Strange, I never had a blog before and just 2 hours before I have written these lines - never thought that I would start typing this message. But the thought came to me as flashlight and I can't resist :P
My acquaintanceship with modding began in somewhat like 2004, when I posted a mod idea for C&C Generals on a Russian modding community, when I had little idea how to do anything. Unexpectedly the topic gained huge momentum, 50 pages passed like a blitz, my feeble attempts of making an actual mod from my and community's ideas received a giant support. Then the word of my not very big mod spread over the ocean, to the western community, where I gained further success and it all felt like an epic win. However, a year passed and I got to know about a nascent rival mod - Shockwave. Somehow I received a closed beta version of dis mod and from first glance I understood - it's farewell to my little Generals mod.
The same way I started Dune: Evolution mod, which happily lives now without my guidance and early works (and it's to the better, because I found out that I'm more a fan of modern tanks, than ornithopters and giant sandworms).
Back to modern days. If before yesterday you could guarantee your project's popular support and help by just a reasonable list of ideas, yesterday it was real by any freaking models (even without textures, look for Time of War mod), then today even neither AAA-class models, concept and storyline can guarantee you even attention. The requirements of the community have risen so far (because of so many project were already seen), that your project needs to be a Divine Message in a way perfect in any possible way to become popular. There are only two options: being perfect or being nobody. No place for lay people in indie game development :\
