I've had an account on GOG, but never really used it. Due to this update on Steam, it will be used much, much more frequently.

No, but the same way that the mod will work as long as the game works.

Prepare to be swarmed by a bunch of low quality, cash-in mods.

Like any market shift, there will inevitably be winners and losers.

On the upside, opening the door to $$ might incentivize modders to invest the time and energy into bigger, better mods (because who does anything for love of the achievement or the game, amirite?)

On the downside, you'll probably have to pay for mods you've had for free in the past.

A bigger downside is that more likely it will incentivize a flood of crap mods that ain't much more than a lazy cash grab.

Personally I think, for the best modders, the new monetization structure is mixed. Many of them, in the past, have accepted donations. It's possible a direct sales structure simply replaces some revenue they already have (because ever fewer people will donate to support something they already paid for), and might shrink the market for people wanting to use their product.

I'm also curious what the actual software copyright holders will do if they see mods making significant money on their IP. Only time will tell.

Here I was modding Skyrim for the twentieth time last night and this new "feature" begins today. Not that I use the Steam Workshop when the Nexus exists, but now I'm worried this may be the last time I mod a game without separating the good, paid mods from the free ones. Hell, one of the mods I added to my load order last night, Wet and Cold, is on Steam for $4.99. No way would I ever pay that much for a few visual improvements, ever.

It's not just the question of whether the good developers will stop letting their mods be downloaded for free, it's whether the ability to monetize mods will bring in developers looking to make some quick money by offering what will essentially be cheap, third-party DLC or, worse, blatant ripoffs of good content. Look at the stores for mobile games for a moment and realize that that might be the future of modding soon.

lol - jinx!

Doesn't sound like anything different here, except you have 24 hrs to request one.

Q. Can I get a refund?
A. If you discover that a mod does not work for you, or does not meet your expectations based on the description of the mod, you can get a refund within 24 hours of your purchase. You can view the full refund policy here.

None of this should be surprising to anyone. Valve already saw how mods can be monetizing with TF2/DOTA/CS. I also don't think this will bring the free modding community down. If no one is playing your mod because nobody is buying it, that's not a good thing for you if you are a modder.

I think what people here are afraid of isn't that people can sell mods, it's that they know people will in fact buy them and there is a potential market for them.

http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/about/?appid=72850

What is intersting here is the 25% revenue share does that mean the creators only get 25% of the sale?

Give it a go, I'm sure the community will welcome you with open arms (save for TinyE).

We sometimes go on about loathing steam, but we're generally a nice bunch. ^^

Oh come on, this is another case of commercializing something just because you can. What's next? Paying for official patches? Because, you know, a patch is also additional work. And nobody's ever forced modders to do their work nor paid them for it and mods were still created. Now another part of gaming culture is gonna be all about money. And think of all the mods which cannot be commercialized because they break the rules of the ToS of the Steam workshop or something. Modders used to create all sorts of stuff which you can't sell, now you can expect to see far fewer projects of this kind because if people are already on it, why not make something they can make money off? There ARE quite a few bad things about commercializing mods.

Looks like I'm going to be using GOG more from now on.

Indeed, he's gonna welcome the new guy with an erect penis.

I'm not a mod enthusiast, the only mods I download are those big community bug fixing patches, which make some games more playable. I hope these remain free forever. If not... :(

All new guys are welcome here. Hope you enjoy your stay with us.

OR
http://www.moddb.com/games/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/mods