Where does everyone play and why?

Conan Exiles General Discussion
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I play Official PVP

I’ve tried just about every other type server, I even dipped a toe into RP, Lets just say I can’t put myself into a character enough to RP

My attitude toward the game would probably be better served by Pve-c.
But I like the mystery, the nervous tension of pvp.

I also like mods, but I prefer mods that make tiny QoL changes, mods that blend into the game smoothly, that should be in the game.

Shout out to @Testerle, thank you, You Rock. :slight_smile:

The huge game changers and balance table flippers, not so much.

If I ever found a lightly modded private server, that I could connect to…
But almost all private servers that are modded, are modded to insanity.

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45

Mods have a lot to do with the why part to the question where does everyone play and I don’t feel that discussing what mods bring to the table is off-topic in this regards. It is showing what the officials miss to be the preferred choice for many besides the admin support.

I do agree with you however, that what modders do for free is amazing and deserves at least a thank you. If something feels like trash to some, it brings enjoyment to many others but not everyone is mature enough to self reflect on their attitude.

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46

As a formerly primarily PS4 player, I will assert firmly that the entire Sony community has a Pavlovian reaction to the word Mods. If the Conan Exiles Modkit were instead the Exiled Lands Enhancement Pack, you’d have much less of a reaction against mods in general. Mods applied in an online lobby are the bane of our console, @Testerle, you’re just feeling some of the long-term blowback. It’s nothing against you or the other mod contributors, without whom we’d have much less in our base game.

My chosen servers have usually been PvP. I prefer the looming feeling of getting a knife in the back at any moment. :wink:

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48

In defense of the community that you made a sweeping statement about, many of us were expressing our gratitude and enjoyment of the mods.

I think for most, there is a general appreciation to modders, and hell, in my specific case, I tend to buy PC games over console all the time, specifically because of mods.

Who can really dislike truck loads of free, optional content? I can understand not wanting to use them, but to dislike them for just ‘being there’ seems sort of silly.

Im not sure if I agree with calling a mod ‘Trash’ just because I personally don’t like it, but I think that only was directed at 1 mod, by just a few players.

But I don’t mean to derail, just state that I think you missed a decent amount of positivity regarding mods in this thread as well.

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I do enjoy the combat, contrary to what you expressed you enjoy, but I am right there with you on the PvE aspect of play.

Before I was pushed from officials because of the thrall limit, I really enjoyed similar things. I had creative, open map rooms relatively near each ob that were open and supplied support for other players in what ever way it could.

I enjoyed interacting with the other clans and assisting with purges, volcano and ice temple runs. Etc…

I was pretty bummed about the thrall limit because it felt like a choice between keeping community, which I enjoyed, vs. not hitting a thrall cap in couple of days. The idea of a private server, mods, control over the server, constant back ups of progress, and such, unfortunately won out in the end. I do miss my Official.

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50

This is a separate discussion, but I am not sure why the devs should be getting some royalty… I mean, not only did trying to suck money out of modders go extremely poorly for Bestheda, but it doesn’t really make any sense. The current open modding environment with people being supportive and generous is far superior to some strict regulated, third party DLC type setting. If it were the case of the later, the range and wide selection of mods that we do have, wouldn’t be what it is. People wouldn’t be motivated to make them.

Its fan involvement and activity. Its advertisement and life in the developer’s game, all for free. Skyrim wouldn’t have had almost 9 years of relevance without the modding community. Theres the royalties right there.

Quality control is another thing. But, that’s left up to admins, as strapping Funcom with that responsibility doesn’t really make sense either.

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51

Excellent point Barnes.

I never really view mods from a console perspective and thinking along those lines, I could easily see the distaste in mods pushed through to console as a more gimmicky, and prone for disaster situation.

On a PC, you just have so much control over them (also speaking from the perspective of an admin) its always just felt like bucket loads of free optional content, some of which is done to the quality of the actual game (or dare I say even better occasionally).

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I did not reply directly to one of your posts so no reasons to feal attacked in any way but stuff like this was the reason for my comment:

and this is trash talking

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53

Because if the option to mod exists, it potentially suppresses dlc sales. I want to support the game to give them revenue when I play directly.

“If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”

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I thing you two have different ideas about what makes the game “alive”. If “alive” means “being actively played by players”, then yeah, private servers are a big chunk of that. If “alive” means “being actively developed”, then paid content is actually a lot more important :slight_smile:

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But mods don’t really suppress DLC sales. I mean, I am not stating there arn’t specific, individual cases here and there, but I think there is plenty of room to argue that mods bring far more players to a game then they would prevent players from purchasing content.

Mods are additional and optional, not only to mention they don’t replace anything. I would argue that modders and the mods they create do actually support the game. More then any individual, paying for every single DLC, could actually.

