The one thing i know for sure, is that until they give us back a decent Detail Object/Cluster Object limit (like it used to be 3000/3000 now only 1700 total), I really can't do any of the things I want too do.
I already knew that people would leave ignorant comments about sparkly trails, and 'too long' or 'too hard' or whatever else flipped their boat when they played through Arselu'Tel'Quess.... Most of the geared people told me my quest was a piece of cake and that the maps are gorgeous. A few people actually traded me tips and said thanks. However, quite a few people told me the encounters were too hard for solo... then complained about having to use all their potions. Too me, that sounds like **** complaints. What I can't decide is whether to just ignore them and make it as challenging as I can for those of us with geared characters or if I should be marketing to the n00bs.
Well, I can't give you any crunched numbers, but I can share more about my own experience with your quest. My take on it was a bit different from some of the other reviews here... which just goes to show that there is both a level of subjectivity and a variance in experience even among experienced Foundry Authors.
I actually started playing through your contest entry with a lower level character. A Trickster Rogue, in fact. No real reason for that character choice; it's just what I had loaded at the time and figured I'd give it a go. If I recall correctly, I jumped through a couple of shorter maps before getting to the *big* custom fortress map. My first impression was that I wish more of the story had taken place in those early maps to justify the time spent loading them, but it wasn't a big deal. Just a sluggish start for me. However, that sluggishness became a big issue on the final map. Since I was too low level to have a mount, it meant running. Lots and lots of running. Long distances. On the one hand, it gave me an opportunity to appreciate just how long it must have taken to lay out that place. That's a lot of object moving! On the other hand, I also noticed that the size of the space meant that there were lots of areas with little "dressing" (furninshing, details... the kind of stuff that gives maps extra character). I guessed that you may have run out of resources in the Foundry because you spent them on building the actual structure.
By the time I ran into a place with a couple of stacked encounters -- a real challenge for a low-level Rogue, I'm tellin' ya! -- my sense of sluggishness began turning into frustration. Then... somehow... an enemy got stuck in the geometry near one of the teleporters. Try as I might, I couldn't lure the critter out. I had to exit the map and then re-enter. That meant starting the long runs through relatively undetailed areas again. I quickly fizzed out and quit the adventure.
The next day, I tried it again. I have been following your rather passionate posts about the contest over the past few months, and was eager to see what you had come up with. This time I brought along one of my really well-geared Level 60s. As you would imagine, things moved a LOT faster this time. Stacked encounters? I'm always leery when I see this in a Foundry, though they really posed little challenge for this character. Unfortunately, at one point in the quest, I realized I was missing one of the objectives (one of the phylacteries). Obviously the sparkly trail was no help (heh... we all understand that here). And because of the multi-level design of the map, not to mention the labyrinth created by your placement of teleporters, it took me a while to find my way back and see what I'd missed. That feeling of frustration was creeping back again.
I knew others had posted strongly favorable reviews, so I pressed on and blamed my struggles with my own choices as a player. Then, near the final objective in the quest, another enemy got stuck in the wall right near where I was supposed to click on something. I could see it's arms sticking through the wall, and it left me in combat mode. That meant I couldn't click on the objective and finish the quest. I ran to the far side of the map hoping that the enemy would reset or something, but it was still stuck in the wall. I killed myself off to respawn, but the critter was still stuck. None of my character's abilities had a knockback effect, so I assumed it was either a weird fluke or else there may be a problem with your mob placement. Heck, maybe it was just one of those weird things that happens in the Foundry sometime.
So... in order to finish the thing, I exited the map and did it all over. Again. And I completed the quest feeling frustrated and disappointed. I know that's not consistent with the other feedback you've received, but it was my experience. I'm only sharing it here because you seem to be eager for more feedback, and because you asked about whether you should dismiss negative reviews.
In looking through some of your other reviews, I noticed that there were a few who mentioned things like the length of your adventure or the negative consequences of such large maps. I wonder if those players may have had similar experiences to my own (especially on an un-mounted character). I don't know... but the trend may be the kind of feedback worth considering for future endeavors.
Of course, in the end, Authors simply can't please everyone. The nature of the game and the Foundry means that different level characters will have different experiences in their quests. I run into those kinds of feedback all the time on my various quests; some players say they found one too easy, then someone else comes along saying it was too difficult. If a player wrote a particularly thoughtful or constructive complaint, I sometimes send them an in-game mail asking for more information about their experience, and that has been really helpful in improving my designs in other quests.
