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Cult of the Dragon Foundry Contest - Official Discussion Thread

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  • iandarkswordiandarksword Member Posts: 978 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    My spreadsheet has about an extra day's worth before I understood it was only for the run. So there are some more for week 1 than there should be, but not substantially more. Not enough to alter the standings. I haven't updated them now for days. I stand by the ordering. If they get really close, there might be some issue -- but they aren't close.

    I'm not sure what people were expecting. Foundries are always of random quality; the difference here is, quality is not taken into consideration when chosen for featuring. Some shorter foundries didn't make it, but those that made the time limit seem to have made it in, even if they were minimal. Grimah should have gone ahead and made a sewer map filled with cult mobs and called it done, because currently, a map that is exactly that and nothing more is up for one of the three prizes that are based on accumulated stars.

    We ALL should have done that. Most of us spent weeks working on our entries, and I think for most of us, the green companion will be our only reward -- and possibly some foundry achievements.

    Most foundry missions are pretty terrible, 'tis true. My foundry partner and I typically avoid them if we can, but now we, and everyone else, has to play the good and the bad alike. I can see why some people would get turned off by the wildly varying quality.

    However, there's still the two dev's choice awards. I'm hoping those are awarded to the best of the quests to come from this contest.

    That's fine, just wanted to double check the data. People are human and all. Yeah, there is always some kind of drama in contests/festivals, "Why isn't MINE the best" mentality and egos, it's really quite a turnoff if that's all people focus on, but the tabloids love it. Popular vote is always a very touchy subject, because what's popular isn't always the best story, or most interesting, it can sometimes be very mind numbing. I think the Dev's Choice holds more weight than the Popular vote award, as those are people who actually do the job we all are attempting to do. It's kind of like comparing a People's Choice award to a SAG Award. It's nice to be popular, but it's often better to be regarded as successful by your peers in your profession. For the record, I don't expect to win anything in this contest, I know I have a lot of room for improvement, and am using the feedback I've received toward future projects if I have time.
    "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
  • dtzdtz Member Posts: 174 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    My reviews of "The Errors of our Ways" and "Temple of All Colors and None", plus a revised, more accurate standings spreadsheet. https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BrendaHolloway/posts/PSn5NA3u4SC

    Good luck to the Week 2 foundry authors! The Week 1 foundries are proving tough to pull down, but the week isn't over yet.
    There's something kind of sad about how much more fun these two reviews were than the quests themselves.
    Rank 8 Foundry Grand Master

    Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    eldarth wrote: »
    Ah - that explains why it wasn't sorted by average. lol. I'll see if I can find Akromatic's answer about scoring and link/quote it in here.

    Edit:
    Oh rats - yep it is "accumulated" stars. Not sure I like that. Leans more toward the "popularity" vote -- the more plays you can get during that week increases your star count but not necessarily with good ratings. Someone who gets 100 plays and 2 stars on all of them wins over someone who gets 20 plays and all of them 5 stars. Oh well. I wonder if those from this week (which didn't get a news/blog notice) will have significantly less plays that the first week.

    This is the new one.

    But before this edit, he state highest rated quest. also when he says "based on accumulated stars" i think that means only using the ones that were accumulated during the featured, hence the recording them down. But working out the rating from them.

    Perhaps we just need akro to clarify. also whether or not the adjusted rating system would be applied, then you would be able to figure it out which quest is in what position.

    and tipa those reviews are a delightful read. (and agree with dtz it was more fun than playing)
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
  • dtzdtz Member Posts: 174 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    grimah wrote: »
    (and agree with dtz it was more fun than playing)
    This week's quests seemed more lackluster overall than last week's. I'm hoping next week's are better (and if it proceeds in relative order of submission, mine won't be up until the very end).

    EDIT:
    In case you're curious, here's how I reviewed them:

    WEEK 1
    Ending With the Beginning - 2/5
    Story was hard to follow. All the back and forth on that first map made it feel like a slog.

    Dark Plans - 2/5
    Way, way, WAY too many encounters, and not nearly enough of a story to keep me interested through them all.

