Contribution. In the case of Contributions distributed directly via the Steam Workshop, Valve and/or the Publisher may choose to offer you price categories from which you can choose a suggested retail price for your Contribution. In the case of in-Application distribution, the Valve and/or the Publisher may choose to distribute your Contribution for free, or to cease charging a fee for (or reduce the price for) a Contribution previously distributed for a fee. You will not be entitled to any compensation for Contributions distributed for free.

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Yea..pirating of mods is going to go up. Nobody is going to pay for mods..

pirating mods... i think this will be the Serbian to the next video games crash...

[Deleted]

So bringing this back to WoW... does anyone else think this is just the beginning of whats to come for games and mods? Will other companies begin to sanction the monetization of mod's using their games for a cut of the profit? Could Blizzard come to a similar agreement with a site like Curse and we'd suddenly find that in order to have access to the latest version of Skada we'd need to cough up whatever the mod author deemed adequate?

A bigger concern for me would be if it started happening to older games - while Doom, Quake etc. are 20 years old, they do still have dedicated modding communities. (and id ofc is owned by Zenimax these days)

Either way, this will kill modding stone-dead whatever the game - innovation and originality will go out the window in favour of formulaic AAA-style content that makes more money. (although having said that, the Doom modding scene has been that way since the decade began...albeit with fame instead of fortune)

Yea..pirating of mods is going to go up. Nobody is going to pay for mods..

And then modding gets the same DRM treatment as music, DVD's, etc. (including region locks)

[Jaelian]

I don't agree with the system, I have always found the Steam Workshop to be a place where people can post mods that they have made, and sharing game files and the such for other people to enjoy, I don't think we should be forced to pay for that, a voluntary contribution would be a better way to go from my point of view.

Not like I have ever modded anything (I lack the skills or time to do so) so I dont know what its like from a modding perspective, but I would hedge a bet that people are happy enough to see others enjoying their modifications, and recieving a small income from those who feel like doing so, Its not fair to lock people without money to spend on mods on being able to get mods.

[Notshauna]

No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

Mods don't work as pay up front products, either offer trials and allow you to pay later or better yet allow for donations.

[Adarian]

No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

Mods don't work as pay up front products, either offer trials and allow you to pay later or better yet allow for donations.

if the mod doesn't work they just refund you into your steam wallet.

you can't get that money back.

[anakin57]

I actually see this happening w/in WoW, but Blizzard would be smart to monitor Valve & Bethesda to see how well it goes as the guinea pigs for a while, and then determine if its worth the squeeze.

[twiddler]

That's great. Why should someone profit from someone else's work? In WoW's case, it's even more ridiculous considering how they feign the facade that being able to create for their game is a privilege. Make it an actual marketplace and perhaps the market will finally have talent and diversity instead of a collection of backyard mechanics.

I have to agree with you that it will catch on and I expect a very small minority of mods being entirely endorsed and under an endorsed premium model with the majority following un-endorsed freemium.