Then there are those who throw the complaints about disappointing results in the final chest. Yeah, it's disheartening to see those 1 or 2 stars dropped on you and <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> up your average. I want to reach through the computer screen, grab the anonymous reviewer by the collar, shake them about, and shout at them, "Aw, c'mon! Don't you know that we can't control the final chest? Heck, I even put it in the adventure notes? Don't you read? No, of course you don't. Grrrr."
That's when I need to pause and remind myself why I build adventures in the Foundry in the first place. I do it because it's fun. It's not about winning a contest. It's not about having my ego stroked with positive reviews. It's not about riding a Silverback Bear with my Imp at my side. (Okay, well, it's a little bit about the mount, the companions, and the cool Moonstar cloak. Heh...) Instead, it's about enjoying a game. Sometimes I enjoy playing through the content. Sometimes I enjoy contributing to the content. And the day that it stops being fun -- the day that I find myself griping and complaining more than smiling and feeling satisfied -- that's when I'll move on to something else. Because, you know, nothing is worth the frustration once it gets to that point for us.
In the end, I appreciate your quest even if I didn't share the same positive experience others have reported. I truly I hope you'll make more... if you have fun doing so. My experience is that Authors just get better and better as they try new things and explore new creative ideas with the Foundry. Cheers.
Well I appreciate your feedback. I concur that I tried to make something too big. When I started this contest, I hadn't played around in the foundry since beta. I had already finished this huge structure when I realized i didn't have 3000/3000 object/cluster limits anymore. I almost deleted the first and last map, thinking a quick 15 minute run through my castle map would suffice for the contest. Honestly, It probably would have done much better.
Hindsight is 20/20 though. I definitely understand the frustration of running my maps without a mount. I do that in foundry on my avatar. I probably should stick to using structures like that for a backdrop instead of dimension.
I was really hoping to make a grand looking keep... befitting of housing a gargantuan Dracolich. I even put a small dracolich hanging from a ceiling... and many mausoleums to signify the keep's purpose at a glance. When I look at it now... I just see a waste of a month of my life. Way too big. There just isn't enough detail limit to make anything that big seem detailed.
I plan on keeping any future works I do on a much smaller scale. I was hoping that the giant pools of water would break up the large&stark feeling of the place... however... i'm not so sure if it does. The foundry editor is just too weaksauce to let me accomplish what I want too. That's the simple truth. I'll have to stick to smaller scale projects.
Time to post my reviews for the final batch of quests:
You Cant Call Yourself That - 3/5
What the hell did I just play? Mad props for all the different ways of solving puzzles and different endings, but the tone and setting just weren't really my thing.
Assault on Pyremourne - 5/5
An engaging story, great maps, and well-placed encounters make this an excellent quest. Well done!
Black Ice and Plaguefire - N/A
Since I'm obviously not going to review my own quest, I'll just say that I had a blast making it and I hope everyone enjoyed it. If anyone didn't pick up on it, most of what the cultists are talking about in the safehouse are references to various other contest entries. I figured it would be a nice touch to tie everything together, and really make it feel like the Cult has many different plans all going on at the same time, orchestrated by the various cells.
One of the complaints I got a lot was about the last map being too dark, or too foggy, or too hard to see, or filled with white clouds? I was really confused until I realized that, apparently, if you turn your graphics settings way down then fog backdrops become opaque. Something to watch out for in the future, I guess.
Time to post my reviews for the final batch of quests:
I was concerned about this. I've been patiently waiting for my entry to be featured, but it never was. I had posted my quest here. I admit, I took a few liberties with the lore and background for the contest, but I intended the quest to be a light-hearted spin for everyone. I definitely published my quest before the due date, so I am not sure why it never appeared.
I really don't want the large amount of effort I put into making my satirical quest to be ignored in the contest.
I was concerned about this. I've been patiently waiting for my entry to be featured, but it never was. I had posted my quest here. I admit, I took a few liberties with the lore and background for the contest, but I intended the quest to be a light-hearted spin for everyone. I definitely published my quest before the due date, so I am not sure why it never appeared.
I really don't want the large amount of effort I put into making my satirical quest to be ignored in the contest.
Did you click "Submit to Cryptic" in the upper right of the quest details tab?
If you only published it you didn't give them permission to feature it.
