(Request) Paid Mods for Mobile Markets

[Brento666]

UPDATE: I mistakenly assumed mobiles would get markets for mods; but I have been pointed out that mobile-markets aren't that likely to happen. So consider this thread retired!

Hi Guys,

I am reluctant to support or even offer my mods on (future) mobile platforms without any form of compensation(!)

Fact is if Steam followed through on 'Paid Mods', my (next few) mods would probably be set to that!
-Asking for contributions isn't doing a thing for me as of yet; which is expected/okay...

But having to check other platforms, for iPad/Android pplz issues/questions, is not something I'm particularly willing to do, not without a single cent for my efforts!

I take care of producing, releasing and supporting (ok-) quality stuff... Why? Who knows, maybe as a reference point for a future job in the gamedev bizz... not sure atm... But doing support across multiple distribution points is going to take time, and I ain't got much of it!

Am I being silly? Or what do you guys think about my stance? Are you for or against paid mods (on mobiles)?

Thanks!
-Brento666.

[dareddevil7]

Hi Guys,

I am reluctant to support or even offer my mods on (future) mobile platforms without any form of compensation(!)

Fact is if Steam followed through on 'Paid Mods', my (next few) mods would probably be set to that!
-Asking for contributions isn't doing a thing for me as of yet; which is expected/okay...

But having to check other platforms, for iPad/Android pplz issues/questions, is not something I'm particularly willing to do, not without a single cent for my efforts!

I take care of producing, releasing and supporting (ok-) quality stuff... Why? Who knows, maybe as a reference point for a future job in the gamedev bizz... not sure atm... But doing support across multiple distribution points is going to take time, and I ain't got much of it!

Am I being silly? Or what do you guys think about my stance? Are you for or against paid mods (on mobiles)?

Thanks!
-Brento666.

I'm not for the notion of paid mods because although you put time and effort into it, you didn't make the game. An example of such a kind of thing that really pissed me off was the console versions of minecraft. Paying for texture packs and skins just doesn't sit well with me, especially since texture packs are free on PC and add no new content, they just make things look different, and I have a custom minecraft skin for PC.

To clarify, I know you put time and effort into your mods, but it's not your game.

[xander]

Assuming that it is not prohibited by the ToS (which it may be---I don't know), you are free to charge for you mods or not. That being said, you are not likely to make much money off of them, even if you do charge for them. I just don't see the player base as being large enough to support modders who want to get paid, and there is enough free content that you would have to really set yourself apart in order to make an impression on that market.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

xander

[dareddevil7]

Assuming that it is not prohibited by the ToS (which it may be---I don't know), you are free to charge for you mods or not. That being said, you are not likely to make much money off of them, even if you do charge for them. I just don't see the player base as being large enough to support modders who want to get paid, and there is enough free content that you would have to really set yourself apart in order to make an impression on that market.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

xander

Even then that's assuming people won't just pirate it to nexus mods, and the nexus community isn't kind to the idea of paid mods

[Bromstine]

Hi Guys,

I am reluctant to support or even offer my mods on (future) mobile platforms without any form of compensation(!)

Fact is if Steam followed through on 'Paid Mods', my (next few) mods would probably be set to that!
-Asking for contributions isn't doing a thing for me as of yet; which is expected/okay...

But having to check other platforms, for iPad/Android pplz issues/questions, is not something I'm particularly willing to do, not without a single cent for my efforts!

I take care of producing, releasing and supporting (ok-) quality stuff... Why? Who knows, maybe as a reference point for a future job in the gamedev bizz... not sure atm... But doing support across multiple distribution points is going to take time, and I ain't got much of it!

Am I being silly? Or what do you guys think about my stance? Are you for or against paid mods (on mobiles)?

Thanks!
-Brento666.

Read, or better, study in detail all the reasons brought up when Valve implemented paid mods. Meditate on them. And then you'll (hopefully) see where you're wrong.

You mention support. Ha. You really thing you can or even want to wade into that quagmire? No, buddy, you don't want to. Google for "incompatible mods". Be enlightened.

