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A Discussion Regarding Foundry Rewards, Conflicts and Other Important Foundry Topics

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  • aelfwin1aelfwin1 Member Posts: 2,896 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    atomictiki wrote: »
    If anything your favored types of missions are already given special treatment with the spotlight... is that not enough or do you feel it is a zero sum system which only one point of view can dominate.

    IDIC

    Yes . In the ideal society everything is perfect . There is order . There is purity .
    Until you take a misstep .
    Then you (or your different idea) die .
    Is the game enriched by being so small with the foundry? Or is it enriched by a wider user base?

    The game is enriched only as far as the holy interpreters of Cryptic's intent allow it to be enriched .
    Anything else is blasphemy , and will be whined/tweeted/podcasted about as such .

    What ? You seriously beamed down to a planed and found nothing but a rock to scan ?
    That's not realistic ! That's blasphemy ! Look at the moon ... , there is so much going on there right now ... ! :)
  • nagoraknagorak Member Posts: 882 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    At the moment, I feel the same way. But, I don't write the stories for the plays alone. I may continue to do so for the small amount of players who enjoy feeling like they are in the universe of Star Trek, instead of grinding tokens so that they can fly a Borg cube and make explosions.

    I can't help but look at the listings, the FvE que, and a large portion of the player feedback in this thread and think to myself, Why I am making content for this game? Then, I remind myself that I'm not writing stories for this game. Instead I'm writings stories that illustrate what I wish this game had become.

    My stories are out of place here. They are misfits.

    I can understand where you're coming from, but I guess for me the truth is that while I do enjoy working in the Foundry most of the time, it is still a lot of effort. Sometimes it starts to be a drag, and it helps to motivate me knowing there are people out there who will enjoy playing through my mission. If I have to tolerate a whole lot of abuse, people giving 1 stars to missions because they actually include stories, having to tolerating being insulted, etc, then that has the opposite effect, making me question why I am bothering.

    In the end, I have so many ideas for stories that even if I live to be a hundred, I doubt I'll ever be able to write/create them all. So, if my efforts aren't going to be appreciated in this medium, then I can focus on another one where they might be better accepted.

    I do think there are people playing STO who would like to play story missions, though, so it's a shame if authors are discouraged from making them.

    Off Topic Observation

    One thing I have noticed in general about creative pursuits is a lot of people are just terrible about judging your work. You'd think they would take the attitude of being neutral, or even slightly positive ("nice effort", etc), but instead some people seem to just like to rip the **** out of you. That sort of severely negative response seems to go well beyond simple lack of interest, or even the honest opinion that they didn't enjoy your work, or think it was very good. Instead it's almost like you're some sort of villain for even bothering to make anything, with no respect for the time you put in or anything else.

    I'm not sure exactly why some people react that way. I guess they have a chip on their shoulder or something. However, I think a certain segment of people already had an axe to grind even before the whole grinder mess erupted. But this is pretty much going off topic, so I'll leave it at that.
  • twg042370twg042370 Member Posts: 2,312 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    Holly: They're still there. The grind missions are still there, Dave.

    Lister: "EZ Monies"?

    Holly: Still there, Dave!

    Lister: Not "LOL EC"?

    Holly: Gordon Bennett! Yes, "LOL EC"! All of them. They're all there, Dave!

    Lister: "ROFLstomp 4 Cash"?

    Holly: It's there, Dave. All the grind missions are there. All. There. Dave.

    Lister: Wait. Are you trying to tell me all the grind missions are still there?

    Holly: Should've never let him out of the Academy in the first place....
    <3
  • atomictikiatomictiki Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    There are2million playing STO. Its statistically unlikely you cannot find an audience.

    Slightly OT: self-publish ebooks, great wayto monetize your creativity.
    Leave nerfing to the professionals.
  • kirksplatkirksplat Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    nagorak wrote: »
    I can understand where you're coming from, but I guess for me the truth is that while I do enjoy working in the Foundry most of the time, it is still a lot of effort. Sometimes it starts to be a drag, and it helps to motivate me knowing there are people out there who will enjoy playing through my mission. If I have to tolerate a whole lot of abuse, people giving 1 stars to missions because they actually include stories, having to tolerating being insulted, etc, then that has the opposite effect, making me question why I am bothering.

