The actual meanings computer game modders attach to their actions and practices remain heavily underresearched. This article takes a look at the attitudes and everyday practices of the people who make game modifications, with special focus on the forms and consequences of collaboration between hobbyists. The case discussed in the article is the shooter-game Operation Flashpoint (OFP) and the modding scene around it. The article proposes that there is no such thing as an average computer game modder. It is suggested that the distinctions can be drawn based on the objective of projects (missions, add-ons, mods), modder motivations (playing, hacking, researching, self-expression, cooperation), and notions on the ownership and potential commercialization of their work. Given the forecasts concerning the growing significance of player-made content, this study can offer some down-to-earth findings from the long established tradition of game modding.
Abercrombie, N., & Longhurst, B. ( 1998). Audiences: A sociological theory of performance and imagination . London: SAGE.
2.
Banks, J.A.L. ( 2003, May 19-23). Negotiating participatory culture in the new media environment: Auran and the Trainz online community-An (im)possible relation . In Proceedings of the Fifth International Digital Arts and Culture Conference. Melbourne, Australia: RMIT.
3.
Castronova, E. ( 2005). Synthetic worlds: The business and culture of online games. University of Chicago Press.
4.
Consalvo, M. ( 2003). Zelda 64 and video game fans. Television & New Media, 4, 321-334.
5.
Gelber, S.M. ( 1999). Hobbies: Leisure and the culture of work in America. New York: Columbia University Press.
6.
Hall, S. ( 1981). Notes on deconstructing ‘‘the popular.’’ . In R. Samuel (Ed.), People’s history and socialist theory (pp. 227-239). London: Routledge.
7.
Herkman, J. ( 2001). Audiovisuaalinen kulttuuri. Tampere : Vastapaino.
8.
Huhtamo, E. ( 1999). Game patch-The son of scratch?SWITCH , 12. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://switch.sjsu.edu/nextswitch/switch_engine/front/front.php?artc=119
9.
Jenkins, H. ( 2002). Interactive audiences? The ‘collective intelligence’ of media fans. In D. Harries (Ed.), The new media book (pp. 157-176). London: British Film Institute.
10.
Jenkins, H. ( 2006). Convergence culture where old and new media collide. New York: University Press.
11.
Kline, S., Dyer-Witheford, N., & de Peuter, G. ( 2003). Digital play: The interaction of technology, culture, and marketing. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
12.
Kücklich, J. ( 2005). Precarious playbour: Modders and the digital games industry . Fibreculture, 5. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue5/kucklich.html
13.
Laukkanen, T. ( 2005, January 11-12). Tools of the trade: Exploring modding tools and community ‘‘toolsmiths.’’Paper presented at Creative Gamers Seminar, University of Tampere.
14.
Laukkanen, T. ( 2007). Creative gamers: Examining the modding culture and its mobile prospects. M. Turpeinen, K. Kuikkaniemi, Mobile content communities (pp. 137-153). Helsinki: HIIT Publications2007 -1. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://pong.hiit.fi/dcc/papers/mc2_final_report.pdf
15.
Lehdonvirta, V. ( 2007). Virtual consumerism. M. Turpeinen, K. Kuikkaniemi, Mobile content communities (pp. 208-218). Helsinki: HIIT Publications2007-1. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://pong.hiit.fi/dcc/papers/mc2_final_report.pdf
16.
Levy, S. ( 1984). Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution. New York: Doubleday.
17.
Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. ( 2003). New media: A critical introduction. London: Routledge.
18.
Mikkonen, T., Vaden T., & Vainio, N. ( 2007). The protestant ethic strikes back: Open source developers and the ethic of capitalism. First Monday, 12. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1623/1538
19.
Morris, S. ( 2004, January). Co-creative media: Online multiplayer computer game culture. Scan, 1. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=16
20.
Newman, J. ( 2005). Playing (with) videogames. Convergence , 11, 48-67.
21.
Nieborg, D. ( 2005, January 11-12). Am I mod or not?-An analysis of first person shooter modification culture. Paper presented at Creative Gamers Seminar, University of Tampere.
22.
Nieborg, D.B., & van der Graaf, S. (2008). The mod industries? The industrial logic of non-market game production. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 11, 177-195.
23.
Nikunen, K. ( 2003). Soturiprinsessan matkassa. Xena ja faniuden merkitykset . In U. Kovala & T. Saresma (Eds.), Kulttikirja (pp. 112-142). Helsinki: SKS.
24.
Postigo, H. ( 2003). From Pong to Planet Quake: Post industrial transitions from leisure to work. Information, Communication & Society , 6, 593-607.
25.
Postigo, H. ( 2007). Of mods and modders: Chasing down the value of fan-based digital game modifications. Games and Culture, 2, 300-313.
26.
Postigo, H. ( 2008). Video game appropriation through modifications: Attitudes concerning intellectual property among modders and fans. Convergence, 14, 59-74.
27.
Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. ( 2003). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. Cambridge: MIT Press.
28.
Schleiner, A.M. ( 1999). Parasitic interventions: Game patches and hacker art . Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.opensorcery.net/patchnew.html
29.
Sotamaa, O. ( 2007). On modder labour, commodification of play, and mod competitions . First Monday, 12. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2006/1881
30.
Taylor, T.L. ( 2006). Play between worlds: Exploring online game culture. Cambridge: MIT Press.
31.
Thomas, D. ( 2003). Hacker culture. University of Minnesota Press.
32.
Wirman, H. ( 2007). ‘‘I am not a fan, I Just play a lot’’-If power gamers aren’t fans, who are? A. Baba, Situated play: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of DiGRA (pp. 377-385). University of Tokyo. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.digra.org/dl/db/07311.40368.pdf
