It seems the time to respond to the entire workshop debacle. Even though my voice probably will get drowned out there. 

My response being, I will not be making anymore skyrim mods. 

But I already stopped a few years ago anyway, so who cares! 

Well when I was contacted by Bethesda on this paid modding thing a few months ago (at GDC2015), I actually started thinking about doing another moonpath. A new story with new assets and with all the lessons learned. 

Why you might ask? because of paid mods off-course. Moonpath is not depended on any other mod, and what I do is very insular and solo. And doing a new version would mean being able to earn money off it, perhaps even a enough to live of off. Not that I'm unhappy with my day-job , far from it, but the prospect was just to fantastic. Earn money from my work, how outrageous.

I realize Valve and Bethesda made a lot of mistakes, and going for skyrim instead of a fresh game (say, a new fallout) seemed strange. But the potential was and is huge, especially for modders like myself. I don't make armor sets or lighting tweaks, I told a story that brought together all kinds of modding disciplines, art , programming etc etc. I don't use existing assets and create most things myself. To be able to actually do this and provide for myself seemed to good to be true.  And I feel especially quest and new land mods would have benefited tremendously. 

Now I know the skyrim modding community is old and its own thing. And without the tools and lessons learned I would have had a hard time of modding. And I'm also deeply grateful for the talented members that dedicated time to help out with writing and voice acting. And this is a reason I will never put the original moonpath up for sale. It shall remain free. 

But I don't believe earning an income is counter to community, look at the indie game community and how close and supportive that has become. And those that share will always share, even when it means someone else also makes money. For my indie game Oberon's Court I've shared my shaders and graphical pipeline already, and my game is still in development. 

Furthermore I am already paying the voice actors for the work on my new game, instead of relying on volunteers. That's what commercial work does, you become a professional , and that means you invest. 

But now I've stopped any plans on a new moonpath, and staying away from modding for a continued absence. The pitchforks and community outrage have honestly shocked me. There are modders being doxed and harassed because of their stance, that is unacceptable. 

We are creative people, who continuously invest time and resources in, and we have a moral and practical authority to choose how we distribute our work, and why and how we apply our talent.

But 130.000 people just screamed out at me, you cannot make money from your the sweat of your brow. we have decided this for you. I did not realize I had to ask permission.

I shall not ask permission, now and in the future, but feel less inclined than ever to create a sequel to the Moonpath. 

Why should I be a part of a gamer community or give freely, if it means losing autonomy over my work. Wasn't that what this was about, autonomy. Not being owned by the AAA studios and publishers.
Well being owned by a gamer community seems just as bad to me. Especially if it means my work becomes de facto public property.  

I am not talking about the nexus, but me losing the moral ownership of my work to the pitchfork crowd. A crowd that just makes demands and forces its opinions on the matter on me.  

So goodbye, and I say this with sadness and gratitude. I've met some extraordinary people here and on the workshop, I've learned to love and appreciate the support of gamers, and I've become a better game developer thru it. But take away a path to bigger and better things, and you also take away a reason stay around for too long. 





P.S. I did honestly contemplate removing the Nexus version of the Moonpath after all the disturbing events. Not as a transfer to paid, but as a statement in favor of what Valve and Bethesda where trying to do. 

I've decided against this, because of all the people that supported this mod at the nexus, and where a part in its creation. It belongs here, but there will be no sequal or any additions by my hand. 


To all modders using moonpath assets: Feel free to use any and all assets I created for the moonpath. Feel free to make money of it , if that option ever turns up. A shoutout to myself or my projects is always appreciated but never required.