#StopThePayWall

[Eische]

You say "People should never have to pay for mods regardless of what it is". Well, they don't have to. Even if it's called a donation, they still don't have to. Nobody is out there twisting arms. if payment is required, and I don't want to pay, then I'll move along, there are plenty of mods out there. If payment is required, and I'm willing to pay, then that's my business.
Giants requires payment for some dlc, which is really only a mod.

That might be only true for mods 100% made by the modder himself. But as some mods are re-using models made by Giants or other modders, paying for that content is a no-go.

[SolidRizzo420]

Tomazius96 are you for real these modders do a lot and are a BIG part of this game if the fs Community would like to give them something as a thanks then that’s down to them

[redglasses]

I think accessing "beta mods" through a donation is dumb. A true donation is done just to do that, donate, what it isn't is a way to purchase early access to a mod. I have no problem with people donating to modders, but I think hiding early access behind the pay wall does not seem right.

[Tomazius96]

That might be only true for mods 100% made by the modder himself. But as some mods are re-using models made by Giants or other modders, paying for that content is a no-go.

Exactly thats the problem. Its a very complex matter and should be regulated before it gets out of hand.

I think accessing "beta mods" through a donation is dumb. A true donation is done just to do that, donate, what it isn't is a way to purchase early access to a mod. I have no problem with people donating to modders, but I think hiding early access behind the pay wall does not seem right.

Agree. They are just scamming people. I am not against donations, but "if you pay me 5 € donation , you will get the "beta" mod" is not a donation.

And some guys here mentioning DLC by Giants. You guys forget that Giants have all the rights and licences for these DLC and all the work behind. While modders (not all) do not have licences and such, and proving they work is really theirs might be somethimes hard.

Giants can monetize their JohnDeere products because they have a license for that and they paid for that. On the other hand a modder is not allow to charge money for a John Deere tractors, since he doesnt have a licence and agreement with JD.

[malachi6]

Giants cannot control sites that offer FS19 downloads. If you come across a site that wants to charge for access to mods. Don't use it. It's a ripoff.

There is nothing wrong with a modder asking for donations and having a facility for people to make them. I have made donations to two modders for their excellent mods. It is my way of thanking them and encouraging them.

[FarmBoss]

How is it supposed to be regulated if it happens outside giants site?
I think their "terms and conditions" are about as much as they can do. Unless you are suggesting some outside task force haha, then it's up to the person wanting the mod to decide if they want it bad enough to donate/pay. This thread is just a talking point, but won't really get anything done, and in the end people will do what they want.

[Jimbob0704]

Surely if modders are putting mods on sites and not modhub, T and Cs go out the window as it has nothing to do with giants anyway, that's why if they go on sites they don't get to be released on modhub?

[cwattyeso]

That's one of the problems JimBob right now a lot of modders are breaking this rule by releasing mods on sites, on facebook pages, to patreons etc and then submitting them to Giants after that to be included on the ModHub and Giants have incorrectly then allowed some of these mods to pass and appear on the ModHub despite their own T&Cs clearly stating that they will not certify or include any mods in the ModHub that have been distributed or that are already available by third party sites. So Giants have kind of made a mistake here, by not checking mods throughly to ensure authors haven't already been uploading and sharing them before then uploading them to the ModHub as the last step.

[Jimbob0704]

Looks more like a slip up by Giants to me, these mods should never had made it through

[FarmBoss]

That's one of the problems JimBob right now a lot of modders are breaking this rule by releasing mods on sites, on facebook pages, to patreons etc and then submitting them to Giants after that to be included on the ModHub and Giants have incorrectly then allowed some of these mods to pass and appear on the ModHub despite their own T&Cs clearly stating that they will not certify or include any mods in the ModHub that have been distributed or that are already available by third party sites. So Giants have kind of made a mistake here, by not checking mods throughly to ensure authors haven't already been uploading and sharing them before then uploading them to the ModHub as the last step.

