Yes, but as part of a contest? With valuable rewards at stake?
I guess it's just a sad truth, eh? Oh well. At least we're getting a whole bunch of new Foundry adventures to enjoy, and I'm glad every time I read about someone Authoring their first adventure as part of this contest.
Well the original contests didnt valuable prizes (other than the glory of winning), but it happened. It helped to be popular on the forums as well. At least one contest entry during beta got one single play other than the author testing it on live (and this was in a contest with only eight entries, and promoted by two Cryptic news posts, winning quests had a few hundred plays in this contest).
I've already put my money where my mouth is so to speak when it comes to promoting the Foundry. I'm not going to be entering this contest, let others make Foundries.
In order to give everyone the same amount of time to be judged, we're only counting point accumulations from after the eligible Foundry missions have been announced in our blog. Nefarious individuals can down-vote all they want, but their actions won't have any effect until the judging period starts.
I figure this should keep things fair in that everyone has the same amount of time to accumulate ratings. That way the authors that finished super quickly or authors that published later in the contest have the same chance to win. Thoughts?
I'm doing my best to keep things fair without completely rewriting the contest rules. I can't put into words the respect and admiration I have for the Foundry Author community and I want to make this contest an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I've really appreciated all of the feedback you guys have given me so far and plan to implement it in future contests ('cause there will totally be more). Definitely let me know what you all think. Thanks!
Thanks Akromatik! That was one thing that was worrying me, and it's why I wanted to have mine ready so soon, because I though that others might get advantage if I took too long.
Great to see this will make the contest more fair.
I'd love to see the little vignettes for those quests when they get "featured."
It was like a little 30 second commercial/teaser for the quest, with awesome voiceover and nicely chosen video snippets.
I'm really hoping I can get mine together & looking & working well before the deadline. I may just be self-conscious, but, while I liked my idea in theory, I am liking it less the further into making it I progress. Here's hoping something changes soon....
Ok so I started my contest entry on the 3rd or 4th of July. I'm not even half way done yet. Trying to make custom maps for variety's sake.
I love the foundry, and I love that there are now rewards for our efforts.
With that said I really have to say this though:
The amount of time I put into a custom map is ridiculous. We really need a full terrain editor and please oh please at least give us every object that is in the game for the foundry. We desperately need more of everything. Not just more statues, and walls and floors... I mean everything. The decals, the furniture, the encounter mobs.... everything.
It's frustrating having such a limited editor when you're trying to put out quality maps.
I need some help with my quest. To the people knowledgeable in D&D lore, is there any way to resurrect someone if their phylactery is destroyed? I'm playing with the idea of resurrecting Sammaster but I want to make sure that it is actually possible before I begin.
I need some help with my quest. To the people knowledgeable in D&D lore, is there any way to resurrect someone if their phylactery is destroyed? I'm playing with the idea of resurrecting Sammaster but I want to make sure that it is actually possible before I begin.
Are you talking about bringing him back as a lich, or as a mortal "as via the "Resurrect" spell? (I forget, is that still a thing in 4e?)
Officially I'd say no, but that hasn't stopped DMs of the past, and since it's your quest, I see no reason why it should necessarily stop you. Forgotten magic, and bizarre rituals that aren't a part of the actual rules/established setting lore make their way into quests and campaigns all the time as plot devices.
It could be the will of some dark god, or a 3000 year old scroll detailing obscure ancient magics. Or, perhaps since with the 4e Forgotten Realms, so much has been changed and Toril got mixed up with Abeir, maybe after the spellplague, some unknown magic from another world entered Faerun, allowing for something which was formerly thought impossible.
If you want an example of what's been done with him in other campaigns, one of the Living Forgotten Realms adventures has the Cult of the Dragon binding his spirit to the corpse of one of Tiamat's avatars in order to resurrect him as a draconic god of death (obviously that's a bit beyond the scope of the Foundry, but bringing Sammaster back can absolutely be done if you get creative).
...
