Firstly, I am going to say that maybe, just maybe, some people may be offended by this!
And if mods lock it, I'm never going to let them hear the end of it, I'm just exercising my write of free expression here.

Bravetree, please don't take offense to this, if you have something to say, say it. Everyone else, don't let this turn into a flame war, because THEN it's alright to lock it.

Now, if you are a hard-core bravetree supporter, click BACK now.
REMEMBER! I'm just ranting! Letting out some steam, you could say. I've had a bad week, so don't take this seriousely if you don't want to. It's just how I feel. If you have a problem with it, I'll sic Michael Moore on you.
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MODDING
Modding is an extremely touchy topic in the community. Everyone wants/likes to mod. Yet bravetree says "no, nope, you ain't getting any support from us!"
Firstly, I would like to make something clear. This game was made in TORQUE. Torque games get MODDED. That's one of the biggest selling points.
And here's Bravetree complaining about lower income and less profits, yet they aren't offering modding support! Many other game companies welcome modding. Go download Dark Horizons. Have some FUN with modding, and get some kudos from the producers.

MODERATION
These forums are a spam-poster's heaven. There are mods, but they don't seem to be around half the time. Bravetree staff is supposed to be able to moderate, but check out these stats:

Pokemalo (Joe M.) - 144 posts, 4 forum topics. (Not bad, really.)
Dan MacDonald - 61 posts, 4 forum topics.
Shark (Clark F.) - He weighs in with a WHOPPING 9 posts and 0 forum topics!

Wow, that's what I call moderation. Of course, there are other moderators, but they spend too much time in the leagues forum to track down the idiots.

INTERMISSION - Pissed off yet? Then click away.

TT 2
Wow, bravetree must really care about their customers to already talk about a sequel! Well, it doesn't seem that way. They've already said that they "don't really care about the seasoned players, and care more about the new players that are giving us money".
So who's to say they aren't just going to shut down the whole "ThinkTanks Operation" once they exceed the limits on their Torque Indy License?

And finally........ THE COMMUNITY

Bravetree, this section is aimed directly at you. Everytime we create a server, you get money. (More servers = more purchase appeal) Everytime we create a good mod, you get money. (Customization = more purchase appeal) Every time we say "gg", you get money. (Good sportsmanship = more purchase appeal)
Everytime somone posts a thread, whether like this, or different, YOU GET MONEY. (Sence of community = MORE PURCHASE APPEAL)

It's the players that have been playing for a long time is what's keeping you alive Bravetree. Why not give a little back?

Annnnnnnd, CUT!
I'm gonna sit back and watch all the amusing replies that flood in on this one. Bravetree, if you have retaliation for this one, be my guest! If that retaliation means locking it, or silencing me, for shame .

@James: You're right. THOSE are good mods, but they seemed so natural to me that I didn't really view so much as mods as enhancements. I guess I should mention King of the Hill too. I like it. But some of the mods are just plain crazy...like castle warz.

Anyway, last night I was thinking that expansion packs may be an "easy" way to pull some more money from vets. For me, an expansion pack would only need more maps.

In the meantime (and I think BT has already addressed this) they need to sell more copies of TT 1 and I think that would be accomplished through marketing, distribution and advertising. I suppose a service pack could be released to fix some problems others perceive in TT, but I think its OK as it is (for $20) and I think it has mass market appeal if they could just reach the mass market. I think it would be cool to see TT sitting on shelves in Wal-Mart, Target and the like, but that adds whole new layers of complexity and cost.

I trust BT to do what's best for BT while doing their best to support their products.

Mmm, I dont know a whole lot about game sales and the like, but it seems to me that if BT could find some way to spread the word about TT, there'd be a heck of a lot more players, and more money coming in.

Advertising on the web/gaming mags? Articles on big name sites like gamespot? Having a sortof 'active ad campaign' by current TT players who visit other sites...? Offer a CD-in-box edition on shelves at stores like (as previously mentioned) Walmart, Target, BestBuy, CircutCity...?

Rebuttals from a non-BraveTree person:

Fact-of-Life: Bravetree earns no money from a player after they buy the game. Bravetree is a small company and needs a constant flow of income to stay solvent. Microsoft they ain't.

Modding Support - The problem is one of cash-flow, I believe. If they spend all their time supporting Modders, they will not have time to produce any new games. Therefore, anyone wanting to modify their game from the standard is on their own.

Moderation -
First - this is NOT a Bravetree run website. This site was founded by Z and Dan MacDonald (neither of whom work for Bravetree) to provide a moderated forum for ThinkTank players to gather in. The previous forum was the GarageGames unmoderated forums that were overrun by Trolls. It is paid for out of Z and DanMac's own pockets (except for voluntary donations by participants - link )
Second - I don't believe Modding a thread shows up in the user stats. So PokeMalo's 144 posts are in addition to any moderating he's done.

TT2 -
They did not say they didn't care about seasoned players, they said that they earn no additional income from seasoned players. Buying the game is the only time you give them money. IIRC, half of their staff has moved on to other jobs. OF COURSE they're concentrating on getting the next game out the door, they need the money to stay in business. How many demos do you see in the game anymore? How many people have you recruited lately to play? I agree, if we behave sportsman-like and take the time to make the Demos feel welcome, they are more likely to buy the game. And yet I see people Demo hunting, attacking them for camping in scrum when they're stuck in Medium tanks and have no viable alternatives. And then we've got the Trolls, who are a problem for the rest of us, and are doubly so for Demos.

This has all been covered in threads before, I'm just restating what I remember from them.

Cya.

I just thank the guys at Bravetree for coming up w/ the idea for TT. Anyone who might think otherwise maybe should try and build, program, market, and maintain such an endeavor. Bravetree is not IBM. Sony, and the like, ergo no immense support system. Almost every question I have had has already been answered somewhere in the posts, you just have to read. And if you can't read then I guess you are S.O.L.
MasterTMO is right, DanMac and -z- deserve everybody's respect for not giving up on this forum, or it's community, and for financing this project almost solely on their own. In the end, some people you just can't please. As for me, I'm happy skinning and playing and being part of a group of people who just want to have fun. And when I have a problem or a question, I either ask someone in the middle of a game, or go hunting in the forums. I find it hard to believe there are unanswered question still out there. Anyways, that's my gospel. Later, chineseknife.

Oh yeah, there is a Techincal Questions forum, so there is some support.

Update: Well, Hell! TMO just realizes he didn't spot the entire FIRST PAGE of responses to this thread. I have no doubt I'm just repeated what someone else has already said.

Sorry!

AHA! EventH is performing Thread Necromancy! No wonder I didn't recall this! Dude - threads dead for 3 months should STAY dead! LOL!

Ahh, I didnt realize it... My apologies...
There was a link to this thread in another thread... ;)