Hi everyone, GTA Belgium here
So i have been in the single player mod community for a long time now, and i have always had one question about mods. And I'm not talking about for example the shirt retexture mods (although there's nothing wrong with that, I make that as well) or so... I am talking about like, really really big projects (total overhauls, giant map mods, impressive scripts,...).
In my opinion, those big projects don't get the support they deserve. Of course people can donate with paypal, but I really wonder how many people do that? Does anyone know how much that happens?
So i've seen earlier this week that there are mods available on a site called 'patreon.com' if you become a 'patron' or something. So I think that means those mods are for sale, for real money? I have no idea how many people would actually buy mods, does anyone have some information about that?
I ask this because me myself I am working on a rather big mod, i think it's safe to say it's my largest project so far. I won't say anything about that mod since it's a Work In Progress and i only want to reveal it when it's done.
To make this mod possible i had to buy some things on the internet, including licences, 3d models,... Those 3d models will also be locked so people can't export them using OpenIV, this to prevent them from getting the models for free.
But since I had to buy them, and modders have to pay for licences (Photshop, 3d programs) - at least i do - I wonder if it's possible to make a mod available for 1 dollar or something, on patreon? I have seen several people doing this, but i don't know, i don't think there are many people visiting those pages on patreon.com or sites like that? Like, i have been into mods for so long, but only saw this yesterday... How does it 'get out there'?
This could be an idea: Releasing a BETA version for free on this site, and for the full version they have to pay 1 dollar on patreon. Is that a possibility?
Now don't get me wrong, I am not money hungry haha totally not, but i just wonder if this could be a thing? Many of my friends tell me to let people pay for it because they see i put a lot of work in mods, just like several other modders do. And I also paid for some models i use (locked in OpenIV) so yeah... Usually i think mods should be free and available for everyone, but when things get really big and time consuming, expensive... I think 1-2 dollars for a big mod shouldn't be that bad?
What are your ideas and opinions about this?
Thanks a lot!
GTA Belgium