Missing the Foundry Community

melinden

I’m feeling a little nostalgic at the moment. In the past few years when I was on semester break I had some free time and would devote it to building a foundry quest. Unfortunately that isn’t possible this year. Even last year when we could edit the Foundry Zone chat was nearly silent.

Cleaning up for the holidays I found my foundry quest notebook. All these dialogue lines are scribbled on the pages with arrows showing how the conversation should progress. Other pages are nothing but nonsense notes to myself like “Human Tower 5: X -1221.6 Y 341.012 Z -49.129 RY 169.769”. Some are ideas for future quests that never happened, I must have been thinking about using Thundertree and Conyberry at some point. I have detailed notes on how to make a “Walk the Plank Timer” filling one page. I never got to use that one.

I miss some of the old Authors who are long gone, especially Neverwinter1776 who taught me most everything I know. A few of us are still around plus all those who picked up Foundry more recently. I’m sorry I never got to play your quests, I like seeing what new Authors come up with.

Nostalgia aside, I hope you are all doing well and that you have a good 2018 ahead of you.

-DoctorBadger

iandarksword

I haven't been commenting much on the forums, because there hasn't really been much to comment about as far as Foundry goes. I also miss many of the older folks, (no, I don't mean they all have grey hair) especially the ones more active when I decided to finally get into Foundry. I do occasionally catch a comment here and there from some of them in the Facebook group, which is nice to see. I don't mean for it to seem negative, but this has become a fairly lonely place as of late. I do like seeing new names pop up when posts are made, that gives me a little bit of hope when things get back to working again.

simplyshawn

iandarksword said:

I haven't been commenting much on the forums, because there hasn't really been much to comment about as far as Foundry goes. I also miss many of the older folks, (no, I don't mean they all have grey hair) especially the ones more active when I decided to finally get into Foundry. I do occasionally catch a comment here and there from some of them in the Facebook group, which is nice to see. I don't mean for it to seem negative, but this has become a fairly lonely place as of late. I do like seeing new names pop up when posts are made, that gives me a little bit of hope when things get back to working again.

I mean if I'm being totally cold-hearted, I think that's part of why Cryptic doesn't think The Foundry community is still around; when things aren't working, everyone just ghosts... I wish all you OG Foundry Authors would flood this forum... might get some things moving.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one posting here, and I don't even have a finished quest under my belt yet... Kind of uphill without you guys...

iandarksword

@simplyshawn I understand your frustration. Many of the people you'd like to see return only play the game specifically to use the editor. That's all they do, they don't like campaigns, they aren't fond of refining. They just want to create. They left because they got tired of hearing "we can't, we don't, there's no time to work on the Foundry," and more, over, and over again in streams, AMA's, and official forum replies. Will news of additions to the asset and map library bring them back? I have no idea. If you check my post history, 90% of them are Foundry posts. I also show up in various live streams, often mentioning Foundry stuff and being ridiculed or talked down to over and over, either by the streamer or in the chat. I was made an administrator of a Foundry related Facebook group by othe authors who didn't have the time to keep playing or lost interest. Trust me, if anyone can identify with "screaming at a brick wall" it's me. Recently, in real life, I've been working close to 60 hours a week, and I have two teens that I have to raise while their mother and I both work full-time jobs, so I've been a little busy. It is tiring playing the waiting game with the Foundry, and some of us simply need a break from "screaming at brick walls." I do appreciate your taking the time to be vocal about the Foundry. It has been good to see a fresh face showing interest. There is often no official response, likely because there's no progress to report, leading to a cyclical process and compounding frustration for those who simply want to create for their peers.

tyfighter77

This is a deceptively important topic. Like @melinden, I've yet to complete a quest. Part of the reason: at the time I was working on it, I was on my own. It didn't occur to me to find a community of creators. And so every step of the way I was making mistakes and struggling and getting frustrated. Eventually I left the game, as the Foundry was my main interest in it. When I came back (because I wanted to get back to working on my quest), there was no Foundry and worse, the rumor was that it would never be back. Ironically, that's when I found the FB group (thanks @iandarksword).

When the Foundry comes back, improved or not, I'm going to need that group of authors. It's important for that community to be in place and accessible for new and veteran creators alike. I think we need the support and sharing.

sandukutupu

@simplyshawn I don't believe the answer is flooding this forum. I rarely see developers here and they answer to the CEO who is never here or bothers to read the forum. I have posted the contact information for Cryptic Studios here before. Back a few years ago, I wrote letters to the CEO, paid postage NOT emails, didn't get so much as a form letter in return. Censorship is at an all time high, so I will probably get moved to the dungeon for saying this, but we cannot twist their arms or change their minds. You may as well be shouting at the sky to make it rain.

I have been here since alpha testing only because of the Foundry. I played Star Trek when I read about the Foundry for Neverwinter and started making stories there. Players in the game ask about the Foundry since it was shut down on Oct 24th. Prior to this they shut the Foundry down for 5 to 6 months. This game is very dull without the Foundry.

Unfortunately most players just want to get to level 70 and call that a win. That only takes a few solid days of game play, broken up over few weeks. I am in a guild, most new members last about a month, and we never hear from them again. Many others leave around level 30 to 40. Content is not just another collection of boons, armor, and weapons presented by a weakly developed subplot. Players need story, with twists, and originality.

Cryptic took away the Foundry hour, which was a simple way to attract players to try the Foundry. Without some simple rewards most players will be off grinding random dungeons instead of bothering to learn about the Foundry. The Foundry and the game have been mismanaged from the very beginning. I was told, to repair or replace the Foundry would not be cost effective, but the Foundry is the only unique part of this whole game and should be its foundation.

There you go @simplyshawn I did my rant, now the crickets chip...

chili1179

Chirp