The Silver Sword (NW-DEIPWYISA)

bazgc · September 2013

The Silver Sword by @bazgc

Short Code: NW-DEIPWYISA

Mission Type: Story, Combat, Lore, Humour

Average Duration: about 40 minutes (depends on reading the lore and the difficulty selection)

Amount of Combat: Heavy but spaced out so shouldn’t be overwhelming. Additional companions also appear at key points regardless of difficulty choice.

Starts at: Guard Frinko

Mission Summary: A tribe of goblins are offering an enticing trade – if Neverwinter sends assistance to help the goblins with their undead problem, then the goblins will give them The Silver Sword of Gith. Neverwinter can’t send an army at this time, but it can send you!

Author tips/hints: This quest features both an adjustable difficulty and optional graphical effects (for those who sometimes have issues with the magical swirly effects and fog). Also make sure to read the warning signs. They were put in for a reason!

Screenshots/attachments:

High res images:

Camp
Gate
Stairs

cadrantaar · September 2013

So, gave it a play and a review. Great quest! Got a little bit of feedback for it, though:

Ambience - Great! Especially boss areas and the initial goblin camp. Great work on those, you should be proud of them! A lot of barren hallways, but willing to overlook for the sake of the boss areas. The work on the gates, portals, is good.

Combat - Fun, and thematically good. See detailed feedback below.

Duration - Good. For such an in depth story, it took about as long as I expected. Don't change the length too much, and if anything, make it a touch shorter.

Overall - Extremely good. I gave it a 4/5 mostly for the first thing below, but it's a really good quest. If you published it now, it'd be excellent. I'm including a decent amount of feedback because it's a good quest, not because it's bad.

Detailed feedback:
1. Generally, the crypts are sprawling with tons of doors and hallways that are difficult to navigate and get through. Spent 50% of my time just walking from place to place. The exploration aspect is something I truly appreciate, but it is a bit too much. I would tighten it up a little, make it a little more obvious where to go and when. Some players will have the patience as is, but not all of them. To do this, I'd removing some of the excess space between the guardians, and make the path even clearer than it is.

2. When you're approaching the end of the crypts, you could add a little bit of flair to the regions just before the final room to make it clear you're getting close to something important.

3. Not sure what the shortcut path was supposed to be... I had to walk all the way back, I think.

4. Combat:
- First guardian hard to reach where he is. Makes combat awkward.
- Ambush might be harder than it needs to be, considering the fight you're about to do.
- End of crypt fight is good, though. Keep it spread out, so the big fight doesn't seem as overwhelming.
- Final goblin fights work, but it feels anti-climactic to kill some reinforcements after you've killed the main guy, and also weird that they're just as difficult.

5. Add some arcane flair to the explosion. Portals blowing up should always have that.

And last of all, my quest to be reviewed is NW-DDY7N2CEJ, called The Siege of Ferrous Canyon. @Cadrantaar. Thanks for the great quest!

bazgc · September 2013

Thanks

cadrantaar wrote: »

Detailed feedback:
1. Generally, the crypts are sprawling with tons of doors and hallways that are difficult to navigate and get through. Spent 50% of my time just walking from place to place. The exploration aspect is something I truly appreciate, but it is a bit too much. I would tighten it up a little, make it a little more obvious where to go and when. Some players will have the patience as is, but not all of them. To do this, I'd removing some of the excess space between the guardians, and make the path even clearer than it is.

This was probably my biggest bugbear for the quest because it is a lot of running. I've had a fiddle and know what I want to do but it's a fairly big change so I'm temporarily withdrawing my quest while I fix this. Shouldn't take more than 24-48 hours.

cadrantaar wrote: »

3. Not sure what the shortcut path was supposed to be... I had to walk all the way back, I think.

Adding in a quest waypoint. It was actually just beside the ambush you mentioned below.

cadrantaar wrote: »

4. Combat:
- First guardian hard to reach where he is. Makes combat awkward.
- Ambush might be harder than it needs to be, considering the fight you're about to do.
- End of crypt fight is good, though. Keep it spread out, so the big fight doesn't seem as overwhelming.
- Final goblin fights work, but it feels anti-climactic to kill some reinforcements after you've killed the main guy, and also weird that they're just as difficult.