    Relative Security - 4/5
    Really good quest with some great moments, but I can't help but feel like the Cult's objective felt really out of character for them.

    The Pact of Luskan - 4/5
    Absolutely top-notch mapwork, with a really good story. My only complaint are the various Luskan NPCs with names like "Peasant Human 05" and "Horse 08."

    Shadows of Purple Wings - 4/5
    Really cool story. Loved all the lore references. Some spelling and grammar issues, and I felt the scene on the road was too much telling and not enough showing.

    The Artifact - 1/5
    Unimpressive dungeon crawler with the barest scrap of a plot.


    WEEK 2
    To Rescue a Kobold - 2/5
    The story was confusing and felt really out of character for the Cult of the Dragon, the humor largely fell flat, and the whole thing went on for far too long.

    Secrets of Manipulation - 3/5
    Interesting story, though it felt more about mind flayers than the Cult. Ended really abruptly, too.

    The Errors of our Ways - 2/5
    The story felt a bit lacking, and the drow came completely out of left field.

    Whispers of an Ancient Evil - 4/5
    Solid story, really good Tyranny of Dragons tie-in. Some spelling and grammar issues.

    Downfall of the Dragon - 2/5
    Spelling and grammar need a lot of work. Extreme lack of variety in enemy encounters made it feel way too long.

    Temple of All Colors and None - 2/5
    Story was really lacking and poorly explained. Some creative encounters with dragonborn, but offset by the overuse of kobolds. Backtracking through the tower was really unpleasant, and at the end I got booted into the lava and had no way to get back up.
    Rank 8 Foundry Grand Master

    Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    I just got around whispers of an ancient evil (too busy with this refining business) :) but i felt cheated, just as the plot was picking up it ended! I wanted more and got sad when i saw that chest!

    this one and secrets were both enjoyable. i played one of the others but... yea I'm more reserved about which ones i pick up now.

    Last week was a stronger one, i don't think anyone could disagree. Looking forward to next weeks.
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
  • dtzdtz Member Posts: 174 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    grimah wrote: »
    I just got around whispers of an ancient evil (too busy with this refining business) :) but i felt cheated, just as the plot was picking up it ended! I wanted more and got sad when i saw that chest!
    If you play tabletop D&D, those plot threads broadly lead into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure (and from there into The Rise of Tiamat). It's one of the reasons I really liked this one.
    Rank 8 Foundry Grand Master

    Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
  • iandarkswordiandarksword Member Posts: 978 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    dtz wrote: »
    If you play tabletop D&D, those plot threads broadly lead into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure (and from there into The Rise of Tiamat). It's one of the reasons I really liked this one.
    grimah wrote: »
    I just got around whispers of an ancient evil (too busy with this refining business) :) but i felt cheated, just as the plot was picking up it ended! I wanted more and got sad when i saw that chest!

    I think I may work on an "Extended Edition" version. There were a few things I wanted to do with the Ogre Mage that I wasn't quite sure how or whether I could pull them off. This was my first experiment with the Foundry, so I was playing it really safe. I wanted more of a cut-scene, and maybe some monologue, the Zhentarim agent was supposed to meet a fairly grim ending after some interrogation (as opposed to being dead already.) I actually wanted to leave people wanting more, so that they would expect another quest, or go check out the tabletop campaign, kind of like how movies stack up for the sequel. I wanted to leave the same feeling I get when I'm really into a TV show, and then, To Be Continued... pops up. I'm really glad you guys like it, if you've played through the Dread Ring you should feel a little duped by the Red Wizards. I'll have to get through some more of ToD and maybe look at some of the tabletop books to get a better perspective on where to go next. I kinda want to tie several of these type of "story beside the story" quests together, each somewhere around 20 min, to make kind of a "mini-campaign." I may ask for some references to check later on, so please, feel free to give me some input. Thanks guys, really.:D
    "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
  • dragoness10dragoness10 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 780 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Hello! Author of "To Rescue a Kobold" here.

    I've had varied reviews from people ranging from "like Terry Prachett or Monty Python" to "boring without direction". Every review is valid as it is that person's opinion, and certainly not everyone will get the humor I use. Every review is of course a REVIEW with stars that counts for that Foundry, and I would like to thank everyone that has played it thus far.

