Why CA doesnt get the modders on board like other corporations?

[hellenes]

We all know the story of BF1941 modders.
The developers got them on board and they contributed to the BF2. HL is openly moddable and succesful games support and endorse modding.
Why the CA doesnt follow this path?
Are some parts of the code licensed under other developers?
Is it imposed by the publisher/owner?

Hellenes

[Bwian]

This is one of those questions that really do not have an answer.

I suspect that the reason BF2 included work from modders was that the company was contracting them to produce content under strictly controlled circumstances. Their previous efforts proved they had the skill. It was easier than advertising for freelancers.....

Nobody is really going to use amateur modders to produce content unless it makes commercial sense, and the quality and timescales are guaranteed.

[Sundjata Keita]

Also its mainly up to Activision, the publishers how much CA can support the modding community.

[hellenes]

Also its mainly up to Activision, the publishers how much CA can support the modding community.

IMHO its the SEGA that owns CA now if you play BI youll know...
And they being a console publisher mainly dont like modding.

Hellenes

[professorspatula]

I don't think there's much need for CA to support modders so heavily. They do provide a fair bit of feedback and modding opportunities though, hence there are dozens of mods out there, many of high quality. But the fact is, the Total War series has little competition. Other games may provide much better strategy options and more realistic empire building or whatever, but they don't have TW's massive 3D battles too. Until there are many high quality games similar in scope to TW, CA can do things as they like. The FPS market, especially the online part, is highly competitive and lucrative, hence developers are keen for others to mod their games, provide feedback etc to keep users interested in their title and not someone else's. If EA brought out a direct rival to TW, and it was actually bloody good, I wager modding would be a lot more open in the future. Whether they'd ask the modders to help out with their games though and provide further content, I don't know.

[edyzmedieval]

The Professor Chap is right....

TW doesn't really have an "enemy" on the market. They have a big share of the market. Everyone is playing TW. And they don't need modders to improve the quality of the game, because they are relaxed because they have a big share of the market.

So, why should they get help from modders?!

[wlesmana]

IMHO its the SEGA that owns CA now if you play BI youll know...
And they being a console publisher mainly dont like modding.

That is ignorant at best. Sega is a gaming software company. They produce games. They are also a company, which goal is to make money. If a game's modding scene brings them more sales and mroe money, they'd support it heartily. But the fact is, none of TW series' mods have a significant effect on the sales yet. For instance, Counterstrike is outselling Half-life, its original engine. That's significant. BF1942's Desert Combat also boosts the sales of BF1942 by a significant margin. People are buying the game because they want to play the mod. If that happened for a large audience, CA won't keep quiet and would snatch up the people who made the mod. Because obviously they did something right.

[edyzmedieval]

I think after the creation of big mods, they'll snatch up some guys from EB or Chiv, for example....

[lt1956]

I agree with professor on this one. They dont need the modders, and therefore only do what THEY wish and if we dont like it we can go to hades.

I think this supports most the actions we see with CA, and I dont for one minute believe its the Developers stopping them, they shifted hands to sega and said they would have more support and now we get a MAYBE on a patch that is really needed for 1.3 and BI.

So personally I sold BI and I plan on NOT buying there next title unless its a bargin bin sale. I will not support a company that doesnt support the modders. BI was the last chance and the same method has happend again. Talk to the fans before release and then silent treatment again after release.

My only hope is some of other company produces a Truly impressive game that will rival and even nock them off their high horse. I dont like the attitude where we have to beg and butter them up to just get the scraps from the table that should have been there already or atleast told to us! like console commands and sPRITE generator etc that was MONTHS later told to us.

I'm sorry but CA lost a Fan, I only make the mods for 1.2 because I enjoy playing the mods and to support the mod fans. To me CA is dead, I hope they turn to consoles and let another hungry company take the reins, when they were hungry and cared about there product they made shogun, from that point on its only gotten worse and now we ARE at the bottom of the barrel.

[edyzmedieval]

LT is completely right.

They completely changed the diplomacy, and it now sucks even more. This is just an example.

I personally got bored of BI. I switched back to RTW.

And my personal suggestion would be:

Open Source game made by modders, to see who is more powerful. Modders or game developers?!

Adherbal
Lt1956
Khelvan
Darth Vader
Borsook
Attila Reloaded
Alin
Edyzmedieval

and many other great modders....

Many would say developers, but don't exclude the modders....

[Zarax]

Open source gaming isn't always successful... For every success like Freespace 2 you'll find a Warzone 2100 failing.

Give unrestricted control to the modders and you'll get the penguin hordes that will try to monopolize every programmer to port the thing to linux effectively blockading a lot of stuff because it cannot be cross-platform...

That said, they could make some very well controlled under legal terms competition among the modders for the next game.
Since it's going to use the same engine and most likely few if any model changes they might just release a series of specifications and choose (or let the community choose) the best works... This way they could both outsource part of the work and appease the community.

[hellenes]

That is ignorant at best. Sega is a gaming software company. They produce games. They are also a company, which goal is to make money. If a game's modding scene brings them more sales and mroe money, they'd support it heartily. But the fact is, none of TW series' mods have a significant effect on the sales yet. For instance, Counterstrike is outselling Half-life, its original engine. That's significant. BF1942's Desert Combat also boosts the sales of BF1942 by a significant margin. People are buying the game because they want to play the mod. If that happened for a large audience, CA won't keep quiet and would snatch up the people who made the mod. Because obviously they did something right.

Ask KONAMI if they like the patching of the Pro Evolution Soccer series on PS2?

Hellenes

[Myrddraal]

Adherbal
Lt1956
Khelvan
Darth Vader
Borsook
Attila Reloaded
Alin
Edyzmedieval

Theres no point trying to list great modders, you're bound to miss some out. To prove my point, let me say one word:

Vercingetorix

[Duke John]

Hey, at least he remembered Edyzmedieval!

[edyzmedieval]

And many other great modders....

Vercingetorix
Duke John
Myrddraal
Bwian
Epistolary Richard

And many other great modders....

Back to topic.

But not necessarily an open source one. Even a hardcoded one, but to beat to the bottom TW and make them rethink they market strategy.....

[Bwian]

I was going to say something scathing... but that last post boosted my ego and made me feel better ~:D

[Myrddraal]

Lets hear the point of the scathing message without the scathing part