[Chris M]

Originally Posted by Revan

As people said, the "freeloaders" should donate some back. As a coder with a fairly large mod released (for free), I can say that having a few dollorz land in my paypal every now and then would really help me make a better desicion in the times where I go "Work on the ever-lasting RPG or play some Lineage II...?".

The thing most people here seem to be missing is this:
THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DIRECTORY OF OFF-SITES WITH PAID MODS, AND to HAVE VBULLETIN.ORG HOST THESE MODS.
I do apologise for the enormous font, but having someone draft up a HUGE post complaining about how the average coder will see this addition as a way to get $5 a piece for his hack, which IS NOT TRUE, annoys me more than reading that font.
The user must HOST and SUPPORT his hack HIMSELF (or herself <3).

Ok to use myself as an example (yet again, I do love the sound of my own ...typing..?):
I don't know what different "Links and Directories" hacks exist out there. There may be paid ones, there may be free ones. I can search the org and maybe find one (I think I saw one here the other month), but it might be lacking some of the advanced functions I am looking for.
"Google Is Your Friend", sure, but thing is, I suck balls at google searching. It's true. I probably wouldn't be able to find my own penis if it required google searching.
I don't want vB,org to be a feedback system
I don't want vB,org to show users rating of the paid hack
I want a simple, searchable database of sites and what paid hacks they offer

Do you honestly think that Joe/Jane Coder will hassle with paying for hosting, making a nice design on the site, secure a members area, setup a support board and market the hack if he couldn't get more than $5 for it? Please. That, quite simply, is retarded.
However, if Joe Coder has made a hack that by all professional standards is worth $20 or more, can afford to invest in hosting/board licence and thinks he can handle the pressure of support for his hack, then I beg of you, give me 1, just ONE good reason why he should go through the same pressure of support (or in most cases, a bigger pressure) just so people can demand professional-level support and an excellent hack for free.
What in most cases will happen is that Joe Coder will say "sod this" because he either has to release it for free with limited support (which is bad for the users), or hassle with marketing his hack himself. He can't advertise it HERE, so he has to try to get word of mouth going. Both of which may be too big of a hassle for Joe Coder, and he will just not bother with it.
But if he could list his site in a directory at the Ultimate vBulletin Resource, then the word of mouth would spread with little effort on his end, and the community would be able to benefit from his mod.

Yeah, thats right. Instead of thinking "ohs teh noes, we have to pay $20 for a quality hack! /cryface", think that without those $20 you probably wouldn't have that particular hack at all. Sure, someone else might have had the same idea and made some half-assed free mod with support that died within the month, but Joe Coder will take his excellent hack to his grave.
Is the greater evil really the $20?

Not all free coders code "half-assed" mods...

That attitude in itself is a good reason that this shouldn't happen...

Chris