Gaming DayZ, and the value of game modding

As an owner of a PS3, XBox360 and PC I have seen my fair share of modding and inability to mod. Generally speaking I love mods because they really can improve a game (for example add in features that should have been there in the first place) or bring an old game up-to-date (such as the texture packs for Morrowind).

The problem I have is that, somehow, whenever I mess about with mods it feels like a part of the game dies or it loses it's purity somehow. You see, while simple mods can fix apparent 'flaws' in a game that you would otherwise have to endure (such as a low level cap in a game, small inventory size, lack of fast travel for example), it's amazing how even small changes can totally unbalance the game or alter it's focus somehow.

Many of the mods I've seen are either complete game-breakers (way too easy) or elitist only (way too hard) - the ones I really love are the enhanced graphics mods, or ones that fix simple things that bother me for silly reasons (such as the mods that reposition the items in Skyrim's Breezehome to prevent the chicken legs from falling on the floor and the like).

Whenever I play a game on console, by the time I finish it I'm usually left wishing I had the PC version and could download or make mods for the game. The problem is, if I bought the game on the PC I would never have reached the end, getting either so bogged down in modding that I tire of the game before I actually play, or otherwise tweak things to the point where the game just doesn't feel 'right' any more.

To explain what I mean - just how many PS3 or XBox360 owners bought a copy of Sims 3 and spent the entire time fiddling around building houses and decorating them than actually playing the game how it was intended to be? Customization is brilliant - but it's way too addictive for it's own good

 

After spending nearly 10 years modding games (X3: Reunion and now X3: Terran Conflict), plus using many mods for many different games, I find it incredibly frustrating when I can't mod a game - either myself or using someone else's mod.

EA are the worst offender for this IMO, they are the largest game publisher atm but you cannot mod 99% of their games - not even able to add in your own custom music if you want. The amount of times I have loaded up a slightly older game (1-2 years old) and wished I could add a texture mod to it to bring it more up-to-date... Or just to get better resolution textures so I'm not staring at the console limited textures on new games.

You could mod older Bioware games (Knights of the Old Republic for example), but since EA ate them, nada, zilch, nothing.

 

On the subject of modders making games, wasn't BF2 made by modders who built the Desert Combat mod for BF1942? I remember reading that DICE hired from the modding team after Vietnam was met with a bit of a luke-warm reaction.

In fact, I think a lot of the trend towards modern warfare games, as opposed to WW2 era, could be attributed to those modders.