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What are you going to do with the Foundry?

cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
edited January 2013 in General Discussion (PC)
Hi,
First thread here on this forum... though I have been lurking for a while and did reply to some posts in the past few days. I am very excited for this game, as I would imagine most of you are as well.

So rather than do the "when is the beta coming" thing, I wanted to ask the community their great ideas on the Foundry. What story will you tell? Anyone want to clue people in to their modules? Any teasers anyone want to let fly for their own content?

Obviously, the Foundry is going to be a huge selling point, and something I am really looking forward to. Lets hear some cool ideas!
Post edited by cosmictimber on
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  • lolwutruevendoinlolwutruevendoin Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I wanted to remake the Orden mines from the first torchlight, and try to make it as close as I can to the original. Hopefully I would be able to make Necropolis afterwards and make it a quest series. I guess I would have to rename some things to avoid copywrite but still make it obvious if you played the game (like instead of "Brink the Corrupted" name him "Crink the Disrupted")
  • quorforgedquorforged Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    Frankly, if I use the Foundry, it'll most likely be to try to figure out how to optimize XP/Loot per minute as much as possible. I'm not all that interested in story in video games; never have been. Books, TV, and movies are better at telling stories, and tabletop RPGs are massively better at cooperatively creating stories.

    It's the action-combat mechanics that most interest me in this game.
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I wanted to remake the Orden mines from the first torchlight, and try to make it as close as I can to the original. Hopefully I would be able to make Necropolis afterwards and make it a quest series. I guess I would have to rename some things to avoid copywrite but still make it obvious if you played the game (like instead of "Brink the Corrupted" name him "Crink the Disrupted")

    nice... very cool! I'd love to see someone map some old school legend of zelda levels. temples 1-9, in neverwinter... hilarious
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    ... What story will you tell? Anyone want to clue people in to their modules? Any teasers anyone want to let fly for their own content?

    Obviously, the Foundry is going to be a huge selling point, and something I am really looking forward to. Lets hear some cool ideas!

    The spoiler free teasers for my campaign can be found here.
    http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?24141-Maiden-in-the-Moon
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    gillrmn wrote: »
    The spoiler free teasers for my campaign can be found here.
    http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?24141-Maiden-in-the-Moon

    This is great stuff. I can't wait to see it in game. For me, this is the sort of thing that will give this game life (and plenty of legs). I really enjoy seeing the creativity of the community and high quality adventures. As a life long D&D-er, this stuff has me very excited. I like your writing, and while i realize this really doesn't give any story away, it is pretty engaging and paints a picture (even without any direct plot). well done!
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    ... I like your writing, and while i realize this really doesn't give any story away, it is pretty engaging and paints a picture (even without any direct plot). well done!

    Oh! And if you are wondering, it was all written from imagination inside my head and not based on any 'facts'. It just looks believable. So don't try it in RL :p
  • ruinedmirageruinedmirage Member Posts: 440 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2013
    quorforged wrote: »
    Frankly, if I use the Foundry, it'll most likely be to try to figure out how to optimize XP/Loot per minute as much as possible. I'm not all that interested in story in video games; never have been. Books, TV, and movies are better at telling stories, and tabletop RPGs are massively better at cooperatively creating stories.

    It's the action-combat mechanics that most interest me in this game.

    I remember hearing that more access to the Foundry will be given to those that make "significant contributions" to UGC. This could be a matter of controversy over time, because obviously some people prefer certain styles of gaming over another (and some heated discussions have been overcome already, too). I don't mean to reignite that fire, but getting more Foundry content through quality UGC is going to depend heavily on your target audience, and many people may find their perfect niche, while others rate it as a one-star quest with a bad review due to what they like.

    Too grindy? Long/short? Too easy or hard? Too much talking? Not enough talking? Is it solo friendly or require multiple specific class mechanics?

    I think this is going to be where the description and "tags" are crucial, and I want to urge all kind-hearted players to rate and review based on the accuracy of the type of quest being presented, rather than their own personal preference. That way it's up to both the authors and players to get the most enjoyment out of Foundry content.

    I'll be trying to make a wide variety of original lore for group and soloists that is understandable for newcomers to D&D. I'm going to try and use as many custom mobs as I can without having them sitting around waiting to get killed. I was wondering if it was possible to save inside an instance and pick it up later, though.... My continuing story arcs may be to long for a single mission.
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I remember hearing that more access to the Foundry will be given to those that make "significant contributions" to UGC. This could be a matter of controversy over time, because obviously some people prefer certain styles of gaming over another (and some heated discussions have been overcome already, too). ...

    You misunderstand. It is not like that. Neither is it that simple. It is a very complex process - check STO on how featured missions work.