Guardian - Shifted things a little in that room will be fixed when republished (he actually behaves fine most of the time in the Foundry which is frustrating)
Ambush - Nothing wrong with an ambush being tough! That's going to be tweaked slightly though with the redesign as I free up some of encounters
Crypt fight - slow but steady works. Still testing different configs for the range of the trigger though.
End Fight - The first group of Goblins you face aren't really the main threat though, are they?

(Not saying more here because it's nice for people to play and discover it for themselves!) This will also be changed slightly anyway due to the extra encounters I have free with the redesign.

cadrantaar wrote: »

5. Add some arcane flair to the explosion. Portals blowing up should always have that.

I'll see what I can do

cadrantaar wrote: »

And last of all, my quest to be reviewed is NW-DDY7N2CEJ, called The Siege of Ferrous Canyon. @Cadrantaar. Thanks for the great quest!

Will get to that at some stage over the next day or two.

bazgc · September 2013

Quest now republished with most of the changes mentioned above.

bazgc · September 2013

bazgc wrote: »

Will get to that at some stage over the next day or two.

Reviewed and sent in game mail with suggestions.

nimzowitch · September 2013

I got a little lost. Trying to keep track of all the doors and gates between the three areas went a little beyond my recall ability (I blame the Guinness.) Hopefully older versions of peoples quests are not still showing up in the catalog as I read above that you added a quest marker to your shortcut path which I did not see, and I forgot to make a note of the last publish date before I played. I caught one typo in the Sagart dialogue:

"I believe that if you kill all four of them are killed," can have "are killed" deleted.

The goblin camp was very well done, and the explosion at the end was spectacular. Just wish I had paid closer attention to the mini-map from the beginning. Nice work, and thanks for giving Into the Drow Helix a play.

bazgc · September 2013

nimzowitch wrote: »

I got a little lost. Trying to keep track of all the doors and gates between the three areas went a little beyond my recall ability (I blame the Guinness.) Hopefully older versions of peoples quests are not still showing up in the catalog as I read above that you added a quest marker to your shortcut path which I did not see, and I forgot to make a note of the last publish date before I played.

That's not good...the waypoints are definitely there...hopefully a republish will fix that...

nimzowitch wrote: »

I caught one typo in the Sagart dialogue:

"I believe that if you kill all four of them are killed," can have "are killed" deleted.

The typo that will not die! (Seriously, I fixed it in the word document I was using for dialogue but then lost the change somehow). Fixed it (again).

nimzowitch wrote: »

The goblin camp was very well done, and the explosion at the end was spectacular. Just wish I had paid closer attention to the mini-map from the beginning. Nice work, and thanks for giving Into the Drow Helix a play.

Can you remember if it had lightning? If it had lightning then you played the new version of the quest, no lightning means old version is still live somehow. I only added lightning in the last rebuild which should have gone live when I republished.

nimzowitch · September 2013

Yes, there was lightning fx with the explosion. Not sure how I was able the miss the shortcut waypoint then.

bazgc · September 2013

Thanks. Just tested it now (post typo fixing publish) and it had the waypoints. maybe I had an intermediate build?

Quest updated with slightly easier end fight as well as removing a couple of extraneous corridors.

bazgc · September 2013

It seems that my updated quest isn't publishing properly. The latest version of this quest should have 3 options at first with Guard Frinko but the quest currently seems to offer 4 versions. I even tried withdrawing and then publishing again but with no luck...

EDIT: Updated quest is now sporadically available depending on where you are

at least it's available. The latest version was published today so the current version has a last modified date of today.

chieori · September 2013

Greetings!

