User blog:Gamemasta424/A Little Explanation

A recent blog provoked me to come back from my long Call of Duty Wiki editing hiatus. This blog informed us of the official shutdown of the popular Modern Warfare 2 mod, alterIWNet. Now, it wasn't the information or the wording of the blog upset me, it was the comments. Many of the comments were about the same thing. They were complaining that modding is for n00bs and that people should play the game the right way. Now, I understand. If you had asked me about modding a year ago, I would have said the same thing. However, over my hiatus, I strayed from the Call of Duty series and started playing games like The Elder Scrolls, Minecraft, and Team Fortress 2. A mod is not necessarily something that gives you an unfair advantage in online multiplayer. When many Call of Duty players hear the word "mod," they think things like getting to tenth prestige, level 80, infinite ammunition, etc. While this can be seen as modding, it does not cover the whole concept of mods. Let me give you some examples. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, has a large mod-creating community. (NOTE: If you say that it is a game for nerds with no life, then you are a close-minded, ignorant person and you should stop reading this blog right now.) Now, these mods do not make you get to level 81 fast, or give you prestige tokens. These mods include things such as new enemies, ridable dragons, dragons that look like Fluttershy, or even adding guns and a CoD style HUD. They are not considered unfair in the Skyrim community. In fact, the creators of Skyrim (Bethesda) encourage them and created a program to support mods. Minecraft also has a wide variety of mods, that add or change blocks, items, mobs (NPC's), music, and worlds. Once again, supported and not frowned upon. Team Fortress 2 is a sequel to a mod and the best shooter I've ever played. Enough said. The mod, alterIWNet, apparently added dedicated servers (something the community begged for and didn't get) multiplayer maps that wouldn't have given players any advantage. Infinity Ward should have understood that it wasn't anything to get worried about, and left the mod as it is. Call of Duty, though I have strayed from the series, can be a great sandbox for mods. Sadly, whenever a Call of Duty addict sees a mod, they protest it until IW or 3ARC takes it down. It's a process that will continue unless the CoD fan are informed (in my opinion) about what mods actually are. Call of Duty has never really been taken advantage of modwise, and it sickens me when a mod finally popularizes, and it is misunderstood and gets taken down. I am not here to start a flame war, I'm here to inform you.