Howard says Bethesda Game Studios is looking to keep expanding its support for the modding community with the upcoming space-faring RPG.

Howard says Bethesda Game Studios is looking to keep expanding its support for the modding community with the upcoming space-faring RPG.

  • PrinzKasper@kbin.social
    13·
    1 year ago

    In theory, modders asking to be compensated for their work is not that outlandish of an idea, however in practice there are a ton of problems that need to be solved when going down this rabbit hole:

    • IP and ownership: Is the mod really 100% originally created by the seller?
    • Compatibility: The game is going to be recieving big updates, is there a garantuee that the mod will remain compatible, or be updated as well?
    • Dependencies: Does the mod require other mods? Are the creators of that mod OK with their work being used to make money by others? What if the required mod breaks or becomes unavailable?
    • Load order: Anyone who’s modded Skyrim or Fallout before knows how fickle mods can be, often requiring specific configs and tweaks to the load order. Is Bethesda going to offer tools for that alongside their store?
    • Quality Assurance: Am I even getting my money’s worth? Is there a refund policy?

    All of these proved to be major issues when they tried a paid mod store for Skyrim. Stolen mods, a fishing mod that required an animation framework mod who’s creater demanded the fishing mod be taken down, mods that had major incompatibilities with other popular mods, and bought mods just inserting themselves wherever they felt like in the load order.

    If Bethesda wanted to create an official mod store, it would need to be carefully curated, with contracts with the modders requiring them to keep their mods updated, and seriously upgraded tools for configuring purchased mods. Honestly, I just don’t quite see it happening.

    • Mnemnosyne
      1·
      1 year ago

      Compatibility could be solved the Paradox way. Most of their games I can roll back to a specific patch. So if a player pays for a mod, and later game updates break it, as long as the player can roll back to the last patch on which the mod worked correctly, the player still has what they paid for.

      All the other problems remain though.

    • tal@kbin.social
      1·
      1 year ago

      I think that maybe it would be better if there was something like an effort to set up paid third-party large DLC. Bethesda doesn’t really sell small things, on the order of what a lot of mod authors provide (well, they tried to sell individual models and skins in Fallout 76 , which I don’t think has been fantastically successful). They’ve never had an industry where one could a la carte buy individual game mechanics from them. What they’re known for is making full-on expansions and selling those. I can imagine an industry where third parties can sell those maybe working out better.