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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Skyrim mod drama gets ugly with allegations of stolen code and misappropriated donations [techcrunch.com]

One of the more useful [The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim] mods, for developers but indirectly for players, is the Skyrim Script Extender, or SKSE [silverlock.org]. It basically allows for more complex behaviors for objects, locations and NPCs. How do you have a character seek shelter from the rain if there's no weather-based behaviors in their original AI? That sort of thing (though that's an invented example). SKSE goes back a long way and the creators provide much of the code for others to use under a free license, while declining donations themselves.

Another project is Skyrim Together (ST), a small team that since 2013 has (among others) been working on adding multiplayer functionality to the game — their Patreon account, in contrast, is pulling in more than $30,000 a month. The main dev there allegedly independently distributed a modified version of SKSE several years ago against the terms of the license, and was henceforth specifically banned from using SKSE code in the future.

Guess what SKSE's lead found in a bit of code inspection the other day [reddit.com]?

Yes, unfortunately, it seems that SKSE code is in the ST app, not only in violation of the license as far as not giving credit, but in that the dev himself has been barred from using it, and furthermore that — although there is some debate here — the ST team is essentially charging for access to a "closed beta." Some say that it's just a donation they ask for, but requiring a donation is really indistinguishable from charging for something.

Response from Skyrim Together [reddit.com].

Related: Modder Fixes What Bethesda Couldn't -- Skyrim [soylentnews.org]
Bethesda 'Creation Club' for Skyrim and Fallout 4: No "Paid Mods" Here! [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission