What do you require for a five star rating?

pris23 · July 2013

Hi all,

I started this thread to get an idea of what you as players/authors think a quest needs to have to get five star ratings. Every person is different and I want to get an idea of what this community thinks is important.

I personally tend to vote higher for quests based on:
1. Enjoyment
2. Balance (story and combat) - This does not mean that every quest must have both. I mean balanced for the type of quest that it is.
3. Pacing
4. Creativity
5. Effort

How about the rest of you?

tripplela · July 2013

I was harscher before, now it's just a fun meter and nothing else.

gornonthecob · July 2013

1 Star - The quest was virtually unplayable due to bugs, spawn issues. Quest was a mob grinder.
2 Stars - There were several glitches which hindered progress through the quest. Quest was a mob grinder in somewhat original environment.
3 Stars - A complete, yet average, quest with little detailing, vanilla style, typos/grammatical errors, annoying mob placement, mediocre story.
4 Stars - The quest was well polished with good layouts, good story, and believable characters. There is an entrance point to each map. (The way I came in.) You would not believe how many times I turn around at the start of a map and see a brick wall. HOW DID I GET IN?!
5 Stars - The amount of detail is astounding. The quest's purpose feels legit, and the NPC's who deliver it feel real. Author remembered the golden rule of NPC dialogue (A player should be responding to NPC text every 6-8 seconds.) I was rewarded for exploration (ie additional lore or random interactions)

zebular · July 2013

. . . . . For me, it all comes down to fun. If I had fun, no matter the bugs, I'll give it a high rating. I play to have fun so that is the deciding factor in my votes.

runebane · July 2013

Honestly? If I can complete the quest the first try and/or have a lot of fun it gets 5 stars from me. And I'll even ignore something being broken (and having to replay) if they clearly state its a first publish or test publish. If they mislabel it (ex: group mission marked a solo, puzzle quest with no puzzles, etc...); then I'll probably give it 3-4 stars, comment on that, and check back later. If they fix it I'll rerun it and change my rating to 5.

I know that's kind of a one sided way to look at things. But to many times my own quests have gotten 1-2 star rating for stuff foundry authors have no control over. Or just anonymous 1-2 star ratings with no feedback. Something has to balance that junk out.

I actually wish they'd just drop the current rating system. Give reviewers a like button. And if they hit that then they can mark a category for why they liked it. (H&S, Story, Puzzles, Jump Quest, etc...)

thalazar1 · July 2013

As with others I rate it on a fun scale, also some wow factor. bugs, spelling etc can all be fixed so i dont count those.
I never use 1 or 2 stars.
3 the author didnt put effort in
4 i enjoyed it and it looks like the author put effort into it
5 it blew me away, or i had the most fun i have had in a long time

lolsorhand · July 2013

It really depends, what matters most is how much fun I actually had in the foundry

feuygar · July 2013

I also look at the effort put in by the author, even if it is not necessary my play-style (e.g. endless elite combat):

After playing a few quests, I think those of us who care to give quality feedback have a good compass for giving a rating.

Regarding the original question of 5* - has something blown me away? It's me shouting out to the community, "Hey, play this".

422 - Yeenoghu's Bride

NW-DUMTEJ9KZ

redneckronin · July 2013

gornonthecob wrote: »

1 Star - The quest was virtually unplayable due to bugs, spawn issues. Quest was a mob grinder.
2 Stars - There were several glitches which hindered progress through the quest. Quest was a mob grinder in somewhat original environment.
3 Stars - A complete, yet average, quest with little detailing, vanilla style, typos/grammatical errors, annoying mob placement, mediocre story.
4 Stars - The quest was well polished with good layouts, good story, and believable characters. There is an entrance point to each map. (The way I came in.) You would not believe how many times I turn around at the start of a map and see a brick wall. HOW DID I GET IN?!
5 Stars - The amount of detail is astounding. The quest's purpose feels legit, and the NPC's who deliver it feel real. Author remembered the golden rule of NPC dialogue (A player should be responding to NPC text every 6-8 seconds.) I was rewarded for exploration (ie additional lore or random interactions)

Mine is very close to this.

An additional factor for me is "did I care what happened".