    EDIT: You have complete access to foundry. If you feature your mission and it is selected by cryptic, they design the mission by themselves improving it like their own mission in consultation with you - so you overcome foundry limitations like adding loot - a bit of voiceovers etc. But they design it, not you - though you tell them X would be nice, this would be cool etc.
  • ruinedmirageruinedmirage Member Posts: 440 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2013
    We do know that there will be a DM Leveling system in which higher rated/higher played authors will gain access to more features in The Foundry.

    I t is my hope that they might consider "risky" choices such as voice-over, texture or other much beloved features at the very least to those who are able to obtain reknown for their content submissions.
    But that remains a personal hope and is no way hinted to being supported by the developers.

    Then I did misunderstand (from ambisinisterr's quote, no less), because this is the first time I've heard about devs working with the authors, and even featured missions in general.

    I'm also sorry to say that I don't know anything about STO or its Foundry, either. I'm not into Star Trek.
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    It seemed like the ratings were more in-depth than simply 1-5 starring it... but having not played it or anything... who knows. I agree though, obviously a solid description is key. As a player, I would want to know what kind of thing I am stepping into... I mean for any module d&d players, it typically tells you what you are getting into anyway. So a smart DM should also be a smart salesman so to speak.

    regardless, i think if people do a quality job, the rewards will be there. I heard/read of the ability to "tip" your DM with in game currency too if you think the quest was good. Additionally, the ability to follow creator's blogs in game etc. I think that's great. Hopefully, it all really gets implemented. :)
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    Then I did misunderstand (from ambisinisterr's quote, no less), because this is the first time I've heard about devs working with the authors, and even featured missions in general.

    I'm also sorry to say that I don't know anything about STO or its Foundry, either. I'm not into Star Trek.

    If you are confident about your mission, after you have completed it, you have the option to submit it to be featured.

    When you submit it, it goes through a long process of voting and cryptic going through the content. Then one mission/quest is selected for a week and it is featured on the main page of forums.

    But before they post that it is featured, they do tweaks to the quests. It is unknown how it actually goes, but once submitted, author is not able to edit the mission - only withdraw it any time in which case it won't be selected to be featured. So cryptic guys look at it, maybe there are places where talking is important but you do not get anything to talk right, they may add treasure or XP there. i.e. the things not possible for foundry authors. It can include from voice-overs to cinematics or anything possible only in official missions.

    DM levelling system is different. It means you get nice titles on forums like ambisnister has a different green colored title. It doesn't really do anything in the game. Maybe a few more slots etc.

    But everyone gets full access to anything on foundry from day 1 without having to pay. There is a reason for that, explained by the dev - but in crypticmapolis words, they throw down the red carpet for content creators. For creators who are able to get 5 star missions, they send the limousine too.
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    Then I did misunderstand (from ambisinisterr's quote, no less), because this is the first time I've heard about devs working with the authors, and even featured missions in general.

    I'm also sorry to say that I don't know anything about STO or its Foundry, either. I'm not into Star Trek.

    Yes, reading ambi's comments it seems he has confused "featured" thingy with DM-levelling thingy.

    @Ambi, you may need to double check and correct that.

    What he says is actually not incorrect in the context, however it gives wrong impression.

    Things like adding VO, cutscenes are possible, but he conviniently left the fact that it is a contest not unlike halloween contest, and a few (1-2) each month or so a re selected, maybe none at all if not up to mark.

    Then cryptic people kind of reconstruct that particular mission only after asking you. Normal joe like you and me does not get any access to the shinies.

    We do get DM Level X title or something like that on official forums, or maybe also in game when we play our characters. They are just like shiny bling, doesn't really do anything.
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    gillrmn wrote: »
    We do get DM Level X title or something like that on official forums, or maybe also in game when we play our characters. They are just like shiny bling, doesn't really do anything.

    well, it does designate you as a "quality" DM, which is nice.

    Related side note, I am sure this has been sent around a bunch already, but a wealth of foundry info here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pn7iU4EwTc
  • ruinedmirageruinedmirage Member Posts: 440 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2013
    Well, then I just hope people are honest in their voting, with more than a black or white (1 or 5 star) rating and some helpful critique. I can imagine they might need some extra help with sifting through featured submissions when the game starts, though. Good luck to them.

    Also, I think DM lvl rewards should be game related, as not everyone playing the game (or even the majority) will even consider registering for the forums at all.
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    Well, then I just hope people are honest in their voting, with more than a black or white (1 or 5 star) rating and some helpful critique. I can imagine they might need some extra help with sifting through featured submissions when the game starts, though. Good luck to them.

    You can wish, but STO tells me that many of the people who vote are trolls. But those who really play your mission and give feedback are very precious and rare, and you should try to get in touch with them to ask more about their feedback by thanking them profoundly.

    But do not be discouraged by a rating saying, "1-star: no combat" when you have clearly listed in first two lines of description in capital letters that "NO COMBAT IN THIS MAP..."

