The media and the mods, Official comment topic Options

[Dark0ne]

A recent post on the Beth Blog reminded me that I had been meaning to pump PC Gamer UK for quite some time now. As a subscriber to the magazine I have enjoyed getting my latest copy through the mail, ripping it open and checking to see if they've been pumping any new Morrowind, Oblivion or Fallout 3 mods in the latest issue. Kudos to them for putting a lime-light (albeit mostly a small one in most issues) on the modding community. If you're a PC Gamer UK employee and you're looking for someone to write up a column on modding once a month...hello

The fact is, personally, I find that modding in general doesn't get enough attention in the gaming media for the service it provides. You begin to look at the sheer escalating scale of the modding communities out there to really understand why; there's just so much out there that it's hard to report on enough of it to really do it justice in a couple of pages each month. The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Neverwinter Nights, Crysis, Half-Life 2, Warcraft and Unreal communities all possess enough monthly news to fill a small magazine individually.

There's also this sense of slight naivety within the media and gaming PR departments that modding is a niche sector utilised by the minority and ergo unworthy of too much time or attention. Indeed modders are in the minority, probably largely due to the limitations/monopolising of Microsoft and Sony in trying to keep their online services as air tight and controlled as possible. Think what the modding community would be like if you could add plug-ins for Oblivion on the Xbox 360/PS3. The user base would double, probably triple. Alas, it cannot be at this time.

I'll also throw out some Kudos to GStaff over at Bethesda, who posts most of the content on the Beth Blog. Between modder interviews and semi-regular updates on the mod community he does a better job than me keeping on top of and reporting on the modding community. Maybe that will change soon. We'll see.

[Daynox]

As a fellow subscriber of said mag, i would love to see more articles about the modding comunity for ANY moddable game. Ive played Elder scrolls and fallout 3 ten times over.....only reason? MODS!!!!!!!!!

Ive seen and played mods that blow away the work of the regular games hands down..

If it were not for the MODDING community...these games would be played once.....and then left on a shelf!!!!!

The Gamer mags out there need to dedicate sections to the MODDING community, to the people who love to spend THEIR free time to make content that THOUSANDS will enjoy!!!!... and in the case of some mods BLOW AWAY the work of some of the game makers works!!! (DC Interiors!)...awesome!!

Its the modding community that MAKES these games i think. For sure Kudos to Bethesda and other makers for making great games....but its the mods that REALLY make your game!

Just my 2 cents.... ^_^

[niccolo]

If you're really interested in writing a monthly column or some such about modding, I suggest you email the editor from the Escapist. Just the other day she was talking about how she wanted more writers - as long as they were good quality.

Send in and ask, give her a rundown on what you wnat to write... and most importantly, she wants a sample.

[Pushkatu]

but its the mods that REALLY make your game

At least 60% of it anyway.

[DaedalusMachina]

Something that occured to me recently:

Is it, perhaps, a tinge of jealousy that there are people in the world who can not only take their pretty decent game and make it AWESOME...

... but they can do it for free?

[Darth Bain]

I cannot play vanilla oblivion anymore. Due to the mods ive got from this amazing and easy to use site.

Mods make this great game down right near perfect, and the replayability is virtually unlimited. I 100% agree that there should be a modding magazine/website to inform and review on a weekly/monthly basis

Thank you DarkOne for your continued effort into the nexus sites !

& For those about to mod I salute you !!!

[lordbelfast]

Oblivion would be dead years ago if it was not for the mods. Hell, I think the sales of Oblivion increased somewhere around june...2009!

[d181sp1]

I rarely comment but you speak true and I'll say thankya. Mods keep games fresh and new. You take any of the great games mentioned in the post and look at the community and it's mods that drive it forward. Push the limits of the game engine beyond what was maybe possible upon release or just add new content or reshape the world in it's entirety.

I started off with mods by discovering the Popehat Oblivion Omod Project aka P.O.O.P. It actually led to a mod addiction that bloomed to somewhere around 200 and since had to be leaned out to a modest 125... All of them appreciated and I took the time to let them know that. The modders of the world deserve recognition and damned if I'd not be interested in reading what drove them to do what they did.

Glad to see Neverwinter Nights mentioned there too. Great old game and a personal favorite. Great example of how mods keep the game new over time. I know Bioware recognizes it as they just patched that 7 year old game again in 2009 releasing a ton of free content themselves.

It's a great relationship when you get an outstanding game from an outstanding company that supports the modding community by giving them the Toolset or Construction set for the game. Encouraging the modders of the community to go forth and in some cases nearly recreate their game for mass consumption. Then we the gamers reap the rewards of it all.

Can't be beat.

I wholly support getting the modders the attention and recognition they deserve. I've trimmed down my mod list to a paltry 125 and have taken the time to thank all of the creators I think. I just appreciate their effort and I appreciate my enjoyment too, heh.

Okay, done rambling now.

[Netwit2008]

My first experiences using Mods was with Diablo LOD. The mod I chose absolutely MADE the game. It corrected things I'd always felt were shortcomings of the game, like having enough room in inventory, being able to double the Horadric cube internal capacity and create items with runes, etc.

I wish I'd known about Morrowind mods. I played that game a couple of years before finding Oblivion. I agree with all those who say the mods make the game and keep us coming back.

A mod is like getting a whole new game. I play mine with an absolute sense of awe and amazement at what the modders are able to do! It really has inspired me to want to try it in the future.

I can't imagine that Bethesda and other companies who create moddable games, don't watch the modding communities like a hawk! I can't believe someone from Bethesda isn't practically stalking some of the modders in order to recruit them!

Think of the extra revenue modders have to represent. They extend the life of a game up to ten years. I know folks are still playing Diablo and TES games because of the mods.

I salute you for being such a force in the TES community DarkOne. I may find mods elsewhere, but if it isn't also on, or sanctioned in some way by Nexus I pass it by.

I show my respect to you and the modding community by being a premium member here. I've never subscribed somewhere I could get content for free. So as always kudos to you and the modders here. I hope to be one of them myself one day! It's a pleasure being a part of the community, one I will continue through renewing my subscription.

I see such great things ahead for you as an individual, and for this site as I feel it is one of the cornerstones of the modding community. It goes without saying the modding communities as a whole should always be an integral part of reporting in the magazines and entities that deal with the games themselves. I mean after all, using one mod, is like smoking crack....one hit and you're hooked, lol!

I hope it works out that you'll be able to contribute to articles.

[PredatorFett]

I absolutely 100% agree with what you say about modding communities (for the vast majority of moddable games, that is, games that can be modded) being unfairly ignored. If gaming was a religion and I were its pope, that would be declared a sin. Strange analogies aside, it completely boggles my mind that mods don't get more attention. One example of what an awesome company that encourages modding and pays attention to it is Valve. Looking at all the source mods that are available, its like a bank vault full of mods. Scratch that, its like a "Fort Knox". But anyway mods make a game in many cases, in fact, most games I play are moddable. Why some gaming fanatics don't understand that I will never know.