General Paid mods post your opinion

[Shaun Clarke]

Oh and there is

C) People that do it for nothing, and really research and engage with drivers and team to get real data. damn if I did a pay Mod, I would have to charge you all at least £30-£50 for one car just for the fuel I used travelling around, let alone time

And just elebarting on that. I took a day off work, costing me a day holiday to spend the day with Ginetta, because I wanted to, to really get the info I wanted, again, not charging back to the community.

I spend countless hours testing, tweaking, giving my version to IRL drivers for their feedback, again they did that for free for me, and as an ARDS instructor, they charge a lot of money, but again for free.

I am sorry, but there is NO reason for paymods, non what so ever, it's just a simple way for people to try and make money from their hobbies and sell licenses that they don't own, even if they name if different. If you make a mod, you do it because you want to, you have passion for it, and at the end of the day, you want people to enjoy it..

You look at the best mod that has ever graced AC, the BTCC Nissan Primera, was that payware, no, what does that tell you?

 

[garyjpaterson]

@Fat-Alfie Another way to look at it:

A guy who often drives his mates around decides because he enjoys it so much, he instead became a taxi driver? Anything wrong with that, doing what you enjoy and getting paid? Thought that was the dream

@garyjpaterson

Some people do it for money without the passion, and some people do it for passion without the money, there is always going to be a divide on this, I agree. I mean some people will say, I spent all these hours why should I not get some money in my account for it, but then I ask, why did you spent hours doing that, because you wanted to , or saw a quick buck to make?

There it really two types of people that mod.

a) Passion
b) Money

It's as simple as that

A) do it because that want to
B) do it to boost their bank account

Not sure I agree with that, why can't there be a blend between the passion/money? You're literally putting people into 1 of 2 boxes, saying that is it black and white, no inbetween...

C) Those who do it because they love it, and have found a way to do it full time (therefore doing what they love, for more of the time).

As I said above, isn't finding the job that you truly enjoy (read; are passionate about) the dream scenario? Why can't we be happy some are doing what they love, it should be celebrated and encouraged I'd have thought.

Seems sad to say because someone is making a living, they are not passionate or enjoying what they do

 

[Shaun Clarke]

@garyjpaterson If that is their job (making mods) then ok, fair play to them, but then these mods needs to be on par with Kunos, which, hopefully you will agree, 90% of them are not.

 

[garyjpaterson]

@garyjpaterson If that is their job (making mods) then ok, fair play to them, but then these mods needs to be on par with Kunos, which, hopefully you will agree, 90% of them are not.

Yeah thats a fair point, and i think you're right.

I'm just not a fan of lumping everyone who make money on mods as people who are not passionate about what they do, I don't think that's fair.

 

[Dave_6]

I felt like a short break from sim racing was needed for me, and after reading through this thread it's true. I just unhooked my wheel and pedals and put them in the closet. I've got a decent backlog of games to go through and I've got enough negativity in my personal life to where I don't want to be reading it on one of my favorite forums. The "What are you working on" thread WAS the best thread on here IMO and now it's went to s*** cause of this pay for play bitching.

 

[norbs]

If all this time arguing went into modding.........

 

[Mitja Bonca]

If all this time arguing went into modding.........

... and getting licences, if not for your selfs, for us
I have some projects that require it.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

I really get sick of folks complaining about pay mods. If you don't like them, no one is forcing you to buy them.

QFT

 

[Stereo]

They say "if your work is something you're passionate about you'll enjoy working" but I get the feeling I wouldn't enjoy working for sim racers in general. It'd be nice if I could make it my fulltime job and get by but that's clearly not an option and the result is I get paid to spend time doing other less fun stuff.

Personally I haven't posted paid mods I worked on on RD except maybe in tutorial images (eg. how I join 2 rollcage tubes, not something where the car's recognizable) cause it leads to this, there's money to be made making 3d cars for sims but it's not from sim racers

The best option I thought of is Kickstarter-style "stretch goals" where more people donate to a mod, the more extras it can have. Base & extras always free for everyone but the extras just don't happen w/o the money.

 

[norbs]

Im just going to drop this in here..

http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/dear-ac-modders.132233/

 

[eboo]

Maybe the cure for everything is crowdfunding? Interested to transfer money, the goal will be reached author builds auto and auto puts in the download section for all

They say "if your work is something you're passionate about you'll enjoy working" but I get the feeling I wouldn't enjoy working for sim racers in general. It'd be nice if I could make it my fulltime job and get by but that's clearly not an option and the result is I get paid to spend time doing other less fun stuff.

Personally I haven't posted paid mods I worked on on RD except maybe in tutorial images (eg. how I join 2 rollcage tubes, not something where the car's recognizable) cause it leads to this, there's money to be made making 3d cars for sims but it's not from sim racers

The best option I thought of is Kickstarter-style "stretch goals" where more people donate to a mod, the more extras it can have. Base & extras always free for everyone but the extras just don't happen w/o the money.

I wrote it a few posts before At the request of the interested, I even made such a collection. It has failed
http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/osella-fa30-mod-for-assetto-corsa.135568
Much depends on the choice of car. But for all 3d graphic artists who are willing to make some money, I propose to take an interest in architectural visualizations

 

[GT VIRUS]

I am looking at releasing a paid track at some point in the near future, and I'll attempt to explain my reasoning:
1. Licensing cost: There is a upfront cost that has been paid , and needs to be covered.
2. Fund future projects: I have a couple of future projects that I would like to Laser Scan (Adelaide Street Circuit and Sandown, if anyone is interested)
3. To be able to dedicate more time: By getting paid, I can dedicate more time to the project and less to other paid work. Which means releases quicker. It also means I can pay others to do the work I am not as good at, meaning higher quality products.

It doesn't matter if you enjoy things or not, if you work hard you deserve the opportunity to get paid. Not everyone will, hundreds of indie games and other art projects fail every year. It's up to the creator what value they put on their project, and making a profit of your work is a fundamental right of everyone in the western world.

For consumers, you can buy it or you can not. If noone buys any of these paid mods, noone would be creating them. Yet we are seeing more and more go down that route, so there must be plenty out there who are paying for them.

@eebo the main reason I can see for your crowdfunding failing is the lack of incentive for why you needed payment. You aren't going full-time, or acquiring any licence that costs money. It did just seem greedy from my point of view.

 

[eboo]

greedy? Probably time to stop working on cars. I did what I wanted and it was time to retire because I would still be mad by this greed

 

[Fat-Alfie]

@Fat-Alfie Another way to look at it:

A guy who often drives his mates around decides because he enjoys it so much, he instead became a taxi driver? Anything wrong with that, doing what you enjoy and getting paid? Thought that was the dream

Fair enough, but don't pretend to be a 'friend' when all you are doing is hanging around waiting for your next fare. Go to work, earn your money, and then clock-off. Then have fun with your mates in your spare time.

I am all for commissioned work (being a freelance designer I would be mad not to), and I have even sold an AC track privately, but I don't get is this cart-before-the-horse attitude which is emerging. IMO 'work' goes like this - a product is needed so a request is made, work is done and product is produced, then payment is made. Not 'money is wanted so product is made (although not marketed as a product until people are clamouring for it), market is artificially created then payment is demanded. It's kinda like drug dealing - get people interested, then hooked, then take their money - it is fuelled by greed. No one is forced to be a dealer, and no one is forced to make mods.

I actually find it quite amusing when people bleat on about how long their model took to make, conveniently neglecting to mention the fact that no-one asked them to make it.

 

[garyjpaterson]

Fair enough, but don't pretend to be a 'friend' when all you are doing is hanging around waiting for your next fare. Go to work, earn your money, and then clock-off. Then have fun with your mates in your spare time.

