I understand now, you've given me something to think about.
How do you know someone won't steal your content to use in an actual game right now?
Because the mods in question rely on the content of the existing games they're based off of in order to run. If you manage to strip off enough of my input to make it function as part of a standalone game, all you really have are a bunch of engine-specific strings that are simple enough to be public domain.
Fair enough for scripts, however the problem remains for things like models, textures, audio, etc. How does a given modder know that it won't be stolen right now?
In reality, I can't, but as Ispil stated, the possibility to sue was at least an option under the old system if they did figure out; not to mention it happens with less frequency under the old system due to money being an arguably lesser excentive.
If I make a script, why do you think you are automatically entitled to use it for free? If I want to sell it, should't that be my right?
This is the exact attitude I'm talking about. You feel you are entitled to use the stuff I made without paying because... reasons?
If you want a script for your mod, and don't want to buy the one I made... find a free alternative or make your own?
I feel entitled to not pay for your mod because your are entitled to not pay for my mod, and in theory we're supposed to be working off of each other in order to better ourselves. Regardless, would you like it if I payed for your mod, and then rereleased it alongside my own work as free content?
It's an uncircumventable wedge between modders.
1. But that's just some sort of unofficial agreement you're trying to force on people. Why should it work that way, just because that's how you personally want it to work? If I want to charge for the things I've made, why shouldn't I be allowed to? Because you don't want to pay for it?
2. If the licence agreement for my mod said you could reuse it in your own mod, then I would have absolutely no problem at all with this. If it did not permit it, then I would be mad.
I will not try to tell you whether or not to sell your mod, but I'm afraid you're forcing on the modding community something that is detrimental to us as a people, and for a monetary advantage that you might not completely understand.
Your system makes doing my job harder because even if I don't want to associate with your mods, I still have to be on constant lookout to make sure that my own works aren't snatched by less ethical people and sold to the workshop. That's time taken off of actual modding work unless I wanted to hire someone else to do that for me; it either degrades the quality of my hobby, or forces me to pay money for it that I didn't have to pay any time prior. Am I selfish for not wanting to deal with this? Perhaps, but you're equally selfish for putting me through this system and now arguably making money at my expense. The system from before might have had that issue, but not at the rate that the new system has amplified it.
Also, if your liscensing agreement allowed me to release a dirivative for it free in the first place,
what was the point of attempting to sell it? What's to stop somebody from extracting your works from my mod and releasing it for open source? At that rate, you wouldn't likely extract any revenue of note from your mod, which is allegedly the whole reason you're supporting this system in the first place.
Yet ultimately it doesn't matter what you want or what I want; what matters is that now you can't use my work anymore because you've gone the payed route, and you also can't use the work of the likeminded people of my "class" because we don't want you selling our work for the opinions I've expressed prior. The friction experienced between me and you is the same friction that's tearing the modding community apart (which is the worst effect of this movement, in my opinion), and I fear it's already too late to put it back together again.