No Plans For Fallout 4 Paid Mods, Says Bethesda

[Steven Bogos]

No Plans For Fallout 4 Paid Mods, Says Bethesda

Bethesda's Todd Howard says that there are currently no plans for paid Fallout 4 mods.

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[w23eer]

I'd imagine the main obstacle for paid mods is not fan backlash but the whole copyright infringement argument. I'm not quite sure how Bethesda could charge for mods when they include MLP skins and the like. Moderation for that sort of thing would probably require a boat-load of time and people.

I just don't see it ever happening. The effort and time required for simple moderation, let alone the PR disaster, would surely negate any profit they could gain from it? Maybe I'm being optimistic.

Although, that said, I would like to see an option for a donation bucket for the modder. Those guys do a lot of good work and I'd be more than happy to show them my appreciation with money.

 

[suitepee7]

hmm, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the Skyrim paid mod thing was just to test the water before they announced anything about FO4. Regardless, at least they are listening to customer feedback, and hopefully they'll realise that a bit more care is needed when introducing and implementing new ideas, you can't just throw them out there and hope for the best

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

"...for now at least, we can breathe easy"? Surely it was Valve and Bethesda's execution of the idea that was so problematic last time. The idea of paying something for mods is surely a good one, which in the long run would very likely benefit everyone.

I really like the idea of paid mods - if done 'right'. So I'm really not fussed about the idea coming back, and frankly believe it's inevitable.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I just don't see it ever happening. The effort and time required for simple moderation, let alone the PR disaster, would surely negate any profit they could gain from it? Maybe I'm being optimistic.

The most logical solution I can think of is that Bethesda has their eyes on the biggest and best mods (or the most widely used) only.

Things like Nehrim, Skywind, TES:Overhaul and the like, that they can see finished and get 'released' as paid expansions across all platforms for minimal cost to themselves. They might stay free on PC forever after the disaster early this year, but Xbone and (possibly) PS4 versions most certainly wouldn't.

Other things along the lines of SkyUI could become all but official patches now as well, which could be both useful for us and the edge of a slippery slope for Bethesda's already iffy quality control.

 

[Janaschi]

I just don't see it ever happening. The effort and time required for simple moderation, let alone the PR disaster, would surely negate any profit they could gain from it? Maybe I'm being optimistic.

The most logical solution I can think of is that Bethesda has their eyes on the biggest and best mods (or the most widely used) only.

Things like Nehrim, Skywind, TES:Overhaul and the like, that they can see finished and get 'released' as paid expansions across all platforms for minimal cost to themselves. They might stay free on PC forever after the disaster early this year, but Xbone and (possibly) PS4 versions most certainly wouldn't.

Other things along the lines of SkyUI could become all but official patches now as well, which could be both useful for us and the edge of a slippery slope for Bethesda's already iffy quality control.

I highly doubt it when it comes to the bigger mods, unless they can work out some sort of deal to legitimately get script extenders onto the consoles. Which, in all honesty, I do not think they can do.

 

[RJ 17]

"...for now at least, we can breathe easy"? Surely it was Valve and Bethesda's execution of the idea that was so problematic last time. The idea of paying something for mods is surely a good one, which in the long run would very likely benefit everyone.

I really like the idea of paid mods - if done 'right'. So I'm really not fussed about the idea coming back, and frankly believe it's inevitable.

The best way to do it is to do what a number of modders already have done: set up a tip-jar system. If you like the work of a particular modder then you can toss some cash their way to show your appreciation.

One thing's for certain, though: their "We get 75%, modders get 25%" model was ludicrous amounts of bullshit.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

One thing's for certain, though: their "We get 75%, modders get 25%" model was ludicrous amounts of bullshit.

Well, duh, hence my point that it was done badly!

Donations are certainly an easy alternative, but I don't think that would be enough by itself. Ideally there'd need to be a form of curation and a threshold, above which all mods have a certain fixed cost. There are a lot of problems - some perhaps insurmountable (creating customers means quality assurance and compatibility becomes very important) - to viable paid mods, but that doesn't mean we can't start with a donation system, and 'improve' it over time.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

And suddenly, everything was right about the world again. Nice of them to clarify that.

