Bethesda games and modding: a foreseeable future?

[oldladyonthemoon]

An idea came through my mind this morning, while I was working (my work doesn't require that I use my brains to do it). It's been quite a while that I am wondering what Bethesda could do to prevent mod theft and people abusing their assets and making money with them; the more I think of it the more it seems to me that there is only one solution (aside from shutting down modding, of course): online modding.

This would apply to the PC versions of the future games of course not to the existing ones:

1. each buyer of the game would get free access to an online version of the editor, no download and installation on your computer ; the tool could be installed on a cloud that would be personal to the user in order to avoid site overload,
2. mods made with the online tool would be stored on a cloud, no download and storing on your computer,
3. once published on Bethesda.net pc mods, the players would subscribe to them as they already do, no download and installation on your computer either,
4. mods would require being online to be installed and played.

Okay, enough conjecturing; let's get back to modding.

Edited March 28, 2018 by ladyonthemoon

[vometia]

Oh dear, don't give them scary ideas: not entirely sure I'm too enthusiastic about an always online requirement.  I'm also very keen on third-party tools since I mostly interfere and meddle with the outfits and other 3D models so I rarely use Bethsoft's own editor.  I think I like things the way they are which is hopefully where they'll remain, at least as an option, but I suspect we haven't seen the end of attempts to monetise what some view as an "untapped resource" and of course the consoles potentially bring their own dimension of complexity into the mix too...

[Arron_Dominion]

That is an interesting concept.  You definitely see other creative products implementing a pure cloud solution, and cloud seems to be the big thing in the software space (despite not necessarily understanding the implications on operations).

It would certainly give a level of security for modders utilizing their platform.  With this being the PC, I believe you will have independent platforms start to develop their own tools and mechanisms to insert them into the game, circumventing the framework.  Those platforms wouldn't be the primary spot for those playing their games if they were to crop up.

Definitely will be interesting to see what they decide from their experiences with the Fallout 4/Special Edition modding scene and Creation Club scene.

[Ashenfire]

And kill our freedom.

We should not be slaves to entertainment, banks, etc.   We need privacy, flexibility, and choice.  We need to be able to choose and not to be forced to have online connections to get 'permission'  to utilize something we already purchased. 

We need to OWN what we purchase and be able to use them 20 years or even 50 years later, assuming we take good care of our computers.  They should not expire just because of

corporate wims.  We need a balance.

[Leonardo]

On 2018-03-28 at 2:22 PM, ladyonthemoon said:

An idea came through my mind this morning, while I was working (my work doesn't require that I use my brains to do it). It's been quite a while that I am wondering what Bethesda could do to prevent mod theft and people abusing their assets and making money with them; the more I think of it the more it seems to me that there is only one solution (aside from shutting down modding, of course): online modding.

That's actually an old idea and I believe Fliggerty was first with that kind of concept.

[GaryWeys]

"We should not be slaves to entertainment, banks, etc.   We need privacy, flexibility, and choice.  We need to be able to choose and not to be forced to have online connections to get 'permission'  to utilize something we already purchased."

Preach, man! Preach!

[donnato]

Doesn`t steam already do this..??  

[GaryWeys]

In a way, I think they do.