Poll: What are your overall feelings on user-made content?
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The ones without everything looking like genitalia? I like them. As a rule the original content is usually superior but you'll run into things you really like that wasn't made by the developers. For example in L4D2 I adore the campaign Questionable Ethics.
Case by case basis but I'm always up for giving some user made content a go.
Case by case basis but I'm always up for giving some user made content a go.
I don't usually use mods that add a whole lot of content, but I do like the smaller tweaks. Things like removing level scaling from Oblivion, making nights and interiors a lot darker in Fallout 3, or giving Alistair a less stupid haircut and putting some damn clothes on Morrigan and the Dalish in Dragon Age.
Most of the mods that add new things don't usually fit very well in the game, or give you what are basically cheat items. I have tried a couple, but I never kept using any of them for long.
Oh, and multiplayer maps are great. More variety is always good. The only MP game I play is Mount & Blade Warband, but still.
Most of the mods that add new things don't usually fit very well in the game, or give you what are basically cheat items. I have tried a couple, but I never kept using any of them for long.
Oh, and multiplayer maps are great. More variety is always good. The only MP game I play is Mount & Blade Warband, but still.
I don't really make stuff myself, but I still like playing people's content. A lot of it is DIY and fairly low quality, but I've accepted that and I can still enjoy it. I've had tons of fun with user-created content on games like Garry's Mod, Farcry (1 (instincts) and 2), Unreal Tournament etc. I've spent probably 4000 hours alone playing the assault and trial game modes on UT2004, and I don't recall how many nights up playing Trouble in Terrorist Town or DarkRP on GMod. A lot of it is shit, but there's still fun to be had even with the worst content, just look at half the Farcry maps shaped like giant penises. It looks and sounds shit until you see each ball has a buggy on it and the tip of the penis is a fucking ramp.
Oh yeah, don't know why I didn't mention this earlier but... Morrowind Overhaul is the reason modding exists. I can't think of a better example of fans improving the game in so many ways. It gives Morrowind better textures and draw distance than Skyrim for one 
As per most things on the internet apply Sturgeons Law to it and you're good.
And don't forget the unofficial patches and interface upgrades.
And don't forget the unofficial patches and interface upgrades.
I like it, sure 9 out of 10 times I don't bother with it but I like it being there
InFAMOUS 2 is a good example, I'm currently on my third playthrough and I have never made nor played a single user generated mission
same goes for Little Big Planet and I guess Mod Nation Racers. Still Tenchu 2 had a stage creator and I must have spent over 100 hours building stuff in it, same for Soul Calibur CaS mode, dunno if that counts but I use them a lot
InFAMOUS 2 is a good example, I'm currently on my third playthrough and I have never made nor played a single user generated mission
same goes for Little Big Planet and I guess Mod Nation Racers. Still Tenchu 2 had a stage creator and I must have spent over 100 hours building stuff in it, same for Soul Calibur CaS mode, dunno if that counts but I use them a lot
My siblings are addicted to LittleBigPlanet games. I've lost count of all the times I've had to sit there through "FREE! 100+iTems PLZheartME<3" or "Kill Justin Bieber!" or the like.
Still, then there's stuff like Elder Scrolls mods which really are pretty impressive and fun. So, neutral, I suppose. It has all the advantages and disadvantages of user-made content in any other medium (I mean, just look at the range of awesome/awful stuff on Youtube).
Still, then there's stuff like Elder Scrolls mods which really are pretty impressive and fun. So, neutral, I suppose. It has all the advantages and disadvantages of user-made content in any other medium (I mean, just look at the range of awesome/awful stuff on Youtube).
Good Call with this, imo Paradox games are usually a hell of a lot better with mods.Darknacht said:
When I buy a Paradox game I see it more like buying a really great game engine with a demo game, if you want to take full advantage of the game engine you play a mod. Besides Paradox makes modding so easy that the modders can focus on game design and history rather then programing and some of the mod teams are nearly as big as the dev team so its not a surprise that their mods come out so good.innocentEX said:
Well you tend to have to sift through a lot of crap to get to the good stuff, but I always appreciate when developers give users the tools or ability to go nuts with their ideas. You never know when something great will come of it.
Mods made Skyrim so much better for me (QD-Inventory was a godsend), for instance.
And with games like LittleBigPlanet they can really keep it alive indefinitely, as long as there's an easy way to get to the best of what's on offer (e.g. through rating systems).
I admit I don't use a lot of mods or play a lot of user-genereated content though. Just a bit here and there, so I'm keeping with the spirit of the original game. Mostly unofficial patches and widescreen mods and HQ stuff like you find for games like Bloodlines, Baldur's Gate, Arcanum, etc.
Mods made Skyrim so much better for me (QD-Inventory was a godsend), for instance.
And with games like LittleBigPlanet they can really keep it alive indefinitely, as long as there's an easy way to get to the best of what's on offer (e.g. through rating systems).
I admit I don't use a lot of mods or play a lot of user-genereated content though. Just a bit here and there, so I'm keeping with the spirit of the original game. Mostly unofficial patches and widescreen mods and HQ stuff like you find for games like Bloodlines, Baldur's Gate, Arcanum, etc.
Many of the best games ever made started off as mods like CS, TF, Dota, Alien Swarm, DoD, Garry's Mod, Portal, Natural Selection and a lot of the custom game modes people now take for granted like the realistic mode in the MW games started of as mods in the PC version of Cod4. One of the best co-op experiences ever are only available through mods like Synergy and Obsidian Conflict.
I probably would never even been able to play Skyrim if I couldn't change the horrible UI and once you get used to some mods like faster vanilla horses, richer merchants, sounds of Skyrim etc you have a hard time going back. Just relatively small change like adding trees in Whiterun can make quite a lot of difference.
Then of courser there are a lot of mods that aren't especially great or can break or ruin the game but everyone have its own taste. Kinda nice also when you later have finished most of the main quest and gotten tired of the game to then just start playing around with some of the more crazier mods, like playing as a dragon, creating your own apocalypse, transforming people into sweatrolls etc.
As I see it the only people who have any reason to really dislike mods and user created content are the greedy publishers who just wants to sell more of their shitty overpriced dlc and mappacks. However I think if they just pulled their heads out of their asses and look at things more in the long run instead they could see that they have a lot to gain from allowing, encourage and promoting modding and user created content. Just look at how successful Valve have been with titles like TF2, CS and DoD.
I probably would never even been able to play Skyrim if I couldn't change the horrible UI and once you get used to some mods like faster vanilla horses, richer merchants, sounds of Skyrim etc you have a hard time going back. Just relatively small change like adding trees in Whiterun can make quite a lot of difference.
Then of courser there are a lot of mods that aren't especially great or can break or ruin the game but everyone have its own taste. Kinda nice also when you later have finished most of the main quest and gotten tired of the game to then just start playing around with some of the more crazier mods, like playing as a dragon, creating your own apocalypse, transforming people into sweatrolls etc.
As I see it the only people who have any reason to really dislike mods and user created content are the greedy publishers who just wants to sell more of their shitty overpriced dlc and mappacks. However I think if they just pulled their heads out of their asses and look at things more in the long run instead they could see that they have a lot to gain from allowing, encourage and promoting modding and user created content. Just look at how successful Valve have been with titles like TF2, CS and DoD.