I can't defend either Bethesda or Valve on this one, but I am surprised that EA didn't do it first...........drum roll please.....
Bethesda is getting pretty crappy. I'm sure that their motivation here is 100% financial. They're looking at a game released 4 years ago, that still sells substantially, suddenly bringing in more money without any input effort from them. On the other end, all of that sweet money comes with a plethora of work that Bethesda can use in the future, to the point where they might actually release a stable game on a decade old engine. If I wasn't ready to spit bile at that, the huge section of the total mod cost going to Bethesda is just villainous. Almost half of the cost of a mod goes to the developer, who does no work. Give me a break.
Valve is not taking nearly as much heat here as they should be. If EA were to do this crap people would bemoan it in the streets (then forget about it during the next EA release). I'm thinking that the TF2 hats idea was how Bethesda saw this, and they wanted some of that sweet money. They, of course, failed to follow in Valve's foot steps with making the game free first.
To all those who might defend Bethesda;
1) Modders deserve money - They do if they ask for it. They don't deserve $0.30 on the dollar though. The Nexus allowed people to donate money for mods quite a while ago, and it was a way for the community to support itself.
2) But the developers did the hard work of making the game - Really? Have you ever played Fallout 3? About half a dozen community mods made it stable, and Bethesda even aped code from them to stabilize that pile of bugs.
3) But it's convenient - No more so than the mod manager already available free on the Nexus. It even does load order better, so why a paid product functions worse is beyond me.
4) But paid content is better - Have you ever played DOTA? That was a free mod. What about DayZ? These, and many other things, were freely made by the community. All the while, Valve made us pay for hats in TF2.
5) But paid content has better QC - I'm not even going to dignify that with a scoff. The recent flood of Greenlight twaddle can speak for itself.
6) Valve stands for quality - Ha! Valve stopped giving a crap when Steam started eclipsing earning from their two biggest game releases. The beneficence of Gaben is dead, unless there's money in it.
7) But you don't need any of these mods to play the game - Again, really? You don't need a spoon to enjoy pudding, but without it you make an ugly mess that serves to lessen the act of enjoying it. Mods made the issues with Skyrim tolerable.
8) Valve offers a unique distribution platform - Nope. Origin, GoG, and a bunch of other platforms exist. There is part of me looking forward to the day Valve face-palms hard enough to lodge their wrist into their brain, and one of the more awesome platforms get to shine.
9) Modders will be getting the money - Nope. Overlooking the 75% drop, it's still more profitable to butcher three mods together, claim it as your original work, and wait the months that it will take (if ever) Valve to discover your deception. In the mean time there is no reason you won't make bank. Neither Valve nor Bethesda is inclined to ferret out this deception, as it earns them money.
Assuming all my other arguments are moot, consider this; who stand to benefit from paid mods the most? It isn't modders. It isn't Valve (you can have a portion of their cut redirected). If you were in the same position, and could print money with impunity, wouldn't you view any corruption as "minor?" Wouldn't you take the money, blame the dishonesty on the people doing it, and claim that you were just trying to offer the community a way to be compensated for their work. This is an act of true evil genius. Bethesda can't lose, because they have no skin in the game. They either make money for no work, or blame individuals for taking advantage of a flawed system. The left hand washes the right indeed.
