Are Modder the Future for Innovation?

[Heliocentrical]

This has been on my mind for quite sometime. The way I see it now major games publishers and developers are growing ever increasingly out of touch with each passing year say for a few exceptions such as CD Projekt Red. The industry has been shifting it's priorities away from the niche to the more inclusive. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Old games like Fallout 1 & 2 are far too dense and have far too many noticeable flaws for them to really have any market beyond a niche one. But IMO the industry has gone too far with it's streamlining and has completely lost any potential for innovation. Instead of maintaining a balance between the two publishers and developers have completely forgone innovation in favor of streamlining. I also don't believe the industry has any plans in changing course anytime soon either but that doesn't mean the soul of innovation has been lost entirely. It just moved over to independent developers or modders who were in most circumstances former fans of AAA games that no longer found what they were looking for in the games they played.

 

I've come to view games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim as templates for modders to imprint their own idea of what the game would be rather than the actual developers. Let's be honest here there's only so much you can get out of Fallout 4 or Skyrim till it has worn it's welcome. But moddability is a pretty good reason to buy a game alone because moddable games stand in an area where you can't really lose as a consumer when you buy one. Don't like the game? Well then turn it into something else you do like and move on. But that means modders are the ones we should be paying attention to and not the actual developers since modders basically put a heart into what was once a lifeless body. There's only good things that can come from modders if their given the right tools and have more passion than the developers. At this point it's fairly safe for me to say that' is the case. Developers don't make games anymore they make engines and honestly I don't think that's a bad idea. What better way is there to give the consumer what they want then handing them the tools and saying "have at it."?

[Icebox]

I have to agree, some of the better stuff I seen or played in the past few years have been mods, indie, or fan games.

[Fric]

Well tbh fallout 4 was a bit of a dissapointment - it really felt at times that they were making the game with attitude "Well, the modders will make it cooler anyway, so don't bother too much"...

 

But otherwise true - modding significantly increases the playtime. Doesn't matter if those are small mods or total conversion mods...

[Alyxx Thorne]

I dunno if "boob physics" and turning dragons into John Cena counts as innovative but modding makes certain games more fun for sure.

[Heliocentrical]

I dunno if "boob physics" and turning dragons into John Cena counts as innovative but modding makes certain games more fun for sure.

I was thinking more along the lines of complete overhauls like GMDX and Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition. Something that completely changes a core aspect of the game. Not something tiny and insignificant like "boob physics" or turning dragons into John Cena. Probably should've specified that but oh well.

[Forgot_My_Account]

When I think more and more about it, I see that modding is a more fertile ground for innovation than making a game from the ground up - because when you make a game, you have to flesh out a concept, and that takes far more effort than just polishing it.

 

Modding, however, takes an already fleshed out concept and makes it even better - either by tinkering or by adding auxiliary system. This allows for procedural updates that change the core of the game without having to wait for a whole game development cycle to experiment and tinker - and therefore, can accomplish far more in a far shorter time frame.

This is on top having the original audience, who already enjoy the original game and have a frame of reference to say what works and what doesn't. Since those are the fans of the original product, they can say in what direction they want the future installments of the franchise to go in, or what the original studio needs to improve upon while designing new games.

 

However, mods aren't the only sources of innovation - the Portal series, for example, has taken its inspiration from indie games, and they are far more common nowadays than they were. Plus, the practice of making a closed system without any chance for mods, or at least major mods is also increasing. So the trend is against modding, and they probably won't be the major source for innovation in the upcoming years, which is a real shame.

I remember Unreal Tournament being released in a fancy 2 disc GOTY edition with a fan made Chaos mod, which add grappling hooks, more modifiers and turrets. It made Unreal Tournament more chaotic, but also something that resembles a bit more of Sin when playing with low gravity and grappling hooks. This was 17 years ago, and it just exemplifies the trend the game development community has gone through - instead of endorsing, accepting and incorporating mods into the core game to make it better and last through the years, it has gone to an almost oblivious stance on mods, with the exception of games that rely solely on mods - such as Bethesda games, which offer half baked and not fully thought-out concepts.

 

Of course, CD Project Red does not follow any trends and nothing I said reflects on it.

[Alyxx Thorne]

I dunno if "boob physics" and turning dragons into John Cena counts as innovative but modding makes certain games more fun for sure.

I was thinking more along the lines of complete overhauls like GMDX and Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition. Something that completely changes a core aspect of the game. Not something tiny and insignificant like "boob physics" or turning dragons into John Cena. Probably should've specified that but oh well.

I know I just wanted to make a joke.

[Psychotic Ninja]

I dunno if "boob physics" and turning dragons into John Cena counts as innovative but modding makes certain games more fun for sure.

 

Innovative: featuring new methods; advanced and original.

or

introducing new ideas; original and creative in thinking

 

(Taken from Google)

 

 

John Cena dragons (and Thomas The Tank Engine dragons) sure does sound original to me and creative thinking.

[BTGBullseye]

Mods also have the huge advantage of not having a release deadline... You release when you're done, not when the company you're working for says it wants to make money off it.

[Alyxx Thorne]

I dunno if "boob physics" and turning dragons into John Cena counts as innovative but modding makes certain games more fun for sure.

 

Innovative: featuring new methods; advanced and original.

or

introducing new ideas; original and creative in thinking

 

(Taken from Google)

 

 

John Cena dragons (and Thomas The Tank Engine dragons) sure does sound original to me and creative thinking.

Not gonna argue with this