What Makes a Good/Popular Doom Mod?

[AkumaKing]

I've seen some mods succeed and some mods fail, but why do they?

I'm curious, what makes a mod good and/or popular?

Anyone have any input on what makes a good and popular mod?

In my opinion, it would be a good mix of fun and challenge along with originality of some degree.

[CloudFlash]

I think that mods are popular thanks to balancing and creativity.
With creativity, the mod's author gives people five hundred exciting guns, while thanks to balancing, every single one of those five hundred guns is as enjoyable as any other.

[Nati46]

Some become popular because they are gimmicky, less commonly due to a result of creativity and originality.

[Medicris]

I dunno, but based from what I've seen, for popularity it looks like a combination of proper publicization (including modder's previous reputation), eyecandy, gimmick(s), reward-progression based gameplay (see: RGA2, AOW, etc), and size of target audience (this also means overlap with fans of another franchise, genre, etc). I think it's the last four things that are more "addictive" than a sure sign of quality.

For good? I guess polish (visuals, audio), balance, fun gunplay, replayability, fresh gameplay concepts, and melding themes (if any) successfully, something different. Mods like Accessories to Murder, DoomRL Arsenal, Project MSX and others fit that for me.

[Mr. Repo]

Based on what I've seen and the tons of unrelenting, unwarranted rants I've subjected some friends to on many many many occasions (hi Term), I think Good and Popular aren't necessarily the same thing. Hear me out, just because something is very good and well done doesn't mean it will be played. There are countless mods that can back this claim up so I won't even bother delving into the numerous names in case something major is forgotten.

That said, a few traits have been common in my narrow minded schizophrenic view of popular mods.

Name recognition. Obviously if someone is more of a cornerstone in the social aspects of the community their work is automatically placed on a higher regard than anyone elses so there's that. This isn't as important as the rest of the list, but it can instantly grab everyone's attention just based on who's involved alone. Who among you can tell me with a straight face that the pure hype machine that was Daikatana wasn't totally justified due to John Romero's absolutely brilliant track record. Exactly.

Fast creative gameplay. A lot of players would prefer to dive right into a mod that's self explanatory, doesn't require a whole lot to learn, and you don't have to rebind half your keyboard for. Blasting and killing hordes of enemies with light creative structuring is always a mindless guilty pleasure if it's done right no matter who you are just to showcase a specific example here. Doesn't have to reinvent the wheel if it's done right and can engage a player quickly.

Creating new unofficial content of an existing mod. Way too many mods of mods exist that outweigh the popularity of the original. Why? They breathe new life into an existing concept. If the add on content is sub par, there will be a flash in the pan of popularity and it'll come and go in waves. If the content is well done, it will become a cornerstone and retain the popularity PLUS an additional wave of players interested in new content in a concept they've seen way back when once or twice. This also falls in line with taking game modes from other engines and 'porting' or 'Doomisizing' them for maximum gimmicked efficiency.

The melting pot. Mixing a ton of gameplay modes or gimmicks will attract players. Be it a bunch of characters from an entirely different franchise meeting up, a ton of ridiculous weapons, crazy maps that completely borrow content from elsewhere that screw up core gameplay elements and should NEVER be mixed together, they already have a stake in such a mainstream way where good or bad, they will be at the very least given a shot. The popularity lasts in the quality and that's of course all subject to whomever the author is. Balance is irrelevant when it comes to being a blind head-over-heels fanboy or fangirl.

Replayability. This includes multiple gamemodes, and different gimmicks you can add in with the game. The ability to use a mod in several creative ways and gamemodes definitely helps out with lasting popularity because there's always something to do. Granted, this is the least important trait and the most debatable one, but the freedom of choice is always nice and welcomed if presented.

The bottom line is there are multiple ways of making a highly successful mod. The most difficult task for a modder/project leader in my opinion is sustained interest and popularity. Anyone can get a surge of popularity or have an eyebrow raised at just based on how many people are in a server at a given time. It's the ability to have them coming back from more that really dictates the sustained legacy and popularity of a mod. While quality, efficiency, and balance definitely lend a hand in achieving this, they also come in time (largely depending on the author, of course) and aren't required for popularity. It's those aspects that can help make a good, popular mod a bonafided legend in the Doom community.

[AkumaKing]

@Mr Repo
I never said popular and good were the same thing, that's why I asked both. If popular and good were the same thing, the CoD franchise would've died by now.

I agree with replayability, it's much better when you have more to do and each experience is different. In fact, each experience being different is what I was aiming for in my mod that I made by adding in random spawners.

I guess gimicks make sense since they make the game stand out. Well-known creators also makes it stand out, sort of like when a celebrity says something everyone will flip their shit for no logical reason.

I also noticed you mentioned "crazy maps". This feels irrelevant since half of the time maps don't really modify much, they're just map packs. Don't get me wrong, they can be pretty awesome, but I mean like gameplay modifications. (examples: Brutal Doom, RGA, Samsara, Naraka) Though, sometimes gameplay mods have maps for them. (examples: AOW, GVH, WDI, ZH)

[Mr. Repo]

Oh no that wasn't directed at you so I apologize that it came off that way. I brought that up because I've had the popular = good debate quite a few times in the past so that's why it was part of my post.

As far as maps, I meant stuff that obviously wasn't intended to be used together but being piled on. Playing Brutal Doom with MM8BDM maps is an example of that. Maps made for certain gamemodes or mods don't usually work all around, but you're right that it definitely isn't that big of a deal most of the time. I think overall I'm still a bit scarred from when I saw ZDoomWars being used with Congestion 1024 maps on a random server some years back.

[mifu]

What makes a good mod would be gameplay for me. If gameplay is shit then it may end up not played.

For a popular mod though I notice that if it is something new and different, it boots the interesting factor of that mod which will eventually make it popular as long as gameplay is good (and other aspects as mentioned).

Creativity is also a factor in this as well. Making something unique will give it interest, and if it is good (good gameplay/detail/balance etc) boom, you got a popular mod.

[XCVG]

It's fairly simple, really.

Good means I like it. This is different for everyone. You can point to gameplay, presentation, variety, or whatever, but what is considered good and what is considered bad varies from person to person.

Popular means many like it. This means making something with a certain gameplay, presentation, et cetera that appeals to a certain (and preferably large) group of people and successfully presenting it to that group of people.