I want to support Funcom just as well. I love this game and have been pretty invested in it since before release. I don’t believe mods have had any negative impact on Funcom’s numbers through out the games history though. Its data I don’t know if possible to get real numbers on, but I would guess the fact that Funcom openly supports mods has drawn in more players then has pushed players away.

I 100% disagree with this. Its just too binary a statement. Not everything needs to be monetary. If mods were marketed, we’d have a far smaller selection, they probably would hardly be used, at least not to the same extent they are currently, and modders wouldn’t get the same recognition they do now (which is already minimal) and the support mods do give to the game, driving player interest, adding content to the game, providing a smattering of options, would all be severely diminished.

Thats actually a situation that is far less productive for the game then the open modding community many games support.

Funcom has full control over the modding aspect in promoting and supporting it. Do you think that if mods were detrimental to Funcom sales and Conan Exile’s future, they would continue to support them?

I can’t help but feel this is far more a case of:
“don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”

Mods don’t stop you from buying all the DLC and I would be surprised to a hear a case of where someone said ‘to hell with DLC’ just because the options of the mods are there.

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Amen! It’s really funny, you know, posting sentiments like “if you’re good at something, never do it for free” on a forum that runs open source forum software on what is most likely an open source Linux distro :laughing:

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lol, I was trying to think of how best to bring the open source community into my statement, but you ironically covered that to a T.
:stuck_out_tongue:

Software is what it is today specifically because of open source community and talented individuals sharing their hard work with the world to expand upon.

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59

You can throw away your time if you like, and yes people do open source software, but usually its with the goal of gain in the end. Loss leaders are a thing but a really good modder should be able to charge for their work. Thats just self respect. Once you charge based on Funcoms work though, you owe them a piece.

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Maybe today that’s true. Maybe. It would be hard to prove, although the burden of proof would fall on you :wink:

But that’s not how open source began, nor how it was for a long, long time. It’s just that we’re living in an age in which capitalism is running rampantly unchecked and the popular sentiment seems to be that the words “common good” and “altruism” and “giving back to community” are some kind of communist propaganda :stuck_out_tongue:

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You do great work, by the way! I personally would have moved on from Conan to other games, if it weren’t for the modding community. Unlock+ I depend on every day. I love Fashionist, but desperately want Funcom to make it obsolete, by allowing us to craft armor with customizable temps and attribs - but not sure that will ever happen. Fashionist is literally the only way we can wear what we need and look good doing it.

Now to the OP:
My own PvE modded server, with mods designed to improve QoL and extend playability. Lots of building mods and some placable additions. Nothing immersion breaking, but rather immersion enhancing.

Server settings half the harvest, but also craft times reduced and craft resourced cut in half. Land claim is minimal, to allow trees and resources continue populating close to buildings. Stam is upgraded to last longer, but PvE common content is upgraded to fight harder.

I have a mod to reduce boss HP, to make solo hunting less time consuming, but still challenging.

Server is just me, some family and a couple friends from here. I do it as TestLive for the excitement of being first in line for all the new goodies, but also to help find bugs and potential game play issues, before it rolls to the masses.

Asheron is the server and anyone is welcome to join.

In regards to Admin power abuse - I can see how private server admins could do so, but it isn’t always that way. Some of us have been around games long enough to learn a little self control. Cheating and abusing are the quickest way to end everyone’s fun. I’ve done it before and the game just felt hollow ever since.

I could do all of this solo and not spend the money on my own server, but I love having other people to chat with and see what amazing bases and building styles everyone can create. Running around the map with only my buildings is boring. Running around and seeing all kinds of new camps popping up makes the game feel so alive.

I could join another private modded server, but I really like my mod choices and have done a lot of work picking mods that help build the world to my vision. I’ve added some on my player’s recommendations and am pleased with he results.

The biggest reason I just can’t do official servers (besides the fact I love the mod content) is the decay. I’ve lost everything more than once, due to my inability to log in every week. If I can’t take a vacation from a game without losing it all, then that game isn’t for me. I’d actually quit Conan for several months because of this. Came back and decided to do it my way.

Now on my server, if a player takes a vacation, everything stays. If the server ever gets moderately crowded, I’ll start removing player assets from those that have been gone the longest.

One thing I wish they would do in Conan, is an RNG decay rate on each building piece, then based in the damage state, a different skin to show the damage. Wurm Online is another game I played and when you travel around through old decaying building sites, seeing once beautiful structures with crack in the walls, moss growing on them. Stone blocks missing… it is amazing. Just by looking at it, you know someone has moved on. Conan is there one day and vanished the next.

I’m pretty much rambling now…

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62

We arn’t talking about me. I wish I could mod with the best of them :thinking:.
I probably would throw a lot of time at it if I was talented in that area and had pursued it in the past.

