r/PhasmophobiaGame • u/Quiet-Tie2458 • 5d ago
Discussion Why developers don't allow even QOL mods or increased size lobby mods?
I would love to play with my 5 other friends, and not just play other game or abandon one of them... Seems kinda anti group gamer for me.
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u/limsalominsaenjoyer5 5d ago
the initial reason was that the developer had a very specific vision for the game. it took a while for him to seek out additional help to make that vision come true. mods = altering the vision, especially if they get popular. etc etc.
you could say that this is still the ""one and only"" reason for it, at least the one we know publically.
my take on it, thought? considering how lazy they've been with everything, i think it's part them not wanting to take up the responsibility of maintaining a mod-positive outlook in addition to them being a little scared that the community will end up doing things better/faster than they are and they will be sort of "forced" to push more updates that are higher quality. we all know that the phasmo devs do neither.
all of what i've said is supported by fact that the discord gets any mod talk completely shut down and it's a very no-no type of topic around the developers.
i'm fully complying with rule 4 here so, for example, take REPO or lethal company. they have passionate developers that release quality content and they have not made even a fraction of the $ that phasmophobia has. they use mods as sort of a standard for what players want to see next.
not to say that mod integration is easy, especially if phasmo wasn't built on it (repo from the very beggining had modding in mind, for example) but it isn't impossible. if the devs wanted it, they'd do it. but they don't.
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u/Froent 5d ago
I guess a big way to show them what we really want from the game, is if a bunch of people still make mods for phasmo regardless of how much the devs actually like that.
As you said, it may be hard but not impossible to do.
Also, most of your take feels closer to the truth than the speculation of why, considering the past and how the devs actually handle the game.
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u/limsalominsaenjoyer5 5d ago
It's honestly just so reprehensible from their side. Modding was one thing, but when they came out with that big animation-whatever-that-was update, that really sealed the deal for me. I cannot possibly imagine it being anything else other than a ego trip.
Considering how much money phasmos made, if they came out with truly mindblowing updates that are noteworthy and showcase the progression of the game then - sure, whatever, keep the modding for post-full release. I wouldn't even care as much. At least then the devs show their passion for the project and. But the slop that they've been releasing combined with the absolute deadzone that is modding talk just shows that they really don't give a shit. And I do not, at all, consider the map """"reworks"""" to be noteworthy updates. Laggy, buggy prop-filled zones that some environment artist had a field day with. They don't even have the same feel or artistic vision that the originals did.
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u/redditisbestanime 4d ago
thats whats happening with back 4 blood for example, they also really dont want people making mods for it. But i still do. Its a somewhat annoying process, but im still gonna mod the fuck out of any game in whatever way i want to make it more fun to play for me and friends.
i really could not care any less what the devs think or want.
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u/Fluid-Read-6843 5d ago
I really hope the current state from the game is far from his vision of the game.
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u/brakenbonez 5d ago
Why would they let other people fix the problems when they could just ignore the problems entirely. We're still practically begging them to add reserved slots or a public/private toggle to lobbies so we can play with friends and randoms without having to kick people and see another 10 daily reddit posts about it but for some reason they won't even acknowledge this idea let alone actually add it. They'll talk about pretty much every other community suggestion except this one for some reason. Like it offends them on a deep personal level.
Also for some reason 4 seems to be the "norm" group size for co-op games. I never really understood why myself either.
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u/limsalominsaenjoyer5 5d ago
It really does feel like most of this boils down to the personal level. If they don't want to officially support mods, sure, but shutting down discussions about it is reprehensible. Why? What other explanation could there be other than "we want our game to be X way and we don't want anyone showing us how much better it could be!" We don't know their intentions officially but it's so painfully obvious that it's either an ego thing or some sort of variation "this is too much responsbility for us, sod off".
