I agree that a DRM of not preferable. But is the protection and ringfencing of
mods really what prevents people from piracy?
And I also agree that I wouldn't want to have my mods fully available. But why Paradox itself would bother protecting mods for its own sake, I don't understand. After all, they haven't produced or created any of them, and thus do not have any rights (morally, I mean; not due to any of their own 'rules' drafted by themselves) to the mods. Although I appreciate them protecting us...
So concluding: no, I don't want to open up the User Mod subforum if that involves introducing a DRM.
Agreement, except that I feel the need to note: how on Earth could Paradox possibly institute DRM while still allowing direct moddability of their games? [As opposed to DLL injection hacks on Nexus or something, like some games.] The concepts aren't compatible.
Meanwhile, the modding sub-forums are dying and dead due to the apparently dramatically larger amount of users that have had difficulty with Paradox's forum authentication system (which includes myself, despite being a rather prominent CK2 modder) and/or simply prefer not to have to register for yet another thing (that doesn't support OpenAuth, either) just to get an idea what mods are like for these games. The same goes for modding talent-- it goes elsewhere, because elsewhere is far more accessible to browse and inspire.
I think it's quite reasonable to conclude that Paradox is selling fewer copies of CK2 and EU4 because their modding community is hidden behind closed doors. With open doors, we'd have far more prospective buyers of the game checking-out the modding community, some of which would be modder-types that are specifically drawn to games with healthy modding communities (which then leads to the creation of even more attractive mods, strengthening of the community, and pushing even more DLC sales).
With open doors, the entire modding sub-forums (and their sub-forums) would be indexed by Google and just a search for "grand strategy mod" away.
While I'm in love with the modding potential of games like CK2 and feel that Paradox is unmatched in this niche (indeed, for CK2, the only competitors are absolutely tiny indie companies, and very few at that) and a loyal Paradoxian that is deeply-invested in the CK2 modding community, were another company (like, say, Firaxis) to build a CK2 knock-off with an open modding community and that company's reputation for truly powerful modding tools, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat-- but not, of course, before I could openly browse their forums for their modding community to check things out. That's the modders' perspective.
It is possible and indeed likely that Paradox simply doesn't realize that the value-add from mods like HIP, CK2Plus, AGOT, M&T, VeF, etc. pushes as many new DLC sales as it clearly does from my own perspective, where I literally ship a popular mod which, to take advantage of its best facets, requires purchasing many a DLC that would not otherwise be purchased-- I see my users buy DLCs in droves because of the mod. For our CPRplus component, my installer even actually lists the exact portrait/content pack DLCs which must be purchased by them (less the ones that they already own) to use that very, very popular component of HIP.
TL;DR: A modding community as open as the standard forums -> Happier existing modders, More mod users, Better modders, Better mods -> More DLC/game sales -> Happier existing modders, More mod users, Better modders, Better mods -> ... and so on.
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