    I know what you mean. I've been working on something off and on for weeks now. I have most of the sets built but my story board is empty. I've already put about 50 hours into the thing. Then, I look at the listings and lose all motivation to devote another 50 hours to something that the players do not want, because it requires them to read and may take longer than 15 minutes.

    At some point we have to ask if any of it is worth it. It is volunteer work. WORK is the right word.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • fourxgamerfourxgamer Member Posts: 245 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    nagorak wrote: »

    snip

    The grinders* won't give a damn if a large number of experienced Foundry authors stop making missions, they don't really care about anything except getting their next shiny on their Starbase. However, people who enjoyed the Foundry for what it was definitely suffer if that happens.

    *Note: A grinder is not synonymous with someone who enjoys combat missions. They are different types of people entirely.

    Right now I fall into your definition of grinder, but the rest of that assessment doesn't apply to me.

    Analyze what I'm doing. Why do you think I want to upgrade a starbase? It's not because I'm a drone. There is a level of imagination, and hope, and desire for more among grinders too. My fleet has a theme, their motivations and backgrounds would make a very amusing foundry series. I have stories in my mind also.

    I'm trying to do the very thing Kirkfat is trying to do, just in my own way. I'm trying to make the game the game I hoped it would be. A place where my fleet's story can come to life. I am an explorer and a colonizer, so the idea of holdings has great appeal to me. It's a base that I hope one day will tie into activities I enjoy. I'm grinding now based on that hope. Is it misplaced, perhaps.

    I love most all the story missions I've played in the foundry. I still remember talking to all those participants at the auction on DS9 as they fought for a jem hadar vessel. I remember taking part in an assault on a breakaway Klingon vassal planet where I got to read about background history and talk to my compatriots in detail before the drop. I remember chasing a Cardassian back in time and fighting alongside a lost fleet. Please do not dehumanize me.

    I love stories. I miss them. I've put them on hold and plan on returning to them. So seeing you all leave is not at all what I want. I want tolerance. You can't reduce my grind, and I can't fix your UI. Let's just hope Cryptic can understand all of our needs, and not overreact.

    If it comes down to a Solomon-like decision, I will give you the baby (speaking for myself alone). You don't deserve it all to yourselves, it wouldn't be fair and I would likely have a choice of doubling my grind or quitting, but nobody wants the foundry dead.

    Now we wait.
  • morgannimorganni Member Posts: 27 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    Right.... progression is optional. You don't NEED it.....

    May I suggest reading one of the many articles comparing MMOs to skinner boxes?

    You may think progression is optional, but MMO developers are likely to disagree with you.

    (And this is why people should not want rewards removed from the Foundry, in a way - any system that doesn't give rewards is likely to not get played much, at which point Cryptic deciding it's no longer worth having in the game is a real possibility.)

    -Morgan.
  • kirksplatkirksplat Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    fourxgamer wrote: »
    There is a level of imagination, and hope, and desire for more among grinders too. My fleet has a theme, their motivations and backgrounds would make a very amusing foundry series. I have stories in my mind also.

    You do realize, I hope, that your fleet will never run out of buckets to fill? Every new season will give you new buckets.

    But I get what you're saying. It sucks that a fleet like yours has zero ability to make your castle reflect your fleet.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,231 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    morganni wrote: »
    May I suggest reading one of the many articles comparing MMOs to skinner boxes?

    You may think progression is optional, but MMO developers are likely to disagree with you.

    (And this is why people should not want rewards removed from the Foundry, in a way - any system that doesn't give rewards is likely to not get played much, at which point Cryptic deciding it's no longer worth having in the game is a real possibility.)

    -Morgan.
    Interesting comparison.... But... as long as people keep playing, it doesn't matter to the devs whether they have a t5 starbase or not.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • morgannimorganni Member Posts: 27 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    And that's fine as far as it goes. But if removing a button that doesn't dispense pellets frees up resources to add one that does, it's likely to happen, because the former are shown to be pretty effective at keeping people playing. So, again, if you like something else about a button, you should want it to dispense pellets, even if you don't want any pellets yourself.

