The Creation Club is a controversial aspect of Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4. I have been reviewing some of the updates for Skryim, but what has stood out to me is how different the Creation Club is from other microtransactions.
Lootboxes have become a major concern among gamers, especially when it came to how some companies have been making their games dependent on Lootboxes to progress in the game. This pay to win model has attracted a lot of negative attention for predatory business practices, while some claim that microtransactions are here to stay.
I once thought Bethesda’s Creation Club could be an alternative, a form of microtransaction, but not a pay to win model. In fact, it seemed like one that was truly optional. However, this is not that simple a matter, and there are many issues still to be addressed.
Creation Club has had a massive uphill battle, and despite the promise of micro DLC, the service has only ever provided one piece of content for Skyrim that felt like it could be described as DLC (Forgotten Seasons). Pricing is a major issue, especially when compared to Bethesda produced DLC such as Hearthfire. Some offerings in Creation Club cost almost as much, for less than half the content.
So we have established there is something here, but it is not being handled well at all and is turning away people. The service is doing somewhat better with Fallout 4, but the fact remains that these are paid mods and with one exception, there is a better free alternative for each. But this doesn’t mean Bethesda should give up.
Bethesda needs to take to heart the criticisms from both Creation Club and the disaster that was Fallout 76. Bethesda has been relying on fan mods to fix issues in their games and the modding scene is enormous. Paid mods as the service currently offers will fail eventually, but there is an alternative. Bethesda should make adjustments to the serive and find a ay to provide more unique content or ways to buy the content at a more consumer friendly way, The bundles are a nice step, as the offer discounts and themes, but its not enough.
Compared to Lootboxes, Creation Club is actually more consumer friendly as it doesnt make the games pay to win, but it feels tacked on and ill implemented. By reassessing the situation and changing how the content is offered they can still make this work. They would need to start by removing the simple weapon and armor mods with minor quests and single player homes. These are not a good value for the money and becomes quantity over quality.
Bethesda should instead focus on less creations but of higher quality, i.e. more like Forgotten Seasons. Creation Club has a bad reputation as I said, and it is earned at this point. This is an official Bethesda service and the offerings should reflect a higher standard. If that becomes the case, then Bethesda could put out Creation Club DLC that they wont have to invest too much time into, while giving fans higher quality content. They could even add the minor creations but give them a different designation or introduce them as a bundle to begin with. Doing so will provide a consumer friendly way to have GAAS and not destroy a reputation.
Disclaimer: The above was the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of ROG or its staff