Is it ethical to earn money by modding?

Forget about legal, forget about practical, for now I’m just curious about the ethics.

If there is a game with a thriving mod community, and I have an idea for a mod I really want to make but haven’t the skills to do so, can I pay someone to make the mod for me?

If I want to make a mod, would it be ethical to do some crowd-funding to compensate my time for the creation process? What if the mod is released for free, even to non-backers?

I know at comic-cons artists are constantly doing sketches (of Spider-man or whoever) for commission. Is it different with modding? Is it the same?

If I build something super-cool out of LEGO, could I sell someone the instructions for how to re-create it? Could I sell someone my services to build it for him? Why or why not? What about in Minecraft?

What do you think?

<Usual disclaimer, I am not a lawyer etc, Just my gut reaction and 2 cents >

Is it ethical to earn money by modding?

Sure, why not? Anything that takes a significant amount of work to do has a value.

Just make sure the price is in level with the amount of effort needed to create it.

If there is a game with a thriving mod community, and I have an idea for a mod I really want to make but haven’t the skills to do so, can I pay someone to make the mod for me?

I see nothing wrong with that either.

It is likely to be a bit expensive though, specially if you don't have the skills yourself. (It will be significantly less expensive if you have the skills, but not the time, since you will have a better idea of what actually needs to be done and can recruit and plan better)

I know at comic-cons artists are constantly doing sketches (of Spider-man or whoever) for commission. Is it different with modding? Is it the same?

I don't really see a relation with modding at all...

If I build something super-cool out of LEGO, could I sell someone the instructions for how to re-create it? Could I sell someone my services to build it for him? Why or why not? What about in Minecraft?

Yes, your design has value, since you put time and effort into creating it, and making the instructions.

Building it is fine too, since what they pay for then is your time and expertise.

Same with minecraft.

If the game supports modding, or if the company supports it, absolutely go for it.

If the game does not support it and the company is against it, probably shy away from it.

Also, local versus global is a concern. Modding a single player game? No problem! Modding a globally played network game? Possible cheater!

If you want a local reskin to change the race or make them naked or always have rare drops or whatever, it is a local game and players can do what they want.

A networked game reskin to give everybody slightly different armor sets, or to replace blocks a-la minecraft brick artwork exchanges for aesthetics, those are usually good.

A networked game mod or reskin to see through walls or make enemies bright red or gain some other network play advantage, absolutely not.

Some games and companies are a little bit harder to read. Many times they don't directly publish a modding API but they are open to individuals creating local-only exploits. The Sims was like that. There was (and still is) a thriving marketplace of third-party objects. People make hairs, clothes, and game objects that they sell on their own marketplace. The official policy is that it is not supported and might break your game, void the warranty, and may cause halitosis. The SoCom policy is generally positive reactions to positive things. Replies like "that look great" and "looking forward to more" are fine. The current community is good for the players and not harmful, so it gets quietly encouraged. If for some reason the community became harmful it may be suppressed, but that is not the case today.

In that kind of scenario, no official support but quiet unofficial support for positive community contributions, is fairly common.