Interesting Dev journal, Defrag. Mod teams are definately becoming more commercial. To be a beta tester for Insurgency, they ask you to digitally sign an NDA. Hype, secrecy, and extensive PR are becoming common tools of professional mod teams.
I think there are two reasons for this new professionalism that you didn't mention in your journal. One is vision - mod makers want to realize some fantastically perfect game that is the sum of all the things they've ever liked in other games, only better. The second is career - an entry point into the video game industry, a job at Valve or Raven or Rockstar, etc.
Like all good things, I think modding started out with good intentions: the gaming community picking up where the professionals left off, improving the game and creating possibilities. Now innovation like this is up for sale ($10 on Steam), and the line is blurred between the community and the professionals.
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