    -Morgan.
  • atomictikiatomictiki Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    Interesting comparison.... But... as long as people keep playing, it doesn't matter to the devs whether they have a t5 starbase or not.

    The trick for them is to not makit impossible. It was impossible when season 7 started, my fleetmates scatered. The recent changes have warily brought some back. Until everything gets nerfed again.
    Leave nerfing to the professionals.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,231 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    atomictiki wrote: »
    The trick for them is to not makit impossible. It was impossible when season 7 started, my fleetmates scatered. The recent changes have warily brought some back. Until everything gets nerfed again.
    It was never impossible. Harder? yes. But by no means impossible.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • lordmalak1lordmalak1 Member Posts: 4,681 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    I know what you mean. I've been working on something off and on for weeks now. I have most of the sets built but my story board is empty. I've already put about 50 hours into the thing. Then, I look at the listings and lose all motivation to devote another 50 hours to something that the players do not want, because it requires them to read and may take longer than 15 minutes.

    At some point we have to ask if any of it is worth it. It is volunteer work. WORK is the right word.

    <facepalm>
    Really ? You're playing the 'victim' card ? You're crusade to eliminate your missions competition for player attention will turn the foundry into a ghost town.

    Is that what you really want ?
    KBF Lord MalaK
    Awoken Dead
    giphy.gif

    Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
  • atomictikiatomictiki Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    lordmalak1 wrote: »
    <facepalm>
    Really ? You're playing the 'victim' card ? You're crusade to eliminate your missions competition for player attention will turn the foundry into a ghost town.

    Only metrics can truly answerthis, but I venture that foundry use is way up. And iwth 2million players I doubt it everwill drop back to previous anemic levels, unless its nerfed hard.
    Leave nerfing to the professionals.
  • broadnaxbroadnax Member Posts: 340 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    I know what you mean. I've been working on something off and on for weeks now. I have most of the sets built but my story board is empty. I've already put about 50 hours into the thing. Then, I look at the listings and lose all motivation to devote another 50 hours to something that the players do not want, because it requires them to read and may take longer than 15 minutes.

    At some point we have to ask if any of it is worth it. It is volunteer work. WORK is the right word.

    You are lumping "players" into a single group. You have an audience. It may not be as big as the "grinder" audience, simply because of the requirements of so many things in STO. But that does not mean that your audience does not exist, nor does it make said audience insignificant.

    The reason the grinders are filling up the top spots is because those who play them will five-star anything that gives them good loot.

    Story missions often have an audience that is a bit more stringent in giving ratings than that (e.g., only the most absolutely perfect mission -- totally subjective -- will ever get a five-star rating). In other words, your intended audience can actually be hurting you here by trying to be truly qualitative in their ratings.

    This does not mean that story players will not search out stories and play them It just means it's a bit more complicated to do so. Hopefully Cryptic will take a serious look at upgrading the UI to facilitate this.

    One other thing: If creating missions feels like "work" to you, something is missing. It should be fun. You should be doing it because you want to, because you enjoy it. I get that some of that enjoyment is seeing others have fun with it too, but don't build unrealistic expectations. For me, if family and friends have fun with it, it'll be worth it. If more players truly enjoy it, that's much appreciated icing on the cake.

    You have quite a few friends in the UGC community, so you have an established audience already. It can be expanded from there as those in the UGC community spread the word.
  • kirksplatkirksplat Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    lordmalak1 wrote: »
    <facepalm>
    Really ? You're playing the 'victim' card ? You're crusade to eliminate your missions competition for player attention will turn the foundry into a ghost town.

    Is that what you really want ?

    Maybe it is elitist and I sound like a self-inflated "artiste." How would you feel if you were trying to produce a high-quality drama that is expensive and time-consuming to produce, yet it gets drowned out by reality tv that has little production quality and nothing resembling a story?

