Pay for the mod. If you’ve ever said these three words to anyone who plays or makes mods for games, chances are you’ll get a pretty strong response, or at least an acknowledgment that – as many Facebook relationship statuses say – it’s complicated .
Bethesda’s latest attempt to create a system designed to facilitate this kind of thing is proving to be just as polarizing as its predecessors, and we recently asked Dean “Prilladog” Carter, the project manager for the massive free Fallout 4 mod Fallout: London (Dean ‘Prilladog’ Carter), what is his opinion on the current state of the game, i.e. whether mods are paid or free.
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“I hope they pick something up,” Carter said when I mentioned Bethesda’s creation in the interview, which also discussed the truncated quest lines that will appear in future updates, as well as John Bercow’s The Ending starring Neil Newbon.
“This is the third time they’ve tried to do this, but they’ve been backing off,” the modder continued. “If they’d stuck to it the first time, it would have been controversial, but so far – this is the first time it’s possible They asked this question about 10 years ago – if they stick to this, 10 years from now, people will be like, “Oh.” But no, they did it again, they backed away. It’s the third time, and maybe the third time is the charm, but it seems instantly forgotten, and the way they pull it off, and this is just my opinion, is weird in itself.
“It’s clear that they’re pushing forward with Skyrim, but they’re not pushing forward with Fallout, and that’s probably because of Fallout 76. The way they try every time seems clunky. Just. Like, just pick one, stick with it, and make it a mod going forward, because then the modders themselves will know, and this could be something I can make a living at, and no one else knows. Some people are, but now it looks like a cool kids club, like who got you into the cool kids club because there are some people on our team who are a part of it but others are not, but they all do it with the same resume? Application, that is, “We are involved in Fallout: London, or we have completed this large project.” Some people get selected, others don’t, but their applications are the same. So, who is choosing it? This is very strange.
“I think we’re on the cusp of pure monetization, and I don’t think that’s good or bad, I think it depends on the content,” Carter added of the broader landscape of modding. “I think overall Say, the industry needs to figure out whether mods are free or paid, and then this needs to become the norm.
“What I hate is when companies only see modding as a way to make money and don’t give people anything, because I think that’s a dangerous perspective.”
Where do you stand on the issue of paid mods? Let us know below, and be sure to check out our range of helpful guides on Fallout: London companions and quests.
