You might remember me from way back when I used to make mods for Empyrion, well I'm back at it again and I've decided to release my mods public. Several weeks ago I started updating my old mods, adding new features, creating new mods and pretty much just going hardcore into modding. I'll be launching all my available mods on Patreon with a setup that will allow server owners to pay $40 for a month's access. I fully expect server owners to join for one month to get all my mods in one go (and be able to download patches as needed) then drop the subscription, before the month ends. I'm ok with that. I'm just doing this to supplement my income because my current job doesnt give me enough hours and I really know what I'm doing when it comes to modding Empyrion. I have already scheduled 3 mods to be posted on October First, the three I think will be the most used. Virtual Backpack (Wipe-Safe item storage) You know it, you love it, I'm the original creator of this mod and I've expanded it's capabilities. You can now set Multiple Virtual Backpacks, deny their use on a per playfield basis, Change the chat commands and even set it so they get deleted if the player dies (it's an option). Claim Code (Monetization) This is a mod that will make it easier for servers to monetize, you give teh player a one-time-use code (or set up a website to hand out codes) and the player can then go in-game to claim their code on their own schedule. It's currently set up to spawn Vessel and Bases or even sets of items. It's your server, you choose what the mod gives out. Ticket System (Expands the capabilities of Admins and provides a way for players to give feedback) This one started out as just a simple Ticket System so players can report issues but has evolved into an all inclusive do anything to/for a player mod. The capabilities of this mod are so extensive that I will not be going into it here... Any command that an Admin can run on theirself this mod will allow an admin to do to/for a player (godmode, change armor, heal, show entity o2, teleport, summon player, apply buff/debuff, etc.) If I was to run my own server, these three would top my list as Mandatory mods. These are just the tip of the iceburg, I plan to continue, I plan to upload all my mods to the patreon as I get them updated. I will never go a full month without posting either a new mod or an upgrade to one of my existing mods. If you would like full details of any of these mods, head on over to https://www.patreon.com/Xango2000
Good luck hope it works out for you. So $40 a month for a $20 game that has very little end game content. Did I get that right? We pay $9 a month for server space at logicservers.com and have been very pleased with the service.
I can't speak to whether the pricing is "fair" but a good server host will cost you up to several hundred dollars a month plus a lot of hours of work (probably upwards of $100,000+ a year of you were to pay somebody to do it for you). So $40 for mods might be worth it to some server owners.
$40 per month if you want patches, otherwise $40 for my entire collection of mods that have been released up till the date your subscription ends. So, if you hold out till october 2021 till you subscribe then you could conceivably be getting 15 mods for $40.
Just give away freely as a hobby if you love the game like so many (myself included) have done. What's next, people charging for workshop ship blueprints?
I am not really liking this, I mean this is a forum to discuss the game, not really a window for a business. Maybe it's allowed by the rules, no idea, but it feels wrong. I agree that modders should be rewarded for their work, but the whole idea of modding comes from a guy who has a hobby and wants to share it with the community, so rewarding has to be on voluntary will. Having said that, I am saving up a bit to invite (by remote) certain 2 modders for a pizza and a coke (yeah, I am saving for THAT!) )
Its abit of a Grey Area. Modders are allowed to sell there stuff for the time they invested in it. We are not against that. If this is the right place for it thats a bit a yes and no question. Since I noticed this post I asked @Hummel-o-War the same questions.. atm we will allow it
Oh yes, off course, I never meant to have the post taken down, it just felt odd to me personally, I was just "discussing" in the general discussion Being indeed a grey area, it's a subject kind of always open for discussion...a civilized adult discussion obviously. Maybe it could be an idea to have a pinned post where Mod Offerers (?????) can post their monetized creations, fair enough if they make a buck, just not in the general discussions. I see a forum like a bar, there are the regulars and there are the new ones, some help, others joke, cry and whine and trouble makers are kicked out by the bartender (what you would do in a regular bar)..... a salesperson suddenly walking in could be a bit out of place;-) Having said that, I so wish a forum would be like a real bar, where to actions actually correspond reactions!!
People monetize servers and nobody has a problem with it, its alot of work to maintain a server I make mods that make it easier for servers to stay in business and run their servers, I even make mods to improve the experience of playing on those severs. All I'm asking is $40 and you have access to whatever work I had out at the time your subscription ends and you get to keep it for as long as it stays viable. VirtualBackpack has been working for well over a year since the last known bug was fixed, That is by far my most popular mod. If I was really out for a cash grab I'd write all my mods so they only work for players that pay a real subscription, I know plenty that would gladly pay a few bucks a year. my goal here is just $500 per month (till I can find a new job), what I need to bring my income up to meet my expenses since my current job doesn't give me anywhere near enough hours to live on and there are no good job openings anywhere within an hour drive of here right now. To put this into perspective HWS once stated that it takes them over $600 a month to run their server USG recently stated they bring in $1500 per month (all their servers combined) My Patreon is set with a limit to the number of servers that can subscribe, I'm not trying to be greedy, i'm just trying to not lose my house.
