First Paid Dota 2 Mod Asked To Remove Stolen Content, Creator Apologizes

By: Carl Batchelor On March 21, 2016, 10:30 am EDT @rpgendboss

With the news last week that the concept of paying for mods would return with Valve’s Dota 2, it didn’t take long until another case of a mod creator using stolen assets once again marred the idea.

Roshpit Champions, the user mod in question, contained content stolen from other player’s as of then unapproved community submissions as well as one instance of an unauthorized boot icon taken from Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. The creator of Roshpit Champions, Ryan ‘ChalkyBrush’ Racioppo, tried to explain his use of the community content by stating:

“Anything submitted to the workshop is Valve’s property and can therefore be used in Valve’s game. Roshpit Champions is subject to the same rules, making the game also a property of Valve’s.”

As for the stolen World of Warcraft icon, Racioppo was quoted as saying:

“I didn’t think a low-res screencap of a screencap would be an issue. The picture is awful anyway and probably needs a replacement. Does blizzard [sic] care though? In the end, Blizzard is the only one with the right to complain about this low quality image existing in this little sub-realm of Dota 2. If Blizzard or Valve informs me that this is an issue, I will replace this image.”

Some may remember last year when the first paid Skyrim mod was removed for using stolen content, something Valve clearly didn’t want to have happen when they relaunched the idea with Dota 2. Quick to apologize for using the unauthorized content, Racioppo removed the infringing materials in a patch released over the weekend, then addressed the community both internally and on Reddit.

Though any lawsuits were avoided, this does bring up one of the most obvious problems with monetizing mods; that by nature, many of them borrow content from other creators, often without the creators realizing it. How this affects Valve’s Custom Game Pass program remains to be seen.

Find more stories about: DOTA 2, mods, Paid mods, steam | NEWS, PC on niche gamer

About Carl Batchelor

Carl is a rabid JRPG fan who also loves European PC games. As a gamer with over 30 years of experience, he bravely balances married life with his hobby.

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deadeye

Wow, the first fucking mod.

Didn’t waste any time at all, just go immediately to stealing content.
Zanard Bell

Nope, still a bad idea.
Diego Dereshi

Valve trying everything to get extra money without actually doing anything. ¬.¬’

Can’t even curate.
Captain Vidya

You even reached out to the content creator and okay’d it yourselves and this still happened. You’re off to a great start there, Valve.
Snea Zel

He sounds a bit arrogant.
Shiggy Diggy Doo

I-IT’S BLIZZARD’S FAULT. THEY GOT MAD OVER THEIR LOW RES IMAGE
Edmund Black

It’s not different at all, is it, Steve?
Eldhin Hellknight

That’s the problem with mods. Valve must do something similar to greenlight. The modder could state that he’s using assets from other mods and let those other modders to approve it. Off course, there will be people like this.ChalkyBrush, who didn’t care until his mod got reported.
Panpopo

Could someone post the Racioppo Reddit link mentioned in this article? I imagine it would be an interesting read.
Dewey Defeats Truman

You know nobody would really care (beyond people just trying to stir up drama) if this wasn’t a fucking paid mod.

The entire idea is inherently broken unless you go as far with it as you did with Counter Strike or Team Fortress back in the day. Just stop this lazy, half assed attempt to make money on mods that you’re doing now, Valve.
Jonbo298

IT’S JUST A LOW RES SCREENCAP, BRO
Smug

The whole thing about paid mods is a fucking terrible idea, and one of the things I stated in another article (about Valve allowing in the first place someone to make a paid mod from someone’s else content, provided it is freely available) has already happened.

Once the developers/publishers get a hold of the modding scene (which is the whole purpose of paid mods), you can say bye-bye to your precious free mods that could either add or fix stuff. (and make the PC platform pretty much irrelevant for vidya)
Zack

Screencap of a screencap. Get it right…the FIRST time, bro!
Shiggy Diggy Doo

IT’S VALVE’S FAULT FOR ACCEPTING THIS, BRO
Goose Mojo

shut it down!
Colt Machina

REMOVE PAID MODS!
No_Good_Names_Ever

REMOVE MOBAS TOO!
Anthony Felder

[maniacal laughter]
Richard Miller

Paid Mods need to die! PC gaming is the only free market that we have in the gaming industry and we can’t let greed ruin that!
Random Dude

Here we go again.
Unbeliever

This is the part were i wanted Blizzard to slap Valve with a lawsuit so hard that they would never try this again.
sanic

Huh never really thought of it but the best way to kill paid mods would be to get valve sued, at least in the short term.
Smug

>free market
>with Steam acting like a monopoly
>implying PC users aren’t as dumb as the console users
Feniks

So who is gonna pay for the refunds?

