All I Want for Christmas is . . . Gaming Freedom? Hold on

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Answering a question with a question

For just a minute, I would like to have everyone think about the fondest gaming experience you've ever had, what was the game? Was it a linear or free world? Now take another moment to think about what the game would look like under your vision, maybe new characters, or new weapons, crazy upgrades.

For those reasons, my wish for Christmas is that Companies and developers allow for more modding capability to the community. I truly do not think there is a single other gaming-related wish that I would wish for since this would impact every game in varying intensities, extending its' QoL and niche communities.

Some of you console gamers may be thinking I'm crazy right now with this wish as modding isn't too common for console games, but if you played Fallout 4 then you know the excitement I have for this. I came under this impression after playing some CoD: BO3 modded zombies and thought about the sad realization that modding may never become mainstream enough.

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Source | Yes, this was taken from Fallout 4 on Console

From a very young age, I fell in love with a certain game that was infamous for modding and had me dreaming to have a PC to do it. That game was Call of Duty: World at War, no joke WaW was the best game in my eyes. Just to put everything in reference, I didn't get a pc good enough to play modded WaW until past BO2 era, so I was extremely behind and a game like that would feel outdated and irrelevant. . . Until you check online for zombie maps and the community is like an anthill, everyone comes out of the woodwork and somehow the game is immensely popular after all that time.

Now let's fast-forward to current day CoD zombies, the last moddable CoD was Black Ops 3 (released in 2015) which is insane! Albeit Vanguard zombies were rushed, there is the same if not more demand for modded maps than watching the brand new zombies. Highlighted top-left is modded, bottom middle are from the first days of Vanguards release.

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Source | First Days of Vanguard VS Typical Modded Zombies map

Modding games allow for soo much creativity and longer living games, imagine all of the new experiences and fun that can be had from just one mod that changes up the story the tiniest bit. A terrible example is GTA 5, it came out in 2013, yet people still come on and play the storyline to this day from the mods that release. I say this is a bad example, is because GTA is still a mainstream game and you would expect people to still play without mods, but modding extends this beyond the intended life-cycle.

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Source | GTA 5 Is still getting mods created to this day

Way too few games this generation has been available to easily be modded, and this is due to the fact companies do not want to create this community. Companies would rather create a new game with a strict QoL that influences the players to spend money to get the next game in succession. This is totally unfair, (although legal for the company to do this) the community knows better than the developer what is dreamt of in the game, and coders make this dream a reality.

Let's take, for example, Farming Simulator(console mods , a game that I have been recently playing a ton would have gotten stale after saving some money and getting the new equipment to make farming easier. However, modding creates that open spot for even easier farming, or maybe just enjoyability is increased. Naturally, the FS games only come out with 2-3 maps on release but the community makes more that create a story or just challenges the player with fewer sell-points and actual land to buy. I can personally say that my gaming experience on Farming Simulator has been exponentially increased and even to the point that I probably played 3-4x more than I would've if there weren't mods. Source | All of 31 of those vehicles are in one modpack

To end things off, ease of modding these days should be completely common-place, your favorite game doesn't have to die as soon as you finish the campaign for the 1-2nd time. You can continue to play and relive that experience with new versions in every aspect. I wish that companies would just listen to the community, and make this reality. It's big enough to be trending, so why cant it become reality for all games? Remember this?

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Thank you for reading!
Until next time...

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mybiggestgamingwish hivegc ocd proofofbrain hive hiveusa posh archon neoxian gaming
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15 comments
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I remember playing Fallout 3 for the first time and I loaded as many of the mods in as I was able to. I kind of like that Steam makes it easy to install some of the more mainstream ones. It was like a whole new game. Especially when I got abducted up to the spaceship. It also gives struggling or fledgling game developers a place to flex their muscles. Cool stuff.

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Exactly! The first actual Fallout that I finished was FO4, and it wasn't bad but I am not the type to replay campaigns, mods had me going back 3-4 times over, I had even become a fan of some developers, and added every mod they made.

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Modding is one of the best things about PC gaming. I've seen some incredible stuff made with mods. I'll give a pretty niche example: Crusader Blade Mod for Crusader Kings 3. The modders managed to combine 2 totally different games to work with each other. Here's a trailer of that if you want to see:

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Okay, that is some insane modding skill adding both of them and still working. Modding is extremely under-rated and I just can't understand the reasoning behind not making this a more viable way. Thanks for the video, I don't know much about that game but really cool mod. Kudos to the dev.

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I think mods add an infinite amount of life to games, there are extremely talented people doing amazing things through mods, especially the merit of fixing bugs, I think Skyrim has been proof of that. Also, let's be honest, that special magic of playing some title with mods that create crazy situations is unique, why not have more of that?

I like your wish.

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I completely agree, and that's an amazing example. Skyrim is one of the ultimate adventure games that everyone knows, yet it's so old. 2011 and I still have friends playing with mods and having one heck of a time.

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I think you have to know how to appreciate a game for what it is, including the playing time it lasts. However, there are games that are legendary that I wish would never end, but there is nothing else to do. That's where mods would come in, to add new possibilities. Best wishes and Happy Holidays! 🎅

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Yes, of course, some games do need to end to be appreciated. But who says that we cannot have mods that add extra difficulty to an otherwise easy game? I didn't bring this side up in my post but some games are perfect the way they are, but adding some extra difficulty or challenges would be a good addition.

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I used to download and install mods that changed the model of characters and that felt game breaking to me, but that was 15 years ago and seeing mods today and how intricate they are I hesitate whenever I think about installing a new mod that will change the entire game as the method to install it properly in the game file are so precise that if it's messed up the entire file is ruined. Mod Managers made the process easier for me but I still triple check each step before proceeding. I hope your wish comes true as developers witness the players utilizing the full potential of their games.

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Oh yes for sure, some of these mods completely change the game and can cause some real damage if not installed properly. It's nice that there's a workshop on steam for this, mods are automatically applied without forcing the user to do something they may have never done before. Thank you and I hope so too 🤞

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I get the companies perspective though, they make more money that way. When you give a game an extended lifespan, people is more unlikely to get a new game.

After all, gamers and developers usually have this love-hate relationship, where the developers try to lure you into their game at the same time they put up walls to limit your experience.

The day developers and gamers truly work together to build a game both are satisfied with, it will be great day. I think we should spam this to Santa HAHAHAHAHA.

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Very well said! I wish we had a "Pin Comment" option because thats the exact problem that plagues the gaming industry.

Another thing that coincides with what you said is that developers/publishers spam out games, I think there'd be more money to be had if games had longer shelf-lives and better additions. CoD for example, Cold War was an amazing game but its dead now that no content is going to be added, just another battle-pass that is specific to the new game. One of the only times I agree with Rockstar and GTA5, keep the content running and the game will last ages.

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I think GTA V is a great example, because even though they gave the game a long lifespan, people is still hyping for the next one. It's an example that an extended lifespan doesn't necessarily mean the death of a saga, and the industry should really learn from that.

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