ArmsofSorrow22

Yeah, but people still need to be able to take criticism. I totally understand, I've worked on a few mods in the past few years and sacrificed a whole lot for NightFall and really theres been alot of mods prove that great stuff can still be made. People don't like other people being negative - in fact, there were issues earlier on that partially ended up resulting in the resignation of one ModDB's top staff members - about people in the mod community not being able to take criticism. And I think its a sad state of affairs when someone can look at a shot, say 'I don't like that' and then have people vote down the comment, and cop abuse.
And while they aren't getting paid for it, being on whats one of the highest profile mods in history looks damn good on a resume, it would go a long way to getting a job in the industry (for anyone who is moving in that direction)

While its clearly popular I don't think Black Mesa is really what you'd call the cream of the crop in terms of how good a mod can be (but for popularity, definitely). There have been some other fantastic mods and many that I think are more visually impressive than Black Mesa The fact that its a remake means that its hardly revolutionary or trying something new (except for the fact that it is the largest mod ever taken on by a team). I think you can look at mods like Insurgency, Nuclear Dawn, Red Orchestra etc to see nice examples of the kind of things that can be achieved by modders. Mods like Drawn to be Alive, CS and Garrys Mod are great examples of the kind of innovation and originality that the mod community has been reknowned for, and I personally think that these are far better products than a remake.