Since I'm obviously not going to review my own quest...
You may not be able to post a review of your adventure, so I'll jump in and do it for you.
BLACK ICE & PLAGUEFIRE - 5/5
Fellow Foundry Authors, take note: THIS is how it's done, folks. DTZ has provided us with an exemplary adventure filled with so many elements that are simply done right. A truly enjoyable experience.
The quest offers an abundance optional character conversations and items to investigate, providing not only amusing "easter egg" moments but also added color and detail to the story. (I actually *wanted* to click on every NPC and read their conversations!) And the story itself is terrific, beginning with well-executed investigation sequences that lead the adventurer deeper into the lore of the game and into a truly heroic challenge. The pacing of the tale was flawless.
The maps are well furnished, with the final environments being especially cinematic. Ascending the dimly lit caves, surrounded by evidence of the spellplague, was truly creepy. And there's one chamber that houses some ancient bones and black ice that made me simply pause and enjoy such a well-crafted scene. Matching this final map are NPCs that have been costumed beautifully to fit the environment.
I especially enjoyed the excellent use of an NPC companion who was actually helpful and informative for progressing the story. Being able to split up and choose different paths was also fun and provides incentive for replay.
Finally, the combat for the adventure was very balanced. Enemy placement was sensical, and the combats varied nicely as I progressed through the maps.
All-in-all, one of the most enjoyable Foundries I've played. Kudos!
Did you click "Submit to Cryptic" in the upper right of the quest details tab?
If you only published it you didn't give them permission to feature it.
I'm rather sure I did. I cannot check at the moment, but I will be sure to check as soon as I can. I remember hitting the Submit to Cryptic button though.
Assuming I did, I am not sure how it could even be a part of the contest now. Since all the other entries have past, they would have to either ignore my entry or post it in its own separate week, which would be awkward and potentially unfair, whether or not it be in my favor.
Assuming I did not, I will rage at myself for a while. I was looking forward to sharing my quest with a chance of getting a reward. In addition, the featured quest would have helped me on my path on the Foundry achievements. It doesn't seem like that will be possible now.
I'm rather sure I did. I cannot check at the moment, but I will be sure to check as soon as I can. I remember hitting the Submit to Cryptic button though.
Assuming I did, I am not sure how it could even be a part of the contest now. Since all the other entries have past, they would have to either ignore my entry or post it in its own separate week, which would be awkward and potentially unfair, whether or not it be in my favor.
Assuming I did not, I will rage at myself for a while. I was looking forward to sharing my quest with a chance of getting a reward. In addition, the featured quest would have helped me on my path on the Foundry achievements. It doesn't seem like that will be possible now.
If you submitted it for featuring, when you enter the foundry editor for that quest it will have a 'withdraw' button that is reddish in color. This button should be located in the image frame on the top right of your screen. That's a surefire way to know whether or not it is submitted for featuring. You'll either have a 'submit' button or a 'withdraw" button.
It says withdraw, but it also says I submitted it for featuring on the 19th of August. I am definitely certain I submitted it before that, for I made sure to finish it before August 1 because I was going to leave on a trip. I actually remember having to rush a few parts in order to finish it before the 1st.
Regardless, there is basically no way I can actually prove that, and I doubt Cryptic would be able to either since it's been months since then.
EDIT:
This was on the locked official thread:
- Update: Contestants need to have their submissions submitted for featuring by the 9/2 at 6AM PDT, as we will feature the first batch of eligible entries starting 9/2!
My quest was submitted before then. I am not sure what happened, but it seems my quest was not qualified.
It says withdraw, but it also says I submitted it for featuring on the 19th of August. I am definitely certain I submitted it before that, for I made sure to finish it before August 1 because I was going to leave on a trip. I actually remember having to rush a few parts in order to finish it before the 1st.
Regardless, there is basically no way I can actually prove that, and I doubt Cryptic would be able to either since it's been months since then.
EDIT:
This was on the locked official thread:
- Update: Contestants need to have their submissions submitted for featuring by the 9/2 at 6AM PDT, as we will feature the first batch of eligible entries starting 9/2!
My quest was submitted before then. I am not sure what happened, but it seems my quest was not qualified.
Mine says submitted 9/2. It's quite obvious they let the software determine who was eligible if you are the only person submitted beyond 9/2 that didn't get featured. I could be wrong of course. I also have no clue whether that was the last time you actually edited it or not. For the record, it's hard to believe that it somehow was changed without you editing it beyond 9/2 though. No offense intended.
