Integrating mods in the main game
Dark_Ansem
Member Posts: 992
@Dee and others, I wondered if you agree with the idea of integrating some mods in the main game, considering how good they are: Ascension, Edwin Romance, Illithid Companion, Tome and Blood are all good candidates.
Of course, not all of them are possible for both versions of the game. but it is worth considering, at least.
Of course, not all of them are possible for both versions of the game. but it is worth considering, at least.
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Ascension was made by David Gaider himself, how he actually envisioned the finale.
Another good candidate would be "redeem irenicus" and have him as party member...
Integrating them officially, though, requires more than just a checkbox; players would expect any new content, even content from mods, to be voiced to the same level and quality as the rest of the game, and any mod-created artwork would require additional passes to make sure it matches the level of polish seen throughout the game.
And then, as @subtledoctor mentioned, there's the question of whether or not they should be canon. Many players disagree about Ascension, and others might disagree about Unfinished Business. Open that discussion up to less popular or well-known mods, and the dissenting opinions are only multiplied.
Again, that's just my opinion. I'd rather shine the spotlight on the mods that are being created right now, rather than the ones that were created ten or fifteen years ago, because as great as those classics were, today's modders have learned a lot from their predecessors.
Except for @LiamEsler - that guy's a total hack. (Miss your face, Liam.
the entire BG saga is non-canon for the D&D continuity anyway. while there is a canon continuity in-game, there is no reason why it could not open up to slight (entirely optional) alterations.
the idea of a mod manager \ easier integration is nice however. I am unsure how, exactly, it could work in case of conflicts.
Edit: as for the other thing. Yeah, some of us want the EE version to be a no brainer, the obvious and only choice. The one where you can have everything you could in vanilla plus. I don't think that is totally off the rails
Incorporating popular mods into the official Enhanced Editions also raises a whole lot of issues. What mods do you include? What if I don't want one of those mods? How is a mod's quality and popularity assessed? Who ultimately makes these decisions?
Matters of incorporation aside, there is also the issue of commercializing mods, which I will protest with every fiber of my being, if necessary. Let's say that your proposal occurred and Tome and Blood got incorporated into the official game. Once it's incorporated, what rights do I, as the creator, have? Am I even allowed to make change to things anymore? Would I still be able to distribute it for free? I imagine that the answers would be something like: not that many, really; probably not, and if I do want to make changes they have to be approved and tested for high quality and stability (not to mention the inevitable bureaucracy); and very, very doubtful, respectively.
Even with my personal issues with this aside, there is then the further of issue of discouraging new modders because they won't want to deal with the bureaucracy or the intimidating prospect of having a mod so good that it got incorporated into the game. What if your mod isn't good/popular/balanced/whatever enough to ever be incorporated? Why do other peoples' mods get to be officially endorsed while your mod that you spent days, if not weeks, coding in a truly arcane programming language isn't?
Perhaps that's a pessimistic view of things (and I'm sure the folks at Beamdog at great), but I would be incredibly hesitant to allow incorporation of Tome and Blood even if it was offered in some official capacity.