I had a chance to run The Silver Sword today and really enjoyed the quest. The story was written very well, the various options, to tailor the experience is nicely done. The combat, through out the quest was well balanced. I did get stuck in the teleporter on the way back to the beginning and had to go back and forth a couple times, till I was able to get out. Found a few other minor issues, sent via a PM, all in all a well done quest, good work

melinden · September 2013

-ok, extra points for making me LOL when just talking to Frinko while getting the quest
-how did you get the skeletons to run? Fast speed on wander?
-really cool use of the dungeon rooms to make a tomb, it feels very claustrophobic
-my companion got stuck in the door teleporter. This isn't anything you can fix but if you want to add a note, just un and then re summoning them works
-the explosion effects are great

I got through ok with some dire moments with a 60 DC with the combat at the solo level, in case you were wondering.

lumicakery · September 2013

Hey there, I went ahead and played your quest. It was good, but there were some things I want to comment on. Also, I was surprised how knowledgeable Guard Frinko was, but I guess not all guards are simple

.

I accepted your quest while in Vellosk, so I think it's the most updated one. It had around 18 plays I think.

Anyway here are my notes (may contain spoilers):
1) The dungeon could use some music, aside from the boss musics.

2) I was playing solo and selected the 'group' difficulty. However, I did not see the difficulty except when fighting the guardians, the necromancer, and the goblins. The patrols seem to be at what I would consider, the 'standard' difficulty. Maybe put more patrols when that option is selected? Yes, I do want to kill myself

.

3) During the quest 'save yourself', some of the goblins were below the platform, towards the water, and I had to go 'look' for them.

4) During the plant explosive part, you could actually still go through the portal and the goblins in there were still neutral/allied. Maybe have them removed or make them hostile?

When you have the time, please try out mine. It's in the sig. Also, try to look for it while in Vellosk, that usually brings out the most updated one. If 'Twilight Arena' appears, then that's the old version. Thanks

.

Edit : Oops didn't notice you were on scribesenclave, oh well.

bazgc · September 2013

Thanks

lumicakery wrote: »

1) The dungeon could use some music, aside from the boss musics.

It's on the "could be done at some stage" list, but a lower priority than fixing most of the other stuff I have to do.

lumicakery wrote: »

2) I was playing solo and selected the 'group' difficulty. However, I did not see the difficulty except when fighting the guardians, the necromancer, and the goblins. The patrols seem to be at what I would consider, the 'standard' difficulty. Maybe put more patrols when that option is selected? Yes, I do want to kill myself .

That's it for the moment, but those are where the extra mobs appear. (There are some additional patrols too, but depending on how fast you are you may not notice them. Need to play around with routes) Pretty much at the encounter cap though so may just end up switching to another map for the final encounter (at the moment it's all one map)

lumicakery wrote: »

3) During the quest 'save yourself', some of the ******* were below the platform, towards the water, and I had to go 'look' for them.

I've checked and I missed one. Hopefully it's only one that was spawning there. Now they should all be spawning approx 1ft above the floor.

lumicakery wrote: »

4) During the plant explosive part, you could actually still go through the portal and the goblins in there were still neutral/allied. Maybe have them removed or make them hostile?

Nearing NPC cap as well as encounter cap and wanted to have some space to test things. Which is frustrating since NPCs which are "speak with contact" objectives can vanish immediately upon completing the objective or never...may work in some dialogue to have them "return to the other goblins" or the like once they've spoken with you.

lumicakery wrote: »

When you have the time, please try out mine. It's in the sig. Also, try to look for it while in Vellosk, that usually brings out the most updated one. If 'Twilight Arena' appears, then that's the old version. Thanks .

Will do. I'd actually saved the link to your Forum post but hadn't got around to reviewing it yet. Should get to that on Tuesday at some stage. Maybe even tonight if things go well.

lumicakery wrote: »

Edit : Oops didn't notice you were on scribesenclave, oh well.

Yes, and their help has been invaluable. I'll send you a PM through there once I've reviewed your quest.

bazgc · September 2013

Latest version now has "Version a" in the description.

Updated the quest with a few details including (but not limited to):

Guard Frinko no longer completes his dialogue prematurely. He'll also tell you about the King of Shadows and the Kalach-Cha if you ask him to.
Locked portcullises now have Shadarkai symbols hovering over them to show that they are magically held in place.
The jail is no longer a jail. It has been re-purposed and now features a series of very small crypt rooms. (the lightning here is also fixed slightly)
Cuimhne now has substantially more health than he did before. He's also gained some new powers and a couple of body guards.
There is now a little less magical swirl going on in front of Cuimhne.
Once you speak with Bocan after killing the undead you can no longer return through the portal (for reasons which become obvious as the story unfolds).

