As many of you have seen, Heavy Burns just released a trailer for a modding project he was involved in called Coven of Crones, however, this is not just a mod, but a creation and therefore will have a price tag. Paid mods are always a hot topic of discussion and Burns will def face some backlash from it. I read through the comments on the video and they were pretty much exactly what I expected.

Paid mods set a bad precedent, and with the creations addition to skyrim, starfield and fallout that sentiment has been proved right. The consistently horrible quality of these mods is baffling and the price tags associated with them usually are too. With the official implementation of the creation system paid mods are sure to become the standard, destroying the community we all love... or are they?

I am of the opinion modding should stay free, but I also believe modders provide a service to us as consumers and in the real world, consumers pay for services. This also means we as consumers are free to choose to not pay for services should they not meet the quality we believe is worthy of our financial support. When I was in college I did not have the money to support these creators even though they gave so much to me, but now that I am able I am happy to support these people because my support allows them to keep doing what they do, and they have done so much for us.

A paid mod like this is an interesting situation though because as a quest it's utility is finite. The quest will likely be played once, maybe twice, and after that it is just sitting in your load order taking up space. While I did say I am happy to support creators who provide quality services, its important to recognize that the price should reflect the product. Lets say its $10 for this mod, that's about the price of a fast food meal, both one time use services at the same price. If you would pay $10 for lunch that keeps you occupied for about 15 minutes, why is $10 not worth something that provides hours of entertainment? You'd pay upwards of $15 to see a 2 hour movie, so why is this different?

Ethics of the free market aside, it is also worth noting that creations are available on xbox and therefore by making this mod a creation it allows it to reach a greater audience. Additionally there was no indication that this is going to be paid, just that it will be a creation. There are free creations, and Burns might have just chosen to publish this on a platform thats not nexus. Furthermore, what differentiates this from the genuinely absurd TWENTY SIX DOLLARS he charges to have access to his modlist (what was bro thinking when he did that) is this is his (well, his team's) work. They are potentially selling their product, not someone else's, and I have no moral qualms about that

As stated at the beginning, I am kind of playing devils advocate here because I do not like the concept of paid modding becoming the standard, but I also do not believe it ever will. People will not pay for mods not worth paying for. The slippery slope fallacy is just that, a fallacy. Time will tell what the future of modding holds, but being angry about it right now doesn't do anything other then ruin your day.

Enjoy your day. Enjoy your Skyrim. And tell me what you think.