Poll Question 175 – Does the replayability of a mod affect your recommendation?

4th June 2010

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

For this poll question I am specifically thinking about people who post reviews and recommendation images here on PP.

I am not talking about playing a mod on different difficulty settings, but the general idea of going back to the mod after a few months and playing it again.

Since I almost NEVER replay mods I base my recommendations on how I feel at the end. If I had a good time then I recommend it, if I didn’t then I don’t.

As Poll Question 121 should, quite a few people play mods more than once, so I am in the minority.

For me, unless there is some sort of random element, there is no reason to replay a mod. I just don’t enjoy knowing what is coming next, even if it is a challenge.

So, if a mods doesn’t have much or any replay value does that mean it gets a lower recommendation image?

The Poll


16 Comments

  1. Ionel "TropiKo" Tudor

    I’ve certainly replayed mods for hl 1 because i’ve played hl 1 through all my life. Everytime I get that half life feel, i’d want to play half-life and it’s mods. With mods like They hunger or USSDARKSTAR or some other singleplayer hl2 mods, and with expansions like blue shift and op4, you know replayabillity adds to the score value of a game. Like i’ve said, i’ve replayed them and still like them. I hope you enjoy playing the same but with different styles of finishing or difficulties, or just rewinding memories if you haven’t played that game for some time (years for me) like me.

  2. when I play a mod, I don’t really consider if I’m ever going to play it again, so I don’t really factor it into my rating. If a mod is fun, then I’ll probably come back to it at some point for one reason or another, if it wasn’t so good, then I won’t. Simple as that 😀

  3. I really don’t care about replayability. I don’t play games second time (almost never). I didn’t even play Diablo 2 a second even though I loved it and its replayability is extreme to say the least.

    My only exceptions are Silent Hill games and Half Life series and maybe a few more great titles.

    But of course I play arcade games all the time, like Street Fighter.

  4. Rikersbeard

    I voted no to the question, because I usually give an opinion after finishing a mod the first time I play it. But I would change my recommendation later after replaying an enjoyable mod if I liked it more, or noticed something new.

    All this is really pointless at the moment as I only have one working mod! And that is an art mod called “Dear Esther”.

    Do we need a new category now listing mods that can actually run?

  5. Yes, absolutely.
    This means that the mod has to be able to played differently.
    Even if you can vary the routes only slightly, you can alter events a bit.
    Offshore, by far and away, is the most replayable mod to date. It offers more than one way to play in many of the chapters. The only way to find out is to do it.

    The biggest variable is the player.
    You may know what happens next but you can vary how you deal with it. Especially as you climb the playing skills from Easy through Normal to Hard.
    In a good and replayable mod it is not possible to play Hard in the way you played Easy.

  6. Kasperg

    Defining replayability wouldn’t be a bad thing to do in a poll question like this.
    I think Phillip’s concept of replayability is tied to variation. A replayable mod would be the one that offers something more or something different on a second playthrough.
    For other people, I imagine a replayable mod would just be a mod so enjoyable you’d want to play it again.

    Let’s just look at the industry for a moment. Even in the case of Valve, the idea of replayability in most linear games consists of quantitative achievements or the finding of secret items or small secret areas…

    The replayability of a mod affects my recommendation indirectly. If I feel there was more to it that I did/saw/heard on a first playthrough, then that automatically makes it more replayable and more recommendable for me. But it’s tied to a general feeling, not really an extra.
    For example, I’m sure that if people found our mod “The Citizen” terrible to play and not fun at all, having an easter-egg in each map wouldn’t really make the review more positive.
    Replayability adds to a good mod. It doesn’t save a bad mod from its other shortcomings.

  7. I do think replayability factors into things. So far I’ve had such a constant stream of Mods from this site that I haven’t NEEDED to replay any mods, but there are a few I do anyway, like The Trap and Too Many Crates.

    There are also a number of reasons that make a game or mod replayable:

    1) Random Elements – sometimes guards will spill in from this side sometimes the other, sometimes there will be an elite mixed in, sometimes a Hunter! Never the same experience twice!

    2) Divergent paths – I generally don’t replay a mod when this happens, I just create save points at those divergences so I can pick up from those points.

    3) Subtle details – This takes a lot of work as it involves having so many details that you just can’t take all of it in on the first run through the mod.

    4) Atmosphere – The mix of sound, visuals, and pacing to create the proper mood are things you don’t always notice on a conscious level when you first play, but when done right it’ll make you think of that mod or game every time you are in that mood or even just want to be in it.

    5) Pure Bliss – Just a damn fun experience that you can’t get anywhere else. The Trap and Too Many Crates falls under this category for me.

  8. I voted “sometimes” only because I try to comment after my initial play. however I may give a map/mod a slightly higher recommendation if I feel I enjoyed it enough to want to replay it again, not on another skill level but as Jasper noted to seek out a different route or way of going about a situation. I do enjoy exploring around and if I replay a map I think knowing what lies ahead is helpful and (at least for myself) doesn’t take away anything.
    Now that I have been at this site long enough to have been lucky enough to have played most of the offerings here I find myself indeed going back to replay those I gave a higher recommendation to

  9. Mel

    In Short, No. I don’t rate a mod by its repeatability value, but it goes to say that if I enjoyed the play there is a chance I may replay the mod. Here I think Phillip is in isolation by never replaying mods, I don’t repeat play that often but it’s an option I like to give myself, so to make a statement that one never replays a mod sounds very restricting to me.

  10. GoodGuyA

    If it’s a multiplayer mod, ya. If not, then no. I’m a one-timer really.

  11. Zockopa

    Kasberg wrote: “For other people, I imagine a replayable mod would just be a mod so enjoyable you’d want to play it again.” And I count to this group of other people. If a mod immersed and enthused me its high likely that I will play it again in a year or so.
    But im aware of that this is not a replay value per definition just my personal liking. Nevertheless of course this affects my recommendation. A real build in replay value ive not seen so far in a HL/HL2 SP-Mod and very rarely seen in retail fps games.
    The only game that ad hoc comes in my mind is Deus Ex. But I guess thats another matter.

  12. Zekiran

    I absolutely do think it adds to my enjoyment and therefore to my recommendation level, when I know I’ll want to play something again. Since I DO play mods again (heck I’ve played Strider Mt like 3 times and Coastline to Atmosphere a couple times too) it’s like a good piece of music or a movie that you buy. I only buy stuff I really like and will use again – when I recommend something highly it’s because I know I’ll find more to it each time I play.

  13. Mel

    Do puzzle based mod have any repeatability value? Personally I don’t think so.

    1. Zekiran

      I actually think they do – IF they have enough other bits to compensate for already knowing the answers to these puzzles. For instance if I can breeze through something, it gives me more time to explore the area, and if the area is well-detailed that’s a reward I didn’t necessarily get the first time through because I was concentrating on the puzzle.

  14. I had to vote yes. I only comment on Mods I want to play again.

  15. If you think about all games are replayable. Do you want to? If you don’t then go in and delete it. I tend to leave them in with the exception of GravityGun_Deathyard. THAT was dumber than a bag of crowbars!.. It comes as a BSP that goes into HL2/maps. There was nothing but blue. All the way around no matter which way you look. If you have a game like that one then yes it does effect it. All the way to the trash can..lol
    I have many many mods. Probably in excess of 30-35 or more. Never counted them, but I, when bored, look at the list and click one.
    I have even more mods that are not in the 3rd party file. Probably another 20-30 of those. After a time it can be fun to go back through them. Like a year or more..

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