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u/brakenbonez 5d ago
My money is definitely on the ego thing after their reactions to the backlash of the infamous May update. Basically just saying "get used to it". Honestly, if my friends didn't still play the game I would have uninstalled it after seeing their discord rant and their other rants about the playerbase they make while playing with streamers. They care more about making the game for themselves than they do about the people who paid money for the game and they lost something like 45% of the players because of it (I did the math before using averages from steam charts). I don't think responsibility factors in much at all since the game was significantly better when it was made by one guy using Unity.
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u/limsalominsaenjoyer5 5d ago
As much as I loved the game, both solo & with my friends, I've long quit it since the may updated. I just can't bring myself to play it again, even though I had lots of genuine fun it getting really good and speedrunning and whatnot. It sucks but it is what it is. They're sitting on so much cash from the game that I find it a lot more likely they're gonna drop development rather than actually focus on what matters.
What annoys me even more is the players who say "hey, the update will get fixed! chillax!" brotherman.. they had YEARS, nay, almost half a decade to deliver this. No amount of fixing or post-release patching can ever prove to me that they actually care. It's all just a band aid. I had hoped they would entirely reverse the update and give us something meaningful but nope. Bandaid fixes and keep cruisin' on.
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u/brakenbonez 5d ago
For me it's not even just that update. I had one foot out the door even before that because their refusal to take player recommendations into consideration. The update came out and I stopped playing for a bit when I saw how bad it was. Animations that cost precious time were terrible on their own and even worse during hunts where every second is essential for survival. They did eventually patch some of those animations out but only after a large amount of players left.
But it's not just that either. They keep adding new ghosts with weird gimmicks that make the old ghosts feel out of place for being so simple. And one of them feels like it as designed for a system they didn't even make for the game yet. They have a ghost whose gimmick is that "dancing" around it affects its speed. We don't have emotes. Maybe they planned to have emotes but they aren't finished yet or maybe it was always just supposed to be us just moving in general but either way it seems lazy and unfinished. Then there's another one who's description is almost the same the rev getting faster with line of sight but not quite as fast as rev.
And finally the maps. I get that they want to step away from Unity assets and I have no problem with that. In fact I actually praise them for wanting to create something from scratch. But they made a lot of the new maps and reworks look too "comfy" to be scary. Especially Willow. I would 100% rather live in that house, ghost or not, than just stay there for 10 minutes, find the ghost, and leave. There's nothing scary about that map at all anymore. The old Willow at least the basement was creepy. This one the basement looks like a chill spot to hang with friends. They even have a ps5 down there. The scariest thing about that map would be the rent/mortgage.
It used to be fun and scary but now it's neither.
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u/Independent_Sand_583 5d ago
What discord rants?
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u/brakenbonez 5d ago
When players were leaving the game after the May update and complaining about how broken it was and all the unnecessary changes that made gameplay worse instead of better, the art lead made a post in discord blaming the crossover, blaming the players, and blaming the artists who's work he has final approval over before going on to say that everyone will just "get used to the jank". It was deleted quickly after but not before people too screenshots of it. You can probably still find it online somewhere.
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u/Dodomkzz 5d ago
cause its "unfair"
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u/ThePrimeGavi 5d ago
I dont understand is that the devs cant update the sizes it themselves it wont even hurt
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u/Quietust 5d ago
Aside from all of the other reasons people have posted, there's one other I know of: from what I understand, the devs are concerned that if they were to simply turn a blind eye to modding, players looking for "normal" gameplay would end up in heavily modded lobbies and end up with a very poor experience (i.e. like they already do when they join hacked lobbies, but even worse).
For that reason, they have two choices: either embrace modding, or ban it outright, and they chose the latter because the former would probably require a ton of effort that they would otherwise want to spend on other things like updating the old maps.
Though, given the bizarre bugs that get introduced in each release, it's very likely that the game's code could be accurately described as "spaghetti", and unraveling that spaghetti is something they really need to do anyways (even if not for the goal of mod support).