[Brento666]

@DareDevil & Xander; thanks for your opinion on this.

@Bromstine: I am pretty well read up on the Steam paid mods debacle... Know that allot of modders spoke out in favor of optional payments.
-It was the users that got agitated, instigated by funny meant super expensive mods that added literal flying sh*t to Skyrim(!)

As to enlightenment/support/incompatible mods; What are you on about? Am I pissing you off somehow? Did my mod wreck your game/mod?
-I mentioned the idea of getting some compensation may be seen as silly to some of you; I never imagined to be told to meditate or enlighten myself.
By support, I mean exactly what you're hinting at; helping users with incompatibility problems out.
-These problems arise mostly from mods that are not mine(!) Because my work doesn't try to change everything in the game at once, but do correct me if I'm wrong...

Anyway thanks to all of you who weighed in; I guess I'll wait and see how distribution on mobiles is organized.
-If it has the option for setting a price I'll have my mods on them, some of them free, others will have a (small) fee.
-If the option isn't available, then my stuff wont be there; I'll maybe monitor the markets for copies of my works.

[Brento666]

Upon further reflection "Bromstine"; your comments have left me with a very "troll-like" aftertaste...

Reading up on your meagre activities here on the boards, leads me to believe you demand and consume, but don't really add anything of any value yourself. If this was your 'attempt' to be of value and 'enlighten' me; you've failed to pinpoint an error in my simple query, as far as I see it!
-I see your view as limited and myself as a pretty enlightened soul, trying to create actual works of (digital) art. At least that's how serious I am in making it. I put extreme effort into planning and delivering quality things, best to my abilities, sad that you cannot see any artistry or value in that!

-> I'd like to remark I see a lack of value and perception in your entire persona, please prove me wrong. But please also refrain from trying to add to the discussion on 'Paid Mods'; your further views on this topic are irrelevant to me!

[arkhometha]

As a modder (not for PA, mind you, but for other games) I'm completely against the idea of paid mods. Mods are a hobbyist creation, born out of love for a game and done in your free time and more often than not, a shared work born out of the knowledge of others (wikis, manuals and whatnot) or sometimes straight out rips of other people's work, sometimes even copyrighted work, improved, modified and built upon. The modding community works with collaborative work. If you team up with a game developer/publisher to publish something paid, then you are a game developer, not a modder. Leave the modding community for passionate hobbyists. You already have a community for what you want, and it's called the gaming development community.

But what if I want to get paid by my (modding) work?

Professionally developing stuff for games is called game development. Developing third-party content for a game is also called game development, the product you develop is called DLC, a third-party DLC. This happened in the past. Now, this isn't called modding. Modding implies the free, amateur side. As a game developer you have responsibilities with your clients and product. A modder basically doesn't.
So if you want to do that and you think you have enough content to do third-party content, go ahead and talk with Introversion. No one is stopping you. There's even recent examples, the latest DLC for the Last Federation by Arcen Games was done like that. Just don't call it modding.

What Steam did shows they are willing to poison any community to get profits.
"Optional payments" is just a nice way of saying "donations but we still get our cut". If you want donations, that's fine. I think it's cool to ask and people choose to give or not to. Giving a cut of your donations to Valve just because you changed the name to "optional payment" is absurd.

[REDDQ]

It is not silly to expect payment for things you offer. The problem is that after accepting money you turn people who enjoy your mods into customers and that changes things dramatically. The other user was maybe a bit too blunt but what he said was basically people will demand quality and compatibility. I am not saying you aren't able to deliver that though, just saying what people will expect.

Plenty of modders liked the idea that their hobby (supported by Steam) might somewhat pay off but I doubt most of them would withstand barrage customers would throw at them. Heck I can count mods I would be willing to pay for on my fingers and we are talking some DLC quality stuff. Preferred solution for me as a customer would be mods going legit like Black Mesa mod which is available on Steam right now for 20€.

Bottom line, if you manage to make any system work for you then all is good





Personally I deactivated almost all mods for PA besides "Detectable drugs". They are more trouble than they're worth. Especially ones adding stuff into the game.