Personally I don’t trust modders, they will just take the money and run. At least Valve can be sued.
Feniks

Exactly. As soon as money is exchanged the lawyers are released.

Nobody cares about mods or fan patches or translations but when you ask money for them intellectual property-shit hits the fan.
NuclearKangaroo

while i dont think its anywhere near as bad as the actual paid mods, this shit definitively has its own set of issues, i definitively dont support it
Thanatos2k

The moment you start charging you’re subject to massively stringent legal requirements on asset use. Get used to it.
Mazdian

https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/4au0yy/valve_the_first_custom_game_you_monetized_is_a/
Jumanji Joe

Yet another example of why paid mods are pure cancer. I hope the backlash is just as big as the Skyrim one.
Richard Miller

What? Steam isn’t a monopoly just because they are the most successful. By that logic Sony is a monopoly. I guess the word I should have used is Open Market so it don’t confuse people.
Panpopo

Thanks!
Smug

It is a monopoly when almost all the “competitors” on the platform can only sell Steam codes and are just irrevelant.
So much for the “open market”
Richard Miller

What the hell are you talking about child!? Have you not heard of GoG, Origin, Uplay, or Battle.net? You got to be trolling me right now.
Smug

>implying Uplay, Battle net and Origin are even relevant in comparison to Steam
You only have GoG as a alternative but (not to mention GoG is slowing becoming Steam-like) even then Steam still hold a shitload of exclusives in their own system. And with paid mods, they’ll make the community even more dependable on Steam by controlling the modding scene.

But keep being a good goy.
Richard Miller

You must not be a PC gamer as you would know that GoG, Origin, Uplay, And Battle.net has tons of AAA games that steam does not have. If Steam was a monopoly these sites would not even exist! Please do more research in the future. Thank you.
Brandon Wolfley

Wow way to trip, fall, and break your ankle right out of the gate. “I expect only great things from here” he says with as much Sarcasm as he can muster.
dsadsada

Keyword of your statement: AAA

Bear in mind that the greatest advantage of the PC platform over consoles is how much easier it is to develop and publish for which allows a multitude of smaller developers to get their works out. However the only place where smaller developers can really get exposure is on Steam which on top of the AAA titles it already hosts effectively gives them a monopoly.

People will only bother using those other platforms to get those AAA games that you’re saying Steam doesn’t have. But nobody is going to use them as their main distributor particularly if Steam already has something that they’re selling (except maybe GoG).

It’s like how the Ouya exists (existed?) but nobody is thinking about putting their game on it with regards to smaller titles and like how the Wii U exists but their’s hardly anything on it besides its first party games with regards to AAA.

Your main point isn’t wrong on a technicality but it’s not exactly something that will convince people that have the mindset that PC effectively means Steam with the vast difference in market share and library size between it and its competitors.
Richard Miller

Yeah steam is by far the most successful PC storefront but that does not mean it has a monopoly on PC gaming. If so than PS4 be a monopoly on the console side as the Xbone and Wii U don’t stand a chance against it.
dsadsada

“If so than PS4 has a monopoly on the console side as the Xbone and Wii U don’t stand a chance against it.”
You’d be hard pressed to find people who disagree with this actually. Mind you, I did say you were still technically correct.
Feniks

Actually Steam IS a monopoly. They have almost all of the market. If your game is not on Steam you’re finished. And GOG doesn’t have any Japanese games

Thank Sithis for piracy.
Richard Miller

Steam is not a monopoly. Do any of you people actually know the definition of a monopoly?
Richard Miller

Plus GoG does have Japanese games as they have LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS IN THE SKY SC. Am I the only person around here that does any sort of research?
Smug

Do you?
Smug

Oh yeah GoG has like 3-4 japanese games while the rest (MGR, Valkyria Chronicles, DoA5, Warriors games, the Neptunia games besides the first one, Danganronpa, etc.) is on Steam only.

You sure do your research
Richard Miller

That’s not the point child as he said GoG had no Japanese games. You need to learn how to read better.
Richard Miller

What are you talking about budgie?
Feniks

Ok fine GOG has a handful of old Japanese games. SquareEnix will NEVER release anything on GOG though. Only Steam.
Richard Miller

Never say never. Who knows how the winds of change will flow?