To fix this, you need to either alter the existing system of judging, or add an equal number of prizes for un-biased, staff judged prizes.
...
Please, add an alternative judging system. The ease with which the current one can be manipulated makes it highly unfair and undermines the purpose of the contest.
I strongly agree with these statements. Basing it solely on stars means some easily-farmed barely-over-15-minutes quest is likely to win, unless some large guild mobilizes to skew the ratings. As I am making a story-driven quest that will probably end up being about 45 minutes, I fully expect at this point NOT to win, because the scoring system is stacked against me. Having a few prizes for "Judges Choice" would definitely help to counter this.
Update: Thankfully, after my mini-breakdown, I found that it actually did auto-save a lot of it. Then a while later my computer just shut off on me (apparently the cord had gotten unplugged on the other end). But I believe I got almost everything saved before that happened, so I should be pretty good now.
I just thought I'd post a bit more about the problems of player reviews and judging. It's actually part of the Foundry review system as a whole, but it might be helpful to consider a couple of real-world examples.
I mentioned earlier receiving a 1-star review from a player. This person was kind enough to reply to my inquiry with a lengthy explanation for their review. It turns out that they got stuck in a part of the map geometry at the end of the adventure, couldn't get unstuck to reach the exit, had to log out of Neverwinter and log back in. They offered to re-review the quest if the problem is fixed, and that's awesome. I'm glad I contacted them. (Of course, they also said that part of the adventure was "an extreme joy" because of the strategic combat I included, and praised other elements of the adventure. So... a 1-star? For something that was "an extreme joy?" It seems to me that the average star ratings are so very, very subjective.)
But I received a second 1-star rating. This time the player simply wrote, "Why couldn't we fight a real dragon at the end?" Clearly the player doesn't understand the limitations of the Foundry. I'm convinced no other Author would ask that question because we all know how much we'd like access to dragons in the Foundry. (Hey, the game IS based on "dungeons" and "dragons," right?) Unfortunately, when I tried writing this player to let him know the Foundry limitations, I got that dread message that the player doesn't exist. Really? Why is that? How can a player leave a negative Foundry review and then not exist? Hmmmm...
Anyways, I'm glad that multiple plays and positive reviews balance out things like this. But there's just a huge amount of subjectivity in player judging. In this latter situation, it's like having someone judge Olympic figure skating even though they've never put on a pair of skates and they don't know their lutz from their swizzle.
I too am troubled by this, after all, the internet seems to be the same maturity level as middle school sometimes. I too fear that it may be a popularity contest or simply a contest among competing guilds.
In creating my quest, (my first published one,) I tried to take into account that most players are looking for "dailies" and tried to keep the actual play time (as tested by me, who knows where to go) around 15-20 minutes. I also researched the Wizards website on the upcoming PnP adventures and tried to incorporate the major factions involved, for continuity. Trying to give as much information as possible without being paragraphs and paragraphs of text was a little tough. I also play the quest daily, as each of my 3 characters, and occasionally, my wife will bring her two different characters to play test it. I hope that all the thought and research, and play testing pays off. In the end, it's just a game, but it's also good to know people appreciate the creative side those of us choose to show by participating in the Foundry.
"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
It is going to happen. A few of the really bad quests I have played so far that are literally just a straight dungeon killing 10 cult of the dragon spawn are rated higher then some of the best. I think all the authors are trying very hard to win this contest and sadly the mechanics of it can lend to some jealous ratings or down voting so another has a chance to win.
So far I think I am the only one posting open opinions about my rivals in the contest. I just hope to God that if a 15 minute straight line kill 25 groups of cult of the dragon on a pre populated map wins because of support from a mega guild, that the developers look at those of us who are legitimate in the crafting of a quest that truly deserves to win.
I just hope to God that if a 15 minute straight line kill 25 groups of cult of the dragon on a pre populated map wins because of support from a mega guild, that the developers look at those of us who are legitimate in the crafting of a quest that truly deserves to win.
