Discussion: Uber's plans for Modding, 1.0 and Beyond

The only issue with charging for mods is the legal issues of charging for a product that may contain licensed IP (in this case, Uber's art assets - not sure on the legal status of code as without patenting specific features or technology I think that's generally fair game).

I have, in other communities, been against asking for money for mods, but that's because the mods generally hack together existing assets by the developers (Google "kitbashing" if you're interested) and claim the models are awesome and brand-new.

Done properly, and regulated correctly, I don't see the issue.

EDIT@Geers: labours of love modifications may be, but their creators still invest time into them. Would it be wrong to ask for some of that time to be repaid?

Ask is one thing, donations are fine. Demanding is another.

Why are donations fine, but charging for the time invested not fine?

Do you not want to see professional-quality modifications?

Do you disagree with Steam charging for fan-made hats?

I'm not trying to tout facts here. It's just a personal opinion. I can't give you anything beyond "it feels wrong to me".

That's like saying why shouldn't we fleece people whom try to walk along streets. It's a valid business model after all, quite lucrative.

Because hurting a random person is completely different from asking money to be paid for work somebody has done.

Mods being buyable has been the plan from the get-go, why would Uber start charging?

Remember, I said "total conversions" that means entirely new models, entirely new mechanics, and so on.

They'd be violating no copyrights at all. Because they're not giving the engine away through the mod, only text files, and model files, animations, etc...

So they can get a part of the money that moves through their mod market place.
The dream is to get enough mods made and sold so that Uber can sustain developing on PA for many years. "Game as a service" or rather "Game as a platform" is the idea.

True, but then what of the free mods, shouldn't they need to give Uber money for being hosted as well? Or is it only because it creates revenue?

I'd assume it would be something like "Uber gets some part of the revenue created, so free mods stay free and I'd expect the majority of mods to stay free tbh.

Definitely, because the majority of people downloading mods will only download the free ones.

Edit: not to mention the mod development may not believe it's worth money, or at least not morally, which I'm sure many will.

Well sure, but I'm trying to find reasons for that reason

I can hardly hope to change your opinion otherwise! And in this specific instance, I would like to convince people it's not that bad - as long as it's regulated well.

I say this as a long-time games modder who has fought tooth and nail against people who were asking for donations and abusing that privilege (withholding mod features without £X in donations per months, etc).

I see money as just another form of motivation/reward (depending on whether you're modder or user). Modders decide what motivates them, users decide how they wish to motivate modders. If you like a mod, and can reward the modder with their motivation(s) of choice, success.

you guys are proving my point quite nicely.

despite the issues with legaility (who owns your mod), its also extremely bad form, possibly illegal to piggyback your business on someone else's.

You just try nipping into a Tesco's and selling your homemade baked beans to customers buying French sticks.

Yeah it's actually has a crazy potential to make the "someone else" super rich. See the app stores on mobile platforms. They work the exact same way. They are a friggn gold mine for the companies that run them.

If you want to go down that path, then it's more like a shop owner asking if you want to sell your goods there shop on the condition that the shop owner takes slice of the profit.

Everyone wins.

Alright, I was fair at first, but . . .

That's not a reason, because I've already provided a counter to that. If you're not actually interested in debating it, don't bother posting your opinion in the first place. It's pointless if you're just making a statement without backing it up.

1) how are we proving it?

2) why is it bad form?

3) stop citing personal opinions and positing them as facts.

Anyone here having a job would do it for free ?
I would never.
So i would pay for a good mod.
I would simply request for a free test period, at least when it's not considered as done.
Then we should have some kind of extended market place where it's possible to get these mods.
I guess pricing will have to be reasonable, otherwise it will be at the expense of the mod popularity.
No i guess also the "support" will have to be provided by the mod authors.

Or else nobody will buy anyway. It's the same as with all prices: If enough people pay a given price that price will be used. The real question for the seller is: "at what price do I get the most money?".