First Youtube with their paid subscription service that’s hurting creators, now Steam will be fucking people like myself up the ass via greedy mod creators.
The proof is right here. In a tweet from Steam, just before allowing Skyrim to have a Free Weekend.
So this ‘feature’ is in right now. All it does is allows mod creators (mainly for Skyrim mods as of now) to have the option of making you have to pay for their content. And there won’t be no regulations. There’s no “If you need the money, you’re allowed”. Even if it’s a joke mod, they’ll be allowed to charge!
This… is stupid beyond many levels. Mods should remain free. Spare me the sob stories of “I had to spend all of my savings for software to produce this mod(even though it’s probably shit)! The least you can do is fund me!”
Of course, we have the option of saying “No, I don’t feel it’s worth the money.” Plus, Steam will only give 25% of the profit to the mod author, and the other 75% to the dev. Because yeah, they need more money than they get from us buying their games. DLCs aren’t good enough.
But what worries me is high rated mods (like Immersive Creatures) are going to start asking for money. Though they still have that right. Doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.
Of course, there is the Skyrim Nexus to fall back to. So there’s our out. Some say that this is going to fall flat on Steam’s face, as no one is going to be stupid enough to dish out $10 or whatever for a mod that they used to get for free.
The least, and actually the best thing Steam could had done instead of this(which I never even thought of until I read the replies of the tweet), is allow people to leave a donation for their favorite mods. This way, mod creators may get something for their hard work. It’s not forced. It doesn’t feel like a cash grab. And it would be so much better.
I’m also reading that it’s illegal to sell mods, according to Bethesda. If this is true, Steam could probably be looking into some legal issues (with a lawsuit being filed against them).