Is FO4's modding scene dead?

[spinspider]

I only started playing this game again recently on a new rig, and looking at the modding scene now makes me depressed. Modding for this game seems to have tanked since I last played.... half of what were once the best mods on this site have now been taken down for whatever reason - the authors stopped updating them, the authors threw a hissy and yanked them because they didn't feel they were getting enough donations, or they just vanished for no explanation at all. And there isn't much new stuff to fill in the gaps...

 

Has it really been such a long time and people don't play this anymore?

[Ethreon]

Yup. we're all dead.

[Kodiak412]

Just because a mod is older and has not been updated recently does not mean it does not work. I have mods that were some of the first ones posted that I used from almost day one without issue.

 

What you are seeing is the natural order of things. When a game is new it has a lot of activity but then slows down as time goes by. People play a game, then something else comes out and they start to play that game. All the games that accept user mods have followed that path.

 

With that said you will be hard pressed to not find a mod that would do something you want to do. If that is the case though, go to the request forum and ask. Also always keep the mindset that mods are "gifts" that others are willing to give to you and if you are always cognizant of that, and give it the proper respect that a modder (gift giver) deserves, you will not run the risk of having those gifts removed from the site. Good luck.

[JimboUK]

Modders move on just as players do, it's how it's always been. As for a vanishing mods that does appear to be happening more, and at the same time there's been in an increase in entitled users, one could be forgiven for thinking there might be a link.

[taryl80]

For every game mods disappear. That is normal and no reason to jump on the "is dead" train. That also happens in skyrim. Nothing is dead here, f4 is just to young compared to some other games*.

 

Edit: *for having a higher amount of mods.

Edited December 8, 2017 by taryl80

[Jannifer]

It seems, also, that modders who are no longer able to support their mods as they might like to do are taking those mods down rather than leaving users hanging.

 

However, as other users have pointed out, there's always a "first rush" of mods on a new game. Then, as users leave that game to pursue a new shiny object, the core fans and modders who are still playing and still modding stay on the scene. The core is smaller, so you see a downturn in the number of mods. However, I've noticed that the larger mods, the ones that make the most sweeping changes to a game, often don't come out until after that initial rush of "It's a new game, and I must have it!" has dissipated. The first mods are usually bug fixes and a nude mod. From there, it seems to be more about adding new stuff to the game, like player homes or settlement mods. Then, we start seeing meshes and textures with a few of the large overhaul mods creeping in. From there, we start seeing the big mods or ones that make changes to, say, the perk system as well as continued refinements for textures and new armor/weapon/stuff mods.

 

So, while you may not be seeing as many new mods, I think that the quality intensifies. That is not to say that the early mods are bad, they aren't. But, some things take time. :)

[PoorlyAged]

And yet.... I just finished a mod for New Vegas. I move among games to try new things or different implementations. Or just to add to my knowledge base. And I don't think I am alone.

 

As for disappearing mods. I know of two reasons mods are disappearing. First, authors are fed up to the gills with mods being pirated off to other delivery sites and they get tired of the fight; so they take their mod down here and go to a more private delivery mechanism. Second, authors are just tired of the 'gimme gimme gimme' attitude found among some user communities and decide not to give those communities any more support.

As for supporting mods, I still support mine. But they are stable and haven't broken (touch wood). So I don't update them. "If it ain't broke ...".

 

And if by updates you mean "add this feature so I can endorse your mod", get stuffed. Those requests get filed in the dust bin as fast as they arrive.

 

So I say "No, Fallout 4 modding isn't dead". It has simply matured.

[spinspider]

I'm sorry, I most definitely did not mean to sound as though I believed anyone was entitled to anything, because they are absolutely not.

[wileecoyote1969]

TL:DR version

 

No, it's not even close to dead. Doesn't even have a weak pulse.

[AGreatWeight]

Lots of variables to consider, including..

number of new mods being released

+ high (and sometimes unrealistic) expectations

- mod authors who either have moved on/decided not to bother with Fallout4 and stick with Skyrim

x mod authors working quietly on new content that you're not aware of (especially team efforts for very large and substantial/ambitious mods)

÷ real life demands

= the alleged graveyard that is Fallout4 modding (21,688 corpses and rising)