Modding: Take Two threatens legal action against OpenIV's developers

[X S]

This just in, but a cease-and-desist letter was received by the developer(s) of OpenIV, one of the most significant tools used for modding GTA and Max Payne on PC.

This means that Take Two is taking an official stance against modding, which further spells doom for any future Rockstar games on PC and the inability to modify them.  It's a sad day for many of Rockstar's loyal fanbase. 

Edited June 16, 2017 by lonestar
added "modding" to title

[Lonestar]

Could a less "intrusive" modding tool be made? Bearing in mind I know nothing about how modding works...

[X S]

I don't think so, because OpenIV is literally a lock and key to the game files, which opens the door to all types of mods.

For now, there's ways around it, but the principle of it is quite alarming since T2 is officially deciding to take a stand against mods.  OpenIV was also developing a port of GTA IV's Liberty City into GTA V, and I can only assume that this specifically is what they deemed a threat to their inability to capitalize on it themselves.

[MajorPain]

This is all VERY worrying for Red Dead Redemption 2... We have been blessed to have games from Rockstar for so many years now. With Shark Cards making them so much money already, then going and doing this, it does not look good for the future. Are they morphing from a company loved by all into a Blizzard or EA?

I wasn't impressing by the recent Gunrunning DLC for GTA Online either - it took so long to come out and is just like MC missions. You need to invest stupid amounts/spend a stupid amount of time to get any sort of return and then it's just the same thing we've had before with a few more vehicles... and the GTA$ returns are crap. Granted GTA Online is an old game now, but still, I was disappointed. It seems like the GR DLC is pretty much built and designed to increase shark card sales.

Rockstar were special because they had the best games + didn't treat their fans like a piggy bank as other game companies do.

If they start trying to extract every single last penny then it will be a sad day for gamers.

Edited June 15, 2017 by MajorPain

[Darko]

Are paid mods coming? Did they do this to protect Online DLC (ie too many people driving around in the cars they want for free in story mode instead of having to potentially buy them in Online)? So many questions arising from this.

[UKSammy84]

23 minutes ago, MajorPain said:

I wasn't impressing by the recent Gunrunning DLC for GTA Online either - it took so long to come out and is just like MC missions. You need to invest stupid amounts/spend a stupid amount of time to get any sort of return and then it's just the same thing we've had before with a few more vehicles... and the GTA$ returns are crap. Granted GTA Online is an old game now, but still, I was disappointed. It seems like the GR DLC is pretty much built and designed to increase shark card sales.

Gunrunning is meant to be a passive/side business, not your main money earner, so it will take longer to make your money back. Do cargo or vehicle exports between supplying.

[Qu3ster]

This doesn't sound good for Rockstar games indeed. I can see this snowballing and having an bad chain reaction on other games as well.

[Jamesie]

This is a question for anyone that has played modded games before: Do you think it should be allowed (at least for single-player content) or do you think it has no place at all?

I ask this only because I just read over on PCGamer that a modding tool has been taken down recently which was used to mod GTA V (and other GTA games) in the past. I guess this only affects you if you used mods in the past or if you are planning to use them at some point.

For me personally I like having the ability to mod games or use mods as they're fun, allow us to enjoy the game created in a different way to what the original game provided and also keep us playing the game in hopes of additional official content provided by the developer. This of course also means that I don't approve of them if they're used to cheat online but I honestly wouldn't try and use mods online unless the game officially supported them (i.e. with Ark: Survival Evolved).

I created my own mod for GTA V (just something personal) quite a while back that used bits and pieces of other mods (to show the in-game speed). I then used this to create my own "Speed" mini game where I wouldn't be allowed to drop below a certain speed for longer than three seconds before blowing up. It was fun, taught me about scripthook and kept me playing the game in ways I'd never thought about playing it.

What are your thoughts?

Bonus - This was the first thing I did, I created a mod that simply displayed my current speed, the fasted speed I'd ever travelled in the current vehicle and then also the fasted I've ever been in any vehicle:

[X S]

I'm definitely angry about the situation.  I made a thread about it earlier, and it appears that GTA V on Steam is getting hit hard with negative reviews.

That said, there's certainly a grey area concerning mods, but because most publishers have turned a blind eye to it, malicious content can go unpunished.  Now, I'm not suggesting that publishers should be selling mods at all (We all know how that went down with Bethesda), but I am suggesting that maybe mods need to be officially supported.  As an example, I play Cities: Skylines on Steam with officially sanctioned mods using the Steam Workshop, all for FREE.  Some are scripts, assets, textures, etc.  That's a policy I'd like to see embraced by more publishers.

Personally, I've only modded GTA V textures for clothing and vehicles, but will I continue to support modding under any circumstances.

 

[Lonestar]

I merged the two topics and think that absolutely, modding is fantastic and should ideally be allowed.

It benefits both parties when done correctly - fans get what they want and publishers sell more games and please their fans more. I get the security side of it too though - game companies want to protect their valuable property and there will always be those who are looking to take advantage and abuse the system - they must be stopped.

Maybe developers need to develop with mods in mind - creating a secure sandbox of some sort in which modders can change what they want, but that is completed blocked off from the other important stuff, like online, piracy protection, etc. I have no idea if that is feasible though.

Also, clearly I am in the minority having never created my own mod before - good stuff guys!

[#SadCowboy]

What the snap crackle and pop is this? Why would they take away modding!? They really want to piss the creative gamers off or something?? I don't get it. Like... how do they benefit from this? I am not too familiar with modding but I enjoy watching what others make.

[Jamesie]

8 hours ago, lonestar said:

I merged the two topics and think that absolutely, modding is fantastic and should ideally be allowed.

Thanks for that, I missed this topic earlier.

[Skrylaxx]

Sick of legal bs always ruining things. I can bet this has something to do with money. May as well just ban creativity in gaming while you are at it. 

[Marco Polo]

Redditors started a campaign to neg review GTA V on Steam - it's now overwhelming negative for recent reviews and neutral overall!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/271590/Grand_Theft_Auto_V/

Of course it doesn't really mean anything, but sending a message back to Take 2!

[MajorPain]

Take-Two right now...

[Jamesie]

Sad and I can't even join in (I have the social club version which was quite a bit cheaper than the steam version when I bought it via greenmangaming).

Anyway this is the one time I can think of applying an offline patch (and not to avoid the online mode but instead to keep it from updating) that I feel is justified to at least keep my own personal mod collection up and running.