    I am taking notes from the reviews on advice for future foundries. Player opinion counts!
    " I tried to figure out the enigma that was you, and then I realized mastering Wild Magic was easier." - Old Wizard in Waterdeep

    "Why is it dragons only use ketchup? I'd like a little wasabi please. Us silvers like a variety of condiments."

    "Don't call them foolish mortals. One, they don't learn from it. Two, It just ticks them off." - An Ancient Red Dragon
  • tipadaknifetipadaknife Member Posts: 229 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Every review is of course a REVIEW with stars that counts for that Foundry, and I would like to thank everyone that has played it thus far.

    I think as long as you had fun making it and like how it came out, then it doesn't really matter what other people think of it. I, for one, loved the idea of cultists deciding to go the extra mile by making themselves more dragonlike, but thought that unique idea was a little buried. But, I have to admit that yours was one of the most memorable of the week :)

    Today, we're probably getting Eldarth's quest, and there's a small chance we'll get mine, given how many quests the devs have been skipping. They've even skipped a couple that I thought would definitely be featured, so, I'm not sure if mine will actually even meet the cut. Nonetheless, I'll be eager to see what people think of it, good or bad, if it makes it in :)
    dec2014nwsig.png
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    this week will be interesting, two of the strongest entries. both I would say are my best 10 of those i've played.
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
  • eldartheldarth Member Posts: 4,494 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    grimah wrote: »
    this week will be interesting, two of the strongest entries. both I would say are my best 10 of those i've played.

    For those of us stuck at work maybe you can list which got festured ?
  • dtzdtz Member Posts: 174 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/7001943

    The Dragon's Prize by @Sc00teR
    A Game of Dragons by @bjornkoer
    The Cult's Hideout by @bennh0llysword
    Stop the Cult of the Dragon by @raindance7
    Rise of Ingeloakastimizlian by @eldarth
    The Dragon Scroll by @denniss99 (still in the review tab, but unlike The Artifact this one's awesome)
    Rank 8 Foundry Grand Master

    Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
  • eldartheldarth Member Posts: 4,494 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    W00t! I'm up this week. Awesome. Look forward to all the great reviews.

    ...I said... "Great" reviews!
    :D
  • reiwulfreiwulf Member Posts: 2,687 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Good luck Eldarth!
    2e2qwj6.jpg
  • kendaricvkendaricv Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    reiwulf wrote: »
    Good luck Eldarth!

    This week will be a tough decision for certain. Both "Rise of Ingeloakastimizlian" and "The Dragon's Prize" are extremely well done and count among the foundry modules I like best.
  • dtzdtz Member Posts: 174 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    And I don't think I've played either of those yet; I look forward to doing so! Those plus The Dragon Scroll (which was really cool) and A Game of Dragons (which I also haven't played, but has a lot of good reviews) makes this look like a very good contest week.
    Rank 8 Foundry Grand Master

    Check out my Foundry questline, The Brightstone Explorers' Guild, now archived on Youtube!
  • tipadaknifetipadaknife Member Posts: 229 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Week 2 ended with none of the entries making it into prize territory. Whispers of an Ancient Evil almost dethroned The Artifact... and since I was taking standings for an extra day when I should not have, there's a chance that Whispers is our new #3. But I think it's unlikely.

    If the Week 3 entries generally end up passing Week 2, we might wonder if Week 2 was penalized by not getting a news post.

    In Week 3, sc00ter's entry is off to an early lead. I expect it to pass Week 1's Dark Plans before the night is over.

    When I took the standings just now, The Dragon Scroll had only gotten one review and was still in the For Review tab. At an average running time of 63 minutes, this quest might be left standing at the gate for quite awhile.

