CommanderPro100 wrote: However, I do think that there are two major problems with the system as it currently stands. The first one being the fact that the actual mod maker only gets 25% of the revenue while the publisher of the game gets the rest. Am I the only who thinks that this makes the idea seem like a money-grabbing system? It sounds more like a way for devs to make money off the work of others. The whole selling point of this idea was that mod makers could potentially be able to make mods as more then just a hobby and as an actual job, but I don't really see that happening if let's say, a mod maker only gets $250 for every $1000 made.

If I have my information correct, Valve takes their usual 30%, the remainder is decided by the IP holder; in this case Bethesda agreed upon 45%. While we could argue forever about how much Bethesda should be taking, at the end of the day, they are the IP holder. They are going to propose what will be most profitable for them by min-maxing the modder:IP holder payment scale with regard to the number of modders willing to accept their terms. Was this system devised primarily for the purposes of making more money off of a game released a fair while ago? Probably, but at the end of the day, it is the modder who ultimately decides whether or not they agree with the terms.

And now onto the second problem with this system, doesn't it seem incredibly exploitable? I mean, it's not like you need the workshop to install mods to Steam, so what's stopping someone from pulling the mod's files from their game and putting it online for free? Unless they give every paid mod some special randomized activation key every time, it sounds like the system could break very quickly. I'd on' actually know if there's a system to prevent this already put in, as I do not own Skyrim on the PC, but if there is then please correct me on this.

You are never going to eliminate piracy, the best one can do is decrease the rate in which it happens. I do think that if Valve/Bethesda want this idea to really go somewhere they need to really invest in the legal enforcement of it. Controversial as it may be, I think modders really should invest their time in establishing their work under appropriate software licenses should they be invested in what happens to said work, regardless if they distribute their mod on SW or Nexus or wherever.

EDIT: I think Dean Hall makes an excellent point with regard to this issue.

"If we want professional modding, which is what this is, then people cannot apply emotional arguments – they need to apply business arguments. Therefore the split needs to be considered based on value."

From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/20 ... -rockstar/

Well whether you're for or against paid mods, looks like Valve's removing paid mods as they stand right now. I'm actually pretty surprised, I thought that despite all the (rather unwarranted) vitriol and hate sent towards Valve and the modmakers, that they'd be here to stay. Hopefully Valve can come to find a better implementation of the concept though, I'm not completely against the idea of the community earning back, just the proposed implemenation was pretty terrible.