I use a certain version system that tells me when my last edit was made to the quest and how many times I've changed it from the original. According to my latest version number in my quest description, I last edited it on 8/20 in order to take away a few spoilers and adjust the description's average duration. I stopped paying attention to it around that time in order to start my next foundry, which is still a work in progress.
Also, I am not sure what you mean by beyond. Do you mean before or after 9/2?
It's not a third-party system. I do it manually for any project I do that has the potential for multiple versions. Foe example, my foundry's current version is 1.07.2014820. Major version 1, minor version 7, date 8/20 of 2014. I should have clarified that on my earlier post. I used to forget to do it, but after practice over the years, I do it automatically now.
My quest was submitted before then. I am not sure what happened, but it seems my quest was not qualified.
What makes you think that Cryptic has completed featuring ALL the CotD quests?
I don't recall seeing any notices anywhere.
If there were over a hundred entries, at 6 featured per week, that'd be 16.6 weeks.
If the contest ended 9/2 and featuring started 9/6 then we should be done around the end of December.
There were a few indicators to me. The first was that this week had less entries than usual (3 as opposed to 5 or so). Second, a few of the forum-goers and authors here hinted that this might be the final batch of quests. The third is that quests that were posted in the official submission thread after mine was posted have already been featured, including this week's entries. In fact, this week's entries basically mark the end of the official thread's posts.
The spreadsheet claims this quest and “The Dragon Has 3 Heads… or 5…” would make a great double feature, and it’s hard to argue with that.
Even I can't argue with that one. Thanks for the high praise!
I'm also entertained by all the comments telling me that it feels like an actual D&D adventure, since my entire quest series (including this one) is somewhat loosely based on the first campaign I ever ran.
I learned a lot from my first foundry, probably the first being that I should cut down on quest items, or probably give players more obvious chances to drop them. Note to fellow foundry authors: there is an item limit, and it is 20. (Haha, I hit that limit, so now I know that I'm doing it wrong! I had a hunch, but I didn't give it enough thought initially to circumvent it.)
Second, I should probably type my text out in advance in a text editor, and I really need to find the exact limits of the foundry, before I set about doing anything. I think I may have hit a foundry text box limit, and that hurt me a bit.
Third, details matter a lot. Like, probably the most levels of a lot. From playing dtz's quest, and talking to every npc, those kind of details really fleshed out the map. I think the maps in general may have been my greatest failing, though I'm positively sure other people will tell me otherwise. (I called it murder lake, and oh boy did it do it's job. From killing players, me while editing, and my score the tiniest bit, I now know first hand that sky map causes the smallest bit of anger rage. I was told it would happen. I did it anyway. I regret nothing! As a further side note I can guarantee that I died more at murder lake than any three of my players, unless those three players are a particular brand of hard headed, bad, and oblivious.)
Fourthly, I need to bug check much harder. Few people actually commented on issues, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there weren't any, as one of my friends experienced one on the final map that caused him more than one death. He's not supposed to die there! He's supposed to die at murder lake!
I'm sure that if (or when) I tackle the foundry again, I'll be more experienced, and this next quest will certainly be the best around (I Jest... a lot).
One last question, what endings did you fellows get? I forgot to mention it in the quest text that I would like to know, but I have a theory it was the "True End" or the "Evil End", as those were probably the most obvious and easiest to obtain.
Thank you to every one who reviewed and enjoyed my quest, and thanks to those people who played it and rage quit. Thank you once more to the people who reviewed and derived anti-enjoyment from my quest, as at least you told me about it, and a final thanks to those people who ran through the quest and quizzically asked, "The hell?" then told me and the internet, "The hell?" (Even better, it wasn't just you DTZ, and 3* confusion is still 3*'s, which is objectively half good.)
One last question, what endings did you fellows get? I forgot to mention it in the quest text that I would like to know, but I have a theory it was the "True End" or the "Evil End", as those were probably the most obvious and easiest to obtain.
True End, here. Items were definitely an issue, and it didn't play well with a group. On "Murder Lake", my partner hopped over easily, I did the combat. Characters would drop out at odd times, then we'd find out what happened. I think you had a lot of things going on there -- Scott's back story, the whole quest being essentially about getting stinking drunk, I dunno. I gave it four stars because there was something really endearing about the characters. There were issues, but they weren't deal killers.
