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Starfield players pirate the DLSS mod after the developer locks it behind paywall (www.gamescensor.com)

submitted 1 year ago by heimy@lemm.ee to c/games@lemmy.world

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[-] sirfancy@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Man, and I was just about to get that mod too. Really scummy.

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

Is it? Didn't someone put effort into this?

[-] sirfancy@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

For sure, but like most every other mod for any game out there, there's donation pages and Patreons. What if you buy it and download it, and it turns out it doesn't work for you? You can't refund it like you would a Steam game. Locking mods, an already experimental thing, behind a paywall is scummy, because you're not only profiting off of someone else's game, you're also taking money from people who aren't even sure it's right for them. There are tons of mods out there that are not paywalled and are comfortably financially supported through Patreon. Using a paywall in this situation is just a cash grab banking on a freshly released game. Literally the day after.

[+] CubbyTustard@reddthat.com 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

[deleted]

[-] sirfancy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

The difference is the legal boundary. Microsoft allows you legally to write your own code and sell it to people to run on their computers without owning Microsoft as a company. Bethesda owns their software, and has legal agreements you agree to when you skip through them when you start up the game, saying you won't mod it or profit off their game. Look at my other comment if you want to actually see where.

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

"you won’t mod it" this, as you know, is something people have done for decades and ignored.

[-] sirfancy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Once again, you didn't read my comment lmao. You're right. They do ignore it, but they don't ignore it when money is involved. Literally look up cases where companies shut down mods, they usually are financially driven.

Since you're not here to actually have a discussion in good faith, I'm going to go. Take care 👋

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I read all your comments. Classic way to leave when someone doesn't agree with you. Ta ta.

[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I was going to give the example of a GPU - something you might buy to play this game. But pretty much everything that goes into the setup and desk that lets you play the video game kinda counts.

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

So don't get it? There are other mods and whatnot. Just sounds like you don't like how they've monetised their work, which is fine, but instead of moaning that you want people to work for free, just don't buy it?

[-] sirfancy@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Way to strawman me and ignore my points 👍 I do not want people working for free. I am firmly pro-union and pro-fair pay and all of that. They don't have to work for free. They can monetize it the way every other mod does it by having a Patreon that you can subscribe to or donate to support them. Plenty of mods do this already and this is the generally accepted way to do it due to the reasons I mentioned before, which I will now spell out for you because you ignored them:

If you have a problem with the mod, it doesn't work how you want, you have no recourse if you paywall it the way they did.
It is generally unethical and a bad look to make money using other's IP as a base without their permission. Bethesda has potential legal recourse for this, as they've broken EULA. Section 3 - B, D, G, and 4. Section 4 is especially interesting because it states you agree to not have a monetary interest in the game or its content. By paywalling a mod, you are relying on the game not having DLSS to make money. Full stop. That's the point of the mod. While the various paragraphs in Section 3 do say that modding of any kind is prohibited, this kind of thing is usually not enforced (as is very apparent with Skyrim or Fallout 4). Until money is involved. This is why a donation button is distanced far enough away from this kind of thing. A donation button is supporting the developer, and legal waters get a little grayer. For this mod, you are paying for the mod. That's pretty black and white, and that's exactly why it is frowned upon to go that route with mods.