I don't think we have anything to worry about -- the Devs are going to decide on and create an "eligible" list for the contest, and only the quests that make it onto that will be viable. So, they should be able to weed out the "I dropped 50 mobs on a blank map and all my friends voted 5-stars."
So does the Foundry submitted to the contest have to be "Submit to Cryptic" Submitted or still able to edit after start date?
Genus Draco Fad and the Muster@Jintortle
ID: NW-DD5FLOBTJ Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Please participate and vote for your favourite - 26/6/2014 contest rating begins.
Sir Camps A Lot. Mr SlingShot Boom. XX Phantasmagorical. Jinn Dragonfeast.
SlingShot Boom Jr. Jocan Traders. Little Lord Forgatty, Dwarf Mean and introducing Necro Torquemada (The Warlock)
0
orangefireeMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,148Arc User
edited July 2014
I'm honestly not sure if you need to or not. You can edit it after submitting it to Cryptic though.
Neverwinter players are stubborn things....until you strip them down to bone. (Cursed players, my flowers, MINE!) Oh how I plotted their demise.
Nothing mentions being Submit to Cryptic -- that's only if you want to be considered for being Featured.
Contest is a separate entity it just needs to be published.
In order to give everyone the same amount of time to be judged, we're only counting point accumulations from after the eligible Foundry missions have been announced in our blog. Nefarious individuals can down-vote all they want, but their actions won't have any effect until the judging period starts.
I figure this should keep things fair in that everyone has the same amount of time to accumulate ratings. That way the authors that finished super quickly or authors that published later in the contest have the same chance to win. Thoughts?
I'm doing my best to keep things fair without completely rewriting the contest rules. I can't put into words the respect and admiration I have for the Foundry Author community and I want to make this contest an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I've really appreciated all of the feedback you guys have given me so far and plan to implement it in future contests ('cause there will totally be more). Definitely let me know what you all think. Thanks!
So does this mean all counters will be reset?
Should also the Quest be out of "For review section"? Or will there be a separate Competition TAB?
Or How are you going to add up the stars if no review left? You have a way to see the overall stars like in the foundry creation windows breakdown?
Genus Draco Fad and the Muster@Jintortle
ID: NW-DD5FLOBTJ Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Please participate and vote for your favourite - 26/6/2014 contest rating begins.
Sir Camps A Lot. Mr SlingShot Boom. XX Phantasmagorical. Jinn Dragonfeast.
SlingShot Boom Jr. Jocan Traders. Little Lord Forgatty, Dwarf Mean and introducing Necro Torquemada (The Warlock)
It's clear my work and travel schedule won't let me complete my entry into this contest. Even if I pushed it, I would just be stressed and have no fun. If I don't have fun making a quest, I don't see how anyone would have any fun playing it.
So I can do some reviews and offer editing help with the time I do have.
Find me in game with @DoctorBadger (Un)Academic Field Work Foundry Campaign: NWS-DAPZB2CTZ
I think mine is actually getting close to finished. It's a humorous take on the matter--and on D&D questing in general. I need to script some things, tweak some maps, and fill in some placeholder dialogs with real ones, but it's really starting to come together.
In order to give everyone the same amount of time to be judged, we're only counting point accumulations from after the eligible Foundry missions have been announced in our blog. Nefarious individuals can down-vote all they want, but their actions won't have any effect until the judging period starts.
I figure this should keep things fair in that everyone has the same amount of time to accumulate ratings. That way the authors that finished super quickly or authors that published later in the contest have the same chance to win. Thoughts?
I'm doing my best to keep things fair without completely rewriting the contest rules. I can't put into words the respect and admiration I have for the Foundry Author community and I want to make this contest an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I've really appreciated all of the feedback you guys have given me so far and plan to implement it in future contests ('cause there will totally be more). Definitely let me know what you all think. Thanks!
Just to clarify.
1.We make the Foundry between - Begin: 7/2/2014
End: 8/6/2014
2.Then the eligible Foundries will be announced in a Blog
3.Then the Playing and rating which goes towards who wins starts.
