Modifications are fun and may see huge potential, but most of the mods either die fast or never get to be released. the question is "Why?". Why that mod died and why it didn't survive long enough? Some reasons I have found out by reading gamer magazines and by my own thinking process.
1. So many ideas, so little timeHopes are high and the team wishes to combine and create nazi-zombie-sharck-prostitute-helicopter- communists in Minecraft. You can clearly see, that that won't work.
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: A lenght of a few pics on a ModDB-page
2. So many 3D moddelers, but no scripters or animatorsFifteen 3D moddelers and only two of them know C++. Some mods just end up being an exellent resource for other mods to use. Just like FH2 got many models from that-dead-hl2-Winter-War-mod.
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN:Some untextured model pics, level terrain pics and few years of no updates.
3. Too high hopesTHE BEST MOD EVER !!!!!1!1!11elevenone!!!. Some mods try to be bigger than they deserve to be right from the start.
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: An empty forum and a webpage.
4. Bad engineEmpires was supposed to be a BF 1942 mod originally. No wonder they swiched to Source from Frostbite.
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN.
(Might see the light of day in some day)
5. Too few people commited to itA group of ten try to create Black Mesa/NMRiH/FH2/PR - sized mod in just few months.
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: So long as the modders keep on moddin' on it and won't drop out. This killed the Turkishcommando's beloved the Hungarian front - minimod
Let us remember those, who had their hopes crushed, when they saw their beloved mod never been released.