It's not that hard to get the patches...It's hard when ten different people who swear by their own version of the game tell you to get Mod pack A instead of Mod pack B, etc. etc.
Besides that, there are multiple versions of the game in use online. Instead of 100 servers with version A, you have 20 with A, 40 with B and 30 with C and 10 with D. No one wants ten different installs of the game that have to be switched around in order to join a server.
Mods did a lot of nice things for the game, but a side-effect was a fracturing of the online community into various camps. Once all of my favorite servers switched to one of the various mod packs, I went online less and less.
Then of course, you have a negative feedback loop: The fewer people go online, then even fewer people show up because their friends are no longer showing up, and so forth until HL becomes empty....
Since that's the reality we have to live with, I for one am grateful that DT are apparently re-working the AI. It's also great news that DGEN is going to get a make-over as well.
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