Getting paid to work on a free mod

[petracephas 29]

I have been trying to get modders to help me on my mod with little success for more than a year now. My mod community has been very gracious and have made some donations to me. I'd like to give back by using the money to further the mod. Specific items will be voted on (crowd funded) and then outsourced...

So is anybody interested in helping with my mod while getting payed for their work? It seems like a win-win right?

What do you guys think?

Edited April 25, 2015 by PetraCephas

[germ 10]

I think Steam monoplizing on modding is a terrible idea and is going to be the downfall of modding. Don't know why any of you owuld fall for it, they take 75%. I'm not paying one cent for a mod, specially not on steam.

[petracephas 29]

Not what I'm asking.

[jordanbache97 47]

So what are you making?

What mods have you made are you just the ideas guy? http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ideas+Guy

What would you be willing to pay?

Why should modders join you and not do their own projects?

[x3kj 1247]

So is anybody interested in helping with my mod while getting payed for their work? It seems like a win-win right?

It's not allowed. As soon as an item touches Bohemia Interactive tools you are not allowed to be commercial with it.

[petracephas 29]

I'm not planning on selling my/the mod. I don't want to make money of it. I just need help and I'm willing to pay people to help me.

"Why should modders join you and not do their own projects?" because I'm willing to pay them for their time.

You can see my mod here ARMSCor

What I'm willing to pay will need to be negotiated with the individual.

[miketim 20]

As soon as an item touches Bohemia Interactive tools you are not allowed to be commercial with it.

Does this mean Petra would essentially be buying that "work" from the people he hires, whose stuff would be made with BI tools, so its not allowed?

Either way, The BIStudio Forums community tends to frown upon any sort of commercial or money involved stuff in modding, even if it is legal.

It would probably be a good idea to message specific modders if you are looking to "recruit" them to your effort involving this financial compensation, and speak to them individually etc. I can't imagine anyone bartering for prices/setting up freelance contract work on a thread on these forums

Edited April 25, 2015 by MikeTim

[SpaceNavy 16]

It's not allowed. As soon as an item touches Bohemia Interactive tools you are not allowed to be commercial with it.

You don't seem to comprehend what he is doing.

He is paying someone to make a mod. Not selling a mod. Which is perfectly fine.

[PuFu 4600]

it is you that doesn't understand: according to bis toola eula, all work done using their tools (object builder and alike) are to be non-commercial.

of course he can pay anyone for the meshes if those are done with external commercial software (blender, paid 3ds max license etc)

one can get paid for consultancy though, no matter of sofware, as long as no product changes hands, only knowledge

[themistercat 11]

it is you that doesn't understand: according to bis toola eula, all work done using their tools (object builder and alike) are to be non-commercial.

of course he can pay anyone for the meshes if those are done with external commercial software (blender, paid 3ds max license etc)

one can get paid for consultancy though, no matter of sofware, as long as no product changes hands, only knowledge

He could be paying for someone to be his "employee" in his mod team, not for making a addon, then sending it to him. You don't pay a random chef to make food for you so you can sell it, you hire him. I don't even think that analogy made sense, but he should be able to pay people for a mod if he wants to, only one whose losing something is him, and it's voluntary, who cares?

[SpaceNavy 16]

it is you that doesn't understand: according to bis toola eula, all work done using their tools (object builder and alike) are to be non-commercial.

of course he can pay anyone for the meshes if those are done with external commercial software (blender, paid 3ds max license etc)

one can get paid for consultancy though, no matter of sofware, as long as no product changes hands, only knowledge

Its been done plenty of times before, to my knowledge especially by popular mod creators in the Arma mod community.

There is a difference between a company using the tools to make a commercial product and someone paying another person privately for their their knowledge and services.

Even if Bohemia themselves come out and say: "This isn't alright." There is no way for them to know who did what or stop it.

Its his money, let him do what he wants.

[petracephas 29]

Thanks for all responses, much appreciated.

If anybody wants to take me up on my offer or knows of someone who might, please PM me.

If you have any concerns about the legality of doing this, I will get confirmation from BI in writing before proceeding.

[giorgygr 61]

I dont think you ll have any problem man.

Pay the modder to invent code structure or/and doing 3D mesh('s) and

he will convert the work for use in ARMA for free

or

Make a Donation for all work

Done..

[PuFu 4600]

anyhow, my take on the matter: for the scope of this, a one man team will not function. I would advise to create a mod team of dedicated individuals for it. There is really no reason to involve money, unless there is really no other way around it, but from my experience it isn't the case.

[petracephas 29]

anyhow, my take on the matter: for the scope of this, a one man team will not function. I would advise to create a mod team of dedicated individuals for it. There is really no reason to involve money, unless there is really no other way around it, but from my experience it isn't the case.

