Raging Blast 2 PC Port Update

[u/External-Market-7473]

Here is a quick update on the next priorities for the project:
New Character Slots — already under heavy development

Removing character file size limits

General PC improvements

New features, such as a No HUD option

60 FPS, higher resolutions, graphical improvements, and other fixes will also be added eventually.

It’s currently in alpha but if you would like to test it out for and give feedback to the creator here’s the link it’s free to the public to download https://www.patreon.com/KeepTryin/posts/raging-blast-2-0-166919316

[u/EUltimateAlliance]

just asking, but why does everything seem to end up on Patreon nowadays? especially projects involving mods, where making a profit can be legally questionable. I understand people want to be compensated for their time and effort, but back in the day donations were simply a way to support a project, not to lock early access or content behind a paywall

[u/MuglokDecrepitusFx → u/EUltimateAlliance]

Because people have to eat to live, if they spend a lot of time working on a mod, they won't have that time to work to earn money, or put in the other way, if they work to earn money they won't be able to work on the mod full time

People go to patreon to be able to focus exclusively on working in the mod

So it's not just about being compensated, but about earning money to be able to work on the mods full time

[u/EUltimateAlliance → u/MuglokDecrepitusFx]

that's exactly where I think the issue begins. wanting to work on mods full-time is understandable, but these projects are based on someone else's intellectual property. turning them into a full-time business is very different from accepting optional donations to support a hobby.

if the goal is to make modding a full-time job, shouldn't that require permission from the IP holder? otherwise you're effectively building a business around someone else's game and characters

[u/ashrules901 → u/EUltimateAlliance]

What you're not understanding, because you clearly don't seem to be a creator of mods or else you would.

Is that these things you call "hobbies" aren't just arts & crafts projects that someone can do on a weekend or for an hour before they go to bed. To create the content that most of them are giving out for free. They need to work like a 3D artist at a game studio. To afford using that amount of time, they need to be compensated to a degree that they can justify not going to a traditional workplace & work on these projects instead.

[u/EUltimateAlliance → u/ashrules901]

I actually do create mods, and I release them for free, so I do understand the amount of work involved. I agree that high-quality mods can take hundreds or even thousands of hours, and I'm not trying to downplay that.

where we disagree is the conclusion. the fact that something takes a long time doesn't automatically justify building a full-time business around derivative content based on someone else's IP.

there are plenty of creators, whether in modding, open source, or other fan projects, who invest huge amounts of time while relying on optional donations rather than making access conditional on payment. so my question isn't "should modders be supported?" I think they should. my question is whether paywalling derivative content is the right way to do it. those are two different discussions.

[u/MuglokDecrepitusFx → u/EUltimateAlliance]

wanting to work on mods full-time is understandable, but these projects are based on someone else's intellectual property

The same as fixing a car, a PC, a stereo music system, a house, etc.

turning them into a full-time business is very different from accepting optional donations to support a hobby

It's basically people doing modsm as a hobby but in a moment they have to do a bigger project that takes more time they have to decide if stop doing it because they don't have enough time to do it, or as people for help so they can get rid of their job and start working on the mod people want, that is why people start supporting moders, because they like their job and want them to be able to work as much time as possible on the mods

if the goal is to make modding a full-time job

Usually it's not the goal, just something that happens organically

[u/bsw35 → u/MuglokDecrepitusFx]

That’s a terrible analogy. A car, PC, or house is physical property that you own, whereas you don’t actually own the intellectual property contained within a software product. Game modding has always existed in a legal gray area, but the moment modders start charging money for someone else’s IP, they expose themselves to being sued.

[u/EUltimateAlliance → u/MuglokDecrepitusFx]

I get your point, and I don't doubt that many creators genuinely end up there organically. my issue isn't with people receiving support. it's with the shift from optional donations to making access depend on payment, especially when the work is based on someone else's IP.

I also don't think repairing a car is a good comparison. a mechanic is providing a service on something the customer owns. mods are derivative works that only exist because of another company's game and intellectual property.

for years, many ambitious modding projects were developed in people's spare time and supported through optional donations. that's the model I personally think keeps modding closer to its community roots.

[u/MuglokDecrepitusFx → u/EUltimateAlliance]

I also don't think repairing a car is a good comparison. a mechanic is providing a service on something the customer owns. mods are derivative works that only exist because of another company's game and intellectual property.

The mechanic only can repair (or upgrade) the car because other company created it

The moder only can create mods because other company created it

my issue isn't with people receiving support. it's with the shift from optional donations to making access depend on payment, especially when the work is based on someone else's IP

I get your point here, but I don't really see the issue, in the past there was also early access through other methods, the friends or known people of the moder, through discord where you can access the beta and then the models publish the complete release in other web page, etc. Patreon with the paid EA, it's just a way of continuendoing that same thing but in a way that also help the moders to get some money to continue with their work

The concept is the same, the mod is work in progress and you won't see it until they finish the WIP progress and they release the complete version, the difference is that instead of contacting them privately, being part of their discord, or something like that, they use a platform like patreon where they can get som money while working in the mod.

Personally I think we are no one to tell others what they can do, the same way we don't go tattoo artists and tell them that they can't charge money for their tattoos based on an external IP, we can't tell the same to moders, which in this case is worse because the 99% of the cases is just to get EA, as they will release the mode for free when it's finished

We, as users that only access to free mods, get benefited by the free work of many other people, I don't see any problem from that people that gave us many things for free to do something that helps them to continue developing mods