The two quests that stand out for me on "making me care" by having a compelling story, well told and with memorable NPCs are your own The Flame Keeper and Pris23's Into The Mist.

Those two quests are, for me, joined 1st place in the list of Foundries I have played.

Both quests were clear 5 Star quests from my point of view.

There are many other 5 Star rating I have given. mrthebozer's Bonderleaf's is one of the more memorable. Dzogen's "Bill's Tavern" also qualifies. But for different reasons.

Bonderleaf's has a great story, but it didn't quite make me care as much as the other two I mentioned. Where it did excel was in creative use of the Foundry and attention to detail.

Bill's Tavern scored 5/5 just on a simple "fun factor", I enjoyed it immensely. The story was not a "make me care" story, but the quest is short enough to carry that off.

The longer a quest gets the more it needs to pull me in and make me care.

All The Best

lonnehart · July 2013

The quest has to be fun for me. But I lean more toward 5 stars if it's got humor in it. I never give any less than 3 stars, but if I'm bored with the quest and/or it's got bugs that make it unplayable for me then I don't rate it at all.

redneckronin · July 2013

I should add that if I genuinely feel a quest is 1 or 2 Stars I refrain from doing an in-game rate/review and send a PM to the Author explaining why I didn't rate/review.

All The Best

karitr · July 2013

*DISCLAIMER* This only usually applies if I have picked up a quest to play. If I am running through a quest that is still a WIP, then obviously I won't rate until the author has a chance to correct any major issues, if they arise.

For me, as a player, it is quite simple. Everything starts at a five and I deduct for the following:

Poor grammar. A few typos don't bother me, but general poor grammar and spelling really pull down the enjoyment and play value of an otherwise quality quest. Sometimes to the point that the story would be more straightforward and easier to follow if all the text were removed.
Was the overview honest? I'm not talking about mysterious, ambiguous introductions in an overview - I love those, when they are in keeping with the flavour of the quest. But I hate being misled. If you tell me your quest is combat orientated and I find it is actually a self-published novella, you're gonna lose a point.
Combat. I understand that combat scaling is pretty much impossible for the author to control, but an overuse of stacked and/or control immune mobs will leave me frustrated rather that enjoying the fight.

The degree to how much will be deducted will vary - especially with grammar - but if I can see an author has gone above and beyond in other areas, for example map crafting or character/story development, I prefer to award 5* to reflect that effort and in my comments make a note of any issue I came across, so the next player to read my review isn't expecting total perfection. But it's all intuitive, I don't sit at my screen with a notebook in hand

Three is as low as I will go, but I will score 1* if I come across an exploit map. Also bear in mind there are many quests I would theoretically score a 2, if I was able to complete them - or wasn't so bored I had to quit before the end - which is why I think my bottom line of three is fair and not an "abuse of the rating system".

PS: I have no issue with "Go to next map". Just thought I would throw that in here as I see so many authors picking up on it when they give feedback. As a player, it really doesn't bother me in the slightest.

redneckronin · July 2013

karitr wrote: »

PS: I have no issue with "Go to next map". Just thought I would throw that in here as I see so many authors picking up on it when they give feedback. As a player, it really doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I'd use "Go to next map" if from the story point of view there was still ambiguity where the player was going, especially if I wanted to retain some element of surprise.

If the player already knows where they are going from the story it makes more sense to me to recreate that certainty in that tool-tip.

Like all things though, its purely a matter of personal preference/choice.

All The Best

alaerick · July 2013

karitr wrote: »

*DISCLAIMER* This only usually applies if I have picked up a quest to play. If I am running through a quest that is still a WIP, then obviously I won't rate until the author has a chance to correct any major issues, if they arise.

For me, as a player, it is quite simple. Everything starts at a five and I deduct for the following:
Poor grammar. A few typos don't bother me, but general poor grammar and spelling really pull down the enjoyment and play value of an otherwise quality quest. Sometimes to the point that the story would be more straightforward and easier to follow if all the text were removed.

Was the overview honest? I'm not talking about mysterious, ambiguous introductions in an overview - I love those, when they are in keeping with the flavour of the quest. But I hate being misled. If you tell me your quest is combat orientated and I find it is actually a self-published novella, you're gonna lose a point.