Completely agree PuFu. I have been trying for some time to build a team, with lots of empty promises and loads of training/teaching/mentoring from my side. With so many great mod projects out there I can understand why I'm having a hard time finding modders to work with me. My/Our mod is very niche but has a very strong and passionate support base. I would love for people to join me/us and am only using money as a last ditch effort to get modders to have a good look at what we/us have been doing. Heres to hoping others will fall in love with ARMSCor too. ;)

[.kju 3244]

It's not allowed. As soon as an item touches Bohemia Interactive tools you are not allowed to be commercial with it.

Which is exactly the point. You dont have to use BI tools for almost everything. Doing commercial work for Arma is perfectly fine

as long as you are not using BI tools (or their source models).

@ PetraCephas

You should be more specific what needs to be done. Both what type of work and what amount.

Even better would be to break it done to small tasks for each item.

Estimated effort per task and complexity would also help.

[petracephas 29]

;2927742']

@ PetraCephas

You should be more specific what needs to be done. Both what type of work and what amount.

Even better would be to break it done to small tasks for each item.

Estimated effort per task and complexity would also help.

I use a Trello job board for my/our mod. Each card represents an item/vehicle/equipment that needs to be added to the mod. Once someone indicated that they are interested in working on an item, then first step is to add the detail to the job card. I worked in IT as a project manager so I'm familiar with splitting work up and defining sub tasks and goal setting. The Card then gets worked on by the modeller and as he work he check off the tasks on the card. Once done the card is allocated to a texturer and he continues with his checklist, and so on. Comments can be added to the card, testing criteria, notes, bugs, known issues etc. Hope this answers your question?

[.kju 3244]

Thanks. I am aware you are a professional. :) What I mean is that you should give more detail in the first post,

so that interested people have a better idea what needs to be done.

PS: We also use trello these days for Play withSIX. ;)

[Pomi Git 256]

anyhow, my take on the matter: for the scope of this, a one man team will not function. I would advise to create a mod team of dedicated individuals for it.

Sometimes working alone is the best way forward, you just need a willingness to be hands on and a capability to learn new skills. Working with a team has its own headaches. Many, many mods fail to get released because of conflicting opinions on direction or reliance on a team who cant commit the time.

Classic example of this

I use a Trello job board for my/our mod.

;2928060']We also use trello these days for Play withSIX. ;)

Trello is a fantastic free tool. I've been using it to organise my mod for a while now. Very very useful

Edited April 27, 2015 by pomigit

[jinougaf 11]

Well,actually can't enter Facebook 'cuz the internet limitation in my country.

But I'm now try to build a modding team and also face some problems.

Hope you would find the man you want.And really I think you should talk more about your mod on first page,or no one knows what you're talking about.TBH,I thought this is a suggest thread when I first read it.

[HeadPop 11]

I think Steam monoplizing on modding is a terrible idea and is going to be the downfall of modding. Don't know why any of you owuld fall for it, they take 75%. I'm not paying one cent for a mod, specially not on steam.

100% agree with you.

And if the modders need money to complete their work or to improve it I will DONATE if I like their work.

Im not agree paying for simply testing a mod. what if I dont like it?? Can I ask to full refund my money?

Terrible idea...

[probad 44]

OP I agree with the earlier posts, you should probably revise your post to introduce your mod and then just say "Looking for texturer/modeller/coder etcetc paid positions" because it seems like half the people here are only capable of registering single words (not like those sorts of people are the type you'd want to trust to get any reasonable quality work done though).

[fluttershy 2]

The general problem with establishing a team is that it is very hard to do if you are doing a pre-determited theme. I personally would not work inside a team, or establish a team, that is working on a project i am not interisted in.

Without a heart-felt connection it simply is hard to stay on the ball and enjoy what you are doing.

A payment incentive would not make me overlook the above points, its our freetime afterall.

[themistercat 11]

The general problem with establishing a team is that it is very hard to do if you are doing a pre-determited theme. I personally would not work inside a team, or establish a team, that is working on a project i am not interisted in.

Without a heart-felt connection it simply is hard to stay on the ball and enjoy what you are doing.

A payment incentive would not make me overlook the above points, its our freetime afterall.

Depending on the pay I would, time is monayyyy :D

[p1nga 23]

The general problem with establishing a team is that it is very hard to do if you are doing a pre-determited theme. I personally would not work inside a team, or establish a team, that is working on a project i am not interisted in.

Without a heart-felt connection it simply is hard to stay on the ball and enjoy what you are doing.

A payment incentive would not make me overlook the above points, its our freetime afterall.

If you are not getting paid, it is you're free time, if you are a getting paid it is essentially a job. Working in things that you have no or little interest in is something most professional / freelance modellers and artist do all the time i would expect.