Probably the biggest problem with this quest, aside from the items, was the length. This quest should have been half an hour.
My contest entry also used items to keep track of player choices, but I used a lot fewer of them, and I confined the important choices to just one map.
The reason it was so long, is that if you make the right decisions and circumvent encounters, you can beat it in under 20. I know this, and designed it as such, and I was incredibly paranoid that people would fly through it and the final time would be under the pre-requisite time of 15 minutes. So, I over-compensated hard. Boringly hard. So I'll add that to my lessons learned. Thanks for the tip Tipa!
Your reviews have been an incredibly enjoyable experience to read, and I was happy to read your review of my quest. I'm not too surprised at either your or Kasul's final score for my quest.
As for the story, I was going for something different. My friend pitched the idea that I should do a foundry about finding out some random fellows are joining up with the Cult of the Dragon, and your hero felt like that was a bad thing. Then you find out that the real cult of the dragon is not happy at them for throwing a BIG PARTY in the real cult's name. Then it blossomed from there.
It was certainly different, I'll give you that. Different, ambitious (in a good way), and yeah, as Tipa said, a bit too long. I played it through twice (once in the non-featured version, then again when it was featured), and got very similar endings. The first time I partied with the orcs, killed the hound and the wizard, and took the combat path across the lake. The second time I partied with the orcs, avoided the hound but still couldn't talk my way past the wizard (I thought for sure I could hit him with the turnip...), and spent about a dozen injury kits on Murder Lake.
I wouldn't even say the premise was bad - it was certainly very creative, it just didn't resonate well with me personally.
So...is the contest finally done? The newest featured foundries were last edited Nov. 3rd.
"I don't know, I'm making it up as I go..." Featured Foundry Quest:Whispers of an Ancient Evil [v3] - NW-DQ4WKW6ZG Foundry Quest: Harper Chronicles: Blacklake - NW-DCPA4W2Q5
This is my review of some of the “Cult of the Dragon” contest.
Assault on Pyremourn @ZWATHA
NW-DQT5KLBA5
(4 stars)
Excellent environments, and good character editing.
Dialog was ok, but not any choices.
Some finding your own way, which I liked
Black Ice and Plaguefire @Dark_T_Zeratul
NW-DKOKQ3B7Q
(4 stars)
I liked the story, and most of the maps. I thought one map had to much fog.
A good role playing adventure.
Not good for a daily Foundry but good for adventuring
The Neverwinter Conspiracy (1.0) @Pingconchere
NW-DEEIHY5B7
(5 stars)
This is by far the best foundry I have played in a long while.
Great maps, dialog, menus, and special effects.
Loved the story, and the conspiracy!
Very long, but worth it!
A must play!
Comments
Well, I can't give you any crunched numbers, but I can share more about my own experience with your quest. My take on it was a bit different from some of the other reviews here... which just goes to show that there is both a level of subjectivity and a variance in experience even among experienced Foundry Authors.
I actually started playing through your contest entry with a lower level character. A Trickster Rogue, in fact. No real reason for that character choice; it's just what I had loaded at the time and figured I'd give it a go. If I recall correctly, I jumped through a couple of shorter maps before getting to the *big* custom fortress map. My first impression was that I wish more of the story had taken place in those early maps to justify the time spent loading them, but it wasn't a big deal. Just a sluggish start for me. However, that sluggishness became a big issue on the final map. Since I was too low level to have a mount, it meant running. Lots and lots of running. Long distances. On the one hand, it gave me an opportunity to appreciate just how long it must have taken to lay out that place. That's a lot of object moving! On the other hand, I also noticed that the size of the space meant that there were lots of areas with little "dressing" (furninshing, details... the kind of stuff that gives maps extra character). I guessed that you may have run out of resources in the Foundry because you spent them on building the actual structure.
By the time I ran into a place with a couple of stacked encounters -- a real challenge for a low-level Rogue, I'm tellin' ya! -- my sense of sluggishness began turning into frustration. Then... somehow... an enemy got stuck in the geometry near one of the teleporters. Try as I might, I couldn't lure the critter out. I had to exit the map and then re-enter. That meant starting the long runs through relatively undetailed areas again. I quickly fizzed out and quit the adventure.
