So has no one addressed one of the 500 lb gorilla in the room yet? Â Because that motherfucker's got some barrels it's looking to throw.
Most, if not all, of modern skyrim modding, outside of models, functions off the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) mod.  They've been mentioned at least once in this thread, so I know they're not completely unknown.  Those of you who've run mods know that this package lets you activate an obscene amount of mods in the game, from lighting to dancing bears to Early Release fishing games.
This team works, a lot, to make that mod work, functional, and to add new functionality to it. Â It's been a while since I was into this entire scene, but the SKSE set was the entire focal point from which all other things moved.
Let me set that up again: Without the SKSE few to none of these mods work. They would have to be removed, or have an extra charge tagged on to use them.
That's a hell of a leverage to have.
Now imagine that in any game where this sort of practice is normal (Fallout, Any elder scrolls game ever, basically any moddable RPG ever, for starters) this kind of archstone of modding goes behind a pay gate.
Now you're fucked unless you also by the SKSE equvilent. Â You can't get updates to the mod and un-break your other paid for mod subscriptions as they update unless you have the SKSE subscription.
Right now the SKSE team isn't going over to the new service, as far as I can tell.
I can't trust that will be the case for anything in the future of gaming if this trend continues. Â It's very, very easy for this entire thing to fall apart because one modding team does/does not go behind a paywall. Â Devs could put this kind of power behind a paywall now and come after freelance modders like the SKSE team.
In short: This kind of action has the potential to smother modding as we know it to death, under a paywall pillow filled with cash, for the simple reason that so many mods share resources in very basic ways. It destroys the inter-connected resource and freeware concept that makes modding low-level accessable.
Remove that brick, the entire thing falls apart.
Looking at the nuclear option, and in conclusion:
If the SKSE team issued something like a no-monetization notice, legally, the entire skyrim mod platform Steam just set up could potentially implode.
Most, if not all, of modern skyrim modding, outside of models, functions off the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) mod.  They've been mentioned at least once in this thread, so I know they're not completely unknown.  Those of you who've run mods know that this package lets you activate an obscene amount of mods in the game, from lighting to dancing bears to Early Release fishing games.
This team works, a lot, to make that mod work, functional, and to add new functionality to it. Â It's been a while since I was into this entire scene, but the SKSE set was the entire focal point from which all other things moved.
Let me set that up again: Without the SKSE few to none of these mods work. They would have to be removed, or have an extra charge tagged on to use them.
That's a hell of a leverage to have.
Now imagine that in any game where this sort of practice is normal (Fallout, Any elder scrolls game ever, basically any moddable RPG ever, for starters) this kind of archstone of modding goes behind a pay gate.
Now you're fucked unless you also by the SKSE equvilent. Â You can't get updates to the mod and un-break your other paid for mod subscriptions as they update unless you have the SKSE subscription.
Right now the SKSE team isn't going over to the new service, as far as I can tell.
I can't trust that will be the case for anything in the future of gaming if this trend continues. Â It's very, very easy for this entire thing to fall apart because one modding team does/does not go behind a paywall. Â Devs could put this kind of power behind a paywall now and come after freelance modders like the SKSE team.
In short: This kind of action has the potential to smother modding as we know it to death, under a paywall pillow filled with cash, for the simple reason that so many mods share resources in very basic ways. It destroys the inter-connected resource and freeware concept that makes modding low-level accessable.
Remove that brick, the entire thing falls apart.
Looking at the nuclear option, and in conclusion:
If the SKSE team issued something like a no-monetization notice, legally, the entire skyrim mod platform Steam just set up could potentially implode.
![[Image: tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/224cfbd6e79103f0520a30eabfc5085d/tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif)