Combat. I understand that combat scaling is pretty much impossible for the author to control, but an overuse of stacked and/or control immune mobs will leave me frustrated rather that enjoying the fight.

The degree to how much will be deducted will vary - especially with grammar - but if I can see an author has gone above and beyond in other areas, for example map crafting or character/story development, I prefer to award 5* to reflect that effort and in my comments make a note of any issue I came across, so the next player to read my review isn't expecting total perfection. But it's all intuitive, I don't sit at my screen with a notebook in hand

Three is as low as I will go, but I will score 1* if I come across an exploit map. Also bear in mind there are many quests I would theoretically score a 2, if I was able to complete them - or wasn't so bored I had to quit before the end - which is why I think my bottom line of three is fair and not an "abuse of the rating system".

PS: I have no issue with "Go to next map". Just thought I would throw that in here as I see so many authors picking up on it when they give feedback. As a player, it really doesn't bother me in the slightest.

This is pretty much how I rate things as well. I don't do 1 stars unless it's exploit map. If I would rate a 2 or 3 I message the author with suggestions. 4 is for maps which have the polish but weren't enjoyable / memorable in the long run and 5 for the ones I really enjoyed.

karitr · July 2013

redneckronin wrote: »

I'd use "Go to next map" if from the story point of view there was still ambiguity where the player was going, especially if I wanted to retain some element of surprise.

If the player already knows where they are going from the story it makes more sense to me to recreate that certainty in that tool-tip.

Like all things though, its purely a matter of personal preference/choice.

All The Best

For me I see it as nothing more than a (Cryptic designed) game mechanic. I mean the line begins with "Click F", so no matter what an author adds for flavour it is still an OOC mechanic.

Thankfully, I am able to sub-consciously ignore these types of mechanics when playing, which is why I don't notice the "Go to" on doors or teleports etc. Authors who are looking at it from an intimate knowledge of the toolset don't have that luxury.

That's why I mentioned it really; it is a small but (to me) interesting example of how perspectives can differ between author and player

Now if the quest objective read "Go to next map", then I would notice.

zahinder · July 2013

I give five stars if the quest is well-done, free of any significant bugs, and impresses me in one or more ways.

Really good attention to detail, writing, humor, or gameplay can make me rate five stars.

As for one or two stars, some quests are really terrible. Sorry, take your lumps with grace and learn.

I don't have patience for modern 'everyone gets a gold star!' 'confidence-building.'

pris23 · July 2013

This is awesome! Thanks for your input guys. It seems that, so far, people care about enjoyment factor and effort before other things factor in. I think it is awesome to get a chance to see the different reasons for people's ratings. This is helpful to me and hopefully to you guys as well to see what people care about in a quest.

nimmanu · July 2013

I don't mean to be a noodge, but that only indicates what authors care about in a quest.

If you want to know what the main users of foundry want, you'd need to post this in general.

Heck, maybe I'll do it, meself.

karitr · July 2013

nimmanu wrote: »

I don't mean to be a noodge, but that only indicates what authors care about in a quest.

If you want to know what the main users of foundry want, you'd need to post this in general.

Heck, maybe I'll do it, meself.

Authors +1. I'm not an author.

Anyway, this forum is for Foundry authors and players, so if you did recreate this post in General, it would likely be moved down here

pris23 · July 2013

nimmanu wrote: »

I don't mean to be a noodge, but that only indicates what authors care about in a quest.

If you want to know what the main users of foundry want, you'd need to post this in general.

Heck, maybe I'll do it, meself.

I know that this is mostly Author's answering, but honestly, in my experience authors (excepting Karitr od course) are about the only people who actually ever even see/care about my quests. This is about the only place to get any real advertising done for them due to the system of searching (terrible IMHO). On that note, a general forum thread is a good idea for advertising since most of us have our quests in our signatures.

If you do post this thread in general, please link it here and I will chime in for sure.

P.S. I don't think you are being a noodge. :P

nimmanu · July 2013

Here it is: http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?412821-Foundry-Quest-How-Do-YOU-Rate-It&p=5216771#post5216771

I changed the title a little because I realized the first title might have sounded like I was asking for ratings of my quests, which I'm nowhere near ready for.

What do you require for a five star rating?

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