The next day, I tried it again. I have been following your rather passionate posts about the contest over the past few months, and was eager to see what you had come up with. This time I brought along one of my really well-geared Level 60s. As you would imagine, things moved a LOT faster this time. Stacked encounters? I'm always leery when I see this in a Foundry, though they really posed little challenge for this character. Unfortunately, at one point in the quest, I realized I was missing one of the objectives (one of the phylacteries). Obviously the sparkly trail was no help (heh... we all understand that here). And because of the multi-level design of the map, not to mention the labyrinth created by your placement of teleporters, it took me a while to find my way back and see what I'd missed. That feeling of frustration was creeping back again.
I knew others had posted strongly favorable reviews, so I pressed on and blamed my struggles with my own choices as a player. Then, near the final objective in the quest, another enemy got stuck in the wall right near where I was supposed to click on something. I could see it's arms sticking through the wall, and it left me in combat mode. That meant I couldn't click on the objective and finish the quest. I ran to the far side of the map hoping that the enemy would reset or something, but it was still stuck in the wall. I killed myself off to respawn, but the critter was still stuck. None of my character's abilities had a knockback effect, so I assumed it was either a weird fluke or else there may be a problem with your mob placement. Heck, maybe it was just one of those weird things that happens in the Foundry sometime.
So... in order to finish the thing, I exited the map and did it all over. Again. And I completed the quest feeling frustrated and disappointed. I know that's not consistent with the other feedback you've received, but it was my experience. I'm only sharing it here because you seem to be eager for more feedback, and because you asked about whether you should dismiss negative reviews.
In looking through some of your other reviews, I noticed that there were a few who mentioned things like the length of your adventure or the negative consequences of such large maps. I wonder if those players may have had similar experiences to my own (especially on an un-mounted character). I don't know... but the trend may be the kind of feedback worth considering for future endeavors.
Of course, in the end, Authors simply can't please everyone. The nature of the game and the Foundry means that different level characters will have different experiences in their quests. I run into those kinds of feedback all the time on my various quests; some players say they found one too easy, then someone else comes along saying it was too difficult. If a player wrote a particularly thoughtful or constructive complaint, I sometimes send them an in-game mail asking for more information about their experience, and that has been really helpful in improving my designs in other quests.
Then there are those who throw the complaints about disappointing results in the final chest. Yeah, it's disheartening to see those 1 or 2 stars dropped on you and <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> up your average. I want to reach through the computer screen, grab the anonymous reviewer by the collar, shake them about, and shout at them, "Aw, c'mon! Don't you know that we can't control the final chest? Heck, I even put it in the adventure notes? Don't you read? No, of course you don't. Grrrr."
That's when I need to pause and remind myself why I build adventures in the Foundry in the first place. I do it because it's fun. It's not about winning a contest. It's not about having my ego stroked with positive reviews. It's not about riding a Silverback Bear with my Imp at my side. (Okay, well, it's a little bit about the mount, the companions, and the cool Moonstar cloak. Heh...) Instead, it's about enjoying a game. Sometimes I enjoy playing through the content. Sometimes I enjoy contributing to the content. And the day that it stops being fun -- the day that I find myself griping and complaining more than smiling and feeling satisfied -- that's when I'll move on to something else. Because, you know, nothing is worth the frustration once it gets to that point for us.
In the end, I appreciate your quest even if I didn't share the same positive experience others have reported. I truly I hope you'll make more... if you have fun doing so. My experience is that Authors just get better and better as they try new things and explore new creative ideas with the Foundry. Cheers.
Hindsight is 20/20 though. I definitely understand the frustration of running my maps without a mount. I do that in foundry on my avatar. I probably should stick to using structures like that for a backdrop instead of dimension.
I was really hoping to make a grand looking keep... befitting of housing a gargantuan Dracolich. I even put a small dracolich hanging from a ceiling... and many mausoleums to signify the keep's purpose at a glance. When I look at it now... I just see a waste of a month of my life. Way too big. There just isn't enough detail limit to make anything that big seem detailed.
I plan on keeping any future works I do on a much smaller scale. I was hoping that the giant pools of water would break up the large&stark feeling of the place... however... i'm not so sure if it does. The foundry editor is just too weaksauce to let me accomplish what I want too. That's the simple truth. I'll have to stick to smaller scale projects.
Nuff said.
You Cant Call Yourself That - 3/5
What the hell did I just play? Mad props for all the different ways of solving puzzles and different endings, but the tone and setting just weren't really my thing.
