Do you mod? Why do modders mod?

Coleman & Dyer-Witheford describe modding as follows 

“modders aim to expand games: changing characters’ ‘skins’, adding weapons, creating scenarios, levels or missions, building new games out of old engine” (Coleman and Dyer-Witheford 2007 p. 941)

I am not much of a gamer so modding is not something that I do or have encountered before although I can see its benefits.

For entertainment purposes alone being able to modify a game would make it a lot more enjoyable. When the game gets boring just adding an extension or accessing an extension someone else has created would allow continued and more interesting play.

I can also see this practice as being greatly beneficial the individual in terms of education.   By studying and experimenting with the original code, one could learn to create games through a process of self education. Overall, modding could create highly educated games developers who be seen as both a threat and an asset to gaming companies.

Coleman, S., and N. Dyer-Witheford. 2007. Playing on the digital commons: collectivities, capital and contestation in videogame culture. Media Culture Society 29:  Sage publications. http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/29/6/934 (accessed 26/10/11).