How do you feel about modding games? (coop & single-player)

[Dewgle]

Specifically COOP and SP games.

Did you know that modding video games in any way is technically copyright infringement? However most developers tolerate mods as they encourage a healthy community and help extend the replayability of the game being modded.

Some developers though are not comfortable with original 3D assets being extracted from the game's files, altered and then reuploaded to Steam or Nexus. Creating and injecting completely new 3D assets is fine but they are not comfortable with any of their 3D assets being altered and uploaded.

Where would you draw the line when it comes to modding games? Should mods be allowed to reuse vanilla assets in new and unique ways? Or should mods be made completely from scratch without ever touching vanilla assets?

I made a StrawPoll you can take or just let me know in the commends below.
https://strawpoll.com/polls/GeZAOBxaPnV

vvv EDIT vvv

Some of the comments below seem like they stopped reading after the first paragraph. Modding is great! The question is whether or not you think mods should be allowed to reuse in-game assets and share them on Steam/Nexus or if you think mods should only contain new content made from scratch.

[bad_fur_day1]

I usually prefer to play the games in their unaltered state, though certainly don't have anything against it in single player games. Creating games that need to be modded & fixed is bad game development IMO.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Publicado originalmente por McDewgle:

Specifically COOP and SP games.

Did you know that modding video games in any way is technically copyright infringement? However most developers tolerate mods as they encourage a healthy community and help extend the replayability of the game being modded.

Some developers though are not comfortable with original 3D assets being extracted from the game's files, altered and then reuploaded to Steam or Nexus. Creating and injecting completely new 3D assets is fine but they are not comfortable with any of their 3D assets being altered and uploaded.

Where would you draw the line when it comes to modding games? Should mods be allowed to reuse vanilla assets in new and unique ways? Or should mods be made completely from scratch without ever touching vanilla assets?

I made a StrawPoll you can take or just let me know in the commends below.
https://strawpoll.com/polls/GeZAOBxaPnV

vvv EDIT vvv

Some of the comments below seem like they stopped reading after the first paragraph. Modding is great! The question is whether or not you think mods should be allowed to reuse in-game assets and share them on Steam/Nexus or if you think mods should only contain new content made from scratch.

im not reading that wall of text

modding is modding

imo:
-if they're free they're or they should be fair game and a company should not intervene especially for older games where modding can revive them (any fallout game or GTA game tbh)
-even more so for single player and coop games.

-anything with competition is also technically fine so long as no cheating during a tournament

-any multiplayer again if free and if server specific so if it's only for a server privately hosted match etc then imo it should be fair game as well

-if you donate to a person for mods imo that's semi justified since the mods are free and donating is on a whim basis not forced
-if a company does mods that you pay for (looking at you bethesda) then it also doesn't matter company already gave them permission to do so.

[Γαῖα]

To me modding is like fair use. Sure it still classifies as infringement but its hardly like you modded, repackaged the entire game and sold it.
The time will come though when authorities get around to taking a hard look at software and do what they do with physical products as middlemen are equally as important to a countries wealth as those who create.

[gugnihr]

I don't care much about mods.
I have been a console gamer most of my life and as much as PC gaming on Steam (and e-word too of course, probably more than 50% of the games I really love the most are not available even on Steam) is objectively much better I have never been as happy as a gamer as I was when I played games on consoles, so I've never been particularly used to modding and I never cared much about it.
I have always had computers too and I have always tried games on computers toio, and I spent a lot of time creating weird stuff on Dukew Nukem 3D in periods when I did not have the consoles I wanted but never really cared about it, it was just because oin a computer I couldn't find anything better to play.
Also the mod that looks more cool and intriguing to me is too damn stupidly hard to play, Arcaqne dimensions for Quake 1, I see it and I love it, I tryt to play it and I hate it, its creator and it still makes me feel the need to hate other people too because the hate for the mod and for its creator is not enough to express how much I get angry and frustrated at that stupid thing.
That mod is a labour of hate against the gamers who decide to try it.
Whoever made it: I hate you.
I loved The forgotten city for Skyrim, but I don't feel the need to play it anymore, it has 0 replay value for me. It was fantastic but after the first time it is pointless playing it again.
And besides those two I really completely don't care.
I think that modding is nice and for sure mods should be allowed for all the people who have fun this way but personally I really don't care.
If I really like a game in most cases I prefer to experience it the way developers have made it, if I don't like a game enough then I prefer to not play it.

[Q-T_3.14.exe]

I mod my games if there is something that requires modding. I only mod Left 4 Dead 2.

[isomorphic_projection]

Bethesda doesn't mind, modders keep them running. Even extracting stuff from other Bethesda games and making mods for other Bethesda games seem to be no problem. As long as you do not mess with the executable. And using data from DLC's.

[lightwo]

Copyrighted imports are as nice as any other mods. I fully endorse the use (not the creation, however, I can't state that obviously), even though the companies involved in the original creation have rights to take down such "imports"/"conversions".

Ethically, I guess that mods like simple model conversions without any major content (story, full dialogue, etc.) are fine, considering that they don't discourage purchasing the game they were taken from, and it has likely been replicated many times.

On the other hand, full game conversions can sometimes end up working better than the original product, but there is, legally speaking, no way to differentiate users who purchased the original game from those who haven't. Also, considering it is impossible to license an unofficial project of that sort, the only way to host it would be to offer for free and to disappear from the Internet if the lawyers come after everyone involved...

Mods are fun, but problematic. At the same time, while it does take time to import a finished model, I don't understand why creators would have to waste time making their own models for a fan mod when for the player, there is no difference.

Legal ♥♥♥♥ is the issue. Otherwise, I have no issue at all with most mods that ever existed.

[skOsH♥]

It's boring, time consuming, and usually the modder doesn't enjoy their own work after they're done, but the people who used it, are.

[bad_fur_day1]

Players should understand the difference between unofficial mods and developer produced DLC i think.

[Dom]

Technically yes because we live the era of licensing.

Say, if you make a video or create music with stolen video editor or stolen music production software, it's on the edge as to whether you actually own the copyrights to that video or music you made. Since the content itself was actually created by that software, your human input gave the software instructions as to what to do. The license you buy removes software creator's rights to the media that is produced with the software when you are the legal person using that software.

If you are worried about copyrights when it comes to what you do and what you can do, you can always check what kind of license those developers have laid out that covers every individual. One example is Valve's video policy which states that you are allowed to create videos using Valve's game content; https://store.steampowered.com/video_policy .Bethesda has a similar policy: https://bethesda.net/en/article/3XrnHrB0iAesac8844yeuo/bethesda-video-policy .

In vast majority of cases developers have these kind of policies because they have nothing to lose from having a modding community, or a creative fan-base.

[BlackBloodGhost]

I agree, ensuring things are properly licensed and above board is always my top priority

[オナニー]

I'm surprised there exist mod haters 😱.
Cyberpunk with mods pretty much fixes the game (like what Bethesda does, leave the fixing to modders)

Assetto Corsa transformed from strictly a circuit racing software to an open world capable racer with modded tracks that can range from unseen circuits to pretty much your own city roads. Adding new cars that would never be seen in a video game. adding weather systems, adding literal working infotainment systems with spotify and youtube integration and just so much more. They even reworked the racing AI into becoming traffic cars

[Mr Jt (Gog is king)]

Mod haters are like denuvo defenders. A special kind of breed

[Psycho]

they should be allowed. like for Garry's Mod, the steam workshop is basically just a bunch of mods for it. and it's built into steam with the steam workshop