I wrote a response to someone in the forums about the kind of modpacks I like to see and approve, and I felt it worth putting here. Let me know what you think.
I generally find the concept of attempting to “appeal to the masses” a flawed approach in a modpack.
Also, it’s been done. Obviously the masses aren’t happy with a single thing, or they would have stuck with that and there wouldn’t be more than one (persisting) attempt. At the very least there would be a “best” modpack.
Made for a specific community, great. Made for a specific purpose, fantastic. Made because someone wanted a modpack to really bring out feature X, clever. Hardcore modpacks or modpacks with interesting challenges, modpacks which emphasize exploration, magic, tech, building… How can you please the builder and the explorer in the same pack? How can you appeal to the hard-core, anti-tech mage and the anti-magic techie at the same time?
I like to look at Magic Farm as a good example of what a modpack can be. It puts together mods and configs in such a way as to create a real, consistent experience. It’s a designed thing created like it were a game itself.
We are long past the point of downloading modpacks because installing mods yourself is hard. Modpacks now are either server things, community things, or should be created to achieve something. Server/community packs I recommend making private. Streamer/media packs I generally allow because they are made so their following communities can participate / view maps. Map packs are an obvious one.
If you want a pack to get the OK from me, I want to see something worth playing. “Appeal to the masses” isn’t it.
Cheers!
EDIT: You are invited to discuss this on the Mystcraft Forums.