Patreon, Paid mods & BeamNG.drive

I agree that high quality stuff should be rewarded, those hundreds or thousands of hours pumped in to it really deserve something more than a 5-star rating. The community is growing bigger and bigger, so there's more people potentially willing to pay for a mod.

Spoiler: Just look

https://steamdb.info/app/284160/graphs/

I wouldn't listen to those whining mass that want everything for free, and even then still complain. Paid mods may encourage skilled individuals and bring some great stuff to the game too, remember that some features were brought by modders. Nobody would force paid mods, those units that are willing to share their work for free would be free to continue Also not everything qualifies to be paid for, but I personally would pay for a quality mod of a certain car. Stoat Muldoon's mods were simply great, B25Mitch's B25 Mitch was amazing, CarlosAir's aircraft just wow. CarKiller's. DrowsySam's ... And the list goes on and on. But many of the best guys got burned out, IMO part of it is that so many hours got spent and didn't contribute to their lives all that much. Money = motivation, as it provides for needs. Otherwise, at one point it will raise thoughts in their heads, that maybe instead they should just put this time and effort somewhere else and make real money for doing something similar. - i.e. some joined dev team

Spoiler: Anti-piracy system idea

It would definitely need a system preventing from piracy, otherwise it would be spread all over on Discord, PMs etc. and it just wouldn't work for modder. So a commission to dev team for maintaining a system that would work something like this:

Approved by a mod, same as it works right now. Downloadable only from repository and be assigned by a code to certain account, that wouldn't let you play if it's not assigned to your BeamNG copy. Those mods should be locked like sounds folder and contain a license that would match only with specific BeamNG.copys. So online activation would happen simultaneously with downloading. Also, a legit refund policy, that it would be easy to get money back. Maybe even 30 minutes of activation trial for each. Getting a refund would have to deactivate (or/and delete?) the mod from your account so even if you still have files, you couldn't use the mod, the same with possible trial. That system wouldn't have to be too complicated, as not many hackers would try to breach it as there would be little to 0 profit from that.

^ Maybe there's an easier way and I'm overcomplicating, but that's just my idea

Price though IMO shouldn't go beyond €5 per vehicle, otherwise sales would be low. Would it be profitable? I don't think so. But at least hobby combined with some profit feels better than without any.

 

Imagine spending literally years perfecting a certain model car mod and some noob meshlaps that same model and gets a bunch more downloads...
Point is, as an average beaming player are you willing to pay for a mod that took forever to make or get free ones that come out like every week.
And I'm not talking out people who can distinguish good mods and crapjobs, I'm talking about the average beam player who doesn't even visit the forums except to download mods.
As for paid mods, modders can do whatever they want, I'm not trying to protest, just trying to point out some let's say... shortcomings.

 

Honestly depends if its extremely expensive

 

95% of "paid content" does not compare to the work and dedication that the BeamNG team puts into their cars. They get more views just because it looks like a real car... I'm glad you guys have semi decent skills to be able to do something like that, but I don't care what anyone says the content is crap. Your taking content and slapping a visual bandaid (realistic body from some other game) on it so you can make some money. So basically you didn't create anything actually just a decent jbeam edit. Go and make your own video game, Your just content thieves.

*Changed it to 95% since everyone got their pants in a twist. You know what mods I'm talking about...............................................

 

tf?

 

I think that we should just do it
look at how rfactor, assetto corsa, and GTA went with it, very successful

 

https://www.beamng.com/threads/cherrier-picnic-92-03-paid.84800/
built from the ground up
https://www.beamng.com/threads/2001-07-civetta-mondello-paid.85810/
built from the ground up
Don't make uneducated, generalized posts.

 

You don't have to buy anything. LBEs cherrier picnic mod is very well made. Its a awesome original model and a great jbeam both for deformation and driving. I'd say on par with dev quality. Imo worth the 4 bucks it costs, but if you don't want it why care?

 

I think they're referring to these third-party sites selling forza meshslaps to YouTubers or something

 

That's my guess too, but they did say 100%. Soooo... idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I second that.

AND SOUNDS

 

In my opinion, paid mod is not a Bad at all , expect for the full release Patreon mods

 

My input on this is as long as the paid mods are minimum dev-quality and contains intriguing features (such as The Procyon's working sunroof and 3rd row seats, it's free but I love it's features), I'm more than happy to pay for them because the developer spend time in it, unlike greedy Patreon meshslapers who makes meshslaps for 20 dollars that I can slap myself.

 

I'm sorry for not doing a great job at clarifying, but I do think the term "dev-quality" is how the most recent in-game cars is like because it best demonstrates what the devs can do. So yes, I expect the quality like the Scintilla and recently remastered Covet. But since no mod reaches that, maybe I'm expecting too much. My favorite paid mod is the Picnic, and that is up to my standards.

 

As long as it's scratch made, should be okay to make it paid IMO.
Stolen/ported assets + poorly made stuff on the other hand is big no

I'm talking about yolobet, and some Russian mods that's just a mesh slap.
For myself, I would never sell mods.

Also, antipiracy system; wouldn't really work unless if there's an encryption mechanism (like passworded zip + token), but that defeats the purpose of unpacking the mod.
It's just like some "site" selling "spicy" stuff, the content was bound to leak eventually because lack of protection.

yolobet and net_nuka comes to mind

 

The reward should be found in satisfaction, in my opinion.

Modding for this game has been a hobbyist art for about a decade now. At least that's how I always felt. I never really liked the idea of it being played with as a potential form of income, the idea has been tossed around for a few years now and it seems to be getting pretty popular now. I find it's a shame where we feel it's necessary to start charging to feel "rewarded." Of course, it's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not my favourite part of the modding evolution. I would hate for it to become the norm, as nearly no other game has gone this direction. Assetto Corsa does have an amount of paid mods, but there are a minimal number of them and there are always free alternatives.

Ask a lot of people and there's nothing more rewarding than seeing everything just work on a board you've just recapped, or a circuit you've just put together, or backing away from a model you've just finished fully assembling, or starting your car for the first time after a large modification. And I'm sure every single one of you knows this feeling.

Note that these examples are mostly things people do for themselves in their free time. When you're doing it for others, that's called being a mechanic or doing computer repair. AKA jobs you could make a decent living out of. Same thing with modelling and any form of coding.

Of course, a lot of people still do these things for the profit aspect of things (and generally they are disliked within tighter communities. Even the Assetto Corsa modding community is a breeding ground for drama.) but generally it has been for the fun hobbyist completion feeling that has been around for long as apes have been around.

Of course, people are free to charge whatever they want. If a price is too high, people won't pay it. Piracy for these mods will exist and is extremely easy within BeamNG, and I won't blame anyone for such a fact because BeamNG has become a successful game due to it's modding accessibility. Personally, I do not intend to pay for mods. As much fun as they could potentially be, there are better alternatives to keep myself satisfied. There is a large market of kids with their parent's card info, so go get'em. I wish all the best of luck, even if it's not my favourite tactic.

 

ok... so make your own free mods

 

Sure, I do. In my free time, for fun. Just nothing worth sharing now, but maybe soon.

I have nothing but respect for modders even if they do charge for their work. My opinion applies to me, Not necessarily anyone else. I apologize if something in there came off as an insult. It's just my 0.02 personally.