My turn.
TBH, most of my post was a worst case scenario, but let me address a couple of your points:
Lets talk about some of the points brought up:
DLC being required for modding doesn't make sense. No game has ever required DLC to make the game moddable, much less ask you to cough up money to make a game DLC. If the game wasn't moddable at the start (something they are saying isn't true), then perhaps this would be the case. But this is so far fetched that it isn't even worth discussing beyond this as there is no factual precedence to point to.
Far fetched? I'll put nothing past the Marketing boys and girls in their nice blue suits, and their quest for gold. First of all, I didn't say that the game required DLC to make the game moddable. The game is being touted as moddable, and I'm sure that it is, right out of the "box". My speculation is that if you want the really spiffy, powerful modding tools, they will be available as paid for DLC. I'll address mods and DLC compatibility below.
Another points from Lemon: Mods need to be sanctioned on Steam. This question has already been answered by 2K in other threads. Steam will not block or prevent the publishing of mods. Of course I don't know the details, but the idea that Steam is going to block some functionality of the game says that you don't understand really why they are using Steam, and that again this point has no precedence to indicate that it can happen.
From what little information I have been able to see, it looks like Steam will distribute mod content, along with other goodies. You don't think that those mods won't be vetted and cleared by lawyers for any possible copyright infringement? Or any possible content that might offend anyone? This is a corporation you're talking about. They will do nothing which could get them sued. Therefore, only a few "privileged" mods which meet the criteria will be allowed to be distributed. It's a possibility, don't you think?
"Handling Fees" for mods. Again, never will happen.Mods can still be distributed via direct downloads off any site, just like this one, and 2k has confirmed this.
I'm talking about an administrative levy by Steam for the free mods that I'm expecting it will provide for download. Server space and bandwidth cost money, and they will try to attempt to recoup those "losses" in the form of a small service charge. Yes, 2K has confirmed that mods can be downloaded off of any site, but I'll bet that you won't be able to download the ones that Steam offers.
These points that Lemon bring up are all stemming from the initial misinformed preconceptions.
No. It stems from a complete distrust of the digital distribution system. Their objective is much like a cell phone company. Keep you coming back for more and more, in little tiny pieces, all while you don't own the game that you've purchased.
Mods and DLC compatibility. DLC can be no different from expansion sets in the sense that ultimately its extra add ons to the core game. Like all mods from back to 1998, they need to either be updated to revamped to work with new core software. It has not changed since then, and this is how it worked in Civ4. There is no reason to assume that Mods or Expansions will mean the death of any mod, unless the author deliberately stops working on it. In addition, mods are free. If the software company has designed DLC to be unusable with mods, that is a problem they need to fix. This has happened in the past, no different from poor patching that creates new problems while fixing some of the old ones. But, unlike the other points, this can happen to anyone, but like the other points Lemon brings up, because it can happen to anyone (poor release code), its more of a moot argument rather than something specific to Civ.
It's hardly moot. Here's a hypothetical for you. You and I both have Civ5, and you buy DLC package A. I whip up some version of the BAT Mod for Civ5 and distribute it on SourceForge, like always. You download it and try to use it. Problem. It doesn't work because you have DLC A, and I didn't develop with it. So there are two solutions. You can unload DLC A and not use content that you've possibly paid for, or I am forced to buy DLC A so that my mod will work for those who have it. Gee, that's a win-win for Steam. If I want to keep up, I have to buy DLC A, and B, yadda, yadda, yadda. And if you want to use Civ5 BAT, then you need to buy it too. Money makes the world go round.
Last point from Lemon: Nobody uses your mods due to compatibility issues even though its the "best mod ever". At this point you really seem to be arguing one sidedly against something that cannot be confirmed yet, but can exist in any game, making the point moot.
Nobody will play a mod that won't work with their game, bug free or not. No piece of software that I've ever purchased has ever been bug free. It didn't stop me from buying it. And we're not talking about bugs here, we're talking about compatibility between user's versions of the game. We don't know yet if mods that are not built with any added extras will be able to be played without unloading the (theoretical) extra content. What I'm saying is what if a "standard" mod, that wasn't built with the extra goodies, won't work for a (theoretically) enhanced game, but a mod downloaded from Steam will? Where does that leave the modding community here at CFC, or Apolyton? Maybe, our mods didn't pass the litmus test, so they can't be distributed by Steam, and therefore don't work. Would you spend the time to d/l a mod that you couldn't play? "Jeez, I'm not going to use that crummy mod. It doesn't work!" You might hear that even if the mod is bug free, and completely outstanding.
I think Civ is lucky to still have such a modding system, if at least on paper for Civ5. Few games allow us PC players to mod it to what we want these days. You should look at this from a positive perspective rather than negative.
I think Civ is lucky to have the modding system, too, but the thing is, to this point the mods have mostly been "home brewed" by a grass roots modding community. Ever thought that some smart guy at Steam hasn't thought of a way to make money off of mods? It may not have happened yet, but Civ is one of the most modded games out there. Just look at how many mods, graphics packs, and modcomps there are just for Civ4 alone. You don't think that someone is trying to find a way to capitalize on that?
Positive perspective Lemon really hopes that she's completely wrong about all of this, and she would really like to be proven wrong. Unfortunately, that won't happen until the game is released. Negative Lemon has worked in the E.R., and a psych hospital for far too long, and she has seen the absolute worst of human nature far too often to believe that what you are promised turns out to be true. It does in children's books, but not very often in the real world. My Grandad used to say "Beware a smilin' dog. He still has sharp teeth." Smart man.
Oh, and btw, the word "moot" applies to every thread in this entire sub-forum. The game hasn't been released yet.