Steam is now monetizing mods. I highly suggest we keep the mods here or move them to a site like Nexus. Otherwise we’ll have to pay for them, and while I do agree with the modders getting paid for their effort, I’d suggest maybe a donation system instead.
It’s not a forced payment, it’s voluntary. Anybody that wants to sell mods can do so, others that want to just distribute mods freely can do so too.
This. While I do not agree with what Valve has done at all I do agree with Ultimate here, it is not forced on you to sell your mod nor are you, the customer, forced to buy the mods, your money is still yours to control. I have always turned a wary eye to mods, yes they can be great and expand a game beyond its original purpose but they are generally not endorsed by the makers and tend to screw things up, a good example is our own Community Mod pack, while it is a GREAT pack it has its bugs and LUA errors due to the way the game currently manages more than 3 pages. IMO it is NEVER a good idea to purchase a mod that wasn’t made by the actual developers or has a strong backing to fix any errors free of charge. I am just waiting for the day they decide to charge for patches…
This whole thing makes it a bit more difficult for us too 
but if the developer can choose if we allow mod monetization or not this won’t be an issue.
Our stance is: we want to support mods (full stop). What is super good for us though is people who do high quality work and give it to us to include it in the game, making the game a better experience for everyone and the modder getting game credit. We’d want to continue to be able to approach modders like we’ve done so far until the game is done (V1.0) and then allow for mod monetization, because at that point modders are not necessarily filling holes but creating that “little extra”.
What is shitty with the whole thing is that the modders only get 25% of the revenue, which is outrageous!
I would much rather have seen a 50% Modder / 25% Dev / 25% Steam split, which really would incentivise modders, the developers to support modders and Steam to make some money with a solid platform. :s
[quote=“Killrob”]This whole thing makes it a bit more difficult for us too but if the developer can choose if we allow mod monetization or not this won’t be an issue.
Our stance is: we want to support mods (full stop). What is super good for us though is people who do high quality work and give it to us to include it in the game, making the game a better experience for everyone and the modder getting game credit. We’d want to continue to be able to approach modders like we’ve done so far until the game is done (V1.0) and then allow for mod monetization, because at that point modders are not necessarily filling holes but creating that “little extra”.
What is shitty with the whole thing is that the modders only get 25% of the revenue, which is outrageous!
I would much rather have seen a 50% Modder / 25% Dev / 25% Steam split, which really would incentivise modders, the developers to support modders and Steam to make some money with a solid platform. :s[/quote]
Yeah, if the percentage would be higher for the modder I would have less of an issue with this, as it is now in its current form though I can not support such a system.
[quote=“Killrob”]This whole thing makes it a bit more difficult for us too but if the developer can choose if we allow mod monetization or not this won’t be an issue.
Our stance is: we want to support mods (full stop). What is super good for us though is people who do high quality work and give it to us to include it in the game, making the game a better experience for everyone and the modder getting game credit. We’d want to continue to be able to approach modders like we’ve done so far until the game is done (V1.0) and then allow for mod monetization, because at that point modders are not necessarily filling holes but creating that “little extra”.
What is shitty with the whole thing is that the modders only get 25% of the revenue, which is outrageous!
I would much rather have seen a 50% Modder / 25% Dev / 25% Steam split, which really would incentivise modders, the developers to support modders and Steam to make some money with a solid platform. :s[/quote]
I think this is a horrible policy that will ruin modding communities all over the Internet. A couple days in and there’s already the Mod equivalent of Horse Armour DLC on the Skyrim workshop, and modders stealing other modders free content and releasing it as paid content…
Not to mention the fact that monetizing Mods will open them up to a new level of scrutiny never seen before. I fully expect to see lawsuits against modders in the coming months as copyright holders sue people for using their products in mods. Realistic weapons mod for fallout? just wait till military industrial complex hears about this, you’ll see all the gun companies in the world suing modders. Game of Thrones mod for CK2? Just wait till HBO comes in and sues them. All those cars in BeamNG that were exported from GTA and other games: Lawsuit… Even unpaid modders could very well end up being targeted by companies once all modders end up in the spotlight. Traditionally modders have been able to get away with things that not even Youtubers could in their videos, but with all this attention that will come to an end and modding will forever be ruined, or relegated to the depths of the internet…
As for Automation you could very well see car companies notice that many of these modders have made bodies that are clearly based on their cars, or grilles that are clearly from their vehicles. I mean if a company like Chrysler can sue GM because their grilles has the ‘same number of vertical slots’, then they can sure as hell sue Automation modders who make one for one copy of their grilles.
