David Braben of Frontier @ E3: "No Mods" (PCGamer)

[Flash525]

In many cases, dead mods are sometimes picked up by someone else and continued; but it's just the nature of modding I guess.

In my experience, this isn't often the case. Sometimes people come along and scavenge from a mod to create their own, but few people seem to be in the business of taking them over and continuing.

That doesn't have anything to do with the topic though. Modders can stop updating their mods regardless of developers updating their game.

I think you're missing the point; [some] people want mod support because they want to modify the game, or download the modifications other people make to the game. If there's a community out there that relies on a game mod that suddenly goes south and then a game update is presented which (unintentionally) undermine everything a mod has done players are left with two choices; keep the mod and miss the official content, or download the official content and miss out on their beloved mod; can't have them both.

 

[PCMR4Life]

In many cases, dead mods are sometimes picked up by someone else and continued; but it's just the nature of modding I guess.

Go tell that to all the people who formed a moronic angry mob and dumped negative reviews all over GTA V on Steam cause Rockstar updated the game and broke a lot of their favorite mods. I wouldn't want to put up with raging idiots myself.

 

[rootsrat]

In my experience, this isn't often the case. Sometimes people come along and scavenge from a mod to create their own, but few people seem to be in the business of taking them over and continuing.

I think you're missing the point; [some] people want mod support because they want to modify the game, or download the modifications other people make to the game. If there's a community out there that relies on a game mod that suddenly goes south and then a game update is presented which (unintentionally) undermine everything a mod has done players are left with two choices; keep the mod and miss the official content, or download the official content and miss out on their beloved mod; can't have them both.

But that's how it always has been with modding. It's your choice as a player. Nothing to do with developers. I've been modding my games for years (since Morrowind) and also created a few mods in my time for Skyrim and Witcher 3, I used to be quite deeply involved in the modding community. People generally have an understanding of what they sign up for when they decide to mod their games.

I really don't see that as a problem.

Go tell that to all the people who formed a moronic angry mob and dumped negative reviews all over GTA V on Steam cause Rockstar updated the game and broke a lot of their favorite mods. I wouldn't want to put up with raging idiots myself.

On the other hand nothing like that ever happened for games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Witcher 3 or NMS for example. There are many more positive examples than the negative ones. It's all about the community. Perhaps GTA attracts certain crowd that other games don't.

 

[PCMR4Life]

But that's how it always has been with modding. It's your choice as a player. Nothing to do with developers. I've been modding my games for years (since Morrowind) and also created a few mods in my time for Skyrim and Witcher 3, I used to be quite deeply involved in the modding community. People generally have an understanding of what they sign up for when they decide to mod their games.

I really don't see that as a problem.



On the other hand nothing like that ever happened for games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Witcher 3 or NMS for example. There are many more positive examples than the negative ones. It's all about the community. Perhaps GTA attracts certain crowd that other games don't.

Did Bethesda dare to come along nearly 10 years later and update one of their games? Cause that's what Rockstar did and people dumped on them over it. It was completely ridiculous.

 

[Rob At Work]

No Mods says David.

Now that's Rock n Roll

( off with your silly little vespas)

 

[Flash525]

But that's how it always has been with modding. It's your choice as a player. Nothing to do with developers. I've been modding my games for years (since Morrowind) and also created a few mods in my time for Skyrim and Witcher 3, I used to be quite deeply involved in the modding community. People generally have an understanding of what they sign up for when they decide to mod their games.

I really don't see that as a problem.

Because the industry has changed. Years ago games were released as finished with the odd patch, then came the age of expansions, and now you've got games that're released - I wouldn't say unfinished, but by developers that continue to invest in their games. It makes sense from a business point of view to clamp down on mods.

Lets say, for the purpose of JWE that someone wanted five specific Dinosaurs (not yet included) and someone created a mod including those five and released it (for free). Frontier then come along with a DLC pack including those Dinosaurs, but wait, there's a £5 fee attached. The target audience/player-base has been split between those that want the official content, and those that download the mods 'cause it's free.

 

[rootsrat]

Because the industry has changed. Years ago games were released as finished with the odd patch, then came the age of expansions, and now you've got games that're released - I wouldn't say unfinished, but by developers that continue to invest in their games. It makes sense from a business point of view to clamp down on mods.

Lets say, for the purpose of JWE that someone wanted five specific Dinosaurs (not yet included) and someone created a mod including those five and released it (for free). Frontier then come along with a DLC pack including those Dinosaurs, but wait, there's a £5 fee attached. The target audience/player-base has been split between those that want the official content, and those that download the mods 'cause it's free.

Sure, I get all that. It all depends on the developer's attitude and plans for supporting and sustaining the game. If they rely on small scale DLC then yes. If they rely on big scale full fledged expansions, then it makes sense for them to be more open towards modding.

But yeah, you're right - it may be a bit problematic for FDEV business model, especially after what David Braben said in the recent interview.

 

[S3B4ST13N]

Did Bethesda dare to come along nearly 10 years later and update one of their games? Cause that's what Rockstar did and people dumped on them over it. It was completely ridiculous.

No, but they did release Skyrim Special Edition, 5 years after Skyrim which rendered most of the mods obsolete and modders had to go remake their mods for it. I can recall nary a whine to be had.

Which game did they update 10 years later?

 

[Jethzk]

What a cop out argument. "We can't update the game". If they released a finished game, it wouldn't be a problem. Or, if they need time to smooth out the wrinkles, telling people they will support it later would be a great option. Unfortunately, Frontier doesn't want modding because it hurts DLC transactions. Just look at Deluxe. How hard would it be to mod the game and add those dinosaurs to the regular game? That would result in lost sales, and that's what Frontier cares about. Citing hacks for Elite Dangerous in a multiplayer game doesn't even get close to the spirit of what modding really is. It's a deflection argument designed to steer the conversation in another direction.

So basically Frontier is saying they don't want to mess up the mods and upset the fans of the game and you see this as something negative? Just look at what happened to the GTA games, especially GTA 4. Rockstar did an update for the game just last year after nearly a decade of it being an unoptimized mess they came along and fixed. It basically destroyed a bunch of mods. For a game that old that people won't be updating mods for. The game got negative reviews dumped on it on Steam.

GTA4 got dumped on because their "patch" removed 50+ songs. They only licensed them for a short period of time. Selling a game then removing content is shady. Nobody wants to update to the new patch, but it's forced with steam. The fact that it hurts mods is just icing on the cake.
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/04/26/save-the-last-dance-gta-iv-axes-50-soundtrack-songs/

 

[S3B4ST13N]

If they released a finished game, it wouldn't be a problem.

They did release a finished game, you just don't like what they released.