14 DAY TRIAL // I really don’t get how some people can be so fixated on short-term gains while overlooking the massive disservice they are doing to their products in the long run.
Of course, this idea is predicated on the assumption that people are rational actors in charge of their life and able to hold back from indulging their whims more than children, which is not always the case, resulting in companies getting away with a lot of unsavory practices.
It's probably the only industry where you can say that something is a disaster and a blockbuster at the same time. Battlefield 4 was really broken but it still sold millions at launch. And let's not even get into the EULAs.
Setting aside the fact that people now consider it a normal practice to buy DLC that adds nothing to a full-price game, like cosmetic fluff, maps and weapon packs that could have been added free of charge as post-launch support, I can’t really understand why developers want to get a cut of mod revenue.
I’m not talking about the people doing the actual development work, I’m referring to the people who own the studio and don’t care about a game as much as they do about the money it can make.
Mods sometimes add things that should have already been there
The bad thing about mods is that in many cases they provide free DLC content, which the studios could have otherwise charged for. This only speaks to the abysmal quality of tacked-on horse armor and multiplayer maps, and the oblivious nature of consumers, unfortunately.
The good thing about mods is that in many cases they provide various services that should have been there to begin with, implemented by the people charging for the game. Because this discussion was sparked by paid mods being introduced to Skyrim, I’m going to refer to high-definition texture packs, improved interface, survival mechanics, and other useful mods, not crappy stuff that makes no difference.
Want to have your dragons replaced by Thomas the Tank Engine? Go ahead. I just want the people who make a game that sells millions of units to treat PC users decently. And that means no horrendously lazy console ports.
The first time I tried out Skyrim, I took one look at the interface and the sluggish, console-specific character movement and I quit it. I went back to playing World of Warcraft, because it played like a game designed for a keyboard and mouse control scheme.
I have a similar gripe with Blizzard for not being able to create a functional interface for a game that raked in billions over the years, and instead relying on the community to come up with something that everyone who is serious about playing the game actually needs.
Imagine if you suddenly had to pay for WoW add-ons, and Blizzard took a 45 percent cut from all transactions. That’s basically seeing a company pat itself on the back for being lazy and not doing its job, opting to unload the work on the community, and then greedily getting profits from this very shady business initiative.
I wouldn’t have played World of Warcraft for as long as I did without add-ons, since they really add a lot to the game, and it’s the same for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Mods are a free service between fans
The most noticeable difference when it comes to modded and vanilla Skyrim is in the visual department, but people created a ton of other things to improve and customize the experience, even going as far as to try to enable multiplayer, which was promptly shut down.
Of course, these companies usually get away with a lot of stuff because many people have a ton of disposable income and, therefore, don’t care that much if their purchases aren’t in tip-top condition, and because some of them actually make great products, causing players to give them a free pass whenever they pull something like this.
Blizzard makes some of the best games in the world, and I’m going to continue playing them in spite of their numerous flaws, and Bethesda managed to make role-playing games popular on consoles with Skyrim.
In any case, I’m glad the gaming community rallied against the monetization of a hobbyist activity, especially since modding keeps a game alive long after the developers abandoned it.
Modding is done out of love for the base game, by people who don’t expect to see anything in return. Some of them put in a lot of hours, and it’s at least shady when a company that ventures nothing feels entitled to half the fruits of their labor.
If things were done the usual way, with the company hiring some people to create content, then nobody would have a problem with the fact that those who do the actual work get less than the company hiring them, because that is something everyone expects.
Paid mods have come and gone (for now)
But this is something entirely different. The way I see things, I want to support the people improving the game, but at the same time I would also like to punish, and not reward Bethesda for not doing all that work to begin with.
Because I’m a nice guy, I’m going to let go of the punishment part, but I can’t overlook their baseless greed, their desire to bleed money from someone doing them a service, instead of rewarding them.
Fan fiction usually makes the base experience worse, while mods have a much greater chance of actually providing an improvement over the original experience. Furthermore, the mods aren’t standalone products, you still need to buy the source material.
That pretty much negates the entire 25 percent (or less) argument the company provided on its blog. Professional fan fiction is usually a bad work of art trying to make a quick buck by drawing upon the already cemented popularity of something huge like Star Wars or Star Trek, it’s a business venture through and through.
Modding is a free service people are providing, oftentimes doing the work the developer should have done in the first place. The only entity that benefits financially from modding is the one selling the game. It’s not a mutually beneficial licensing deal.
It’s simply astounding to even consider that, if someone makes something you created better, you immediately think you should make some money out of that. You want more money? Create the content yourself. Make a better game. Keep working on the project until you feel it’s done, and most of all, fix your own problems.
Otherwise, you should just hang back and enjoy all the free work the community is doing to make your game sell better after you have already abandoned it. Seems only fair. Especially since you don’t provide any kind of support or quality assurance for any of the content.