Supporting steams incredibly greedy policy will not help grow modding communities, but instead encourage stealing, greed, piracy and distrust. Modding communities have always been about sharing and respect between modders, but this policy will create a atmosphere of distrust where if anyone creates similar content to someone else they will be accused of stealing.
I STRONGLY urge the Developers NOT to allow monetization of mods for Automation. Instead I suggest that modders could add a profile to AutomationHub, and perhaps some sort of donation system could be implemented on that site giving users a choice to support those who deserve support, and the modders actually getting a fair share. Donation should be the ONLY acceptable form of pay from mods.
An other place where it’s open to lawsuits is when it comes to the software used for making the mods.
While it is less of an issue for games where Blender can be used, in Automation you have to use 3DS Max at some point in the process when making models. And while 3DS Max has an easy to obtain student license with all the features of the paid version, the EULA prohibits using it for commercial purposes.
In the case of the Automation modding community, I am pretty sure most modders are either using the student version or a pirated version, and I am pretty sure the situation is similar in other modding communities, although with the difference that they also have fully free alternatives.
As for my opinion of mod monetization for automation, I personally do not agree that you should let modders sell their mods even after V1.0. This IMHO, would go against what modding is all about.
Although if you want to work together with good modders to make content packs after V1.0 is out, be my guest. Those could even be included in the DLC packages that I hope you will make for things like diesel engines.
Well it seems that Valve has learned their lesson. Paid mods functionality is gone; hopefully never to return.
"“We’ve done this because it’s clear we didn’t understand exactly what we were doing,” - Valve
It’s quite a big and clear admission. You’ve got to give them credit for that at least. Most other firms wrap it up in PR bollox to somehow convince you that what they were doing was not what they said it was and somehow you got it wrong, not them.
What is this?
What is this misinformation? What is this?!
Don’t come here opening threads claiming the apocalypse is coming. I read about this. So I immediately spot you bulls***. But other people that aren’t up to par with the information will be alarmed and fed with what is just misinformation!
You didn’t even know what is going on. You read the title and came here doing stupid claims.
[quote=“PMP1337”]
What is this?
What is this misinformation? What is this?!
Don’t come here opening threads claiming the apocalypse is coming. I read about this. So I immediately spot you bulls***. But other people that aren’t up to par with the information will be alarmed and fed with what is just misinformation!
You didn’t even know what is going on. You read the title and came here doing stupid claims.[/quote]
You’re not doing a better job either, just posting to flame with no actual content. I don’t know what is worse. (Warning given)
On topic: Valve has abandoned the whole thing after the backlash received. 
I think that is sad, because I’d rather have a well thought out mod monetization than none, but rather none than what they had planned 
This is the best solution IMO, it gives those that have no real disposable cash a chance to get a mod and gives them the option to donate later when they can. This system would favor the good mods and modders since the general public would not mind donating to those that make great mods. If it is a really good mod I would be more than happy to spend a bit more than normal just to keep the modder going.
IMO, the last time Valve made a sensible, well-thought out decision in the last few years was the confirmation of Half-Life 3.
I don’t think Valve management is firing on all cylinders anymore. Might need a new timing belt. Should probably stop being a game distributor and become a game coil pack.
[quote=“Sayonara”]
IMO, the last time Valve made a sensible, well-thought out decision in the last few years was the confirmation of Half-Life 3.
I don’t think Valve management is firing on all cylinders anymore. Might need a new timing belt. Should probably stop being a game distributor and become a game coil pack.[/quote]
Even if the original idea was ill conceived, certainly very praiseworthy of them to back down when it became clear what the reaction was. A lot of companies, particularly larger ones, would not have done so given the amount of inflexibility in those organizations.
I’ve always thought that a simple solution would be just to allow the option of accepting donations through the workshop, like how for certain games, mods will include donation links in their forum threads (I know several KSP mods for example do this). Can’t help but wonder if thats just too obvious an answer, or a case of there being some kind of legal issues with it, or just not going to happen because Valve/whoever don’t get to take a cut?