[jasondef]

Well, I'm not faulting Ubisoft for anything they've done. Most of these smaller game producers its all they can do to keep afloat, and many go under all the time. So from their standpoint, go ahead and let modders mod and official expansions go ahead and charge money, whatever Ubi can do to expand the playability the better.

And I came into this game in January, never knew about X-1's past, so I am not biased against them for anything new that they do now that is legit. I've read what their new Med expansion does, and to be honest it sounds pretty good to me, with several features that I have yet to see in any of the mods within this fabulous mod community. Like SIXTY new cities, naval and airbase additions, new ships, and the historical activity like D-Day, etc. Some of the other features do seem "borrowed" or copied, but some of these things are just common sense fixes that should've come with the game in the first place, like improved AI, new missions or at least more variety in missions besides "patrol grid X", ships/traffic in the harbors, more interesting graphics and scenery, and tutorials for firing spreads and attacking convoys among others. These things have already been done by the mod community, but as long as X-1 did them themselves that's OK. Just like within the mod community, there are different mods for the same thing each done by a different creator, like new skins, scenery additions, etc. One modder comes up with a good idea, and different modders take the idea and do it their own way.

As long as X-1 isn't stealing or copying the exact mods its no different than just another modder doing it his/her own way, and I have yet to see real proof that they're stealing exact mods. And how can anybody prove anything at least until it comes out and then we can examine its real contents, rather than speculating based on their past? I believe in giving people second chances.

I would personally rather not pay for mods of course, but as long as they're offering certain things that I can't find elsewhere in the freeware mod community, like the features I described above, I will consider it if its well done.

If we the mod community (I use "we" loosely, as I have yet to create a mod myself) don't like them charging money, lets wait until it comes out, then "borrow" their new features, and create our own new mods that copy those features and offer them up as our own mods! If they can do it to the mod community, than the mod community can do it to them, and that would solve my dilemna of wanting to support this great mod community and at the same time covet the pay-for cool features that this Med expansion brings to the table. I just want to get the most out of my game, is that so wrong?

The one real reservation that I have against X-1 is that this Trombke guy does seem like a real a-hole and I'd hate to support him. But I think I read somewhere back there that Wulfman says he's not there anymore. And I have yet to come across any company that doesn't have an a-hole boss somewhere within, and if I boycotted every company that had an a-hole boss somewhere I'd be reduced to a caveman using stone tools with no technology whatsoever.

So in summary, as long as any company brings something new to the table for any game, I must consider it as a game enthusiast. And if I see real proof of wrong doings by X-1 in this new Med expansion, which seems to me has to wait at least until it comes out for thorough examination, I'll drop them like a hot potato. Lets make our own mods that covers whatever is new from this expansion, and our problems will be solved! If they can do it to us, we can do it to them!