Work still to be done:

See if I can highlight any additional phrases in dialogue to help people who only skim read it.
Add some more stuff to the crypts to try and make navigation a little easier for those who don't use their maps.
Possibly add some music for more areas than just the set piece encounters.
Conversation animations. At the moment the NPC's seem to lose interest in the conversation and robotically go through the motions of the conversation.
Look into adding some extra (possibly Githyanki) help in the final fight section.
See about giving the four Guardians some back story and names.

bazgc · September 2013

Latest version now has "Version b" in the description. Vellosk seems to be the best place to pick up the correct version (published 25th September).

Updates include:

Fixed a typo in the first Bocan conversation.
NPC's are now much more animated during conversations.
NPC's have also received some additional highlighting and reformatting during conversations for those who only skim the dialogue.
The Guardians have all received names and plaques which contain some of the details of their lives.
There are also a few additional details around the guardian rooms.
Guardians 2-4 can now be killed in any order. You'll still need to kill all four of them to proceed though.

Other stuff I may still update:

Add some more stuff to the crypts to try and make navigation a little easier for those who don't use their maps.
Possibly add some music for more areas than just the set piece encounters.
Possibly add some help into the final fight section.

I'll probably get to the reviews I need to do tomorrow. I've not been all that well the past couple of days so I've not been on all that much. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and I'll be able to pay more attention to things and be able to give some constructive feedback.

eskarine · September 2013

Adding this to my queue. If you could review back (quest in sig) that would be awesome.

bazgc · September 2013

eskarine wrote: »

Adding this to my queue. If you could review back (quest in sig) that would be awesome.

Should have time for that tomorrow if things go well.

bazgc · September 2013

Latest (and possibly final) version is now V 1.C. Check Vellosk if you don't see that at the bottom of the quest description.

Updates include:

Slightly reworded the end of the quest description.
Added some extra details into the level.
Added some extra ambient sounds in a couple of places.
Tweaked a couple of waypoints related to the of the sounds above
Added a couple of encounters into the level to make certain fights a little harder.

I am considering submitting this quest to be Featured so would greatly appreciate any additional comments that people can provide based on this build of the quest.

bazag · September 2013

Heya Bazgc;

Just lettling you know that I reviewed a relaxing stay on Bazag Stabs. http://www.bazagstabs.com/bazag-stabs-episode-6-reviews/

xiphenon · September 2013

Just played the quest and found it in total quite exceptional.

However, some constructive critism from a D&D player: Most goblins are not very intelligent, but malicious and sneaky. Even though considering you speak with a clan chief and a shaman, the language was imho too highbrow. I would suggest to make the goblins speak more broken common, to emphazise their primitive nature.

bazgc · October 2013

xiphenon wrote: »

However, some constructive critism from a D&D player: Most goblins are not very intelligent, but malicious and sneaky. Even though considering you speak with a clan chief and a shaman, the language was imho too highbrow. I would suggest to make the goblins speak more broken common, to emphazise their primitive nature.

True, however the 4E monster manual makes no reference to intelligence. Only saying that Goblins are "wicked, treacherous creatures that love plunder and cruelty. They’re not very big or strong, but they’re dangerous when they gang up."

The additional Lore checks for Goblins also don't reference intelligence (which I feel buys me a little leeway :P)

bazgc · October 2013

So that version wasn't quite final then...

Now on Version 1.D.

Changes include:

Added a couple of response options to the dialogue with Bocan Bodach.
Added some additional details to the room with Cuimhne.
Tweaked the pre-explosive locating fight and added a brief conversation to point you in the direction of the explosives.

bazgc · October 2013

bazgc wrote: »

True, however the 4E monster manual makes no reference to intelligence. Only saying that Goblins are "wicked, treacherous creatures that love plunder and cruelty. They’re not very big or strong, but they’re dangerous when they gang up."

