Lightknight said:
Oh, I'm sorry, I missed the part where modders were being forced against their will to charge anything for their game or even having to put it on Steam itself...
Seems to me that the ONLY option they have now is 0%.
I'm not saying anyone was forced to do anything. I am, however, saying that they didn't even have the option of negotiation. Valve set the terms with Bethesda/Zenimax and told modders that if they wanted to participate they had to unconditionally accept. This was supposed to be a more legitimate way for modders to be compensated, but the income distribution was so skewed that everyone just balked, and anyone that got past that found a host of legal and QA issues that needed to be dealt with...
Donations still exist, which are functionally pay-what-you-want and the modders are getting get 100% of that (minus whatever Patreon and Papal charge for their services).
Judging by the sarcastic apology and subsequent text you could use a pick-me-up. Here's an adorable bunny to help brighten your day.
DrOswald said:
Obsidian got a flat chunk of money for developing New Vegas (probably in the form of X dollars in advance and X dollars on completion of the product, with bonuses in place for certain achievements such as the famous 85 meta critic bonus condition) and a 0% cut of the revenue. Had they negotiated for a 25% cut they most likely would have received no advance, no product completion payout, and no bonus conditions. And while we don't know the exact amount of compensation Obsidian received, we can say for sure that it was no where near 25% of the revenue of the product.
You can talk about morals all you want, but from a standpoint of how things actually work in reality 25% with none of the regular fees and conditions attached to such contracts is a screaming deal.
From your language, can we safely assume that your chosen example is based almost entirely on speculation?
Regardless, Valve was attempting to monetize a previously free product, effectively creating a new market. 25% may currently be a "screaming deal", but that's only if we're looking at it in a completely different, and pre-existing, context. From the standpoint of starting a completely new market, we should strive to do better than what is currently standard. At this point the only way I'll support Valve and Bethesda's "screaming deal" is if they also help create a union, or similar organization, for modders that can negotiate current and future terms.
Sorry if I'm coming across as a combative. Please feel free to share Lightknight's bunny. None of us are enemies after all.