Valve monetizes mods (With Bethseda Launcher and Open Beta for Modding Released, Possible Return?)

[Commodore B.S.]

I personally am loving some of the Joke mods people are coming up with as a way to "protest" this situation.

Such lovely mods like "Kill lord Gaben", or the one that removes all imperials from the game, or my personal favourite, a brand new Main menu- Steam flavoured.

EDIT: I almost forgot, that last mod I linked has a version with custom music! Really adds some depth into the game.

 

[AnOminous]

As others pointed out, this opens a huge can of worms. A lot of mods contain IP borrowed or stolen from who knows where, possibly GPL stuff, and who knows what?

A lot of companies these days are fairly lax when something is just copyright, at least when it's noncommercial, but this has just made it commercial. Anyone finding their IP being sold for money and Valve making money off it is going to go bugfuck, and it won't be unreasonable. Valve will be basically stealing from them.

The pony mods would be a super obvious example and would probably be infringing both under copyright and trademark.

 

[c-no]

As others pointed out, this opens a huge can of worms. A lot of mods contain IP borrowed or stolen from who knows where, possibly GPL stuff, and who knows what?

A lot of companies these days are fairly lax when something is just copyright, at least when it's noncommercial, but this has just made it commercial. Anyone finding their IP being sold for money and Valve making money off it is going to go bugfuck, and it won't be unreasonable. Valve will be basically stealing from them.

The pony mods would be a super obvious example and would probably be infringing both under copyright and trademark.

Considering how many mods you have that use MLP or some outfit that obviously is from another game, Valve may as well be painting a target on itself while being before a firing range. Valve and Bethesda should of at least known that there are mods that literally use copyrighted characters from other works that do not belong to either of them.

 

[SpessCaptain]

 

[Watcher]

I'd suggest everything from this post onwards get merged with this thread

 

[EI 903]

I'd suggest everything from this post onwards get merged with this thread

Done.

 

[c-no]

I honestly wish I had a horrifying rating for that and possibly a therapist. Really, why would one need this sort of mod?

 

[Commodore B.S.]

I honestly wish I had a horrifying rating for that and possibly a therapist. Really, why would one need this sort of mod?

Ive seen..... horrifying things that would answer you question, But I would reeeeeeally rather not waste what precious little sanity I have left to find the proof it exists.

 

[Luna]

I honestly wish I had a horrifying rating for that and possibly a therapist. Really, why would one need this sort of mod?

The person that made it uses the sexlab plugin that lets you have sex with animals is my guess.

On topic though, here's what trainwiz said about mod monetization:

 

[c-no]

The person that made it uses the sexlab plugin that lets you have sex with animals is my guess.

But of course, for those that would want that, especially since you have MLP mods that replace the looks of horses. And I thought that horse mod was restricted to the Nexus*. The comments for it pretty much try to defend it by saying "I need immersion and realism".

*Thanks Cracked.com for mentioning that mod and where it came from, one may as well wonder what other horrors lurk there but that would be for another thread.

 

[AnOminous]

I suppose this was inevitable after the "success" of Hat Fortress 2.

 

[Luna]

When both Reddit and 4chan hate something it typically means you did something wrong.

You can add tumblr to that list.

Spoiler

Valve and Bethesda have united Tumblr, 4chan, and Reddit with their stupidity.

 

[exball]

You can add tumblr to that list.

Spoiler

Valve and Bethesda have united Tumblr, 4chan, and Reddit with their stupidity.

The Triple Entente of Autism.

 

[Commodore B.S.]

@Luna

Hoooo boy this shitstorm is making the diretide Fiasco look like a light drizzle. You know you dun goofed when those three groups stop trying to gut each other and point their anger towards one target.

 

[Linako 2.0]

so where is gamer gate protesting this?
oh yeah, doing shitty flamewars with feminists.

 

[exball]

so where is gamer gate protesting this?
oh yeah, doing shitty flamewars with feminists.

Tippity top kek.

 

[Watcher]

so where is gamer gate protesting this?
oh yeah, doing shitty flamewars with feminists.

there is a thread on /gamergatehq/ about it but it is just people waiting for journalists to begin shilling about it.

 

[Mechanism Eight]

Welp, this can only end in Valve collectively being shat on by anyone with so much as a single functioning braincell.

This is like dropping yourself into a minefield made of other, smaller minefields, tearing out your eyes and running in a random direction. They're going to fuck up, it's destined to happen, and it's going to happen damn soon. Mods with copyrighted content. Utter trash (or worse, shit that poses as something else but just breaks your game after that 24 hours) sold for hundreds of dollars. People stealing stuff and calling it their own and then profiting from it.

What I'm saying is that this is an entirely new level of fucking dumb.

 

[Linako 2.0]

You mean like this?

I don't know wither to feel incredibly angry or sad over this.
I'm feeling a mixture of both right now.
One thing I just realized, if people monetize their mods, can they try to get DMCAs of their content on youtube that shit on their mods? people like novajam can be taken down just for shitting on waifu mods.
Man, we need a modern version of this

 

[Batman VS Tony Danza]

I'm curious what would happen if a base mod that is needed for multiple popular mods (such as SkyUI for Skyrim) suddenly decided to just put their mod on Steam and charge. So much can already go wrong when modding and sometimes you have to step away from a mod you'd otherwise be really interested in because it conflicts with another. I'm not an expert on this and only modded Morrowind and Skyrim but those are the games that benefit the most from them. They're also so big and have so many variables to consider that sometimes a mod just won't work or will break your game regardless of how you change the load order. Most uploaders charging for their content won't be aware of conflicts until people are already complaining

However, there are mods out there that are so big and add so much to a game that they function like a mini-expansion in themselves. I have no problem paying for stuff that overhauls or adds an entire level of gameplay to a game but I think in the end it won't matter. If a mod becomes pay-only then I get the feeling it won't be built upon by others in the community. Another uploader will offer something similar for free and that will become what everyone uses and creates content around. The only projects that might survive are the larger ones that borderline on remaking a game and take so much skill and time that it'd be difficult to replicate.