The additional Lore checks for Goblins also don't reference intelligence (which I feel buys me a little leeway :P)

Ok. Big change now:

Version 1.E

Only change is dumbing down the Goblin Dialogue.

I'd really appreciate it if people could even just start this up and complete the first 3 dialogues to give feedback on it (I've saved the original dialogue so can switch back if needed).

First 3 dialogues are Guard Frinko (no changes, just mash 1 and you'll get through it) -> (transition to caves) -> Goblin Guard -> Goblin Shaman.

phoenicianson · October 2013

I will play your quest, can you please give mine a go. I am actually accepting it now, and will post after completing on your page.

Mine can be found in the "New" Tab, by searching the name provided below in the link. If you would like to know more information about the quest, and some pictures of the quest during playthrough, click the link below to its post on the Foundry Forums:

Fall of the City of Grumura

PLAYTHROUGH FINISHED:
Dude, this is a really well structured quest, and great storyline. I am impressed. Phenomenal use of NPC's integration and lore, even those parts that you incepted. I gave you 5 out of 5 stars, which is well earned. I particularly like the connective synergy between the final battle and the means to reach the final battle with the guardians. I think that the ghost may have been a bit redundant in its focus with requesting its aide, yet it offered a bit of levity to the serious storyline. There were bits of humor that I found subtle and well laid out.

All around, very balanced, and challenging at certain parts, particularly as a CW, but manageable, albeit, I would hate to see what the difficult version would have been solo, because I do have a high gear score relative to my build as a CW.

Please play mine to reciprocate. It is difficult to garner support with playthroughs nowadays with the immense volume of publications of foundry quests, and the horrendous format Cyptic uses to display quests. It is redundant to see the same **** quests listed under Best, Focused/Premiered-whatever-and New. It deprives the rest of us from visibility.

I see that you like to tell stories, as you structured a very elaborate storyline to this quest. I would like you to play through the quest that I linked in this particular post, but if you are interested in playing through a very structured, yet lengthy, storyline that has the depth that yours offers, consider trying my epic publication that was only recently uploaded, The Dark Secret at Highgate, which also has a link on the forums on the first or second page. It is a long one, 225 minutes, but you can leave each map and return like a De Facto savegame due to each map using "Overworld Transition".

However, in reciprocation of my play through your quest, I ask that you play my shorter quest, "Fall of the City of Grumura", which I linked above. Thank you, and it lacks the depth of your quest, but is a lot of fun to play through, and sets the stage for a campaign, should it reach success and better visibility on the Job Board.

Thank you in advance!

bazgc · October 2013

phoenicianson wrote: »

Dude, this is a really well structured quest, and great storyline. I am impressed. Phenomenal use of NPC's integration and lore, even those parts that you incepted. I gave you 5 out of 5 stars, which is well earned. I particularly like the connective synergy between the final battle and the means to reach the final battle with the guardians. I think that the ghost may have been a bit redundant in its focus with requesting its aide, yet it offered a bit of levity to the serious storyline. There were bits of humor that I found subtle and well laid out.

All around, very balanced, and challenging at certain parts, particularly as a CW, but manageable, albeit, I would hate to see what the difficult version would have been solo, because I do have a high gear score relative to my build as a CW.

Thanks. I've rebalanced a fight now too (and so the quest is now onto Version 1.G) so that your help will now actually help you before you die!

phoenicianson wrote: »

Please play mine to reciprocate. It is difficult to garner support with playthroughs nowadays with the immense volume of publications of foundry quests, and the horrendous format Cyptic uses to display quests. It is redundant to see the same **** quests listed under Best, Focused/Premiered-whatever-and New. It deprives the rest of us from visibility.

Yeah, that sucks

Once a quest is out of the "For Review" state it just sort of vanishes unless you know it's there. Hope they fix that soon.

I'll try to get to one or both of them over the weekend. I will get there but it may well be next week before I have the time and energy.

phoenicianson · October 2013

As long as you hit it up for me, since I did yours, and sent notes.