If they enforced their own terms and conditions, they'd have to remove most mods from the hub, including most of the maps. I think they're looking the other way because they know it'd kill off the console sales if they pushed the issue.

[cwattyeso]

That's not quite true FarmBoss, many of the mods released on the ModHub are done so correctly by Author's. Those author's haven't posted them about and charged people money to access them long before submitting them to Giants. Now that's not to say after Giants have added mods and maps to the ModHub that some other websites have taken them and re-uploaded them and are doing the shady things for people who perhaps are not aware that these sites are not affiliated with Giants in any way shape or form.

[johnb32xq]

Putting a mod behind a pay wall (i.e. a player needs to pay money in order to get access to the mod) is a clear violation of our T&C and we are strictly against this. It doesn't matter if you call it buying the mod or try to name it "donation" while it is not a true donation.

Real donations or ads on the website is a different story. While it is technically not allowed by the T&C if it happens in the context of the distribution of the mod, we currently don't try to enforce this as long as it is done in a "non-commercial" way that is also not affecting the user experience.

Showing the game on Youtube/Twitch etc. is again a different story. For those cases we explicitly allow the monetisation, see https://farming-simulator.com/youtube.php

I love how you guys are enforcing this but i doubt it will stop JHHG from posting his mods on uploaded and making money from them, ontop of his dontions for “tester” now if giants did something about that it would probably make the community a better place

[Sir_Kutz]

I frankly don't have any issue with modders soliciting donations, as it's been stated before, you are not required to donate. Yes some modders give "beta' access to their patrons. However after beta the mods are available to everyone. There sure is no "paywall". I can't speak for Giants, but it's a fair assessment to say Giants wants equal access for all players more so than preventing modders from receiving compensation. I have yet to see any final version of a mod that I had to pay for, I'm sure some exist as it is the internet.

[Deadeye]

Myself personally I don't see a big issue with this. If a person wants to create a mod and try to make money off it, so be it. It's likely he's not going to be as well liked or widely known, because fewer people are going to have his content. Sure, GIANTS provides a lot of the tools used to make the mods, but it's that modder's time and effort that makes the content worth playing. I wouldn't pay any money for one single standalone mod ever, but I wouldn't stop someone who does.

The same goes for GIANTS. They've put out some expansions before that I thought would be really handy, but I couldn't justify the price tag for that one or two implements I might use. I moved along, and never gave it a second thought. They're still "forcing" me to pay to use their mod in that I won't have it unless I pay money. If I don't pay, I don't get that expansion, but that's fine. If someone doesn't pay for that mod, they just won't have it. It's really that simple in my eyes. Call me crude or cruel, but if you allow yourself to get screwed over on something, it's probably through your own fault. Especially in this situation.


I will add though, that I personally think allowing this only makes the "good modders" who make their content for free better. Maybe it gives people a little more appreciation for what they do. The people like that will always be an asset to this community. I suppose it does make things a bit "unfair" too, because they aren't getting paid for their work while some other low-life modder might, but hey, if you enjoy it, you'll keep doing it, regardless of payment.

[Attack Wave]

As it says on most of these said donations it is exactly that I feel it's up to who ever decides to donate nobody is being forced into donating, I have personally donated just as a Thank you for all the hard work certain modders do! I don't think it's unreasonable to pay a one off payment to say Thank you for all the mods which make the game have longevety!! personally keeps me interested in the game.
What i don't agree with are the you tube site users that are playing fs who aren't modders I don't understand why anyone would pay to watch people playing farming sim not naming any names but I watched a stream the other night and indeed there are just playing the game and making a lot of money! They are not adding anything to the game so why! I'm confused

When you watch someone on YouTube, they’re only paid through via ads in the video, along with a certain amount of views.

When you watch someone on Twitch, you can donate at your own discretion.

I only started playing FS17 because I was addicted to watching Daggerwins videos. YouTube is great for business for any games developer, it’s free advertisement.