just say that those who steal the mods and they charge, it is shameful guys do not even know how to work, I spent hours on my mods with friends or alone, for fun, for sharing and solidarity, and also that can play with more fun,Modding is and always has been, a work of love. It is not about money, or fame. Modding is about seeing a flaw or a place where there could be ‘more’ and filling it.

Mod makers work hard, and I respect them. I've made some custom weapons for my own use, and it is difficult. I can’t imagine doing heavy script or animation work. That being said, the mod maker should not be expecting to receive payment. You are not a member of the company who made the game, and shouldn't expect to be treated like one. People who really like your mod, can and often will donate, if the option is there. But the true spirit of modding, I believe, lies in the act of helping a community you are a part of to improve something that you all enjoy.

On another note, this also has the potential to stop modders from improving. Take this as an example: A first time modder makes a mod, let’s just say it adds a sword or something. He, being a first time modder, thinks it is excellent. He decides to put it on the market for 1 dollar. He gets some initial downloads, but, as is often the case, soon the downloads stop. He wonders why only a few people liked it. Even worse, a large number of buyers demand a refund shortly after they purchase the mod. He sees the comments telling him that the textures on the sword are atrocious, etc, but he's already had his confidence damaged because it seemed people thought badly of his modding. He decides maybe modding wasn't for him and stops modding altogether. Under free usage, he won’t have to deal with the actual sensation of loss he felt when the little money he did make was refunded, and the comments would be much more motivating than they would otherwise, since he is less upset. He could potentially go on to make even more mods, increasing in complexity, and using feedback provided by people who are more constructive than destructive. (People seem to be more upset when they post negative comments about paid things, since they feel scammed, I’d assume.). He may use the advice given to him by commenters to create something fantastically well done.

It's a situation that is clearly within the realm of possibilities.

I would like to reiterate: I am very, very supportive of modders, and I have personally donated to a few of them, but we have to be clear: When people expect payment for their services, and do something for money, the quality of said thing is different from something that is a labor of love.

One of the things I personally enjoy about mods is the sense of community I get from people, even mod authors, in that community. I cannot say that I feel the same way about large, for profit groups, which, are honestly inevitable with this system. The temptation to form a team of modders to boost the number of mods produced for the payment system is simply too large to reasonably doubt. At this point, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I am not against cooperation, but I am against the scenario in which three or four people team up to flood the market with cheap, low quality mods to try to boost profit from those mods.

Further, we have the fact that many players use mods precisely BECAUSE they are free. I myself am a college student, and I know that I could not afford to pay for all the mods I have in my load order. The issue of money is actually what first attracted me to modding. I had thought to myself that since I was an avid gamer, but I was broke, I would be best served getting content based mods for myself. I told myself I would just use those mods as a bridge till I got the official DLC but I eventually forgot about them. By the time I remembered, I found it cheaper to just by a legendary edition of Skyrim. I found the DLC content and models on this fresh install a startling reminder of just how old Skyrim was. I was extremely thankful for mods from then on, as they provided me a way to actually enjoy the game and not have to pay anything, which came as a real boon for me, since I had a VERY tight budget at that time. The free nature of mods enabled me to enjoy the game much more than without. I am sure many others find themselves with a tight budget, and have found mods to be a real relief.

Lastly, an already overstated issue: Intellectual property. IP is a bit thorny in my opinion, but the problem lies with the modding community and its tendency to use assets that already exist. And while that is legal for profitless usage (to my knowledge, I am not, nor will I profess to be a lawyer, or involved in the law), it can, from what I understand, become a big issue when payments are involved.

Again I would like to say to any mod authors who may be reading this, this is not an attack on you. I honestly admire many of the authors on the Nexus, as they create fantastic works out of a desire to foster a more enjoyable game. I do not, and will not ever, support the idea of “Blacklisting” an author simply because he or she chooses to move their mods to paid form. I understand the draw, and I honestly think that a great deal of authors deserve much more praise than they receive, I just disagree on the methods being put into action. I am also aware that as a person who has only created simple, casual mods, I cannot understand the amount of work that goes into your creations, and I will not claim to. What I am saying is this: A good mod can be made for profit, but a truly great mod is made out of compassion.

At the end of the day, for me, this is a matter of the integrity and purpose of the modding community, a community which I have seen do things fix bugs left by developers, to changing the entire climate of a game, to adding a whole new landmass. Modding is about exploring the limits of what we paid for, stretching every cent we have to the maximum. It’s about taking something good, and making it great, and taking something great, and making it even better. The hard work put in by mod authors makes many of my modded games worth playing, and I find myself, at times, more grateful to them than Bethesda, because while they may not have made the house, they really made it feel like home.

Thank you for reading this. Thanks!