OnlyOneWing Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Yeah, well done mods can make a good game great and a great game greater... Sure we the gamers benefit from it, but what would inspire a developer to release a creation kit to encourage us to mod?There have been many mods done to games that were later incorporated in their sequels. Although developers don't always openly admit it possibly for legal reasons, odds are that they got the idea for those improvements from the popularity and creativity of mods.So, technically it is in a company's best interest to encourage modding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handofbane Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Not just for ideas for future games, though nobody can deny such ideas *are* regularly used (see: hardcore mode in New Vegas, pickable plants changing appearance in Skyrim, and many others). Another thing that mods do is add lifespan to the game, encouraging players farther down the road to buy the game, after release, to take advantage of new mods or ideas. You will notice as you read various threads there are many players who buy first for the console just to play the game, then for the PC later to take advantage of mods. That means two sales from a single person instead of just one, thus more profit for the developer. The biggest impediment to modding comes typically from third parties involved - see Microsoft/Sony and their blocking the addition of mods to the 360 and PS3, because they cannot control the distribution (especially because they cannot make more money off the downloads of such where the content of most mods would be free for PC users). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apixaez Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 You saw it in Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas where hardcore mode was an option, weapon mods were made available, etc. So sure, they do give the developer an idea and where to improve upon, but in the end it's basicly all an improvement on the user's gaming experience. I'd say it's a win-win situation :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soot00 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Here is Betheda's take, sounds like they see new ideas if anything that modders accomplish and perhaps release similiar changes on future games. "We've always been impressed with what the community has done with our tools. Like the Elder Scrolls Construction Set for Morrowind and Oblivion, we plan to release the Creation Kit so you guys can mod Skyrim" http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1160177-creation-engine-and-kit/page__hl__creation+kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyOneWing Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Not just for ideas for future games, though nobody can deny such ideas *are* regularly used (see: hardcore mode in New Vegas, pickable plants changing appearance in Skyrim, and many others). Another thing that mods do is add lifespan to the game, encouraging players farther down the road to buy the game, after release, to take advantage of new mods or ideas. You will notice as you read various threads there are many players who buy first for the console just to play the game, then for the PC later to take advantage of mods. That means two sales from a single person instead of just one, thus more profit for the developer. The biggest impediment to modding comes typically from third parties involved - see Microsoft/Sony and their blocking the addition of mods to the 360 and PS3, because they cannot control the distribution (especially because they cannot make more money off the downloads of such where the content of most mods would be free for PC users).Yeah, really. I cannot bring myself to buy most DLC on Xbox360...it's simply not worth paying 5$ for a single suit of armor and a sword. If you add ten suits of armor from DLC it will cost you as much as a whole new game!Sony and Microsoft do deserve a cut, but their cut is way too big in my opinion. It's bad enough that you have to dish out 300$ for the system as it is... If most people just put 300$ into their PC they can have a more capable video card/ cpu that can play on their TV anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herculine Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Both players and game developers/publishers definitely benefit from mods and the modding community. As jim_uk said of Morrowind (in the double-post) I'll also go a step further and say of one of my favorite old games, Classic Doom. On Steam each installment of the game is still priced at $10 USD and I'd be willing to wager that one of the main reasons it still sells at all after nearly 20 years is that there exists a database of literally thousands of free custom mods for it. Bethesda's three most recent Elder Scrolls games will live on virtually forever and continue to sell copies largely due to mods and I have no doubt that Bethesda knows it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey5511 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 There have been many mods done to games that were later incorporated in their sequels. Although developers don't always openly admit it possibly for legal reasons, odds are that they got the idea for those improvements from the popularity and creativity of mods. FNV's fancy new mechanics(compared to F3) were almost entirely based on mods. The developers openly admitted this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheralynn Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Bethesda has shown time and again that Xbox is their top priority. Sure they will look at the mods and maybe even implement some ideas in DLC's or future games, but the top priority will be Xbox. The first question for them will always be; "Will it work on Xbox?" (and the second question "Will it enhance sales?") So it's a very one sided relationship. PC gamers and the modding community provide Bethesda with ideas (and extend the lifespan of games) but get second class treatment in return. Bethesda is like most companies, money comes first. And Xbox is where the money's at. It sucks but its how things are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordanLoL Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 (edited) The only Bethesda game that I've seen that had a heavy modding influence was FNV. Skyrim definitely has some game mechanics that came directly from Oblivion mods but I felt FNV had a heavier influence. First time I played FNV I was like WOW, game is already modded. It was actually pretty cool to see a developer put down the ego and take suggestions from the modding community. I wish more developers would actually take this approach and listen to their players. It really benefits both sides though. Definitely benefits Bethesda more since it's essentially free ideas. Edited November 30, 2011 by jordanLoL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linsolv Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Many, if not most, professional game developers get their start modding games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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