Assault on Pyremourne - 5/5
An engaging story, great maps, and well-placed encounters make this an excellent quest. Well done!
Black Ice and Plaguefire - N/A
Since I'm obviously not going to review my own quest, I'll just say that I had a blast making it and I hope everyone enjoyed it. If anyone didn't pick up on it, most of what the cultists are talking about in the safehouse are references to various other contest entries. I figured it would be a nice touch to tie everything together, and really make it feel like the Cult has many different plans all going on at the same time, orchestrated by the various cells.
One of the complaints I got a lot was about the last map being too dark, or too foggy, or too hard to see, or filled with white clouds? I was really confused until I realized that, apparently, if you turn your graphics settings way down then fog backdrops become opaque. Something to watch out for in the future, I guess.
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
I was concerned about this. I've been patiently waiting for my entry to be featured, but it never was. I had posted my quest here. I admit, I took a few liberties with the lore and background for the contest, but I intended the quest to be a light-hearted spin for everyone. I definitely published my quest before the due date, so I am not sure why it never appeared.
I really don't want the large amount of effort I put into making my satirical quest to be ignored in the contest.
Did you click "Submit to Cryptic" in the upper right of the quest details tab?
If you only published it you didn't give them permission to feature it.
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
You may not be able to post a review of your adventure, so I'll jump in and do it for you.
BLACK ICE & PLAGUEFIRE - 5/5
Fellow Foundry Authors, take note: THIS is how it's done, folks. DTZ has provided us with an exemplary adventure filled with so many elements that are simply done right. A truly enjoyable experience.
The quest offers an abundance optional character conversations and items to investigate, providing not only amusing "easter egg" moments but also added color and detail to the story. (I actually *wanted* to click on every NPC and read their conversations!) And the story itself is terrific, beginning with well-executed investigation sequences that lead the adventurer deeper into the lore of the game and into a truly heroic challenge. The pacing of the tale was flawless.
The maps are well furnished, with the final environments being especially cinematic. Ascending the dimly lit caves, surrounded by evidence of the spellplague, was truly creepy. And there's one chamber that houses some ancient bones and black ice that made me simply pause and enjoy such a well-crafted scene. Matching this final map are NPCs that have been costumed beautifully to fit the environment.
I especially enjoyed the excellent use of an NPC companion who was actually helpful and informative for progressing the story. Being able to split up and choose different paths was also fun and provides incentive for replay.
Finally, the combat for the adventure was very balanced. Enemy placement was sensical, and the combats varied nicely as I progressed through the maps.
All-in-all, one of the most enjoyable Foundries I've played. Kudos!
I'm rather sure I did. I cannot check at the moment, but I will be sure to check as soon as I can. I remember hitting the Submit to Cryptic button though.
Assuming I did, I am not sure how it could even be a part of the contest now. Since all the other entries have past, they would have to either ignore my entry or post it in its own separate week, which would be awkward and potentially unfair, whether or not it be in my favor.
Assuming I did not, I will rage at myself for a while. I was looking forward to sharing my quest with a chance of getting a reward. In addition, the featured quest would have helped me on my path on the Foundry achievements. It doesn't seem like that will be possible now.
If you submitted it for featuring, when you enter the foundry editor for that quest it will have a 'withdraw' button that is reddish in color. This button should be located in the image frame on the top right of your screen. That's a surefire way to know whether or not it is submitted for featuring. You'll either have a 'submit' button or a 'withdraw" button.
Regardless, there is basically no way I can actually prove that, and I doubt Cryptic would be able to either since it's been months since then.
EDIT:
This was on the locked official thread:
- Update: Contestants need to have their submissions submitted for featuring by the 9/2 at 6AM PDT, as we will feature the first batch of eligible entries starting 9/2!
My quest was submitted before then. I am not sure what happened, but it seems my quest was not qualified.
Mine says submitted 9/2. It's quite obvious they let the software determine who was eligible if you are the only person submitted beyond 9/2 that didn't get featured. I could be wrong of course. I also have no clue whether that was the last time you actually edited it or not. For the record, it's hard to believe that it somehow was changed without you editing it beyond 9/2 though. No offense intended.
Also, I am not sure what you mean by beyond. Do you mean before or after 9/2?
What makes you think that Cryptic has completed featuring ALL the CotD quests?
