StarCraft 2 comes with a powerful set of tools for making your own maps and game modifications, but there is no local storage; you have to upload your content to Battle.net and let users grab that content from Blizzard's servers. If your content is considered inappropriate or obscene, Blizzard can take it down. The story is making its way around the gaming press, but this shouldn't be a shock... gaming content has long fallen under the control of the company that created the tools.
Does this hurt us as gamers? Absolutely.
Because they can
Blizzard has slapped some serious limits on what we can do with user-created content. There's a 25MB limit on uploaded content, which means any extensive modding with custom graphics, music, or voice acting is impossible. You can't host a game from content stored locally on your computer, so it all has to go through Blizzard. In this way, the company can perfectly control the platform. So why is content being taken down?
"Because we can. Literally. We have a support department now of size and ability to enforce these types of things," Community Manager Bashiok said on the official forums. "It simply wasn't possible when our in-game support used to consist of approximately 20 technical support agents. We did, however, actually police Warcraft III maps to a small degree if they were reported. But it was a rather archaic process."
Blizzard has a list of what will get your content removed from its service, including trademarks, advertising, and offensive content.
"Keeping people from seeing your hate speech and obscene images on our private game service is not the same as relinquishing your constitutional freedoms in the hopes of increased personal/familial security," Bashiok continued. "Ben [Franklin] would tie you to a kite and let go of the string for making such comparisons."
There is also the matter of the rating: StarCraft 2 is rated Teen, and if Blizzard doesn't keep Mature-rated content out, there could be a serious backlash. Since the company hosts every file, it's on their head if something gets through. The advantage of allowing users to control the content files and download the content from any source online—which is what PC gamers from the good ol' days are used to—is that it gives Blizzard some cover. But by hosting every file and hoping for future monetization of this content, Blizzard is forced to tightly control it.
This is nothing new
LittleBigPlanet also allowed impressive content creation, and we saw content being removed there as well. Which is a shame, as the games based on other gaming content or existing properties were some of the best mods and levels made... not to mention some of the most creative. Being inspired by something you're passionate about, only to have your own content deleted is certainly depressing, though it's understandable from Sony's point of view. No one wants to open themselves up to liability.
By shutting down dedicated servers and not releasing any modding tools, Infinity Ward stopped modding dead in its tracks with Modern Warfare 2. Even if someone was able to create a map or a modification, there would be no way to play it online. That's the way publishers like it; Activision Blizzard recently announced that is has sold 20 million map packs for the various Call of Duty releases. Why allow users to create something just to give it away when there's so much money to be made?
Taking the political issue of game ratings out of the equation, I don't feel like we need to be protected from offensive content, and hate speech is easy to avoid; these people don't tend to be subtle (hint: avoid maps named "WHITE POWA"). If I see something I don't want to, I simply end the game. The trade off, which is the ability to download, host, and enjoy content at my own discretion, is well worth the risk of being minimally inconvenienced by bad words or naughty images.
Those of us who remember looking through Duke Nukem 3D fan pages for a new, great map to play and share with friends know what we've lost here, and, to put it bluntly, it sucks. Every now and again you'd trip over a swastika, but the Star Wars total conversions, the Predator sound packs, and the maps based on Star Trek ship layouts were always a good time. Those days are behind us.