 

[RJ 17]

One thing's for certain, though: their "We get 75%, modders get 25%" model was ludicrous amounts of bullshit.

Well, duh, hence my point that it was done badly!

Indeed, and I expanded upon that notion by specifying one of the numerous reasons as to why it was done badly. No need to get all puffed up over it.

And suddenly, everything was right about the world again. Nice of them to clarify that.

Lets not get our hopes up just yet...

I can only speak for the present time, but currently there are no plans for a payment system [for mods].

That - like Valve's statement - leaves it up in the air as to whether or not they'll try this scheme again. Hopefully Bethesda, at least, will be once-bitten-twice-shy about going to a paid mod system. And hopefully other companies will learn from their example: try to go with paid mods and you'll stir up a shitstorm of bad PR the likes you've never seen before. If the internet had streets, there would surely be riots in them.

 

[Dalek Caan]

And suddenly, everything was right about the world again. Nice of them to clarify that.

And yet if I go to the Fallout Forums people will still say that Bethesda will make people pay for mods.

Good news anyway, hopefully the Internets collective rage will simmer down.

 

[Pandalisk]

no "current" plans.

The fact that they even need to clarify that mods will remain free is goddamn terrifying in its own right, holy Christ.

I won't repeat my rants from the ole' steam contra from before but Jesus. What a state.

What I will say however is that it seems as though people (and companies) are trying to create there own DayZ mod style hit to capitalize off. Judging how the "official" Day Z game is developing along, we shouldn't want mods being monetized at all in a similar vein to how Day Z was.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Now we will hold you to that, Bethesda. And also Valve because at this point in time Valve are the gatekeepers... We either put our trust in them and Bethesda not to fuck us over or we... well we've no real choice.
However if they go back on their word, a lot of people may just lose their shit. I want Fallout 4 to be a great game, I want to trust Bethesda to leave modding alone and let the modders choose whether or not they want to get paid and how they will get paid (or sued if they violate copyrights/IP laws). Its a live wire, and I'd hope that Bethesda at least was brought up to leave downed power lines alone... or did they not see that PSA by GI Joe?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Lets not get our hopes up just yet...

In that case what they said is a lie since these types of business decisions are planned in advance. And considering the latest payed mods fiasco they'd have to be planning them now. If they're not, if they're really telling the truth, then we're safe.

 

[shintakie10]

Honestly we're probably safe from this. Either Valve or Bethesda (cant remember which) outright stated one of the problems of the last system was introducing it into an already thriving ecosystem in Skyrim. If they waited to pull this off until later on in the games life cycle they'd fall into the exact same trap.

They're not likely to fail the same exact way twice.

That being said, I wouldn't at all mind a tip jar added to the Steam Workshop so I can directly give people money through Steam.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Well yeah, no paid MODS. But they'll bundle mods into a DLC pack. So you're not paying for the mods, you're paying for the pack. And that pack just happens to BE mods.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

As someone who downloads their mods pretty much exclusively from Nexus, this was never a concern for me. My biggest concern at this point is if Bethesda.net will be a digital distribution service required for Fallout 4.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

They'd be really stupid to try it again with Fallout 4 since that mod community is just as entrenched as The Elder Scrolls one. In fact, most Fallout modders are Elder Scrolls modders, so it's really the same community.

 

[LordLundar]

"no plans" is a weasel phrase. It essentially boils down to "right now we won't but we'll probably change our minds when we see just how much we can milk out of it." Blizzard is notorious for using the phrase and then implement whatever they had "no plans" for within 3-6 months.

 

[Frankster]

I'm not breathing easy at all.

For starters within this very thread there are people who WANT paid mods, all it takes is one moment of weakness, one moment of enough people going "duuurr huuur let's give paid mods a chance, EVERYONE will benefit!" and once it's entangled with enough gamers then it becomes very hard to get rid off.

The language used by the devs show they haven't exactly put the matter to rest either, there are no "current plans" because the backlash is still fresh, but they haven't forgotten about the idea completely, it's lurking around there still.

Vigilance is eternal.