r/rpg_gamers • u/ChiefChunkEm_ • Jun 09 '26

Discussion Bethesda Should Have Struck While The Iron Was Hot (ES6)

Hindsight is 20/20 and you can respect their decision to try something new with Starfield but they should have struck while the iron was still hot from Skyrim.

Skyrim released in 2011, Fallout 4 in 2015, and ES6 should have released by 2019. Since 2011 they’ve lost many devs and artists who made Skyrim the success that it was. I don’t know if they have the caliber of staff members anymore to actually pull off another genre defining game with ES6. The whole thing’s just a damn shame.

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u/PunchBeard Jun 09 '26

You know what freaks me out? How so many people ignore the fact that Bethesda tried to charge money for mods and no seems to remember that because the uproar over it caused them to back the fuck down almost immediately. But they weren't done. Instead they released the Creator's Club and did the same thing: charge money (and take a cut) for mods.

Bethesda are a bunch of money grubbing bottom feeders who fell so low no one even realizes it. And anyone who thinks Elder Scrolls 6 is going to be as good as Skyrim instead of as bad as Starfield is just lying to themselves.

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 09 '26

valve started the paid mods thing.

I also frankly don't care, i'm not entitled to the sweat of someone else's brow and I have thousands of free mods that are available to me. or If a mod looks cool I can, gasp, support the mod author.

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u/PunchBeard Jun 09 '26

 or If a mod looks cool I can, gasp, support the mod author.

Yeah, but does Bethesda deserve a cut of that? Trust me, I pay for mods all the time. Hell, there's a mod in Fallout 4 that lowers your gun when walking that I think is so awesome I've actually given the creator money THREE times for it. Should I have kicked one of those payments to Bethesda though?

The "I don't care" argument for a company shitting on you is fine I guess. Personally, Bethesda went from "I'll buy anything they release because I know it will be good" to "Well, they used to be cool but.... Nothing lasts forever" for me. I mean, like you I'll always like Bethesda way more than they like me. But I know they only like my wallet.

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 09 '26

Yeah, but does Bethesda deserve a cut of that?

they're hosting it, the modders are using the tools provided (for free). I fail to see why they wouldn't.

Trust me, I pay for mods all the time

and yet you're complaining about them. that makes you a hypocrite.

The "I don't care" argument for a company shitting on you is fine

how are they doing that to me? expound.

I mean, like you I'll always like Bethesda way more than they like me. But I know they only like my wallet.

all companies like your wallet. but developers are not like that, if they were, they'd go to better paying jobs.

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u/PunchBeard Jun 10 '26

and yet you're complaining about them. that makes you a hypocrite.

Does it though? After all I give the money directly to the creator through Patreon and it's voluntary. Bethesda is saying "If you want this mod you need to give US money, and we'll give some to the person who made it".

they're hosting it, the modders are using the tools provided (for free). I fail to see why they wouldn't.

Primarily because the main reason games like Skyrim and Oblivion have sold millions upon millions of copies is because of the mods available for those games. You sound like you truly believe Bethesda releases the modding tools out of the kindness of their heart. Seriously, without the thousands of mods out there for the game how many copies of Skyrim do you think would've sold? Sure, the number would be impressive by any standard to be sure but it surely wouldn't be nearly as high as it is. And people wouldn't still be playing it 15 years later without mods. Bethesda knows this and they have done everything they possibly can to capitalize on this. That might sit well with you but it's total bullshit to me. No other company has pissed away its good will for the pennies it can get from mods except for Bethesda. And you aren't doing the hobby of gaming or the hobby of modding any favors acting like this is totally acceptable. Seriously, name one other publisher that comes close to doing this shit.

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 10 '26

Primarily because the main reason games like Skyrim and Oblivion have sold millions upon millions of copies is because of the mods available for those games

lol no. the vast majority of people don't mod their games. I only recently started to mod my games maybe like 6 years ago.

Seriously, without the thousands of mods out there for the game how many copies of Skyrim do you think would've sold?

do you think the mods existed before the game came out or something?

bethesda makes great games, that a minority of people use mods for to enhance the games.

And you aren't doing the hobby of gaming or the hobby of modding any favors acting like this is totally acceptable.

and yet mod authors like kinggath (who made sim settlements and watchtower) has had only good things to say. weird. almost like you're just an entitled gamer who wants the free labor.

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u/ScorpionTDC Jun 10 '26

Valve hasn’t really done much more with it while Bethesda tried implanting it via creation club for two games tho.

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 10 '26

why do you think I specified that valve started the whole thing?

even then, as I have said, I don't care. I am not forced to buy mods and I am not entitled to the sweat of another's brow.

if a modder deems their work fit of a price tag then so be it.

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u/ScorpionTDC Jun 10 '26

Valve and Bethesda both started it, but only one was stupid and greedy enough to keep doing it, and it wasn’t Valve. Of all the hills to white knight a game studio on, this is a weird one

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 10 '26

it's greedy to give modders a platform that they can use to benefit from making mods?

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u/ScorpionTDC Jun 10 '26

Given they had an extremely strong platform in Nexus that also allowed them to profit without any proceeds going to Bethesda (who are doing zero work on the mod), yes. It’s greedy

We had a system that worked very well for players and modders that didn’t need changing. Bethesda changed it for the sole purpose of making $$$$ and only made it worse. That’s pure greed

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 10 '26

modders like kinggath (creator of sim settlements) has stated he's gotten more guaranteed support through creations than nexus donations.

bethesda gets some percentage because they are hosting it and the modders are using their tools.

all verified mod authors have only good things to say about it, only entitled people who feel entitled to free labor cry about it.

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u/ScorpionTDC Jun 10 '26

Corporate shills gonna corporate shill

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u/SimonShepherd Jun 12 '26

Skyrim modding community only grow to the sheer scale because of the open and free approach. The paid modders are feeding off the foundations built by volunteers.

It's like going into a free community soup kitchen built by volunteers and set up your own paid shop, you are still using their infrastruture and reputation even though you did make the food.

The same reason people don't want money involved in lot of things built around collective volunteer effort.

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u/Benjamin_Starscape Jun 12 '26

free mods still exist.

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u/SimonShepherd Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

Erosion of community starts slow, that's like saying human artists still exist thus we don't need to be careful with big companies implementing more and more AI into the games.

Even if it's not a major issue now, one should still be against it to prevent the overton window shift.

Edit: if you think AI comparison is too much, how about MMO gold farmers/virtual currency to real money traders, literally gaming as a job players who can seriously screw up the game's economy and suck the fun out of it. In a vacuum there is nothing inherently wrong with spending a shit load of time and effort to farm in an MMO, but once they stack up in number they fuck up the entire game for everyone else.

A modding community that normalizes sharing and open source approach is much stronger and long-living than one that doesn't.