6 ms·

The latest I've seen is that Valve gets 30%, then the publisher decides what the rest of the split looks like. If they had released the exact same system, but s

by jonlucc 11y ago

The latest I've seen is that Valve gets 30%, then the publisher decides what the rest of the split looks like. If they had released the exact same system, but said the modders get 75%, I think this whole ordeal would have been avoided. It's interesting to me that it was apparently better to give modders nothing than to give them 25%.

draugadrotten 11y ago
> It's interesting to me that it was apparently better to give modders nothing than to give them 25%. It's due to perceived "fairness" This 75/25 split by Valve reminds me of the psychology experiment the Ultimatum Game: "'Inequity aversion' is so strong that people are willing to sacrifice personal gain in order to prevent another person from receiving an inequitably better outcome." https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200911/fair-play https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200911/...
- talmand 11y ago
  That's not quite the same. That game involves two people trying to figure out who gets what from a pot of money they did nothing to deserve receiving. Mod makers did work that may deserve compensation. One example is a possible bonus for the people involved, the other is a possible shafting for the people involved.
- dragontamer 11y ago
  Inequity Aversion only exists in America and other Westernized countries btw. We're WEIRD like that. Different cultures respond differently to the Ultimatum Game. Be wary of those studies that only use "Anglo-Saxon American College Kids" as test subjects, which is a group of people that isn't even representative of America in general. http://bigthink.com/praxis/are-americans-the-weirdest-people-in-the-world http://bigthink.com/praxis/are-americans-the-weirdest-people... >>> The revelation that rural Peruvians handle the ultimatum game so differently from American respondents led Henrich on a MacArthur Foundation-funded research trip to more than a dozen more locales around the world, where he found wide variation in the average offers of player #1 and this curious result: “in some societies — ones where gift-giving is heavily used to curry favor or gain allegiance — the first player would often make overly generous offers in excess of 60 percent, and the second player would often reject them, behaviors almost never observed among Americans.”
  - crdoconnor 11y ago
    >Inequity Aversion only exists in America and other Westernized countries btw. Monkeys do it: http://www.livescience.com/2044-monkeys-fuss-inequality.html http://www.livescience.com/2044-monkeys-fuss-inequality.html
lsaferite 11y ago
I personally found Bethesda getting any split quite distasteful. They produced the game and made their money on game sales. If they continue to be responsive to bug reports and/or adding new features to the game then perhaps I can see a small amount going to them. Valve taking a cut I understand as they handle the sales and distribution platform. I'm not sure I think 30% is fair, but that's a different issue. As a revenue split I'd be much more on board with the modder getting 75% and the rest being to everyone else. Of course, then you need to consider how mod dependency is handled. And you have to look at how long term mod support is handled. What happens when the modder goes away or Bethesda releases an update that breaks existing mods. The whole thing is a big nasty ball of problems.
- mcphage 11y ago
  > I personally found Bethesda getting any split quite distasteful. They produced the game and made their money on game sales. They produced the game engine, and are letting people develop on it for free. And them getting a cut from people piggybacking on their work and making money from it was distasteful to you?
  - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
    'Piggyback' is a loaded word. Its something we all do when we use a compiler or desktop machine. Yet those folks don't stick their hands into our revenue stream.
    - lsaferite 11y ago
      LOL, exactly. Hell, why don't musical instrument makers get a share of royalties for music made with their instruments?
      - mcphage 11y ago
        > Hell, why don't musical instrument makers get a share of royalties for music made with their instruments? Hell, why don't game engine developers get a share of royalties for games made with their engines? ...oh, right, they do.

by jonlucc 11y ago

draugadrotten 11y ago

> It's interesting to me that it was apparently better to give modders nothing than to give them 25%. It's due to perceived "fairness" This 75/25 split by Valve reminds me of the psychology experiment the Ultimatum Game: "'Inequity aversion' is so strong that people are willing to sacrifice personal gain in order to prevent another person from receiving an inequitably better outcome." https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200911/fair-play https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200911/...

talmand 11y ago
That's not quite the same. That game involves two people trying to figure out who gets what from a pot of money they did nothing to deserve receiving. Mod makers did work that may deserve compensation. One example is a possible bonus for the people involved, the other is a possible shafting for the people involved.
dragontamer 11y ago
Inequity Aversion only exists in America and other Westernized countries btw. We're WEIRD like that. Different cultures respond differently to the Ultimatum Game. Be wary of those studies that only use "Anglo-Saxon American College Kids" as test subjects, which is a group of people that isn't even representative of America in general. http://bigthink.com/praxis/are-americans-the-weirdest-people-in-the-world http://bigthink.com/praxis/are-americans-the-weirdest-people... >>> The revelation that rural Peruvians handle the ultimatum game so differently from American respondents led Henrich on a MacArthur Foundation-funded research trip to more than a dozen more locales around the world, where he found wide variation in the average offers of player #1 and this curious result: “in some societies — ones where gift-giving is heavily used to curry favor or gain allegiance — the first player would often make overly generous offers in excess of 60 percent, and the second player would often reject them, behaviors almost never observed among Americans.”
- crdoconnor 11y ago
  >Inequity Aversion only exists in America and other Westernized countries btw. Monkeys do it: http://www.livescience.com/2044-monkeys-fuss-inequality.html http://www.livescience.com/2044-monkeys-fuss-inequality.html

lsaferite 11y ago

I personally found Bethesda getting any split quite distasteful. They produced the game and made their money on game sales. If they continue to be responsive to bug reports and/or adding new features to the game then perhaps I can see a small amount going to them. Valve taking a cut I understand as they handle the sales and distribution platform. I'm not sure I think 30% is fair, but that's a different issue. As a revenue split I'd be much more on board with the modder getting 75% and the rest being to everyone else. Of course, then you need to consider how mod dependency is handled. And you have to look at how long term mod support is handled. What happens when the modder goes away or Bethesda releases an update that breaks existing mods. The whole thing is a big nasty ball of problems.

mcphage 11y ago
> I personally found Bethesda getting any split quite distasteful. They produced the game and made their money on game sales. They produced the game engine, and are letting people develop on it for free. And them getting a cut from people piggybacking on their work and making money from it was distasteful to you?
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  'Piggyback' is a loaded word. Its something we all do when we use a compiler or desktop machine. Yet those folks don't stick their hands into our revenue stream.
  - lsaferite 11y ago
    LOL, exactly. Hell, why don't musical instrument makers get a share of royalties for music made with their instruments?
    - mcphage 11y ago
      > Hell, why don't musical instrument makers get a share of royalties for music made with their instruments? Hell, why don't game engine developers get a share of royalties for games made with their engines? ...oh, right, they do.