But maybe this means that modding is a little bit more than a hobby for you....
Some modders like myself have been working on "their" mod for very very long.
In my cases it has been about 15 years more or less, sometimes more intensive, sometimes less.
But still I easily end up with something like this:
15 years *
52 weeks *
12 hours =
9360 hours
(It is about 10.000+ hours most likely)
Can you imagine how much motivation and passion was needed for that?
Do you think that you could still treat it like "just a hobby"?
-----
At some point you develop a
"love-hate-relationship" with your mod.
You hate it, because it consumed so much of your private time, without yet giving you the "perfect game" you want.
And you also hate it for having caused you so much frustration, when things did not work out as planned.
You also love it though for seing all the great potential it has to to become this "perfect game" and also seeing how far it has already come.
And you also love it for all the good memories and all the fun you had being creative implementing your ideas.
Trust me, you will not just be cheering if you need to work another 50 hours just to make a feature work or fix a bug.
But once done and it is just as you wanted it, you will look at it and say
"This is my creation.".
-----
But it is not only that. There is also also a social component to modding.
And I am
not talking about
player community here, but about
befriended modders.
See, some say when you "fought in battle" together you develop a sense of comradery.
Of course we do not fight a war in modding, but after so many years it is still a sense of "community".
We shared frustrations and efforts, but also shared success and fun.
This has created a band of
obligation, loyalty and duty towards those comrades, that may also pull us back in.
There is a sense of friendship, when you work on a mod together long enough.
And when one of your team members drops out of modding for good, it also hurts.
This community has lost way too many skilled great modders already.
Not saying that their reasons were not understandable, still it was sad.
-----
And if that is not enough, there is a a
certain mentality of "challenging yourself" in modding.
Modding on the "highest level" can truly be a challenge. In fact you may even search for that.
Of course there is challenge for your skills - even though after 15 years you have become a "modding master" so to say.
The problem of "skills" has become much smaller. In most cases you do not doubt anymore that you will be successful eventually.
But there is still the challenge for your perseverance. And even after 15 years, it will not go away. As you get older, it may even become harder.
Developing for half a year or even a year without reaching the top of the mountain and successfully releasing is exhausting.
Compare modding on highest levels with an extreme sport. You will explore and contest some mental limits eventually.
You do it, because it
still challenges you and facing and overcoming that challenge is quite satisfying.
-----
15 years ago, I started modding only for the result of having more fun in a game.
Now I mod also for the sake of modding. Passion, community, challenge.
True modders have turned from
"consumers" into
"creators".
It is actually the
journey that has become
more important than the
destination.
There is a true saying:
You become what you practice.
If you want to become creative, practice it.
If you want to become perseverant, practice it.
If you want to become resiliient, practice it.
If you want to become reliable, practice it.
If you want to become disciplined, practice it.
...
There is a lot of good character traits you may develop in modding - but of course in other hobbies as well.
But if you cringe and shrink back at the slightest failure and frustration, you never will.
And of course there is also technical skills like e.g.
programming or
graphical design you will acquire eventually.
But those are in my opinion not really what matters most, even if they
make modding a lot easier.
-----
With the mindset of a
"consumer" modding is probably the most stupid thing you could do.
You "waste" so much of your private time instead of just being lazy and playing games others created.
But with the mindset of a
"creator" modding might be a very interesting hobby where you might find passion.
You can learn a lot about yourself, develop new useful skills and find satisfaction in creating something of your own.
I once already tried to describe that the
lazy "consumer" side in myself also contantly fights the
motivated "creator" side in myself.
And it is also not like I have always been winning this battle either ...
My advice:
It does not have to be modding, if you find other things in life that give you
passion.
But
try to turn into a
"creator" and not become a
"consumer". It is
much more satisfying.
(This is generally true for everything in life. I would also apply it to a job.)
-----
Yeah, for somebody who has
never really created something himself it
sounds like I overexagerrate.
But I challenge you: Invest
15 years of your private life into "just a hobby" and
then we talk again.