Brainstorming ways to abuse the Foundry to help fix problems before they arise

mishakal1 · January 2013

After watching a youtube video of the Lead Producer discussing the Foundry feature last night, I was thinking of all the ways people would immediately try to abuse this really awesome feature to break the game. I thought we could start a thread here to list possible ways. I'm sure Cryptic has already anticipated this and built some safeguards into the Foundry to prevent this from happening but I thought some collective brainstorming might be beneficial to come up with other ideas. The purpose of all this is to prevent these things from becoming issues in the first place.

I'll start:

1. Create a multi-level room with no way for monsters on the bottom to reach the top floor (either remove stairs if possible or put large obstruction in the way). Put your spawn point on the second floor. Fill the lower room with melee-only monsters. Spell/Arrow to kill. Rinse, repeat.

I'm sure other people could come up with much better ideas...

xearrik · January 2013

I think the most common form of abuse will be xp, gold, and item farming. With large groups of easy to dispatch mobs.

I can think of one very quick way to cheat that should be worked on.

I saw a dart trap in the Control Wizard video. If this game has all the normal traps that a D&D game should. And the monsters can be damaged by them, like they should. Then you just put a very powerful group of monsters at the end of a hallway filled with traps. You then aggro them. They will die in the traps before they reach you. Then you hit a lever put in front of the traps, disabling them. Then you go and collect your loot.

I would like this possible issue resolved without taking out traps and keeping the ability for traps to damage mobs.

mishakal1 · January 2013

Ahhh good call. I wonder if monsters are damaged by traps. I agree they should be...

pilf3r · January 2013

Hmm that trap thing could be a serious problem.

mastrshadow · January 2013

There will never be a perfect solution. The above could be a very realistic scenario. Keep in mind that every quest needs to be reviewed and approved by I think 5 reviewers before it becomes available. I think that's the best approach to not limit us too much but also weed out exploiters.

gillrmn · January 2013

mishakal1 wrote: »

...
1. Create a multi-level room with no way for monsters on the bottom to reach the top floor (either remove stairs if possible or put large obstruction in the way). Put your spawn point on the second floor. Fill the lower room with melee-only monsters. Spell/Arrow to kill. Rinse, repeat.

I'm sure other people could come up with much better ideas...

This is actually happening in STO right now and is a relatively new exploit. Cryptic will need some time, but they might implement removal of XP if enemies are unable to reach player. Such a thing is possible with the engine.

However, I would prefer Guild's War way reporting it and let the people who exploited it suffer by having their account suspended. Ofcourse, they can make new ones but they will loose something at least.

EDIT:
Another way is that enemies will drink potions when they are not attacking you making such a fight very long and hence waste of effort.

kyllroy2 · January 2013

So, we know for sure that experience, levels and gear from foundry created adventures transfer into the packaged campaign?

pilf3r · January 2013

kyllroy2 wrote: »

So, we know for sure that experience, levels and gear from foundry created adventures transfer into the packaged campaign?

I am pretty sure xp level and gear from the end chest that the server randomly spawns depending on length/difficulty of quest does. I think the foundry author can make items for use in the quest but these can't leave the quest/instance.

kyllroy2 · January 2013

I read up on another exploit thread and figure that there will be holes that the devious will find no matter what is done. Minimizing exploits is still a full time job for someone and we know exactly how much time they have allowed for this by the track record over the last 4 years.

All I can say is that not allowing foundry beta testing to be done by us is a huge mistake and there is still time to adjust this.

gillrmn · January 2013

kyllroy2 wrote: »

I read up on another exploit thread and figure that there will be holes that the devious will find no matter what is done. Minimizing exploits is still a full time job for someone and we know exactly how much time they have allowed for this by the track record over the last 4 years.

All I can say is that not allowing foundry beta testing to be done by us is a huge mistake and there is still time to adjust this.

Good thing is, cryptic knows it and they are able to hold the lines against exploiters. There have been heavy casualities yes, but the Wall of Neverwinter still holds against attacks of the plaguechanged! CHARGE!!!

EDIT:
*And now dragon appears*
TACTICAL RETREAT!!!
*runs away*

valandur1 · February 2013

Is there a FAQ that covers things like are modules repeatable? How is loot handled, namely loot from the last (epic) module boss guy? How will they prevent exploits like designers putting in high level mobs that for whatever reason can't attack the players (like their damage has been set to 0, or they are melee yet put in a cage where players can just range them to death?).

Is there a link where info like this is covered? Thanks! Really like the foundry idea, I think it'll be a lot of fun.

hercooles130uscg · February 2013

It might also come down to just good Game Moderation.

Without removing player choices, these exploits will be a real problem. But Cryptic needs to have a very in your face way of telling players Hey, we know that it is possible to exploit the system, we do not want you to. Anyone found to have made a quest with the sole intent of exploitation, or anyone knowingly abusing said quest will lose access to the Foundry.

Then, after a violating quest has been brought to their attention, they can look at see what players consistently abused that map. Players are not dumb, even if they pretend to be. They know what is right and wrong. They know that the above mentioned tactic with the traps is not good gameplay, but a good way to farm. If they then play that map many times, they are guilty.

chthonicmythos · February 2013

valandur1 wrote: »

Is there a FAQ that covers things like are modules repeatable? How is loot handled, namely loot from the last (epic) module boss guy? How will they prevent exploits like designers putting in high level mobs that for whatever reason can't attack the players (like their damage has been set to 0, or they are melee yet put in a cage where players can just range them to death?).

Is there a link where info like this is covered? Thanks! Really like the foundry idea, I think it'll be a lot of fun.

You don't get control over loot in the foundry: all the rewards are appropriate for the mob that was killed, and every quest has a reward chest. I think there is a minimum requirement for encounters so you can't have a quest where you just open a door and get a reward chest, not sure about that though. The only control you have over the mobs is how they look, they can and will use their abilites to try and murder the player. The only exploits I can think of atm is traps or if they can't reach the player, but that would be tricky to pull off.

ryger5 · February 2013

gillrmn wrote: »

Good thing is, cryptic knows it and they are able to hold the lines against exploiters. There have been heavy casualities yes, but the Wall of Neverwinter still holds against attacks of the plaguechanged! CHARGE!!!

Yeah sadly, there will be exploits and here's the thing, those missions will be INCREDIBLY popular when they are found. So weird, even though, of course playing such a scenario is a complete snore.

Then here's the incredible thing, when Cryptic discovers the exploit and removes the missions that had the exploit, gamers will wail about it.

Yes, they even complain about that.

See the incessant rage when Boss Farms were finally nerfed in City of Heroes for proof.

And did you ever try a COH boss farm? I tried one. I was very critical of them, vociferously so (who knew I had opinions?) and was challenged to try it. It was AWFUL...the dullest thing ever...you just sat in places where you could not really die, spamming your powers to mobs that could never really threaten, just to collect as much XP as the clock would allow.

MIND NUMBINGLY DULL. LIKE DULLER THAN FILING YOUR TAXES.

And yet, people did this for hours and hours...and then complained when it was no longer allowed.

Proof that a lot of gamers who claim they "love challenges" really just love to put points on the board. They become so focused on it, so convinced its the entire point of playing, they put up with excruciating torture and boredom to do it.

Some even have the audacity to claim it was "skill", or worse, assume everyone was envious of them, for squandering their time in this way.

Gamers. Are. Weird.

I am, first and foremost a gamer, so I very much include myself in that indictment!

infrasoundx · February 2013

You make sure the lost caverns of Tsojcanth stay lost! Problem solved.

Brainstorming ways to abuse the Foundry to help fix problems before they arise

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