    A foundry author needs to be patient and believe in his vision while ignoring obvious trolling.
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    Does STO have the concept of a Author's blog? That might go a long way. I am very inclined to follow good authors, and to correspond with them as they work on new projects.

    Realizing that full well that an MMO and DnD are not one and the same... I would like to think that a DnD UGC set may have a better class of people (wishful thinking perhaps) because the very nature of DnD is UGC.

    I've played countless adventures in the pen and paper world, and I always try to be respectful and engaging with the DM... because 1) its hard work and 2) its more fun for everyone.

    anyway... i preach too much
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    ...
    Realizing that full well that an MMO and DnD are not one and the same... I would like to think that a DnD UGC set may have a better class of people (wishful thinking perhaps) because the very nature of DnD is UGC.

    I've played countless adventures in the pen and paper world, and I always try to be respectful and engaging with the DM... because 1) its hard work and 2) its more fun for everyone....

    There will be good comments and useful comments, but for every one of such, there will be 10 trolling content. Unfortunately, trolling does have more effect on best of authors. They are not getting much out of it except appreciation, so they may decide to leave making any future quests.

    Worse, they may turn on some good reviewer - displaced aggression and all that.

    So a foundry author should be prepared to meet trolling head on and learn to ignore it completely.
  • kheldrynkheldryn Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    Depending on the mechanics of it I may remake an old dungeon a friend and I made for the old PnP game. It was very trap heavy, thus a challenge for rogues. But also made you think..hmm.. there was a trap in the last 3 rooms.. ok... there's got to be one here somewhere.. moments. Creating the boss encounters as well as random encounters and set encounters would be nice and maybe even a set or random loot generation system for your dungeon would be nice to add replayability. We'll see.. Didn't use STO's Foundry much.. May revisit it later as I haven't played around with it since they first introduced it. But it was fun "Trying" to make my own mission.

    "If" I do make something expect any mission I make to include all elements.. RP, Combat.. Puzzles even perhaps... I always liked to keep players on their toes in the PnP games. It would be nice to bring those old adventures I created to life for all of you to enjoy. I know some people like a mission where you don't have to fight, but a fight, even if there's only one really does seem to make a story complete.
    Vice Admiral Kheldryn B'ourne-United Federation of Planets-Engineer
    "On my planet, we live underground. We're at home in space, Its dark. Let the darkness show us the way."
    "I found a bug in Beta, Cryptic squished it. STO Founder and Proud LTS member."
  • zorbanezorbane Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    FYI right now (from a Foundry author's perspective) there's been a large number of farming missions created which have become quite popular. Even ones where high level space ships are set to not fire back and players can shoot them down with ease to acquire the lootz. I don't know if Cryptic is going to respond to this or not.

    As mentioned above, this is an MMO and for the majority of the players lootz comes first.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Check out my Foundry missions:
    Standalone - The Great Escape - The Galaxy's Fair - Purity I: Of Denial - Return to Oblivion
    Untitled Series - Duritanium Man - The Improbable Bulk - [WIP] Commander Rihan
  • ruinedmirageruinedmirage Member Posts: 440 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2013
    zorbane wrote: »
    FYI right now (from a Foundry author's perspective) there's been a large number of farming missions created which have become quite popular. Even ones where high level space ships are set to not fire back and players can shoot them down with ease to acquire the lootz. I don't know if Cryptic is going to respond to this or not.

    As mentioned above, this is an MMO and for the majority of the players lootz comes first.

    I wasn't aware space ships were even in the MMs for 4E.
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I wasn't aware space ships were even in the MMs for 4E.

    Spelljammer... don't you remember? :p

    Zorbane is STO foundry author very excited to make quests in NW Foundry. I am waiting for his quests :)
  • zylaxxzylaxx Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 591 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2013
    Hi,
    First thread here on this forum... though I have been lurking for a while and did reply to some posts in the past few days. I am very excited for this game, as I would imagine most of you are as well.

    So rather than do the "when is the beta coming" thing, I wanted to ask the community their great ideas on the Foundry. What story will you tell? Anyone want to clue people in to their modules? Any teasers anyone want to let fly for their own content?

    Obviously, the Foundry is going to be a huge selling point, and something I am really looking forward to. Lets hear some cool ideas!

    Let me first tell you a small backstory to give you context. In 1994, I was deployed to South America while I was in the Military. During our 6 month deployment our company was forbidden to go off post due to the nature of our deployment. Because of this, during our downtime we spent alot of time play Dungeon's and Dragon's. Our DM setup this campaign that lasted for 4 months of daily play sessions of 3-4 hours in length. It was extremely epic in nature and had alot of subterfuge, politics and story to go along with it.

