Bethesda - Announces Bethesda.net

[Couchpotato]

Well get ready for another online service as Bethesda is launching their own digital service called Bethesda.net. It will be used for all future games, and mods.

Link - http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/06/14/bethesda-announces-bethesda-net.aspx

During its press conference at E3 2015, Bethesda announced Bethesda.net, which will provide a unified framework for Bethesda's games, forums, and other features like user-created content such as the the recently announced Doom Snapmap.

While very little was actually stated during the presentation as to how it will work (if it's going to be something like Uplay or Origin, for instance) we can assume we'll hear more soon.

 

[DArtagnan]

So, every major company will have one of these?

Don't you just love having dozens of little launch platforms taking up resources?

Sigh....

 

[lostforever]

So, every major company will have one of these?

Don't you just love having dozens of little launch platforms taking up resources?

Sigh….

This is exactly what I was thinking. I like competition to keep the big players in check but this is getting ridicules.

This pretty much guarantees that you will get paid mods now. Also means that steam don't get 30% cut! I wonder what will be the mod creator Bethesda split will be.

 

[DArtagnan]

I'm not against paid mods in principle - and it all depends on how it's handled.

The big issue with paid mods, in my opinion, is that mods often don't work as advertised - or they outright break your game.

The ONLY way to handle paid mods that makes sense to me, is through some kind of subscription service - where you gain access to ALL mods. How Bethesda will pay the modders, I have no idea.

The upside is a potentially easier modding process - and a more rigid greenlighting process.

I'd gladly pay a reasonable subscription price for mods that actually work, and which aren't a complete nightmare to setup.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Bethesda is just one big screw-up after another, fortunately I doubt they'll give me any reason to use their platform, which is great news

 

[Couchpotato]

Bethesda is just one big screw-up after another, fortunately I doubt they'll give me any reason to use their platform, which is great news

Yes we all know how you feel about Bethesda GothicGothicness.

Now as for the service I see it as another unnecessary client to use. We already have Steam, Uplay, Origin, Galaxy, Battle.net, and a few others already.

 

[pibbur who]

Bethesda is just one big screw-up after another, fortunately I doubt they'll give me any reason to use their platform, which is great news

Yeah. You really had me worried for a time, there.

pibbur who sadly will be using that platform

 

[lostforever]

I'm not against paid mods in principle - and it all depends on how it's handled.

The big issue with paid mods, in my opinion, is that mods often don't work as advertised - or they outright break your game.

The ONLY way to handle paid mods that makes sense to me, is through some kind of subscription service - where you gain access to ALL mods. How Bethesda will pay the modders, I have no idea.

The upside is a potentially easier modding process - and a more rigid greenlighting process.

I'd gladly pay a reasonable subscription price for mods that actually work, and which aren't a complete nightmare to setup.

I am fine with paid mods as well and this change might even be for modders in the it will remove Steams 30% cut so modders get better cut of the sale price.

 

[joxer]

So Bethesda launches another Steam killer wannabe. Good luck to them.

 

[Carnifex]

Well, if this is like Origins, a platform necessary to play Bethesda games, I'll be done with them as well. Smart move!

 

[sakichop]

Well if they do go to paid mods which is looking more likely now they need to find a system different than paying per mod. I've had up to 160 mods running in skyrim at one time and I'm sure hundreds more that I just tried out. No way I would pay individually for all those.

I wouldn't be opposed to a subscription like Dart suggested as I did that with the nexus or maybe a one time fee when you buy the "modable" version of the game.

 

[Ripper]

I don't see them shrinking the market for mods by charging a premium for a moddable version. I suspect we'll see essentially the same model as last time, with a larger cut for modders, so they can say "See! We listened to you," and improve the tone of the relaunch.

 

[sakichop]

I don't see them shrinking the market for mods by charging a premium for a moddable version. I suspect we'll see essentially the same model as last time, with a larger cut for modders, so they can say "See! We listened to you," and improve the tone of the relaunch.

What exactly was the model last time I wasn't modding during that short period? I thought it was individually priced mods and if so wouldn't that shrink the market as well?

It would definitely limit the amount of mods I'd want to use. $60 for a game and then 1-2 hundred for mods? ( assuming $1/ mod) No thanks.

 

[Arkadia7]

I won't sign up for a different gaming companies internet access portal site every time I want to play a game. Not gonna happen. So, they might want to rethink this, if they mean that you will have to sign up for their site just to play their games. I like having steam, because it is an all in one center for my games.

 

[Ripper]

What exactly was the model last time I wasn't modding during that short period? I thought it was individually priced mods and if so wouldn't that shrink the market as well?

It would definitely limit the amount of mods I'd want to use. $60 for a game and then 1-2 hundred for mods? ( assuming $1/ mod) No thanks.

It was iindeed invidually priced mods - just the same as it is now, but with pricetags. That doesn't shrink the market, but it would certainly reduce the number of mods downloaded. But, a reduced number of downloads generating profit is infinitely preferable to them than a greater number generating none.

 

[Drithius]

Eh, has noone asked the obvious?

Will this new platform be a requirement for modding? Ie., will sites such as Nexus and ModDB be disallowed from uploading mods from here on out... Will modders be locked in by software to upload to their new site and only their new site?

 

[Dez]

Installing mods through steam workshop is a great way to mess up your game. Maybe if you download only few mods which don't conflict, it may work, but modding will never be "click and drop" type of thing. So much of the cool stuff for skyrim simply would have not happened if steam workshop was the only platform for modding.

 

[Thrasher]

Well, it can make game patching, extensions, etc, a lot less painless. However, Bethesda hasn't been good at pushing out patches, anyway. Not sure of the benefit in this cases (unlike steam).

 

[Ripper]

Eh, has noone asked the obvious?

Will this new platform be a requirement for modding? Ie., will sites such as Nexus and ModDB be disallowed from uploading mods from here on out… Will modders be locked in by software to upload to their new site and only their new site?

My guess (and not a very confident one), is that they won't lock in, at least to begin with. When they try again with paid modding, I think they'll be cautious of the uproar that would arise from cutting out the Nexus and independent sites. I think they'll rely on the draw of modder income to attract the best content to their platform.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

People always say it's evil for companies to create their own software platform to avoid giving a significant cut to a middle man, but it actually makes perfect business sense and it's only natural. There is no reason to complain at all.