[Brento666]

Tnx for adding arkhometha and REDDQ,

I know what I am asking is controversial and can dig your serious responses greatly, I am not trying for $20 dlc size additives..
But do think that should my work be on iOS-devices or Droids, I should be able to ask for 50 cents; I myself would need to invest in an iOS device in the first place. Spend extra time on verifying/testing, reformatting my descriptions and monitoring feedback...

Agreed, mods give troubles at times and teaming up with the makers would be ideal; I feel don't yet have the 'creds' or 'cohones' to approach Introversion atm.

Steam/Valve seems like they are gearing up to reintroduce optionally set prices for mods... (They are asking me for accounts and tax details.) I am not going to switch any of my mods to paid. (Apart from maybe my current biggest wip)

Thanks guys!

ps. I am a professional C# dev; currently spending most of my time making/updating/expanding my mods, while I recently I quit my (boring) day Job. I hope to get into the gaming industry (as a dev/producer) in the near future...
->Even if I don't earn a single cent with no-one donating, doing it right now is still worth it to me, as I like and use my own mods. I love the positive feedback and try to learn something from the negatives.
+I hope it will be somewhat of an acceptable portfolio of (some of) my creative abilities.

[REDDQ]

Whatever the system I hope it will work for you

[5hifty]

Bitcoin. Put it in ya page. Don't ask for donations - just accept them if they come.

If you want it to be a purchase - accept that I WILL demand a fix to a insignificant problem at 3:00am (your time), turn your lack of reply into a firestorm and basically have you wake up to a smoking wreak of a reputation (I will fix the problem myself, and it will turn out to be something I did, but no one reads the page 5 retraction, just the front page accusation) simply because A: I had nothing better to do and B: I could claim some moral high ground because it was a purchase and not free.

If I don't do it, someone else will. Make sure ya ready to be a buisness before you jump into that pool.

[Brento666]

Bitcoin. Put it in ya page. Don't ask for donations - just accept them if they come.

If you want it to be a purchase - accept that I WILL demand a fix to a insignificant problem at 3:00am (your time), turn your lack of reply into a firestorm and basically have you wake up to a smoking wreak of a reputation (I will fix the problem myself, and it will turn out to be something I did, but no one reads the page 5 retraction, just the front page accusation) simply because A: I had nothing better to do and B: I could claim some moral high ground because it was a purchase and not free.

If I don't do it, someone else will. Make sure ya ready to be a buisness before you jump into that pool.

I think yer right on the money; PA Update 1, caused 2 of my mods to malfunction, while I was off on a short trip that weekend.. Had I had a paid product affected, I would have had a shit-storm...
But seeing as allot of stuff was bugging, and my things are free, no-one seemed to mind a day or 2 extra wait for a fix.

My unwillingness to distribute on coming mobile platforms stands... not sure what I'll do with my things when the time comes. Fact remains that more markets mean more work getting back to people. Paid or not.

Thanks for bringing it up, I can myself get very pissed when stuff I paid good money for craps-out

[a__gun]

I agree with the above; a lot of people who would jump to make their content paid are totally unprepared for the different dynamic you get with customers as opposed to fans.

To be honest though, I think you're all missing the key point - mods on mobile platforms is not something I see happening any time soon. Even if they could get it working, it would probably only be on rooted devices. There's also no ios/android equivalent of the steam workshop, and I can't imagine IV will create their own platform.

[Brento666]

I agree with the above; a lot of people who would jump to make their content paid are totally unprepared for the different dynamic you get with customers as opposed to fans.

To be honest though, I think you're all missing the key point - mods on mobile platforms is not something I see happening any time soon. Even if they could get it working, it would probably only be on rooted devices. There's also no ios/android equivalent of the steam workshop, and I can't imagine IV will create their own platform.

Yeah I have assumed to much.. The mobile versions don't have a firm release date or feature lists yet, and they might very well not come with built in or external market!

Come to think of it; and external market would bring challenges to identifying mods across the device, because of sandboxing you couldn't install them in a PA folder.
And a built in market would be against Apple policies on iOS apps two.

So probably forget this feature and post-thread