    I am still trying to remember most of that epic campaign and during the last 3-4 months I have slowly been accumalating information based on that campaign as I remember it. I hope to recreate the majority of it (all except for the naval voyage our DM put in that lasted about 2 weeks).
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Character is what a man is in the dark
  • zylaxxzylaxx Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 591 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2013
    quorforged wrote: »
    Frankly, if I use the Foundry, it'll most likely be to try to figure out how to optimize XP/Loot per minute as much as possible. I'm not all that interested in story in video games; never have been. Books, TV, and movies are better at telling stories, and tabletop RPGs are massively better at cooperatively creating stories.

    It's the action-combat mechanics that most interest me in this game.

    Frankly I hope there aren't many DM's like you and if they are they don't get published after going through user review. Not to start a flame war or anything but I am 100% onboard with having content to do 100% of the time and could care less about min-maxing my time or aquiring phat loots. The #1 reason why almost ever MMO has failed IMO is due to a lack of content and UGC attempts to correct that. So if almost all the missions are these 10 min excurssions into the recess of a 12 year old's mind with no story and no retention to my long term memory they should not even bother.

    Give me long term enjoyment based on meaningful content that matters!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Character is what a man is in the dark
  • iamtruthseekeriamtruthseeker Member, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    zylaxx wrote: »
    Frankly I hope there aren't many DM's like you and if they are they don't get published after going through user review. Not to start a flame war or anything but I am 100% onboard with having content to do 100% of the time and could care less about min-maxing my time or aquiring phat loots. The #1 reason why almost ever MMO has failed IMO is due to a lack of content and UGC attempts to correct that. So if almost all the missions are these 10 min excurssions into the recess of a 12 year old's mind with no story and no retention to my long term memory they should not even bother.

    Give me long term enjoyment based on meaningful content that matters!


    Don't worry, the game stops authors from placing their own treasures and exploits exactly for this reason. It's all handled in game. Make a one creature 5-second mission, gte a low crappy end reward. Make a difficult quest with scaled 5 person difficulty, get much better end chest rewards.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    One way to stop exploits would be to give more XP in official quests so anyone who exploits foundry does not get more XP than they would get from official missions. That way people will come to foundry for what it is actually intended - ever changing content.

    And instead of XP they can assign astral diamond with time limit on foundry quests or something... I am sure devs would have thought of something.
    Don't worry, the game stops authors from placing their own treasures and exploits exactly for this reason. It's all handled in game. Make a one creature 5-second mission, gte a low crappy end reward. Make a difficult quest with scaled 5 person difficulty, get much better end chest rewards.

    Oh! Truth, I got more post than you today because you took yesterday off :)
    Because they don't add posts before the forum merge.
    I gotta enjoy it till it lasts (though doesn't seem very long)

    *brushes off his useless posts under the carpet*
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I'm am pretty sure I read that there are going to be mechanics in place to prevent a good deal of exploits. (I know devs say this sort of thing all the time) From what I have seen, xp is set. They have (and i will simplify here) the concept of a easy/medium/hard encounter with already designated xp and loot table. So you are really just picking the difficulty of the encounter... and perhaps for the number of player as well (ie. 3 player medium encounter)... and then you can skin the mobs, place them, create the room, the plot etc.

    Again, a basic understanding on my part, but it did seem that it was locked down from that angle. Also, i read that "official" quests and ugc quests are supposed to be indistinguishable.
  • cosmictimbercosmictimber Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    zylaxx wrote: »
    Let me first tell you a small backstory to give you context. In 1994, I was deployed to South America while I was in the Military. During our 6 month deployment our company was forbidden to go off post due to the nature of our deployment. Because of this, during our downtime we spent alot of time play Dungeon's and Dragon's. Our DM setup this campaign that lasted for 4 months of daily play sessions of 3-4 hours in length. It was extremely epic in nature and had alot of subterfuge, politics and story to go along with it.

    I am still trying to remember most of that epic campaign and during the last 3-4 months I have slowly been accumalating information based on that campaign as I remember it. I hope to recreate the majority of it (all except for the naval voyage our DM put in that lasted about 2 weeks).

    Sounds like there is a lot for you to work with. I look forward to it!
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    You are right, but what zorbane is talking about is like defanging a cobra or black mamba and then killing it to get XP which you get for cobra or mamba.

    So you put melee crowds unreachable to you while you take them safely out with ranged weapons from unreachable location.
  • stormdrag0nstormdrag0n Member Posts: 3,222 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I had a pretty significant campaign planned, but it's on hold at this point; Cryptic has a lot to prove in regards to the direction of the IP and communication before I devote any significant time.
    Always Looking for mature laidback players/rpers for Dungeon Delves!
  • mrbuttflakesmrbuttflakes Member Posts: 407 Arc User
    edited January 2013
    I've been working on some stories to include. I'm also considering converting my book I'm writing to a campaign, if the foundry's capable. I'd just have to shorten dialog a bit.
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