You can find it on the New Tab now, thanks! Trying to get it to daily status, a couple away, so every one counts.

boudiccia · October 2013

I just ran the foundry The Silver Sword NW-DEIPWYISA

This was a very entertaining quest. The combat had a good pace to it because it was broken up with dialog with the ghost NPC and goblins. This is something I wish more authors would use to progress their story lines especially the longer ones. Even though this took me 40 minutes it felt like 15 minutes because of the pacing.

There is nothing to complain about with it is five stars all the way.

***
Please give my foundry a try: Claiming the Halfling Quarter NW-DIRTSMWZH

Thanks

eskarine · October 2013

Going to run this now. Sorry it took me so long, I had pretty intense work week.

EDIT: Okay, so I've just finished it.

Like I said in the review, I really liked the story, the humor elements in it and the helpful army :P

There were some minor things that I noted down:
- Crypt looked a little sparse. It did not feel entierly boring (like dungeons and crypts usually do) but it certainly could use some decor.
- Author's note about adjustable difficulty and optional graphics should stand out more. Because it was done in the OOC tag, it looked like part of dialogue.
- A couple of torches were lit with blue flame. It looked random, unless there is some secret I don't know about.
- In the 'maze' room, some walls are flickering due to their XYZ position
- 1st goblin fight seemed too hard for thief lv40. I didn't even notice any help, because I was running around and spamming HP pots, trying to stay alive. It might be just me, since I usually don't play combat foundries, but it seemed a tad too hard for a solo adventurer.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could tackle "Absence of light" for me and leave review in it's topic (link in signature).

bazgc · October 2013

Now up to Version 1.H:

Fiddled with the second maze room to reduce flickering. Main cause seems to have been too many dynamic lighting effects from torches in a small area...

angrysprite · October 2013

Angry Foundry Review: [The Silver Sword] by @BAZGC

TL;DR Section...

5-Stars overall (actual=4-Stars)
This reviewer is HIGHLY IMPRESSED.
Good story, good humor, but not overdone.
Good combat balance; NOT another stupid hack-n-slash-grind-trash.
NEEDS Dialog Box fixing and initial quest direction fixing.

In short: among the most entertaining Foundry Works I've played thus far as of this writing.

++++++++++

MY RATING/REVIEW PARADIGM:

I try to play with a mid-leveled character to judge combat balance (if any).

STARS are granted strictly for quest mechanics (anything the author does to create the environment and experience, such as maps, dialog boxes, interactives, etc.). TIPS are awarded for story creativity and detail; how engaging and immersive the overall quest is to me as a player.

My personal STARS rules:
5-Stars = Highly Impressed
(very rarely awarded, including official Cryptic quests).
(Note: it does't matter to me if maps are pre-made or custom and it should NOT matter to you)
4-Stars = Very good overall, lots of fun!
(However, either needs a little more work or better creativity.)
3-Stars = Neutral, neither really good or bad, Fun but could be lost in the flood.
(All quests start with this)
2-stars = Annoyed - Too many immersion-breaking "glitches".
(Perhaps I'm anal, but quality shows and it was lacking a bit here.)
1-Star = Hate. It.
(Usually falls to "just another stupid hack-n-slash grind trash")

Obviously I speak only for myself. I still tip if the story is good or has promise. But still, just saying.

My personal TIPS rules:
500 = Excellent concept or context
(Immersive, emotional, logical, engaging, etc. Excellent writing skill.)
250 = Could use more work, especially in telling the story overall.
(A good story, but story-telling skill needs some refinement.)
50 = No matter how story-focused, the author was a bit lazy in telling it.
(For too little in telling me a story. It barely clung to my attention.)
000 = (No tip) - a stupid excuse for a "quest" (read: dumb hack-n-slash).

Shameless plug: to know my standards, I invite (nay: recommend) you play "Blacklake Luskan [NW-DLTZK9TJ6]" by @Skytzyc (Genre: STORY/PUZZLE) to see Dialog Paradigms, error-checking, and attention-to-detail with regard to the mechanics of a Foundry Work.
NOTE: It was too popular with Daily Foundry Players replaying it so often the average playtime dropped it below the 15-minute criteria for Daily Foundry eligibility. I'm hopeful new players will give it a go and help raise that playtime back to where it used to be: about 18 to 20-minutes.

