I think it was the Counter-Strike that was the first to make me aware of user created content. This FPS had tons of user created maps, models, weapon skins and mods available for it. The funny thing is, that it itself was a free user created mod of another game, HalfLife.
Valve Software marketing director Doug Lombardi has told GamesIndustry.biz that consoles must embrace user-created content.
"I would argue that it's the biggest component those guys have to get over if they want online to matter," said Lombardi.
"Half-Life 1 was okay as a multiplayer game and Team Fortress Classic was really good, but Counter-Strike kicked both their asses no question. And that came from a kid going to college in Canada and another kid going to high school in New Jersey, who had our code and thought it would be cool to play our game"
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
After reading the next article, I hope a lot of people mindset on this will change. This is no longer a just a potential. It is already here and now.
Only one day after NCsoft released their player-created content focused Issue 14: Architect update, and players have already crafted more than 20,000 mission arcs.
In a letter to the community posted on the official City of Heroes website, Matt "Positron" Miller revealed that within the first 24 hours of the new updates' existence, players in both hero and villain factions had created more than 3800 story arcs, each consisting of five missions a piece - more content than the development team had created during the game's entire existence.
Players have been busy trying out missions and critiquing them in the forums as well. Out of the more that 20,000 arcs now available in game, 2,860 of them have been rated 5-stars by players, with only 582 rated at 1-star.
[Source: Kotaku.com]
The sheer amount of content is outstanding; and all done in 24 hours. And with a rating system in place, that helps ensure quality remains.
Games soon may be like Second Life (a virtual world where users create almost all of the content: locations, models, activities and economy). Already games like Little Big Planet (levels), World of Warcraft (user interface), The Sims are heavily using this.
So if you make a game, try to consider this and include some sort of Map Editor.
With anything good, usually comes something bad.
ReplyDeleteA few people have abused the system, by making easy mission (e.g fighting against all healer NPC characters, etc).
"This is resulting in an unexplained ban/loss of experience if you are determined to be abusing the mission architect."
Problems with the rating system:
"
* People make stupid powerlevelling farm stuff
* The farmers and powerlevellers love it, and rate it highly
* Actual stories with actual plots are, with rare exception, rated poorly or ignored due to difficulty
* If you know 50 people in your guild, you're getting 50 top ratings, no matter what kinda crap you churn out
* Rating trading for the rewards (as players are rewarded for making high rated content)
* Revenge-rating players you don't like
* Extreme polarization of those opposed to powerlevelling and farming
"
[Source: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/19/2252228]
I feel that they should:
1) remove rewards for making content
2) penalize people for giving good ratings to content that is later removed by admins
3) have a limitations in the ratio of support classes (e.g. healers, etc) to combat classes when making content
4) vet through content before it is released
(Note: I am sure they will have volunteers who would be willing to do this)