However:

I think you are heavily discrediting the motivation behind a modder’s work. I certainly don’t mean to speak for them, however, they gain recognition, practice, the enjoyment of a completed project that others enjoy and partake in. They further bolster and contribute to a game they love. They make options that they themselves want in the game and have no other means of obtaining…

I feel like there is a lot of gain for the modders that you are shelving as non-inportant, and I am simply stating there is a lot to gain. There’s more in this world then just monetary gain. I don’t think requiring money for something necessarily has anything to do with self respect. Hell, some people just enjoy being generous contributors, and more power to them and us for that generous mindset.

I suppose I should clarify, I am not opposed to modders making money. Thats not my point. And I do agree with you on the factor (and law) of if you start making money off of someone else’s product, the creator of that product is owed their due…

However, that entire reason is precisely why mods are typically free. Its a convoluted mess trying to implement some monetized library modders have to go through to provide their mod. Then you start getting into the swamp of what is owed to what entity. Interest in modding goes down. The activity around trying mods and enjoying all the different options severely diminishes…

I am not just saying all this. Bestheda’s Creation club was a dumpster fire. The current environment (as long as those actually doing the work, the modders, are fine with it) is far superior then trying to wring out more cash from the game in an area that already supports and drives motivation to play the game currently.

If modders value and enjoy their work as it currently stands, I am not sure why anyone else would have a problem with it. Its not like they are forced to create the mods…

Sorry, I have completely hijacked this thread and derailed it. I am interested in this conversation and desire to fill this disconnect I have from your PoV, but I didn’t mean to side track the convo from the original intent.

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I dont doubt modders do it for love of the game; dont misunderstand me. I think a lot of them should charge for their work and would benefit from doing so. Charging would them need to be cleared with Funcom and people would benefit. Thats all I’m saying. My point is that they are missing out on leveraging their skills by lumping themselves in with subpar mods. It ceases to be a mod at that point and becomes paid dlc, which I support. This would improve the experience (which is on topic).

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I suppose I can agree if Funcom could set up that environment for modders to make use of trying to monetize their work, without the enormous amount of drama and corporate greed that has accompanied that sort of idea in the past (there are other examples, but Creation Club, I am looking at you) it could be a benefit across the board.

And as stated before, I certainly don’t begrudge anyone attempting to get money for their work. I guess my cynicism here just comes from developers having already attempting to create such an environment and all that happened was a train wreck of implementation which didn’t help the game, developer, modders or players at all. I feel like all it does is muddy up the waters of an environment that already essentially works (and only isn’t working if actually Modders come out to state the situation is unfair. I will concede any point to someone actually invested in this part of the game as I am talking from the outside looking in).

However, even with the most ideal environment for modders, I would think pay for mods would have a hell of a lot less traction with the community, not really sell to make any real monetary value, and would diminish the scene as a whole over all.

I think I have a better understanding now of what you are suggesting as the ideal. I am just skeptical that it could be set up to not diminish the freedom, large list of options, and creativity of the modders.

I think we stand with the same team when it comes to supporting Funcom however. I love the mods I have made use of and am very thankful for the work of the modders. I also have purposely not bought the season pass and have paid for every single DLC Funcom has thrown at us. I just feel the current environment of mods do healthily support the game and would argue, even without making money, modders contribution has been invaluable. This isn’t to say they arn’t owed. But as the creators of the mods, its sort of up to the creator themselves to determine weather what they achieved with their work was worth the time spent creating. I don’t begrudge them chasing a buck if they want to, however laws and ownership rights tangle up that situation and currently there just isn’t a good way to pursue that outside of asking for a tip.

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I know you’re not saying this, but I want to make it clear, from an Erpern Sercer himself (Ermahgerd). Open source should never imply non profit. One program I worked on was OpenCart. At any time I could’ve built a flavor from the framework and vended it to clients or a broader audience. A lot of people did that in the early days in order to try and make it a better OOBE for the shopping cart user.

Another project on which I worked was HTTPS. Not too many years ago we suffered the HeartBleed Bug on https:// and millions of user records were compromised around the globe. A community of fixers rose up to end it * in fairly speedy turnaround. Compare that to the contemporaneous “:heart_decoration: You” virus and bots, to which even an industry leader like Microsoft could not respond without a KB several weeks later.

Ultimately, this/our work would emancipate encryption for all web domains. There was no longer a paywall for https, thanks to the opening of the protocol. That means every domain operator in the world can get a certificate/padlock/https for free, whereas only a few years ago we paid $100-$10,000+ per year for varying levels of encryption, and number of “seats.”

As someone who owns and operates/maintains more than 1,008 domains, my “free” labor over 15 years has more than paid for itself.


* The contagion. It would take many years and professional support to kill the bug completely.