I don't recall seeing any notices anywhere.
If there were over a hundred entries, at 6 featured per week, that'd be 16.6 weeks.
If the contest ended 9/2 and featuring started 9/6 then we should be done around the end of December.
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
How's week 9 standing up against the other quests in the unofficial ratings? click here to find out.
Like charts better? I've just the thing!
I'm also entertained by all the comments telling me that it feels like an actual D&D adventure, since my entire quest series (including this one) is somewhat loosely based on the first campaign I ever ran.
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
Second, I should probably type my text out in advance in a text editor, and I really need to find the exact limits of the foundry, before I set about doing anything. I think I may have hit a foundry text box limit, and that hurt me a bit.
Third, details matter a lot. Like, probably the most levels of a lot. From playing dtz's quest, and talking to every npc, those kind of details really fleshed out the map. I think the maps in general may have been my greatest failing, though I'm positively sure other people will tell me otherwise. (I called it murder lake, and oh boy did it do it's job. From killing players, me while editing, and my score the tiniest bit, I now know first hand that sky map causes the smallest bit of anger rage. I was told it would happen. I did it anyway. I regret nothing! As a further side note I can guarantee that I died more at murder lake than any three of my players, unless those three players are a particular brand of hard headed, bad, and oblivious.)
Fourthly, I need to bug check much harder. Few people actually commented on issues, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there weren't any, as one of my friends experienced one on the final map that caused him more than one death. He's not supposed to die there! He's supposed to die at murder lake!
I'm sure that if (or when) I tackle the foundry again, I'll be more experienced, and this next quest will certainly be the best around (I Jest... a lot).
One last question, what endings did you fellows get? I forgot to mention it in the quest text that I would like to know, but I have a theory it was the "True End" or the "Evil End", as those were probably the most obvious and easiest to obtain.
Thank you to every one who reviewed and enjoyed my quest, and thanks to those people who played it and rage quit. Thank you once more to the people who reviewed and derived anti-enjoyment from my quest, as at least you told me about it, and a final thanks to those people who ran through the quest and quizzically asked, "The hell?" then told me and the internet, "The hell?" (Even better, it wasn't just you DTZ, and 3* confusion is still 3*'s, which is objectively half good.)
True End, here. Items were definitely an issue, and it didn't play well with a group. On "Murder Lake", my partner hopped over easily, I did the combat. Characters would drop out at odd times, then we'd find out what happened. I think you had a lot of things going on there -- Scott's back story, the whole quest being essentially about getting stinking drunk, I dunno. I gave it four stars because there was something really endearing about the characters. There were issues, but they weren't deal killers.
Probably the biggest problem with this quest, aside from the items, was the length. This quest should have been half an hour.
My contest entry also used items to keep track of player choices, but I used a lot fewer of them, and I confined the important choices to just one map.
Your reviews have been an incredibly enjoyable experience to read, and I was happy to read your review of my quest. I'm not too surprised at either your or Kasul's final score for my quest.
As for the story, I was going for something different. My friend pitched the idea that I should do a foundry about finding out some random fellows are joining up with the Cult of the Dragon, and your hero felt like that was a bad thing. Then you find out that the real cult of the dragon is not happy at them for throwing a BIG PARTY in the real cult's name. Then it blossomed from there.
I wouldn't even say the premise was bad - it was certainly very creative, it just didn't resonate well with me personally.
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
Featured Foundry Quest: Whispers of an Ancient Evil [v3] - NW-DQ4WKW6ZG
Foundry Quest: Harper Chronicles: Blacklake - NW-DCPA4W2Q5
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
Assault on Pyremourn
@ZWATHA
NW-DQT5KLBA5
(4 stars)
Excellent environments, and good character editing.
Dialog was ok, but not any choices.
Some finding your own way, which I liked
Black Ice and Plaguefire
@Dark_T_Zeratul
NW-DKOKQ3B7Q
(4 stars)
I liked the story, and most of the maps. I thought one map had to much fog.
A good role playing adventure.
Not good for a daily Foundry but good for adventuring
The Neverwinter Conspiracy (1.0)
@Pingconchere
NW-DEEIHY5B7
(5 stars)
This is by far the best foundry I have played in a long while.
Great maps, dialog, menus, and special effects.
Loved the story, and the conspiracy!
Very long, but worth it!
A must play!
Ricben
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
Hey now, don't give away spoilers
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!