With Valve's recent changes to the workshop system (currently only pertaining to Skyrim) I felt that as a modder and member of the modding community I will not be monetizing this mod or any mods I may intentionally release in the future under the current system valve has put in place. I strongly believe in this current form the monetization of community-created mods will only damage the core values and integrity of all modding communities and I refuse to contribute to this system.

I am not opposed to developers receiving donations or support for their work. I do not want to convey the message that modders should not receive any compensation because they are not directly linked to the game's developer or publisher. The demand that non-affiliated developers should in no way benefit from their work is more unfair and more short-sighted than the belief that mods can be treated as privately created “DLC”. I have already heard many in the community suggest a donation system be implemented instead of the ability to hold content behind a pay wall. Although the donations that a modder may receive for their work may not make up for the lost time and effort they put into their creation, it protects from the exploits we have already witnessed in first-party DLC. With the new system Valve has implemented, we could soon see these same issues: content being carved up to maximize profit, false and misguiding advertising, and the massive flood of small pieces of content that could easily be packaged together. There are simply too many ways in which this system will hurt, not benefit the whole community, including modders.

I'm sure that all of us can think of wonderful mods that strengthened our ties to a game's community, improved our experience, and inspired us to make mods of our own. I do not believe I deserve any compensation for my modding; If anything I am indebted to this community, the game developers, and the modders who inspired me to give back to the modders and mod-lovers that have already done so much for me. I urge anyone who is worried about the future safety of modding to not support this new system.