4.Then Winners announced: 8/27/14
5.So when does the voting period end (8/26/14) ??
Genus Draco Fad and the Muster@Jintortle
ID: NW-DD5FLOBTJ Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Please participate and vote for your favourite - 26/6/2014 contest rating begins.
Sir Camps A Lot. Mr SlingShot Boom. XX Phantasmagorical. Jinn Dragonfeast.
SlingShot Boom Jr. Jocan Traders. Little Lord Forgatty, Dwarf Mean and introducing Necro Torquemada (The Warlock)
Comments
I've already put my money where my mouth is so to speak when it comes to promoting the Foundry. I'm not going to be entering this contest, let others make Foundries.
In order to give everyone the same amount of time to be judged, we're only counting point accumulations from after the eligible Foundry missions have been announced in our blog. Nefarious individuals can down-vote all they want, but their actions won't have any effect until the judging period starts.
I figure this should keep things fair in that everyone has the same amount of time to accumulate ratings. That way the authors that finished super quickly or authors that published later in the contest have the same chance to win. Thoughts?
I'm doing my best to keep things fair without completely rewriting the contest rules. I can't put into words the respect and admiration I have for the Foundry Author community and I want to make this contest an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I've really appreciated all of the feedback you guys have given me so far and plan to implement it in future contests ('cause there will totally be more). Definitely let me know what you all think. Thanks!
Great to see this will make the contest more fair.
I'd love to see the little vignettes for those quests when they get "featured."
It was like a little 30 second commercial/teaser for the quest, with awesome voiceover and nicely chosen video snippets.
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
I love the foundry, and I love that there are now rewards for our efforts.
With that said I really have to say this though:
The amount of time I put into a custom map is ridiculous. We really need a full terrain editor and please oh please at least give us every object that is in the game for the foundry. We desperately need more of everything. Not just more statues, and walls and floors... I mean everything. The decals, the furniture, the encounter mobs.... everything.
It's frustrating having such a limited editor when you're trying to put out quality maps.
Officially I'd say no, but that hasn't stopped DMs of the past, and since it's your quest, I see no reason why it should necessarily stop you. Forgotten magic, and bizarre rituals that aren't a part of the actual rules/established setting lore make their way into quests and campaigns all the time as plot devices.
It could be the will of some dark god, or a 3000 year old scroll detailing obscure ancient magics. Or, perhaps since with the 4e Forgotten Realms, so much has been changed and Toril got mixed up with Abeir, maybe after the spellplague, some unknown magic from another world entered Faerun, allowing for something which was formerly thought impossible.
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
I strongly agree with these statements. Basing it solely on stars means some easily-farmed barely-over-15-minutes quest is likely to win, unless some large guild mobilizes to skew the ratings. As I am making a story-driven quest that will probably end up being about 45 minutes, I fully expect at this point NOT to win, because the scoring system is stacked against me. Having a few prizes for "Judges Choice" would definitely help to counter this.
Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
I just thought I'd post a bit more about the problems of player reviews and judging. It's actually part of the Foundry review system as a whole, but it might be helpful to consider a couple of real-world examples.
I mentioned earlier receiving a 1-star review from a player. This person was kind enough to reply to my inquiry with a lengthy explanation for their review. It turns out that they got stuck in a part of the map geometry at the end of the adventure, couldn't get unstuck to reach the exit, had to log out of Neverwinter and log back in. They offered to re-review the quest if the problem is fixed, and that's awesome. I'm glad I contacted them. (Of course, they also said that part of the adventure was "an extreme joy" because of the strategic combat I included, and praised other elements of the adventure. So... a 1-star? For something that was "an extreme joy?" It seems to me that the average star ratings are so very, very subjective.)
