So Curse pays modders based on number of downloads?

[asb3pe]

Read this and comment please. So modders get paid by Curse? Where is the money coming from? Curse's advertising revenues? Do they even have ads on their site? I've never seen any.

https://www.reddit.com/r/feedthebea..._account_compromised_help_me_encourage_curse/

I think our entire world is nothing but a sham and a scam... but that's just my opinion. So I think this is a scam too. I've never trusted this whole Curse thing. Paying modders makes no sense (in terms of where the money is coming from), so perhaps someone can explain the economics for us. Were FTB modders getting paid the whole time too, before Curse came along? Look, I think modders SHOULD get paid somehow, but until this post I didn't know they generated revenue from it. If its a way to make money... perhaps we should be modding ourselves rather than playing. I always thought modding was just a labor of love, but this guy says its a part of his monthly income that he survives on, and he isn't a very big modder (Ewy's Workshop I think). How much money are the top modders earning? Say, a Thaumcraft that is literally in almost every modpack? What weekly or monthly earnings might such a modder be making thru Curse, roughly? Is Curse idiots (doubtful) or if not, what scam are they pulling to generate enough revenue to be able to pay modders?

 

[asb3pe]

I guess either nobody cares, or nobody knows anything. Or else nobody visits this forum anymore. Is my post too provacative perhaps? Is this a touchy subject? I would think it probably is, but I don't care.

 

[rhn]

I read the first few lines and thought. "Drama..."

For the same reason I didn't bother reading the post when I saw it on reddit.

 

[Pyure]

I guess either nobody cares, or nobody knows anything. Or else nobody visits this forum anymore. Is my post too provacative perhaps? Is this a touchy subject? I would think it probably is, but I don't care.

I thought the discussion itself might have a little bit of merit, but the way you opened it wasn't exactly neutral for balanced debate.

 

[Celestialphoenix]

I wouldn't say is scam. To be scammed- you have to first put money down in order to lose it.

From what I understand Curse premium is a paid service that you cough up for- but you get free premium membership if you post mod(s). (therefore no money down).
Likewise the system (if you're popular enough) will actually pay out a monetary reward.​

So no money down, and potentially money out- probably a bad investment if you wish to build a career out of it (time invested to design, code, market, and maintain a mod against the monthly payoff).

Also it doesn't clash with donations from paypal/patreon (Curse's money rather than individual users')- so I guess its a little extra bonus on the side. (and if you're skint- even a little money is a big welcome)
However the pot of money available is ultimately finite in size- so the more individuals modding the smaller share everyone gets. (so if we all dog-pile in, we'll get next to nothing and everyone else gets less- or we fall below threshold and get didily squit)

Curse's revenue source would be mostly Sponsorship/Ad-rev, merchandise, and people paying for premium. They'll have to balance that against staffing, server costs, their own advertising budget, and whatever other expenses needed to keep the company going- before giving a share out to the community.
In addition Ad-rev in takes a hit from adblockers, and get diluted by modpack downloads counting towards a mod's total download. (one set of ads spread over an entire pack, rather than one ad set per mod).

Modders before Curse still got money via dontations from users- FTB itself also would have gotten donations- I think Jaded mentioned they split the money off to all the individual mod devs they featured. (probably from before this forum was a thing??)

 

[Scottly318]

I personally don't see an issue. As with what celestialphoenix said... this point system is no worse than than PayPal or paytreon. I feel that the modders of the world deserve a bit of pay from any source. Curse is basically paying them to provide content to them. It's a corporation (for lack of a better description) paying them. How curse earns the money to do so is irrelevant.

 

[erindalc]

Their money comes from partners (Amazon, Steam, etc, although I don't know if they are official partners or someone else distributes the gift codes) and their advertising revenue to the best of my knowledge.

Modders (and modpack devs) do not pay Curse to host their packs. They will however get points if their pack is popular enough (ie, generates traffic for curse and it's ads), and they can use said points to get giftcards for amazon, steam, and possibly other things iirc.

There's nothing wrong with this system, and it's not that different than being a youtuber for a living (albeit for a smaller audience)

 

[Quetzi]

This does look a lot like you are trying to be outraged and surprised about one of the key benefits that Curse brings to the table. The fact that developers are able to reap the rewards of their mods popularity has never been hidden, in fact it was one of the key selling points when Curseforge first started to enter the Minecraft modding scene. The system as is works well, modders aren't earning a living wage from it, in the thread you linked Ewy talks about not being able to afford his $50 voucher that month. I'll grant you that some modders are able to cash in more than that each month but I doubt many or any are earning enough to actually live off. Where the money comes from is not something the community likes to think about, mainly because it's far easier to point at the evil corporation raking in the cash on the back of their favourite game and the work of modders than it is to actually pick out where they are generating it.

 

[Scottly318]

Paying modders makes no sense (in terms of where the money is coming from)

Look, I think modders SHOULD get paid somehow, but until this post I didn't know they generated revenue from it.

I just noticed a contradiction in what you're saying... if you think modders should get paid... why is it a big deal that curse is doing just that? Be it curse or donations from players... it's generated revenue. And to what quetzi said... I doubt they're making a living off of either form of income.

 

[asb3pe]

Thanks for the good discussion, and yeah I probably inject too much drama into my posts. It's probably a slight aspergers thing or something like that, I dunno.

I just always wonder - when things don't seem to add up to me, what's the real story behind the story? I admit, I did not know Curse had a "premium" subscription service, so that explains at least a portion of their revenue stream.

But as some of you probably know, I've never been a fan (to say the least) of Notch selling out to the worst possible buyer, Microsoft. I'm a lifelong video gamer (of retirement age, so a long long time), and my personal history with Microsoft is that they destroyed two of my favorite gaming "franchises"... Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Links386 Golf. I don't intend to let them destroy my third favorite game of all time, Minecraft. As if I have any say in the matter? LOL Does anyone know if there's any financial relationship between Curse and Microsoft?

 

[Reddis]

I did not read the link provided but I think it is great that Curse pays modders. These are people who put in LONG hours and LOTS of brain power for a game they love. The players get to enjoy 100% of the content 100% free (except for buying a vanilla license of course), so why should anyone care if developers get paid?

As far as the Curse launcher goes, I was extremely skeptical about it at first. I was comfortable with the FTB launcher. Now that I have had some time with the Curse launcher, I couldn't imagine ever going back.

 

[Dentvar]

Not going into the discussion here... if there is any.
Just wanted to point out how nice the community is we have in ths forums...
Post this first post on Reddit or a other random site and you will be thrown to the wolfs in no time.

Here, no one starts flaming, insulting or not even arguing heavely. Instaed even the OP comes back and sais hes a dramaqueen ( no offence)

Merry X-mas

 

[sgbros1]

Does anyone know if there's any financial relationship between Curse and Microsoft?

Curse is owned by Twitch, which is owned by Amazon. So if there's a financial relationship with Microsoft I doubt it's a huge one