Since joining Mod DB I have seen a lot of changes - from small ones like introducing a space into the name (We used to be ModDB) through to big ones like the first image galleries, and the very first MotY. However, I reckon the biggest change for a long time has come with v4's new community-oriented features.
Modding and indie gaming is an activity which thrives off being in contact with other people. Whereas large commercial titles can survive off endless marketing budgets, a mod can only become known through people spreading the news. Mod DB aims to make this process easier, but you still can't escape the fact you need interested people. So, why communities?
We introduced Groups and Friends for a few reasons. Firstly, Groups are used for all our development team information. Look again though, and you'll find a collection of fan groups and common interest groups. With Friends, people with common friends tend to have common interests and tastes in gaming. This gives us a huge pool of information we can start to tap into in finding out exactly what you're looking for.
Mod DB v4 has so far spent the vast majority of its life on bits of paper whilst how it worked was fine tuned, and this means we can make it do some very clever things. For example, once we solve the major issues with v4 (Like forums and help wanted, which incidentally also do some community things) then we'll begin work on some rather clever behind-the-scenes wizardry to better provide you with what we reckon you'll like. Of course you can turn it off if you aren't interested, but imagine having the news you see carefully weighted based on what you and your friends watch. Perhaps having personalised recommendations, where you simply say "Find me a single-player mod I'll enjoy" and we go and look at the groups you're part of, mods you watch, things your friends have rated highly, and then pick out something which your own 'community' has said is worth playing. Say "I want a new map" and we'll pluck out something which is highly recommended by the people you play with, not just the community as a whole.
To put it another way, we don't want to just be a place to find mods any more (Although we still want to be the best at doing that), we want to find ways to help you play something different without dredging through a hundred mods you aren't interested in. We don't want to just be a place to find mod news, we want to make sure you see what you're going to be interested in. Above all, we don't want to be the place which just blindly feeds you reviews like "This mod is cool". We want to be able to tell you "We thought, everybody else thought, your friends thought".
Once we can do that, every mod, game and addon can be promoted straight to the people who want to play it. Your 16-bit action masterpiece with amazing gameplay will no longer languish at the bottom of the list - the people who play retro games will see it weighted above the next-gen RPGs they don't care about. Then they tell their friends... and it goes on.
So, in answer to those who've asked us "Why add Friends and Groups?" - I think it's pretty obvious. Easier for players to get content they want. Easier for developers to get the players they want. Win-win.