But I received a second 1-star rating. This time the player simply wrote, "Why couldn't we fight a real dragon at the end?" Clearly the player doesn't understand the limitations of the Foundry. I'm convinced no other Author would ask that question because we all know how much we'd like access to dragons in the Foundry. (Hey, the game IS based on "dungeons" and "dragons," right?) Unfortunately, when I tried writing this player to let him know the Foundry limitations, I got that dread message that the player doesn't exist. Really? Why is that? How can a player leave a negative Foundry review and then not exist? Hmmmm...
Anyways, I'm glad that multiple plays and positive reviews balance out things like this. But there's just a huge amount of subjectivity in player judging. In this latter situation, it's like having someone judge Olympic figure skating even though they've never put on a pair of skates and they don't know their lutz from their swizzle.
In creating my quest, (my first published one,) I tried to take into account that most players are looking for "dailies" and tried to keep the actual play time (as tested by me, who knows where to go) around 15-20 minutes. I also researched the Wizards website on the upcoming PnP adventures and tried to incorporate the major factions involved, for continuity. Trying to give as much information as possible without being paragraphs and paragraphs of text was a little tough. I also play the quest daily, as each of my 3 characters, and occasionally, my wife will bring her two different characters to play test it. I hope that all the thought and research, and play testing pays off. In the end, it's just a game, but it's also good to know people appreciate the creative side those of us choose to show by participating in the Foundry.
Featured Foundry Quest: Whispers of an Ancient Evil [v3] - NW-DQ4WKW6ZG
Foundry Quest: Harper Chronicles: Blacklake - NW-DCPA4W2Q5
So far I think I am the only one posting open opinions about my rivals in the contest. I just hope to God that if a 15 minute straight line kill 25 groups of cult of the dragon on a pre populated map wins because of support from a mega guild, that the developers look at those of us who are legitimate in the crafting of a quest that truly deserves to win.
Do you have to complete and publish before you submit it here? I started mine, but didn't know if I should wait until I am done, before jumping in.
I don't think we have anything to worry about -- the Devs are going to decide on and create an "eligible" list for the contest, and only the quests that make it onto that will be viable. So, they should be able to weed out the "I dropped 50 mobs on a blank map and all my friends voted 5-stars."
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
ID: NW-DD5FLOBTJ Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Please participate and vote for your favourite - 26/6/2014 contest rating begins.
Sir Camps A Lot. Mr SlingShot Boom. XX Phantasmagorical. Jinn Dragonfeast.
SlingShot Boom Jr. Jocan Traders. Little Lord Forgatty, Dwarf Mean and introducing Necro Torquemada (The Warlock)
Contest is a separate entity it just needs to be published.
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
So does this mean all counters will be reset?
Should also the Quest be out of "For review section"? Or will there be a separate Competition TAB?
Or How are you going to add up the stars if no review left? You have a way to see the overall stars like in the foundry creation windows breakdown?
ID: NW-DD5FLOBTJ Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Please participate and vote for your favourite - 26/6/2014 contest rating begins.
Sir Camps A Lot. Mr SlingShot Boom. XX Phantasmagorical. Jinn Dragonfeast.
SlingShot Boom Jr. Jocan Traders. Little Lord Forgatty, Dwarf Mean and introducing Necro Torquemada (The Warlock)
So I can do some reviews and offer editing help with the time I do have.
(Un)Academic Field Work Foundry Campaign: NWS-DAPZB2CTZ
Just to clarify.
1.We make the Foundry between - Begin: 7/2/2014
End: 8/6/2014
2.Then the eligible Foundries will be announced in a Blog
3.Then the Playing and rating which goes towards who wins starts.
4.Then Winners announced: 8/27/14
5.So when does the voting period end (8/26/14) ??
ID: NW-DD5FLOBTJ Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Please participate and vote for your favourite - 26/6/2014 contest rating begins.
Sir Camps A Lot. Mr SlingShot Boom. XX Phantasmagorical. Jinn Dragonfeast.
SlingShot Boom Jr. Jocan Traders. Little Lord Forgatty, Dwarf Mean and introducing Necro Torquemada (The Warlock)