- Joined
- Oct 27, 2016
- Messages
- 34
Does it really help the community to be protecting maps these days? It's not like duplicate maps are going to be popping up here, and there are no other communities for a thief to be getting credit from. Protecting maps is more of an obstacle to people tweeking maps for LAN parties than it is a protection of someone's legacy. What are modders gaining from protecting maps that isn't provided by the size of the community? I can tell you what we're losing: some really great learning opportunities for the rare newblood that might be turned off by the uncooperative nature of oldschool map protection.
Back in the day it was kind of a big deal, since any map could be edited and shared at any number of places, but it kind of seems counter productive now that The Hive is basically THE modding site. If I'm missing something let me know, but I've always felt that most maps really didn't need protecting to begin with. For the vast majority of cases, the only thing map protection does is prevent someone from learning a neat trick or tweeking gameplay. Communities get bigger when people share the culture, not when we get in the way of it.
I only bring this up because I recently restarted modding, and have found that the only versions of my old maps I can find are all protected. It's pretty frustrating, and I realize how annoying it must be to anyone who wanted to update or tweek my maps for their own enjoyment. It's not like I'll be getting credit anyway, I changed my tag and have no intention of associating with or restarting my old accounts (If I could even remember my myriad, overly complex passwords). Further, it's not like anyone outside of the few hundred (or less) active modders out there even cares enough to know what I'm talking about, let alone take credit. Which they wouldn't be able to do, since my old maps are either well known enough that no one would fall for it, or have been uploaded for long enough that someone would catch it and remove the "new" version. I dunno, maybe I'm just feeling ranty, but map protection always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I prefer cooperation.
My two cents is out, let me know how you feel. Maybe I'll come round, maybe I'm reading into things, maybe I'm on to something, maybe I'm missing something fundamental, let me know
Back in the day it was kind of a big deal, since any map could be edited and shared at any number of places, but it kind of seems counter productive now that The Hive is basically THE modding site. If I'm missing something let me know, but I've always felt that most maps really didn't need protecting to begin with. For the vast majority of cases, the only thing map protection does is prevent someone from learning a neat trick or tweeking gameplay. Communities get bigger when people share the culture, not when we get in the way of it.
I only bring this up because I recently restarted modding, and have found that the only versions of my old maps I can find are all protected. It's pretty frustrating, and I realize how annoying it must be to anyone who wanted to update or tweek my maps for their own enjoyment. It's not like I'll be getting credit anyway, I changed my tag and have no intention of associating with or restarting my old accounts (If I could even remember my myriad, overly complex passwords). Further, it's not like anyone outside of the few hundred (or less) active modders out there even cares enough to know what I'm talking about, let alone take credit. Which they wouldn't be able to do, since my old maps are either well known enough that no one would fall for it, or have been uploaded for long enough that someone would catch it and remove the "new" version. I dunno, maybe I'm just feeling ranty, but map protection always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I prefer cooperation.
My two cents is out, let me know how you feel. Maybe I'll come round, maybe I'm reading into things, maybe I'm on to something, maybe I'm missing something fundamental, let me know