Would you pay for a plugin?

[SsjCosty 24]

Hi all. I am wondering what the attitude around here is on asking for money for a plugin. I am asking because I have started to put in quite a lot of hours into developing a new plugin and I am thinking of putting a small price on it. Are there any other people here who have done this already?

[Retro808 1,181]

On our forum? No, no one has actually asked anyone to pay for a plugin. There was even a post a while back with someone asking to pay someone to make a plugin and as far as we know, no one responded. The plugin that person was asking for was made and released for free by a forum member. It is not against any forum rules.

[alfredolvera 41]

4 hours ago, SsjCosty said:

Hi all. I am wondering what the attitude around here is on asking for money for a plugin. I am asking because I have started to put in quite a lot of hours into developing a new plugin and I am thinking of putting a small price on it. Are there any other people here who have done this already?

Hey @SsjCosty. if it's cool/useful enough for me, I would gladly pay for it. Can you tell us more about your plugin?

[Zombeaver 1,891]

Does it give Launchbox horse armor?

[damageinc86 201]

I haven't offered to pay for a plug-in, but I've offered to pay extra for feature implementation.

[SsjCosty 24]

On 11/10/2020 at 11:59 PM, Zombeaver said:

Does it give Launchbox horse armor?

Only if you play video games while riding a horse.

[SsjCosty 24]

Thanks all.

On 11/10/2020 at 10:57 PM, alfredolvera said:

Hey @SsjCosty. if it's cool/useful enough for me, I would gladly pay for it. Can you tell us more about your plugin?

I can indeed. I made a plugin last year for setting up Youtube videos on games with the ability to play them as if they were an "additional app" for the game - quite basic, but at the time it was fine for my own needs. I have recently felt the need to update the plugin so that it gives a much better user experience, both for adding videos and playing them from BigBox, + gamepad support, + support for the GamesDB video link, + support for videos from other services like IGN and Steam and auto-detection of the original video title etc. All of it would be streaming, to save up space, but I could probably add a download feature to it too.

However this turned into a lot more work than I anticipated and it's taken up quite a big chunk of my evening time. So at this point I am not sure if should continue it, given the amount of remaining work. That's why I was wondering if maybe I could charge a small fee for it - that might give me a reason to dedicate time on this. But would anyone need such a plugin or is the current LaunchBox video functionality good enough?

[Zombeaver 1,891]

Countless people have contributed in large and small ways to this scene for many years. Contributions which you have undoubtedly reaped the benefits of no small number of times. If you've downloaded a single piece of media or metadata you have. None of that stuff just appeared out of the ether. It's a scene made up of a wide array of different people good at various bits and bobs that all come together to make a better whole, and it's all niches within niches. That's the nature of the hobby (or any hobby, really). You either enjoy it or you don't (and, if you don't, why the hell are you doing it?) You're either willing to put the time and energy in for the benefit of that hobby or you're not. If you're not, my suggestion would be to stop. If you need to stick your digital coffee cup out into the crowd in order for it to be worth it to you, you might want to take a moment to consider why you're doing what you're doing.

I've spent literally thousands of hours on various projects for this scene, and continue to do so to this day, without receiving penny one. Hell, I spend money every year on these projects. And I'm married, have a mortgage, and a full time job. You enjoy the hobby or you don't. If you don't, stop spending your free time on things you don't enjoy.

My two cents.

[SsjCosty 24]

Thank you for your thoughts!

Edited November 14, 2020 by SsjCosty