They do this on the own forums and platforms. Not on ours. Were fine with it you ask money for your effort. But were not really sure if you should be doing this on our forum. For now we let it be but this might change in the future
I am a free market guy so I am fine with people charging and asking whatever they think their efforts are worth and let the people decide what is fair, we vote with our $$. Also (as long as it is not spammed) let them market their wares in the forums so that we (the users) can see what's available. Well, that is my 2 cents even if this text cost me nothing buy time to write and my wife tells me my time is no longer with 2 cents
The problem is whether this becomes a common practice. Maybe a new forum section named Marketplace of something so people can gather everything in one place would help not pollute other forums?
In the end it may not matter, the patreon is failing. The only thing that might save it is when experimental goes to live, Eleon made a change that will break every mod I've made for the last 2 years. I didnt plan for this, i didnt predict it but the versions of my mods posted on the patreon have fixed the issue caused by the change Eleon made to a reference file we use in common. They moved the yaml Serializer and Deserializer from assembly-csharp-firstpass.dll to YamlAssembly.Dll So, heads up. Hope all the modders have noticed.
I wish I had the talent to mod. I don't. I can barely get mods made by others to run lol. I can see the forum owners here having some issue with this practice as it certainly is one of those sticky issues. Xango, I can read the frustration in your posts and there are others out here with the same difficulty. My thought is maybe make it a smaller amount or maybe make it a one time purchase or something. Just throwing ideas. As for a couple of the large servers, good for them, I know its a lot of work. I ran my dedicated with raviens mod for quite awhile. Several servers, many different games, some popular servers and some not. Never got more than a few players. Most couldn't be bothered to post on the forum, get on TeamSpeak or contribute a buck or two. Hopefully you can get some level of return on your efforts.
it is a one time purchase... for now. if the patreon doesn't go well then I'll probably end up dropping the price to $10 but require the subscription to stay active. As far as Learning to mod, I'd be happy to teach you anything I know. I know the old API inside and out and I've spent over a year trying to figure out the new API (it's really Really hard to figure out), The Database was easy to integrate into my mods (but it doesn't get updated often enough to be really useful, the data is stored in a really inefficient way and there are tons of error messages in the logs where data failed to be inserted correctly), my knowledge of ECF and yaml editing is a bit out of date but I'm working on catching up.
There are actually a few servers out there that are charging for workshop blueprints. It's pretty sad.
Reminds me of that time I asked for POIs in exchange for my mods. A good POI is Worth paying for. https://steamcommunity.com/app/383120/discussions/0/1743357605565329662/
If I were in your shoes, I would be strongly discouraging others from using these forums as a platform to make money, unless they are doing so in partnership with yourselves such that you are also making something out of it (ie your taking publishing responsibility). This is a private forum to your business and I wonder if you might be opening yourselves up to some undesirable (and potentially financial) liabilities should things go wrong - for eg some operates a scam (not for one moment suggesting this is the case for the OP of course), or just conducts their business in morally and/or legally questionable manner. Personally, I would at most allow a link in a moderated resources post with a very clear disclaimer that you have absolutely nothing to do with them or their business and only provide the link for information purposes. I understand that people are desperate to make a living right now as a consequence of covid 19 shutdowns etc (after all why else have some people got so much time right now) and the post above (selling workshop blueprints) is just setting off alarm bells. Many companies have zero tolerance for other independently benefitting financially for game assets - ie utterly verboten under threat of immediate legal action. I have no problem with paid for servers (they cost time and money), but I think you need to establish some rules quickly and get it under control. Looking over a bunch of EGS servers recently, I have been quite surprised at the level of blatant money grabbing for assets. I can think of a server that is charging a substantial sum (tens of dollars or euros - might even have been $50) for a ship FFS and they have a vast menu of other stuff you can buy including a bunch of pay to win type resource purchases to quick start yourself. To my mind that kind of thing should be way way over the EULA line and well into legal cease and desist territory. Do you really want your game and/or yourselves to be associated with that?
I don't know how they could control what private servers do. Offering perks in exchange for monetary compensation is a fairly common practice among servers for many games. Servers cost time and money to run and I don't think any game company can really prevent people from donating money to a server. Removing that as an option would basically kill almost all multiplayer since servers would then be entirely paid for out of pocket by the owners. Though this is getting off topic now.
