(04-25-2015, 11:09 AM)FlyingMongoose link Wrote: [ -> ]Does anyone else remember the fiasco of map makers (3-6 months 8-hour days testing, developing, modeling, brushwork, texturing, etc) getting their maps added as DLC to TF2 (while TF2 was still a paid product) and they didn't get a dime, while hat makers made (and still make) a killing on microtransactions for selling their hats (and many of those map makers still haven't seen a dime).
Because I remember that.
This to me is a step in the RIGHT direction to help support the mod development community. Also PC Gamer just published an article that some paid mods have ALREADY BEEN PULLED because they use other party's mods in their own.
You also have to remember, as Surf314 pointed out there is legal matters here, the pay wall method may be the only way to get a W-2 or W-9 (because it can be considered "contract work" for a third party), whereas Donations in many countries REQUIRE a registered non-profit (which also means a boatload of tax bullshit that is a lot more annoying to deal with than W-2s or W-9s... at least in the states), we actually ran into this issue with Stargate: The Last Stand (because we had quite a few donors), then because a company started backing it we almost got in trouble with the taxman in the netherlands, so a new non-profit was founded so it'd be a lot less of a headache.
Also, not everyone who builds these mods ends up with employment at the end of the day, many of these rely on certain script implementations which are NOT commonplace in high level games development (seriously LUA is probably the worst game scripting language out there, it's slow, clunky, and unreliable in everything I've ever played that uses it). That being the case they are NOT getting experience in applicable programming languages (and sometimes when modding existing games there's absolutely no map editing tools and you're just slapping things into the already existing environment, so there's no real 'level design' experience being gained either)), in many of the instances the idea is that they're just telling a story within the existing universe, which is "general game design" which good luck finding employment in that, it's an oversaturated field that pretty much every studio already has because the game designer is almost always the founder anyway.
Again, I can not wholly support completely removing paid workshop content. I support it when implemented the right way. And while the margin percentages aren't the greatest on Steam, honestly, this is the best option for reimbursement of work for many.
I've never looked into the TF2 maps thing, and if they weren't asked, its pretty shitty, anyways, onto my main argument here.
This in no way helps the modders or community, it's pretty much ANOTHER cash grab by Valve. They've become increasingly adept at getting people to give them money, and now make money FOR them, all the while making it sound like they're helping them. It very well likely started with those community maps, someone realized "hey wait a second, people love these maps, and we didn't have to put in any work." After awhile, the first set of player created items were added to TF2, half a year later, the Mann Co store opened, where you could shell out real money for virtual hats and weapons. Soon, a great majority of the items added to TF2 weren't even created by Valve. Players made these items, submitted them to Valve, who then popped them into the game if they got popular enough. Sure, these items dropped and could be crafted normally, but you could also buy them from the MCS, giving some money to the creators, after Valve took their cut of course.
This is about where we started to see actual updates drop off, sure, we got a couple of new game modes, but one required you to pay Valve to play it. I believe this is where Valve realized that they were making money hand over fist off of other's work, and being praised for it. Even now, TF2, DOTA, and CS:GO have items and skins created by the community that sell for forty, fifty, sometimes even hundreds of dollars between players, found in randomly dropped crates that you pay to open. App games may have invented the microtransaction, but Valve has honed it to a razor edge. Eventually, Valve came up with early access and Greenlight, both of which turned out to have the upside that anyone could start their own game, and sell it as early access to gain funds for further development. Unfortunately, ANYONE could submit their game, and these developers aren't held to any schedule, quality control, or even standards. The most notable of these in my opinion was Starbound, a game that opened preorders in April of 2013, promising a release later that year. Two years later, Starbound is still incomplete, after several month long "Hiatuses" and the developers actually releasing OTHER complete games during the span, all the while refusing refunds to (understandably) angry players. Â
And of course like the MCS, Valve gets their slice of the pie from every Early Access game that sells, whether or not the creators deliver the promised, or even a completed end product.
With the precedent Valve has set with these actions, I really cant trust them when they say something is to "Help players/modders/mapmakers" because the only ones they seem to be helping are themselves. Hopefully the backlash they are recieving from this is enough to snap them out of this. [spoiler]<tinfoilhat>Or who knows? Maybe Episode 3 is just about done? Or has been done, and been saved for a time when Valve could use a popularity boost?</tinfoilhat>[/spoiler]
All in all, from the Mann co store supplanting actual content in TF2, to the endless shovelware on Early Access, to "helping" modders with 25% of the profits from the paid workshop, this whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. It seems to me that Valve is using their good reputation from Steam sales and the like to cover for some seriously shady shit.