    Good luck to Week 3, and I can't wait to begin playing your quests tonight :)
    dec2014nwsig.png
  • iandarkswordiandarksword Member Posts: 978 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    dtz wrote: »
    http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/7001943

    The Dragon's Prize by @Sc00teR
    A Game of Dragons by @bjornkoer
    The Cult's Hideout by @bennh0llysword
    Stop the Cult of the Dragon by @raindance7
    Rise of Ingeloakastimizlian by @eldarth
    The Dragon Scroll by @denniss99 (still in the review tab, but unlike The Artifact this one's awesome)

    Guess we'll find out how blog posts affect exposure. If I did get to #3 (probably not,) it'll probably be short-lived anyway, there's a long way to go and some experienced, well talented authors coming up. We'll also have to take into account the "Siege of Neverwinter" event this weekend, which is where plays seemed to pick up steam.
    "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
  • docsc00terdocsc00ter Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Hey... I knew it. I'm away on vacation this week and can't keep up with things. So of COURSE "The Dragon's Prize" gets Featured this week. :) Looking forward to playing the other entries for the week when I get back. :)

    Meanwhile, greetings from Florida. Mickey says hello...!
  • drakkenfeldrakkenfel Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 71
    edited September 2014
    eldarth wrote: »
    W00t! I'm up this week. Awesome. Look forward to all the great reviews.

    ...I said... "Great" reviews!
    :D

    Great... Eldarth's up.. We're all screwed... After his, no one will want to play the rest of ours... Wait.. Is this the week for the "Siege of Neverwinter"? We may have a chance after all... ;-)
    Paladin.jpg
    @METH_SHADOWSTORM - Foundry author of:
    "The Sunnydale Campaign" - NWS-DKBEJ9OOM
    Episode 1: "Missing Daughters" - NW-DCX9IZBJB
    Episode 2: "A Date With Destiny" - NW-DHYEX5NKR - Featured: NW-DHFLDPWJV
    STO Foundry: "Safari So Good" - ST-HPRP2WFWI
  • eldartheldarth Member Posts: 4,494 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    drakkenfel wrote: »
    Great... Eldarth's up.. We're all screwed... After his, no one will want to play the rest of ours... Wait.. Is this the week for the "Siege of Neverwinter"? We may have a chance after all... ;-)

    Nah. Mine don't connect with "the public."
    ...and I get dinged alot for "no sparkly trail."

    Someone said it was hard to find their way in the ice.
    I have a feeling my "airplane runway of glowing orbs" trail may not be visible at low-graphic settings.
    Ah well. I refuse to compromise my "art" in the name of pitiful CPUs. :p
  • drakkenfeldrakkenfel Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 71
    edited September 2014
    eldarth wrote: »
    Nah. Mine don't connect with "the public."
    ...and I get dinged alot for "no sparkly trail."

    Someone said it was hard to find their way in the ice.
    I have a feeling my "airplane runway of glowing orbs" trail may not be visible at low-graphic settings.
    Ah well. I refuse to compromise my "art" in the name of pitiful CPUs. :p

    I have a "Winter Wonderland" scene too, so I guess I will be missing sparklies... Ouch! Over 60 minutes and no sparkly trail... At least I will have a few faithful gamers to give it a shot. :rolleyes:

    Clue: Players don't have to fight "everything". Stealth is rewarded... :cool:
    Paladin.jpg
    @METH_SHADOWSTORM - Foundry author of:
    "The Sunnydale Campaign" - NWS-DKBEJ9OOM
    Episode 1: "Missing Daughters" - NW-DCX9IZBJB
    Episode 2: "A Date With Destiny" - NW-DHYEX5NKR - Featured: NW-DHFLDPWJV
    STO Foundry: "Safari So Good" - ST-HPRP2WFWI
  • tipadaknifetipadaknife Member Posts: 229 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    I just had a very enjoyable night of foundries. Reviews when I wake up. Still have two left to do tomorrow.

    Week 3 may be the strongest week yet.
    dec2014nwsig.png
  • bardaaronbardaaron Member Posts: 545 Bounty Hunter
    edited September 2014
    eldarth wrote: »
    I have a feeling my "airplane runway of glowing orbs" trail may not be visible at low-graphic settings.
    Ah well. I refuse to compromise my "art" in the name of pitiful CPUs. :p
    It's visible. I play on the lowest graphic settings possible (it crashes all the time if I don't), and I could see them. Although I didn't actually TRUST them. I've been conditioned to accept the sparkly trail in general, but otherwise I just assume glowing lights are going to lead me to my doom. :-P
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • docsc00terdocsc00ter Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    eldarth wrote: »
    Someone said it was hard to find their way in the ice.
    I have a feeling my "airplane runway of glowing orbs" trail may not be visible at low-graphic settings.


