Nurturing Creativity Through Modding in Online Games

Game environments are a natural environment for fostering creativity. They allow players to experiment with strategies in a safe space, and encourage them to think creatively when obstacles arise. They also foster cognitive growth, as they challenge players to continuously improve their capabilities (Anguera et al., 2013). Furthermore, they can increase brain plasticity and EFs (Anguera et al., 2022). Read more: https://ufa222.me/baccarat/

Video games also provide opportunities for creativity through their open problem spaces. While a puzzle game such as Backgammon may limit players to solving the problem through a predefined pathway, an open problem space like Minecraft allows for creative solutions that the designers never imagined.

Nurturing Creativity through Modding in Online Games

Moreover, many games also support modding, which allows players to customize their game experience and create new worlds and levels that deviate from the original coded intent of the game. According to Nancy Fraser, modding can also promote counterpublic discursive communities by allowing players from marginalized groups to invent and circulate alternative interpretations of their gaming experiences.

While video game mods have been around since the first commercial titles, it is only recently that they have gained in popularity, thanks to the rise of online game stores such as Steam, which hosts and sells game mods. As a result, we argue that it is important to understand how modding operates as an active form of player resistance to the prepackaged narratives of video game developers. This is particularly important in light of recent studies showing that modding can lead to the development of digital compositions that engage in both kairos and heteros, as they respond to a need for gameplay experiences that deviate from the normative discourses of commercialized video game narratives (e.g., Pokemon Uranium and Pokémon Korosu).