The Jimquisition 24: So Let's Talk About Mods Being Sold On Steam

hi I Zagerais artist Illustrator I work artam girls and others you can hold on me patreon.com/zagerais I hope you like it :3.

Zagerais

<a href="https://www.patreon.com/Brianna_Perkins?ty=h">https://www.patreon.com/Brianna_Perkins?ty=h</a>

No, it's getting funnier. But you know what somewhat similar thing *did* become toxic? MovieBob's childish insistence on taking jabs at Kevin Smith with any opportunity- and even a few times just out of the blue. And it wasn't as though there was some kind of tit-for-tat, as there is here with Jim and Dumbfucks, Inc. It was just Bob Chipman letting everyone know just how disappointed he was with Smith and his works. I got so fed up with it that I stopped watching his stuff altogether, which is a shame because I really liked both the Big Picture and his movie reviews. In this case, it's very much like with any other developer. They keep doing stupid, inane things; and Jim will keep commenting on them. I'm just wondering how far Digital Herbicide is willing to go.

Benjamin Hester

Awesome little gif on it XD <a href="http://i.imgur.com/fHuJkHH.gif" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://i.imgur.com/fHuJkHH.gif</a>

It's all academic now, Valve and Bethesda pulled it down.

I wouldn't have minded this if Bethesda got zero. Valve getting up to 25%? Yeah, I can understand that, a bit on the greedy side but I can understand that much. Bethesda? **** those guys, mods are the only reason why they are as popular as they are. Their games have only half a year's worth of replay value at best, and are usually buggy upon release. It is thanks to modding that games like Fallout 3 and Skyrim are all time best sellers that people still play to this day. Half of the non-sexualized features in one game usually end up in the next. Way to go Bethesda for trying to kill the Golden Goose! I thank God for you, Jim, and this episode. I would have liked an all-out endorsement of the anti-pay mod side, but you gave some very legit reasons why you didn't and I accept them. I still am less than happy with the modders who joined the Workshop Paywall, not because they want to sell their creative content, but because they easily bought into the first opportunity they got blindly (as evident by one who admits to some regrets about the process).

Based on Valve's track record for stuff like this, I see a shit storm forming. Implementing a service like this and not have any form of management is asking for trouble on a biblical scale. This could be just another step towards another gaming industry crash.

Dallen Steinke Jr

I wonder if a greenlight style system would work for the mods? That way only mods that have a certain amount of demand can get in? I'm probably being overly optimistic about it. I really like your idea of a pay what you want system, I love the idea of people who make awesome mods getting money from it, i've donated to a few in the past, it's too bad they just went ahead with it without any kind of consultation with the community.

Stush Cinta

You asked a little while ago about why people subscribe to you, and I think you have summed it up perfectly in this video during your analogy; put out a product that is worth buying and people will pay for it, even if there's plenty of free content that does something similar. This is a well thought out take on the issue that cuts through all the pitch fork craziness that we've seen over the past week. Keep it up Jim Fucking Sterling Son.

Joe Jones

if you weren't hurt by slaughtering grounds, drop it already. this getting toxic.

The issue is complicated as hell, but for me AS A CUSTOMER this boils down to three fairly obvious problems: 1. I purchase a mod and it does not work. Who will refund my money? 2. I purchased several mods and they are not working together. What should I do and who should I ask for help? 3. Game developer released a patch that broke my purchased mods. What to do? Basically , I get neither long term, no short term guarantee that my money are not completely wasted on a broken product. The thing with mods is that they are not always developed by professionals and not always supported for a long time. For this plan of Valve to work there has to be a huge, I mean HUGE, quality control before adding the price tag, otherwise we end up with another Greenlight, possibly even worse. And that is just a customers point of view, I dread to think what problems are there for modding community.

Really great job tackling this incredibly complex issue. Can of worms doesn't cut it, I'd say shattered jar of bees. I've followed a good bit of the discussion on this over the last few days since it's quite important to me (I'm one the gamers that run a few hundred mods at a time, so I've spent thousands of hours configuring and fixing mod conflicts over the last decade in Gamebryo related games). I felt you captured all the biggest points of concern perfectly for a 10 min vid, and also you did a great job of presenting the incredible amount of uncertainty associated with many of the aspects of this situation, so great job! It will be VERY interesting to see what happens to this situation, it has a lot of potential to cause significant lasting changes in not just modding, but gaming as a whole, as you alluded to. My biggest fear is that Bethesda/Valve will attempt to shut down any mod distribution platform outside of Steamworks, and I suspect that WAS their plan long term - possibly even for their next game - hopefully that will change now.

I think a simple donate button and a fairer redistribution of the proceeds might have been the way to go for Steam. Nexus Mods has never charged for their service but do well enough through a roughly similar model designed explicitly for keeping commercial interests and influences out of the machinery. The problem at Steam arises from taking away the consumer's choice and forcing them into a pay funnel. It's an affront to gamer's anarchistic sensibilities to charge for what has always been free, and, true to form, a riot broke out. It would be a crying shame if mods went commercial - so much has been achieved without that yoke - and we must scream bloody murder if it is to be stopped. Don't get me wrong, I'm only too happy to pay for content, but we must not let the essence of a truly free internet economy be taken from us through our apathy, or God forbid, the greed of ignorant men.

Oh, this sure one sure won't be edgy~

artisticMink