Gabe Newell Speaks on The Whole Paid Skyrim Mods Debacle

[TruthInGaming]

[HEADING=2]Not exactly true.[/HEADING]He was saying that the mod authors can set the minimum to $0 for their pay-as-you-like mod. Mods can still have a minimum price above $0 or just have a set price.

So he basically said a whole lot of nothing on the matter. Thanks Gabe.

Not really, he said it's a donation and said that consumers can pay $0 if that's what they feel the game is worth. You may be reading into it too much. A term like "donation" carries with it a very real weight of being optional.

yes the word "donation" carries a connotation with it, something that valve and bethesda can't get their grubby little hands on. (not saying they deserve nothing, but taking 75% of the cut? no thanks.)

And yes, you can quote every article in the world that states that is how developers work with publishers is now, but I couldn't care less, I'm focusing on modding right now.

So yes, he was using corporate speak there to sound better than it was.

Gabe doesn't strike me as a corporate shill. A half life 3 soul crushing smuck maybe but not a corporate shill.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Adding a donation button is a fantastic idea. Kudos to them for adding that (if they actually follow through).

and that a kind of "donation" system will be hitting paid mods soon, that modifies the "pay-as-you-like" system so that fans can pay $0, allowing them to donate as much or as little money as they feel the mod is worth.

Did he? I couldn't find that bit. I can't find him mentioning this anywhere whatsoever. Please point it out to me, cos if I've missed it I'll be overjoyed.

Unfortunately there's one line that's really stuck with everyone:

It's entirely plausible that incorporating financial incentives for modders will mean we can get more and better mods in the future. He's not wrong, money does drive and steer work. Right now we're basically relying on people to create just out of passion. That's great but what if we could also get people who are skilled but aren't willing/able to devote that time for free?

In my estimate, their only failure here was picking Skyrim to launch this on. They already had too developed of a community for this.

Do you have infinite money? If not, you won't be getting more.

And the sacrifices just for that one positive aren't worth it. It'll be like an infinite DLC generator. Gods fucking no.

 

[blackrave]

snip

I still disagree with such approach.
Modders shouldn't be allowed to set price themselves.
Better solution would be empty window where user can enter any sum to tip modder.
(with bigger cut to modders- at this point it's pointless to use Steam over Paypal)
Only advantage of built-in system would be option to pay using Steam wallet.
I know I have few bucks from selling cards on that, so that could use that to tip
If provided with option I would tip guys behind SKSE and SkyUI for sure
(anyone knows if they provide links to their Paypal accounts? I can't find those neither on Nexus, nor Steam)

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

[HEADING=2]Not exactly true.[/HEADING]He was saying that the mod authors can set the minimum to $0 for their pay-as-you-like mod. Mods can still have a minimum price above $0 or just have a set price.

So he basically said a whole lot of nothing on the matter. Thanks Gabe.

Not really, he said it's a donation and said that consumers can pay $0 if that's what they feel the game is worth. You may be reading into it too much. A term like "donation" carries with it a very real weight of being optional.

yes the word "donation" carries a connotation with it, something that valve and bethesda can't get their grubby little hands on. (not saying they deserve nothing, but taking 75% of the cut? no thanks.)

And yes, you can quote every article in the world that states that is how developers work with publishers is now, but I couldn't care less, I'm focusing on modding right now.

So yes, he was using corporate speak there to sound better than it was.

Gabe doesn't strike me as a corporate shill. A half life 3 soul crushing smuck maybe but not a corporate shill.

I'm not saying he is an all out corporate shill, as you put it, but he reworded exactly what they were already doing just in a way that made it sound more consumer friendly even though they were getting the exact same cut of the cheese.

 

[Quellist]

I have full confidence this will work out great, just look at Steam's solid gold record of keeping useless scam content out of Greenlight and Early access.

Oh wait...

 

[Kathinka]

So he came back from somewhere after this decision was made, a decision I won't believe for a second he didn't know about, or didn't know that it would cause controversy. He then plays innocent and goes like "huh, I wonder what that's about?" Yeaaaaah I don't buy it.

I was there when the Reddit thread happened. Gabe was incredibly weasely and only answered the easy questions, and even those in a very corporate PR way that essentially said nothing. I lost some respect for the company, I have to admit.