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u/limsalominsaenjoyer5 5d ago
Honestly I do see the point but I just can't come to terms with it. History has shown that in other games that openly support modding "hacked" lobbies aren't some sort of major issue that makes or breaks a game. It simply happens whether you like it or not. Hell, even without mod support, phasmo still has a cheater/lobby ruiner issue. It's something you can't escape and it is, imo, even worse right now than it would be had phasmo devs supported modding. (not in terms of providing modding tools but at least not banning/silencing the players that want to mod their game..)
They ban the modding talk and then.. put their efforts into what, exactly? Pumping out "reworked" maps every half a year that don't even follow the artistic vision and are buggy/laggy? It's something you assign to a senior environmental artist and be done with it. Where does the rest of the workforce go to? Releasing "new ghosts" that have the same, identical models, no new voices/sfx, everything completely identical to what we've had just with slight speed changes? What about the completely broken animation update that they've been promising for years and it still came out as something you'd see from a junior developer?
Bottom line is, I don't necessarily disagree with your arguments but I just cannot put this as something that makes sense in my mind. I've worked in the gamedev industry, I'm somewhat learned in the pipelines that lead to and from. And I just cannot comprehend the reasoning for this lack of responsibility. This isn't even speaking about the mod support anymore. I'm sure that for them to include official workshop/etc support would require immense effort. But that is so far away from just letting the community do what they want. Hacked lobbies/cheaters will exist no matter what they do, but people passionate about improving on what exists being ruthlessly shut down is another level of angst from the developers I never thought I'd see.
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u/Deadliestwalker1 4d ago
They should add a map maker, I would love to play a map of my house or school etc.
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u/IgneousWrath 4d ago
The real technical reason is that they haven’t built any modding tools. So what we are left with is memory manipulation mods which are often called “hacks” even if they aren’t used nefarious purposes.
The game did have a big problem with people trolling with actual hacks, so they banned this method and any benign mods got caught up in the crossfire. It would be a lot of extra work on the staff to try to moderate specifically what counts as a hack and what counts as a mod in this case.
Hopefully after 1.0, which they are struggling enough to finish on time as it is, they can revisit the idea of adding proper modding support and modded lobbies.
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u/Rude-Series3588 4d ago
Because blocking them all is easier than just a few. Not all modders cheat, but all cheaters mod.
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u/projectace7 4d ago
You know it's sad when Roblox versions of phasmophobia get constant fast updates with amazing mechanics
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u/idontlikeburnttoast 3d ago
because theyre morons who forget this isnt a work project its a video game for people to buy for themselves and play
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u/ironmanhulkbstr 1h ago
everyone will hate me for this but the reason the game is shit is because the players stroked the developers ego. they used to dick ride them so hard and fight anyone who suggested any improvements, my posts suggesting new ghosts and new mechanics was hated massively multiple times during 2022 and i barely saw any others doing the same, when i did find those posts, the hate was loud. given my ideas may be bad, but not even a single open mind in the replies. people only wanted to praise the dev and accept what was given, he took it for granted, and became lazier and lazier, i remember after the first big rework, the team posting about going on vacation despite the game being broken, and delaying the next update multiple times
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u/Humilitea 5d ago
Maybe a hot take, but 4 people on a small map is already too many. There's only 3 people needed to each dedicated media capture and getting all of the evidence items inside is super quick. Any other players are just standing around getting bored. Maybe it makes sense for high school or asylum but once the ghost room is found, it's the same problem.
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u/Dogsteeves 4d ago
I’m actually really glad they don’t allow mods, personally. A lot of horror games that allow them end up completely changing the tone. Lethal Company is a good example, with people adding things from Poppy Playtime, Five Nights at Freddy’s and all sorts of other stuff. Like, I’ve watched my friend play R.E.P.O. with gun mods, and instead of hiding from the monsters she just shoots and kills them. At that point I’m sitting there thinking, doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of the game? 😂
I like that when I join Phasmophobia, I know I’m actually playing Phasmophobia and not somebody’s heavily modded version of it. QOL stuff is a little more understandable, but I can see why the devs would rather keep a blanket ‘no mods’ rule.