I am all for commissioned work (being a freelance designer I would be mad not to), and I have even sold an AC track privately, but I don't get is this cart-before-the-horse attitude which is emerging. IMO 'work' goes like this - a product is needed so a request is made, work is done and product is produced, then payment is made. Not 'money is wanted so product is made (although not marketed as a product until people are clamouring for it), market is artificially created then payment is demanded. It's kinda like drug dealing - get people interested, then hooked, then take their money - it is fuelled by greed. No one is forced to be a dealer, and no one is forced to make mods.

I actually find it quite amusing when people bleat on about how long their model took to make, conveniently neglecting to mention the fact that no-one asked them to make it.

Definitely understand your point, helps you manage to convey it without resorting to petty insults like many have in this thread
I still think there is plenty room for both here though - maybe more clarity of intent from the beginning should be made though for paid stuff.

I'm a simple man, I like creating mods and if someone wants to pay me to do so I'll grasp the opportunity with both hands. But regardless of that, I think I'll always be making stuff, I just enjoy it. I just hope people aren't put off the free stuff just because I also make one or two paid bits of content, that's all

 

[Kasti]

I actually find it quite amusing when people bleat on about how long their model took to make, conveniently neglecting to mention the fact that no-one asked them to make it.

Agreed 100%.
I was writing fan ficton and storyplots for mods in a scifi community for some years. Just for my own fun of doing and sharing it.

No one asked me to do it, no one was asked to read/use it. Not everybody liked it of course. But it was great fun to do it. But never had the idea of money making, cause i`m not asked or had a contract to do it. But the best was the total freedom of when i like to do what i want in just that moment. Nobody paid me, so I owed anything to anybody. Starting to call for money means to take several reponsabilities to your costumer. Quality, transparency, support, reliability and delivering a good product.
If you can`t guarantee this for longer times, think twice.

 

[garyjpaterson]

Agreed 100%.
I was writing fan ficton and storyplots for mods in a scifi community for some years. Just for my own fun of doing and sharing it.

No one asked me to do it, no one was asked to read/use it. Not everybody liked it of course. But it was great fun to do it. But never had the idea of money making, cause i`m not asked or had a contract to do it. But the best was the total freedom of when i like to do what i want in just that moment. Nobody paid me, so I owed anything to anybody. Starting to call for money means to take several reponsabilities to your costumer. Quality, transparency, support, reliability and delivering a good product.
If you can`t guarantee this for longer times, think twice.

Definitely pros and cons to paid/free content. But there is plenty room for both, and I hope both continue to flourish.

And you're quite right about the responsibilities that come with paid content - if people aren't living up to them then then we should be critical. But we shouldn't put everyone in the same box, and lambast all paid content creators - some do it right, and some don't

 

[A3DR]

So by reading some comments here, the guys that complains about paying for a mod never got money for doing what they love, instead they need to go out, get some crappy job to get back home and spend maybe 2 hours doing what they like instead, if they don't fall asleep earlier.

Ever thought there's the possibility to make a living doing what you like the most? yes it's real, and it's the case for some of us who achieved that goal after many years of learning and dedication.
Yes, you can have it both ways, do what you like / love / are passionate about AND also make good money.

Funny how the ones that aren't making money out of their content need to force the rest to do the same, and it's not the other way around. Both things can co-exist, they always had and will, like it or not.

 

[Fat-Alfie]

As I said earlier, I think the dedicated threads started by commercial members are great as I get the choice to simply ignore the thread (or otherwise) rather than having the WhatAYWO? clogged up with adverts.

Remember the conflict and arguments that sprang up on the official AC forum when the console version was released, and PC users were innocently responding to Console posts without realising (due to a lack of labelling). These days, with clear tags it is very easy to simply ignore the Console section if you so wish - I would really like a commercial projects section like that, so everyone can clearly see the motivation behind each project, whether that be fun, or money.

 

[Andy_J]

I don't mind pay mods. I prefer free one's made from someones' passionate hobby. But if I see a pay mod I want, I'll buy it. But I expect it to be always updated as long the main game is being updated. In other words I want a warranty with it that lasts as long as the sim it's designed for.
We all have a choice to buy or not to buy and the customer support must also be forthcoming with no excuses either and there must be a certain expectation of quality if it's a pay mod.