i'd also like to add that the way some of the modding community (this mod included) commercialises content is also problematic and sets a horrible example for the gaming industry as a whole. the standard is that you buy a product, it becomes yours, and you can use it. in a game development standpoint, that means that you buy the game once and get access to its future updates aswell.
patreon projects are problematic because they paywall each separate version through a monthly or even version fee which means you can buy a product once and then not get access to its subsequent updates. this payment plan is pretty much unique to patreon in the gaming industry and i think sets a bad example that should not be encouraged. the DRM itself is also horribly problematic because this is a first to my knowledge and I haven't experienced any other GTA5 paid-only mod which had a built-in DRM inside of it.
Overall, regardless of what your opinion on paid mods is, the problem isn't that the mod is paid. The problem is that the mod encourages and lives on bad practices such as commercialised intellectual property theft, subscription models for updates and first seen here mod DRMs which, if the community presents as acceptable, is going to encourage other mod creators to add DRMs to their own (paid) mods which will severely limit mod development and customisation going forward.
my point is exactly that this isn't free work. this is an ad for their patreon page where they clearly hope to paywall this by giving free users a taste/demo before buying a monetized, paid-only product which even goes as far as to have DRM included in it. this is not a free mod, it is an advertisment for a paid one. the moderators even had to step in and tell the uploader to remove screenshots showcasing paywalled content. I agree with free content and I appreciate the work, but this isn't a donation project where you get some perks/recognition for being a patron, this is straight up paid content.
If you make something that is entirely yours, sure, you can make it paid. But this is selling Rockstar's IP back to you. Las Venturas is a thing in the GTA universe and so is this mod's version of it. The problem with paid mods, especially in the GTA community, is that they often straight up sell the design/work/intellectual property of other people. You buy a car for your FiveM server, but that car is an Audi. Model was handmade, but the design isn't the dev's and is straight up copyrighted. That's fine if it's free is the general consensus, but in the modding community we do respect the idea of intellectual property and/or an author's requests and conditions for redistribution of their content. Rockstar is fine with their own stuff being made available free for game owners, as long as it isn't commercialised. Audi doesn't have any problem with free mods, but their ToS and such clearly state that you cannot commercialise their designs or logos. Games like Need for Speed have contracts and pay carmakers for the rights to use the brand name and car in their commercialised products. Paid mods leeching off of someone else's existing intellectual property is something that in my eyes we should not respect as a community. It is essentially commercialising theft.
DRM on a "free" mod is exactly what's wrong with the GTA modding community. I understand you want to be paid for your work, but most modders are content with donations and paywalling your mod in such an extreme way is ridiculous.
@Arkie Graphics mod is Make Visuals Great Again/MVGA.
@Dupek_ Will consider it after I am finished with all gang changes. Updating both versions would be tiresome as I'd have to maintain two versions of two rather large files.
![Los Angeles RED [Submod]](https://img.gta5-mods.com/q75-w500-h333-cfill/images/los-angeles-red-submod/394ce3-bloods-min.png "Los Angeles RED [Submod]")
5mods on Discord
i'd also like to add that the way some of the modding community (this mod included) commercialises content is also problematic and sets a horrible example for the gaming industry as a whole. the standard is that you buy a product, it becomes yours, and you can use it. in a game development standpoint, that means that you buy the game once and get access to its future updates aswell.
patreon projects are problematic because they paywall each separate version through a monthly or even version fee which means you can buy a product once and then not get access to its subsequent updates. this payment plan is pretty much unique to patreon in the gaming industry and i think sets a bad example that should not be encouraged. the DRM itself is also horribly problematic because this is a first to my knowledge and I haven't experienced any other GTA5 paid-only mod which had a built-in DRM inside of it.
Overall, regardless of what your opinion on paid mods is, the problem isn't that the mod is paid. The problem is that the mod encourages and lives on bad practices such as commercialised intellectual property theft, subscription models for updates and first seen here mod DRMs which, if the community presents as acceptable, is going to encourage other mod creators to add DRMs to their own (paid) mods which will severely limit mod development and customisation going forward.
@Prompt
my point is exactly that this isn't free work. this is an ad for their patreon page where they clearly hope to paywall this by giving free users a taste/demo before buying a monetized, paid-only product which even goes as far as to have DRM included in it. this is not a free mod, it is an advertisment for a paid one. the moderators even had to step in and tell the uploader to remove screenshots showcasing paywalled content. I agree with free content and I appreciate the work, but this isn't a donation project where you get some perks/recognition for being a patron, this is straight up paid content.
If you make something that is entirely yours, sure, you can make it paid. But this is selling Rockstar's IP back to you. Las Venturas is a thing in the GTA universe and so is this mod's version of it. The problem with paid mods, especially in the GTA community, is that they often straight up sell the design/work/intellectual property of other people. You buy a car for your FiveM server, but that car is an Audi. Model was handmade, but the design isn't the dev's and is straight up copyrighted. That's fine if it's free is the general consensus, but in the modding community we do respect the idea of intellectual property and/or an author's requests and conditions for redistribution of their content. Rockstar is fine with their own stuff being made available free for game owners, as long as it isn't commercialised. Audi doesn't have any problem with free mods, but their ToS and such clearly state that you cannot commercialise their designs or logos. Games like Need for Speed have contracts and pay carmakers for the rights to use the brand name and car in their commercialised products. Paid mods leeching off of someone else's existing intellectual property is something that in my eyes we should not respect as a community. It is essentially commercialising theft.
DRM on a "free" mod is exactly what's wrong with the GTA modding community. I understand you want to be paid for your work, but most modders are content with donations and paywalling your mod in such an extreme way is ridiculous.
@Arkie Graphics mod is Make Visuals Great Again/MVGA.
@Dupek_ Will consider it after I am finished with all gang changes. Updating both versions would be tiresome as I'd have to maintain two versions of two rather large files.
@SamFox Good catch, will fix that next update.
@CitiZeN030 The mod with the house blips is LS Red, which is the only hard requirement of this mod.