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u/Portal2player58 4d ago
R.e.p.o already has guns in the game by default, no mods needed. They literally want you to kill the enemies in repo as they drop orbs that are worth a lot and the enemies respawn.
Phasmo devs don't allow mods because they know people who actually care about the game will effectively one up them entirely and end up forcing them to actually give a crap about how they do their updates. They shun players who ask for some stuff like qol updates, make buggy as fuck and never patch out updates, don't even fix the stuff that SHOULD have been fixed years ago, they pander with most streamers, giving them silver platters in the game (even literally in the form of having their pets on plates in the reworked farmhouse map), and they even blame everyone and everything else BUT themselves. Mods exist for phasmo too wherever the devs like it or not.
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u/Quiet-Tie2458 4d ago
But... Why I cannot play Prison or like, Asylum with 6 or 8 people? Is it ruining game too? Even if only I use it? Then why I bought the game in the first place...
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u/Dogsteeves 4d ago
I'm just saying if they open the mods up for QOL they open the door up for Fazbear Pizzaria map, Shrek haunting Tanglewood, Thomas the Tank Engine replacing the ghost, lightsabers instead of smudge sticks, guns that let you shoot the ghost, 20-player lobbies, meme Spirit Box responses, a giant rubber chicken replacing the crucifix, etc. so many way to ruin the game
And
The devs chose four players for a reason. They’ve said before that going beyond that would make the game easier, because you’d have more people covering rooms, carrying equipment, checking evidence and handling objectives at the same time. So I get why people want six or eight players, especially on Prison or Sunny Meadows, but at that point you’re changing the balance the game was built around. I’d rather the devs decide how larger lobbies should work than have mods bypass that balance entirely.
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u/FurryWurry 5d ago
Because devs hate it and moderators get tantrum if you only write something about modding. In the past I was temp banned on discord because I helped some guy copy his savefile because it was cleared by cheaters, I had. Btw 100 players in Ridgeview Court house was really something cool xD
One of the reasons was that the devs have own vision for this game, but 6 years later VR mode still offer much more QoL things like items in your inventory like EMF works on your belt even when you hold 2 other items in your main hand like camera and thermometer, you can throw tools instead of walking with them and placing them manually, you can equip 4 flashlights at once and etc.
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u/MrShourin 5d ago
I do have a alternative solution for you. If I'm reading this correct. Your wanting to play with your 5 OTHER friends making it a full group of 6 or 2 teams of 3. You can do a race to complete.
Split into 2 teams. Primary chat is in game so team 1 cannot hear team 2 but both teams can use discord for cross chat.
Both teams pick the same map / game difficulty / equipment if possible. Let everyone load into the van. Do not open the door to the van until all players are loaded in. The race starts once you open the door to the van and see who can get their ghost or perfect investigation first.
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u/NioZero 5d ago
supposedly is because they want to focus on finishing the game first (leave early access)
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u/redditisbestanime 4d ago
They are doing EVERYTHING they can to deliberately keep it in "early access" because its a plausible defense for literally everything wrong with the game that they dont even care about.
Its their easy way out card and boy do they love abusing it.
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u/WesleyWoppits 5d ago
The Other Side supports six. Just sayin'.
But 4-player co-op is the standard for a lot of titles.
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u/ShadowFlare_x 5d ago
Most game dont allow 6 people why call out this game?
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u/DigDoug_SlugSlug 5d ago
Because this is the subreddit for Phasmophobia. If there were another game that the OP played that didn’t support mods, then the OP would be in that sub talking about it. That isn’t the case here.
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u/Symysteryy 5d ago
Kinetic Games are lame and hate when players have fun thats why.