Paid Mods?

[Azoun]

Originally posted by Azoun:
I've been researching mods to use in a new play through.

Several popular mods appear to have tiers of items that can only be un-locked by paying the mod developers. This type of practice is not approved by other games that support mods such as Betheseda games, and EA games with the Sims 4. Timed exclusives are sometimes approved by developers, as long as the content is eventually released to the public for free. What is the stance on this by Iron Gate Studio?

Valheim current examples:
https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/Therzie/Warfare/
https://www.nexusmods.com/valheim/mods/1741

Edit 1:
https://www.valheimgame.com/eula/

Rule#12
Commercialising the content-additional rule. If you want to make money off your content it must comply with all the rules above and both this rule 12 and also rule 13. You are only entitled to monetise your content through advertising or partner programs that video sharing platforms offer or if you collect voluntary contributions as long as you follow rule 13.

Rule#13
Commercialising the content-additional rule. Although you can use our content as part of your own creative commercial project, viewers should not have to pay a fee for the sole purpose of accessing the content of our games and you cannot sell our content.

Edit 2:
Odinship has released the Extra content for free at this time. But please donate to the mod author if you like the mod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/valheim/mods/2099

[Wafflesaurus Supreme]

For the boat mod, you get most of the content for free and you can choose to acquire additional content if you donate. It's your choice whether to support the artist. Where is the issue?

[Spoonardo]

You should actually read the mod page and realise that it doesn't require any payments at all to function. The modder simply gives out custom models to those who donate to them. This is very warranted and not unheard of in the modding community, especially to those with a Patreon / Ko-fi etc.

Modding is often long and tedious work. Work done for free, so you can have an enjoyable altered experience of your game. Many people like to show their appreciation and support to modders for their hard work through donations. The fact that this modder is giving out exclusive content to those who donate to them is extremely generous. Nobody is forcing you to donate, and there are many modders who don't give out anything for donating.

[Hatsune Neko Gaming]

i know a lot of smaller companies that don't care. they see it as the modders taking the time out of their lives to work on content for the game.
the larger ones see it as profit they are not getting.
What IGS stance is, idk.

me, i make mods as well. and in fact people can pay me for them. as i have donation links. but i don't lock content behind a paywall. though that is a interesting idea. as i never seen how to do that. but in a way its a neat idea as well. some mods take year's to make and are quite extensive. i seen some that make it into the base game as well.

[Azoun]

Its not exactly my choice because Iron Gate Studio could come down hard on paid mods potentially at any time. So I would like some clarity on the issue from Iron Gate before I pay the developers.

For Odinship, there isn't too much content locked away by a paywall. But the Warfare mod appears to have much more content locked away by the paywall.

I am concerned that this could become expensive if this practice from mod developers becomes very widespread. And my mod purchase feels questionable until Irongate makes a clear policy. For example; If Irongate suddenly comes down hard on the paid mod developer, would the mod also suddenly stop being updated and stop working?

[Wafflesaurus Supreme]

I'd argue that the mod developer is not doing anything unethical. They're providing optional content, usually custom art assets. If they're visual mods (such as sails for a ship), they should not be affected by updates to the game (unless scripts are also involved).

You do bring up an interesting question of how long to expect support for a paid mod after its release; that issue is going to be between you and the modder.

[Sythalin]

2 questions.

1. Have you ever bought a game that people spent their time creating for your enjoyment?
   
2. Have you ever voluntarily donated to mod authors that spent their time creating for your enjoyment?

If you answered "yes" to the first question and "no" to the second, then you have no right to complain about mod authors gating their work behind payment.

[DredSilent]

All I'm going to say is this: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/aboutpaidcontent

Steam is going that direction, so not sure what the complaint here is.

[Azoun]

Well look at the author of the Warfare mod. It is interesting to me as it adds items and make the Deep North and Ashlands more finished. I'm sure it will take Irongate a long time to catch up to Therzie.

But Valheim is $20 game, yet the costs to access Therazie's mod alone is relatively high.
https://www.patreon.com/Therzie

$9CDN for access to single player, or $11/month for server access, or $14.50/month for local and small server access.

I think this mod author maybe pushing his luck without Irongate giving permission to sell this mod product.

And who is to say that Irongate doesn't deserve a share of the profits?

It would be nice if Irongate could hire some of these talented modders to speed up development in the base game.

[Rhapsody]

Azoun の投稿を引用：

It would be nice if Irongate could hire some of these talented modders to speed up development in the base game.

That's not really going to work, or there's no past indication of such. Look at BGS's Creation Club – it's mostly just glorified microtransactions, and almost nothing available on there is anything that cannot be recreated with free mods... almost.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-premium-75811285

Injecting advertisements into the game seems a bit scummy to me. Using Patreon by itself to make some money isn't.

[Wafflesaurus Supreme]

Rhapsody の投稿を引用：

Injecting advertisements into the game seems a bit scummy to me. Using Patreon by itself to make some money isn't.

All hail the scum king: https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-files-patent-for-displaying-personalized-ads-in-games

[Hiryukaen]

DredSilent の投稿を引用：

All I'm going to say is this: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/aboutpaidcontent

Steam is going that direction, so not sure what the complaint here is.

Are they resurrecting this? That ate dirt in 2015 and was completely canceled as I recall.

[FissionChips]

Mods aren't officially supported, and even if they were the most IG could do about it is not host their mod - which they're already not, because they don't support mods.

I suppose IG could try to block specific mods from loading, but that's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ than paid mods.

[Shealladh]

Wafflesaurus Supreme の投稿を引用：

Rhapsody の投稿を引用：

Injecting advertisements into the game seems a bit scummy to me. Using Patreon by itself to make some money isn't.

All hail the scum king: https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-files-patent-for-displaying-personalized-ads-in-games

Agreed.

Renting software and data collection to pay for their next mega takerover.

I have no issue with donating to the MOD makers, having it sit behind a pay wall I do. Now if they have an option to donate (to the host), then that's another story.

[Azoun]

FissionChips の投稿を引用：

Mods aren't officially supported, and even if they were the most IG could do about it is not host their mod - which they're already not, because they don't support mods.

I suppose IG could try to block specific mods from loading, but that's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ than paid mods.

In a recent blog post that included a Dev being interviewed, it was mentioned that official mod support if probably coming. The dev is an Irongate programmer that mentioned that it will likely need to be released after Valheim leaves early access, so mods will not be so easily broken in an update.
1h15min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjXIrRFgpR0&t=8634s

[Eradan]

DredSilent の投稿を引用：

All I'm going to say is this: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/aboutpaidcontent

Steam is going that direction, so not sure what the complaint here is.

Didn't that last only about two weeks, in 2015?