MY RATINGS AND GRADE FOR THIS QUEST:

As with every quest, I begin with the idea of 3-STARS (Neutral). It is important for readers and author to understand: this portion is strictly feedback from my perspective and opinion only, nothing is right or wrong. I am simply expressing my own experience as a player and, in some cases, how I would have done something if I were the author. It is strictly feedback for the author to consider, nothing more.

PRIMARY CONCERN: Dialog Box Paradigm: - 1-Star deduction; total 4-Stars
Authors: read my Dialog Box Paradigm post here:
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?487181-Foundry-Authors-Dialog-Box-Best-Practices&highlight=dialog+practices
Note that on the rare occasion I find a quest SO STUNNINGLY Wonderful to me that it's worthy of my coveted FIVE-STARS, this is the primary reason that elusive fifth Star is always deducted.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

FINAL ANGRY REVIEW (Intended for all readers of this post):

Wow. *This* is a great quest.

Though the beginning needs some serious work regarding clarity of story (player motivation/information/immersion logic) once it gets going it does't stop.

The combat might need to see some readjustments: the actual combat is pretty well balanced, but the difficulty (solo player, "normal" difficulty) might need some rearrangements: put the easy-to-kill minions near the front of the quest and the more difficult one nearer the end.

Good story with a nice surprise toward the end. Great smoke-and-mirrors stagecraft techniques and THANK YOU for following great story-telling paradigm (the slower-moving epilogue portion). The story and quest proper ramps-up evenly with a nice climax, then ramps back down smoothly as all great stories do.

This quest should definitely be spotlighted by Cryptic, author should be subscribed-to for certain. Amazing attention to detail and 99% glitch-free.

I'd have to say the only negatives of this wonderful work are the beginning of the quest proper and that goddammed dialog-box paradigm thing. Other than that - this is a MUST PLAY quest.

FIVE STARS - but minus ONE STAR for dialog box and opening mechanics. Final count: FOUR STARS. Color me IMPRESSED.

500 AD TIP; Worthy of your subscription to this author.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

FEEDBACK to AUTHOR SECTION
Note to other readers: these are not intended as criticism, but rather my opinion on how this quest could be improved if *I* were creating it. Please do not allow any of my comment here to influence your decision to play this quest.

The Silver Sword [NW-DEIPWYISA], by @BAZGC:

Played with: Level 32 Menzo Drow/Trickster Rogue

First impression on entry into the quest: Begins in PE - but no description of what I must do there. Only a Journal entry with the title of the quest, no goals mention. Fortunately the pixie dust path leads the way. It leads me to some guy called Guard Frinko - but I have no idea why I'm seeking him out or what he wants to say to me.

And now, the game's afoot.

Initial conversation has be asking about a couple things (or directions to some place) - I'm already a little confused. PRO-TIP for Foundry Authors: please do NOT rely on your quest description as being part of your quest-proper. I didm;t read the description, therefore I have no clue what's there. Your quest (and any player information pertaining to the quest) BEGINS with your first contact.

I am already at a disadvantage with regard to immersion: I am talking to a stranger for a reason of which I don;t even have a clue. This is not logical.

We automatically start with three stars, we now deduct one star for bad dialog-box design: of the three options I have, none are yellow, which tell me the selection that actually moves the quest forward toward finish. Again: lost confusion here is what I am feeling as a player.

Dialog box paradigm reminder: YELLOW text tells me which options move forward in PC options and what my GOALS ARE in Dialogue, ORANGE text in options tells me the dialog will end and I move-onto the next goal. PLEASE READ: http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?487181-Foundry-Authors-Dialog-Box-Best-Practices&highlight=dialog+practices

I am still confused as to why I'm talking to this guy, but I'll play along.

Consistency: Goblin and goblin are used interchangeably; watch capitalization constancy in descriptions, etc. (Since Goblin is a noun, I should think it's always capitalized. I could be wrong, though).

There are pronoun inconsistencies also; the dialogue does not specified who wrote or sent the note we are speaking about, but my only reply states "Did he give instructions. . . how do I know it's a "he"?

