synfresh: The entitlement of everyone is astounding, it really is. Because if something was once free and now it's not, oh we can't have that now can we. If a mod author chooses to charge for a mod that they made, it is entirely in their right to do so because THEY MADE IT. If they choose to make it free, it is entirely in their right because THEY MADE IT. Everyone is bagging on Valve because all Valve did was give the mod author the power to charge for their mod. That's it.
On top of all that, all of this crap is optional. ALL OF IT. Even SkyUI believe it or not. If you don't want to buy it don't. I'm sure there will be plenty of sites where you can get mods for free (Nexus, ModDB, private sites, etc.). But no, PC master race is used to getting shit for free and we can't have little timmy starting to get money for his little sword that he created.
You know, people lost their mind when WoW started selling sparkle ponies for $25, saying the sky was falling and microtransactions in all games (not just MMORPGS) are here to stay. And yet here we are, years later and the sky is still up there.
Hmmmm why people cannot view this micro transaction or paid mods as something optional? Like you don't need to buy a sticker for your car or drinks when you eat out or ribbon to go with your dress?
I think like free to play micro transaction, the game is making people emotionally invested into the game, that if I don't buy this item / DLC I will feel missed out and my experience is incomplete. Even though people dislike it, they feel compelled to purchase it to "complete" their experience. And of course they will make noise about it.
The same thing happen with mods. After getting used to it and suddenly it is put behind a pay wall, they feel upset because they are already emotional invested into it. Of course people are not entitled to others work for it, but it does not makes them feel any better.
If people know this will happen, like crusader 2 with its $200 DLC, people can just go "darn it, I will not even buy and play the based game." For people who already played crusader 2 and emotionally invested in it, it is hard for them to pull out.
I think a huge number will not buy and play skyrim if they know they have to fork out so much to have the best experience with the game.
It is easy for me to say this and remain somewhat objective, because I never fire up Skyrim from my library, so I am not at all emotionally invested it it. If I ever enjoyed Skyrim, I would probably goes warrrrrbrrrrraaaaaarageeeee like a lot of people. I am sure I would not like my experience suddenly diminished unless I pay even more than the base game again.
Sign, next time if I want to buy a game, I have to see tags like Steam Workshop is not supported. Very funny when not long ago people are saying "This game is great because it have Steam Workshop". It is better than dealing with the headache later, because DLC ends when a sequel is released and you can get all the DLC in the Ultimate edition, but modding have a long life.
Then again this will unlikely worries me because I had build my library on GOG, and hardly use mods.