    It's funny. We both have our quests this week set in icy terrains, and we both created "trails of glowing fx" to solve a problem and guide the players. Sure makes me wish there was a way to manually configure the sparkling trail sometimes (i.e., assign waypoints, choose light-on-dark or dark-on-light, etc.)

    Of course, it's all because we're spoiled with directional sparklies in the first place. But if Authors turn off that trail to encourage exploration & discovery, they get blasted by players in the reviews who have become dependent upon it. Oh well...
  • eldartheldarth Member Posts: 4,494 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    bardaaron wrote: »
    It's visible. I play on the lowest graphic settings possible (it crashes all the time if I don't), and I could see them. Although I didn't actually TRUST them. I've been conditioned to accept the sparkly trail in general, but otherwise I just assume glowing lights are going to lead me to my doom. :-P

    Did you take the trail according to the map around the bend or the trail through the illusionary boulder?
    The longer map trail goes through some doubled up ice storm which makes it a near white-out where you can only see about 20'.
  • eldartheldarth Member Posts: 4,494 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    docsc00ter wrote: »
    It's funny. We both have our quests this week set in icy terrains, and we both created "trails of glowing fx" to solve a problem and guide the players. Sure makes me wish there was a way to manually configure the sparkling trail sometimes (i.e., assign waypoints, choose light-on-dark or dark-on-light, etc.)

    That'd be nice. I actually entered a sparkly trail bug report because of this one. In the previewer it seems to be smarter than live!
    I had blocked off some areas with giant dale boulders and preview trail knew it couldn't go through them but live just happily led right through giant cliff edges. I then tried "fencing" the whole side with huge 1000'x200' invisible tubes from -500' to +500' and previewer knew it couldn't get through, but live, just blasted right through like nothing was there. sigh.

    You can use waypoints and quest objectives, but it's pretty annoying: go to the courtyard, find the alley entrance, reach the 3rd trashcan on the right next to the old grey building, blah blah blah.
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Best solution, dont use a sparkle trail :P gawd i hate those things, player made or ingame, big immersion breaker. If i can't figure out where to go without it, then theres a problem with map design.

    But well, you guys shouldn't take it too personally or have to justify things, because everyone gets bad reviews so it all balances out for all. It's just hoping to find the right audience instead of getting players who really don't "get it".

    They should atleast make the chest blue reward and class specific. So many new players go into foundry and downvote because of that. (alot of foundry players are new ones who try foundry for the first time so they just don't know.)

    EDIT: the dragon scrolls could use 2 more plays to get out into the wild. I really did not like it but hey I think maybe some others may do.
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
  • iandarkswordiandarksword Member Posts: 978 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    grimah wrote: »
    They should atleast make the chest blue reward and class specific. So many new players go into foundry and downvote because of that. (alot of foundry players are new ones who try foundry for the first time so they just don't know.)

    SO MANY 2 star reviews that said practically verbatim: "Story was great, adventure was awesome, sparkly trail took me off a cliff, end loot sucked."

    SMH
    "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
  • tipadaknifetipadaknife Member Posts: 229 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Could someone go play The Dragon Scroll and help get it off For Review? Average play time is 66 minutes after five plays but only three reviews. I've read on this forum that it's a great foundry, and I'm going to play it tonight, but for some reason, the devs are unable to left a foundry off of the review tab when featuring it.

    Well, it's because the featured version is just a straight-up copy of the original, including all reviews and stuff. Which means my standings sheet includes all the reviews given before it was featured, bringing its accuracy even more into question. Oh well, best I could do. Actual results will differ.

    Anyway, let's do a fellow author a solid and at least help them get some authoring achievements while it's featured. I'm urging my friend Kasul to get his foundry off of the review tab for the same reasons.
    dec2014nwsig.png
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