Okay, last word on dialog boxes: check grammar, punctuation (commas can be your friend) and consistencies in these areas. :

The conversation abruptly ends with the note in my hands - Ginko never told me what to do with it, I never asked for it and the Quest Journal does;t tell me what to do now; there is no description of pixie dust path to lead me on. Player experience alone tells me to head to gate. Were I a new player I might give-up and drop the quest. #justsayin'

I have to really look hard for any new locations on the overland map - finally: something called The Goblin Cave appears, but no waypoints or anything. I'm not entirely sure if this one related to the current quest or one of the half-dozen other active quests in my journal. NOTE: I realize this may be a Game BUG (it seems I am seeing a lot of this lately) - ERROR-CHECKING would be to place a description in the dialog itself. Something to the effect of "Leave the city and head for the Goblin Cave southeast of the city and speak with NPCNAME". This describe where to look on the overland map in case this scenario (no goals appear in Journal) arrises.

Immersion logic: I went from a city gate and landed directly in an underground tunnel. This is okay I suppose. I would have the player land in an outdoor area if only for transition purposes; make a short quest to "find the cave entrance" to help develop immersion.

Great interaction prompts (Press F to [do this thing])

Repeat: bad dialog box design, please read my article at the link above. Arrrggghhh.

Great choice of animations with NPCs during dialog.

Good attention to detail (such as naming all idle NPCs).

Great idea of the OOC text being described as a "safety notice" in NPC dialog!

I'm loving Goblin the costumes. The broken English is well-done, not difficult to read, but certainly carries the Goblin-feeling. Well written.

Consistency: is this a crypt or a cave? (PC Option: "What have you seen in the crypt?") UPDATE: I see now that I am apparently inside a crypt (but this is long after I knew this would become a crypt).

Very good mechanics in difficulty and environment selection. I *really* like the way these option-choosing mechanics are directly integrated into the story and preserves immersion. You've earned that lost Star back.

If this is a custom map, the attention-to-detail and glitch-free-ness of it are worth an additional Star. Three thumbs-up for this.

Too much yellow-highlighting of text in Ghost dialogue. Again, I defer to the link above about good dialog box paradigms. ALSO: If a PC option requires a specific skill or class, move it to the RIGHT in your dialog tree so that the non-prerequisite options appear first in the dialog box.

So far combat is pretty good, though the skeletons seems a bit stronger this early in the quest than I would have expected. Makes me a bit concerned (at this point) how difficult the end-quest will be with regard to combat balance. However, for now: so-far, so-good.

I've already found two doors (with no runes on them) that I cannot open. For consistency, I suggest: place an interactive invisible wall (or make your existing invisible wall interactive) - on interaction give player feedback "this door seems stuck" or locked or whatever.

Smoke-and-mirrors are *excellent* - NPC appearing and disappearing while the player's attention is focussed elsewhere.

Skeletons jumping from sarcophagi was a nice touch; unexpected. Good timing on this.

Great humor on the "summoned warriors". Awesome music selections also.

I like the way I am made to rerun all the way through the way I came in. PRO-TIP: Add an interactive near the portal to guide me back there because the pixie dust leads directly back to Bocan - it tends to lead me through the wrong path in the crypt portion (past the entrance back to the cave).

Wow, the above glitches are the only things I would have done differently. Now I'll go back to the top of this post to write my review.

In short: three thumbs up on this one.

//end feedback

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Do YOU want an "Angry Review" of your Foundry Work?

Private Message me with the full name and short code of your quest, include in-game @Handle and a link to your feedback thread. Be forewarned, I am picky, sometimes anal, and can be brutal when necessary, but it's strictly feedback, nothing personal. As you can see by this review, I try hard to leave no stone unturned and you know my 'rules' up-front. I usually do one Angry Review (like this one) once a week.

NOTE: If your quest features more combat than story/exploration/puzzles, etc - I will kill you in my review. I so hate hack-n-slash-grind-trash <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>. We get enough of that garbage from official Cryptic quests. No more, please. I prefer Foundry Quests with less than 25 plays, but not more than 150 plays.

Hence: only the serious need apply, please, thank you.

The Silver Sword (NW-DEIPWYISA)

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