So, again, here's a crosspost from what I said on the other threads concerning the matter; as I mention below, I, like some of the folks here, have modded and know what it's like to not only mod but also deal with community dynamics:
After some thinking, here are my thoughts as someone who has, if I may so boast, quite some modding experience (albeit not with Skyrim modding).
I don't think giving modders money is necessarily a bad thing. Modding can be hellishly like work sometimes. It can be stressful not only dealing with the actual modding process, but also with a vocal minority of entitled asshat users who act like dicks when you don't do things their way or cater to their demands. Though I haven't had it happen to me, apparently Crakedtoothgrin, a CKII modder who has occasionally been contracted by PI to make some artwork, even had people stalking him online when they got pissy. Certainly, making a bit of dough would make me more willing to put up with all that sort of crap.
However, as the implementation here is sloppy and awful, my biggest concern is what some may know as "modder drama". The (a?) Nexus admin correctly predicted this was going to happen a month or so ago, and stated their reservations:
Even right now, in the world of open and free modding, things are competitive. Lots of mod authors like to fight for that hot file, for that file of the month vote, they want more views, more downloads, more endorsements. I wouldn't say it's an unhealthy obsession, not yet anyway, but it's always been there, that stark contrast between those mod authors who don't care about such "trivial" things, and those mod authors who really do, who really want their mods out there as much as possible. And sure, we have to sort out some squabbles every now and again, but such rivalries and competitions don't turn sour often because the thing being sought after is not some sort of finite resource with only so much to go around. A download, an endorsement; users can download and endorse more than one mod. They can do that for a lot of mods. Money, however, is finite. When you're competing to make your mod the top mod, the most bought mod, when you're trying to earn more money than your peers are you telling me that things don't change? You're now competing over a finite resource. Users only have so much money, after all. How does this change and affect other areas of the community?
How many mods on the Nexus use assets made by other mod authors? How many are made better by this? Such assets are used with the express permission of the creators of those assets. If a mod author came to you and asked if he could use some of your work in their mod that they were planning to sell for $5, would you feel more or less inclined to give him that permission? Would you, perhaps rightly, ask for a cut of the proceeds, a revenue share of your own? If you're one of those great authors who releases your mods freely for others to make use of in their mods, or a modder's resource developer, are you going to think about revisiting all your permissions in light of money entering the modding community? Are you still thinking about being so generous with your work?
How many mods have been developed by a team of mod authors? Lots of people working together to develop something amazing. Look at Nehrim or Falskaar, two epic, highly rated mods made by extensive groups of modders. I think a lot of us will have said at one point or another, either about those mods or about others, "I'd definitely pay for this". And my god, there are so many mods out there that are so good, so professional, so well done that yes, I'd pay for them in an instant! I mean, once you get SkyUI you don't ever want to think about going back to the way it was before again, right? But how are you going to sort out who gets what from selling such mods? We get lots of drama now, without any money changing hands, over permissions and credits, I don't even want to think how horrible it would be to try and sort out such issues when money is involved. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Some who haven't been involved in modding may think the issue of asking permission or receiving credit as simply a pleasant matter of asking a question, but it's often not. People may conflict over how work can be integrated, whether the mod-taker has the right to change content he/she takes, how crediting should be done, and so on. Like treaties between nations and implementation of domestic law, people may agree to something, but then disagree on interpreting it - ie, I gave you permission to use x, in a manner y, but that did not imply you could do z with x. And then there's the issue that even if you make mod A and give permission for mod B to use its contents, you'll have to deal with mod B granting permission to mod C to use it; even if you make the creator of B agree to make others credit A, it's difficult to make sure they enforce it - and then mod C might give mod D permission, and so on.
Part of why I've always been very laid-back with regards to these matters when I modded CKII was because I wanted to avoid all this potential drama. Many, many modders, including some I've worked with, share vastly different approaches. Essentially, things are going to get a hella complicated now when we factor in this finite resource called money. And how will these squabbles be solved quickly and efficiently now, when money is involved? Normally, they are solved through faith and this sort of unspoken code of honor, or through giant flamewars. At the end of the day, though, the general consensus is that modders help each other. Throw in money, and this makes the idea of sharing your stuff less appealing. If I were making money off my CKII mods, I'd have been much, much less easy-going with these sort of matters
Perhaps Valve's implementation of this was fated to be sloppy and awful no matter what, regardless, given how chaotic and complicated the modding world can really be. It's like international law, where there's no supreme authority to enforce anything.
Anyways, I've sometimes joked to my fellow modders that you have to think of your mod projects a bit like a business, but that was mainly in terms of how you advertised yourself and in terms of finding niches and satisfying user demand. I never thought it could be like this. Things are going to get interesting, I suppose, or, it might end up after the initial wave of anger no one will care. We'll see.
But hey, I can guarantee you those porn mods will never be on sale.
