| Captain_Yuri said: Honestly, I don't like it either... I am not saying that the modders shouldn't be paid for their work cause they certainly should be but it should be optional and not mandatory... Like a donation or a monthly payment that is entirely optional cause the issue with it is that for decades, we have enjoyed mods for free for better or for worse but then charging for something that has been free for so long is kind of nonsense cause of the issues that it will have |
I have a semi-complex reaction to the paid mods idea. I disagree with the notion that modders should inherently be paid for their work: for decades, modders released content because they were passionate about the game and wanted to improve/change it, not because they saw this as a possible source of income. Simply put, you didn't mod a game because you wanted money, you did it because you wanted to make a game you cared about even better, and isn't that what it's supposed to be about?
The only thing I see that could potentially recommend payment for mods is that it will attract more skilled modders, who will thus deliver improved quality content. Of course, I think it equally likely that things will take a similar course as the "quality fast food" craze from a few years back: a small increase in quality, a large increase in chest thumping (and price), and then the quality gradually and quietly settles to where it was before, only now we're all paying an extra buck or two for that cheeseburger.
Ultimately, I think Twitch, Youtube, and other for-pay streaming services show us the dangers that can readily appear when money enters a space that was formerly done for passion alone: the Let's Plays and streamers of the world just aren't as good, in my opinion, as they were before some folks started treating it not as a hobby but as a passion. The recent bruhaha with Angry Joe tells me money, not joy, now guides more than a few streamers, an impression reinforced by how so many streamers make it a point to interrupt their playthroughs with thanks for people who donated/followed them.
As someone who's been taking advantage of the mod scene for decades, I would hate to see PC mods take even a few steps in the direction of streaming. It wouldn't be the end of the world by any stretch, but I doubt it will be worth the extra cost - literal and figurative - that it will entail. In the end, I am wary and pesimisstic about this change. But it's going to happen anyways, if not now then soon, so there it is.
