I’ve just heard about this (with your post) so my response is based on what you’ve written.

the initial reaction is as expected outrage which I happen to agree with.

That’s the initial reaction for a lot of things, including games that were only available in digital formats. It takes time but most people come around once they see the logic behind it and how it works in practice. The inherent value of an idea isn’t always immediately apparent and many people’s initial reaction to things is outrage before coalescing into acceptance.

My initial reaction was that modders getting paid to mod equals better mods. This is coming from a guy who has been in online modding communities in some capacity since the mid-90s (starting with Doomworld).

What promise of support does the mod have?

The same as an Early Access title. Trust and “cred” will likely be large factors here; there are some modders I would trust and have no qualms with giving money to, there are others where I’d have to keep more of an ear to the ground first. People buying Early Access games and mods should learn to be as discerning as one is when buying something from Craigslist, especially people who think that paying someone for a mod comes with the same entitlement as a retail product. There will need to be warnings plastered everywhere at first.

Maybe it can be a subscription thing where you pay a small amount each month for access to it and can stop at any time if you felt the mod was neglected.

What about compatibility issues?

If a developer doesn’t keep their mods up to date, then they will lose “cred”. Maybe this should be reflected in a star rating? I’m subscribed to a few dozen mods across multiple games on the Steam Workshop and so far this hasn’t been that much of an issue for me.

If the mod relies on another mod (Such as SKSE), should monetization be permitted?

This is a tough one. I’m leaning towards yes but it might cut into their profits if they’re dependent on other mods people have to pay for. I suspect this will be one of those things that will evolve over time.

If the mod is removed from the Workshop will I be compensated?

I hope that the stipulations for a paid mod being offered in the Workshop are such that this is an unlikely occurrence. Valve really needs to screen mods that teeter on copyright infringement (ex: a paid Star Wars mod for Arma 3) or mods that have harvested content without permission from other, free mods.

How do you value it? How does the modder value it? Currently the price is set by the modder, perfectly understandable, but even now we come to see the issue.

In my entire time spent gaming, I’d say more than three quarters of that was spent playing mods. This ratio has declined somewhat with Steam as a lot of what would have been mods in the past are now Indie teams releasing Early Access games (which I play a lot of) though I still think there is a place for mods and would prefer to pay for mods as a middle road for good content between expecting people to make them for free and expecting people to go through the motions of forming an Indie studio of sorts. It kind of reminds me of what YouTube personalities are doing with Patreon.

I’ve also played any number of mods wherein the developers were sorely limited by obligations like family, work and so on to the point where the mod has suffered as a result and never reached its potential. I would gladly pay for mods in this case, if it meant easing part of the burden people face when creating content for free. That said, I do feel like 75% is a bit high and I’m not sure what to make of this whole thing. Hopefully modders will release paid mods for free leave payment as an option to remove adds or add higher quality textures or something in the vein of how some companies handle paid DLC.