    That's what is happening to the Foundry. Players want their easy money and explosions. "You made me read??? 1 star!" "This took longer than 16 minutes! Waste of time!" "Where IZ me LOOTZ? 1 star!" "The ships fire back! Fix it!"

    At some point, somebody has to ask themselves, "Why am I trying to write in this medium?" and "Why am I trying to write for this audience?"

    Now I will retreat to my artiste corner and complain with my fellow snobs about the death of art in the age of mass media. We have our cheese and whine there.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • lordmalak1lordmalak1 Member Posts: 4,681 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    Maybe it is elitist and I sound like a self-inflated "artiste." How would you feel if you were trying to produce a high-quality drama that is expensive and time-consuming to produce, yet it gets drowned out by reality tv that has little production quality and nothing resembling a story?

    That's what is happening to the Foundry. Players want their easy money and explosions. "You made me read??? 1 star!" "This took longer than 16 minutes! Waste of time!" "Where IZ me LOOTZ? 1 star!" "The ships fire back! Fix it!"

    At some point, somebody has to ask themselves, "Why am I trying to write in this medium?" and "Why am I trying to write for this audience?"

    Now I will retreat to my artiste corner and complain with my fellow snobs about the death of art in the age of mass media. We have our cheese and whine there.

    While I do enjoy your (and others) content creations and appreciate everything you guys contribute to the community to help others learn the craft I feel your 'scorched earth' campaign to remove the other type of content from the foundry is counterproductive to the entire idea of user created content. We don't need to be in competition with each other and if you decide to cease production you will be sorely missed but am confident given enough time other 'artists' will come forward to fill the spaces left in your absence.

    With that said, can we work together to find a solution that will benefit everyone instead of making it an us vs. them brawl ?
    KBF Lord MalaK
    Awoken Dead
    giphy.gif

    Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
  • atomictikiatomictiki Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    Maybe it is elitist and I sound like a self-inflated "artiste." How would you feel if you were trying to produce a high-quality drama that is expensive and time-consuming to produce, yet it gets drowned out by reality tv that has little production quality and nothing resembling a story?

    That's what is happening to the Foundry. Players want their easy money and explosions. "You made me read??? 1 star!" "This took longer than 16 minutes! Waste of time!" "Where IZ me LOOTZ? 1 star!" "The ships fire back! Fix it!"

    At some point, somebody has to ask themselves, "Why am I trying to write in this medium?" and "Why am I trying to write for this audience?"

    Now I will retreat to my artiste corner and complain with my fellow snobs about the death of art in the age of mass media. We have our cheese and whine there.

    It's called apart of life. Ithappens everyday. Howmanyidiots love jjtrek? It's total TRIBBLE. Thescript was horrible, the mangling of Roddenberrys universe apalling. How many would prefer to goto McD's than cook a good dinner. happens all the time and nothing to cryabout.

    Youare notseeing "theft" ofyour previous audience, yousaw a mass increase into total audience forthe foundry itself. of which a sizable portion prefers the 15min bitesize adventure.

    Maybe you need moremetrics in your foundry author interface for what seems to be necesary ego stroking.

    Do you get shown daily numberof playthroughts, total numberof plays, curret ratings, average playtime, etc.? A google analytics for your "art" to gauge how popular you are on par with the scale of your audience (which will always be smallerand more niche than easier to digest fare). Maybe you should suggest getting that kind of UI feedback ifyou dont get it already instead of trying to inspire pity.
    Leave nerfing to the professionals.
  • broadnaxbroadnax Member Posts: 340 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    At some point, somebody has to ask themselves, "Why am I trying to write in this medium?" and "Why am I trying to write for this audience?"

    An MMO has more than one audience. The audience you are writing for will continue to play your stories. Those who are playing grinders and eschewing story content most likely would never have touched the story content anyway, so you are not losing your audience to them.

    Any time you have UGC in a game that institutes a lot of grinding for things (starbases, rep, etc.), you're going to have missions made for grinding. That's a given.

    The only real issue here is the ability to find good story missions when the list is filled with so many easy to make grinders.

    The UI needs to be improved to facilitate better sorting. I think Cryptic is aware of this. Hopefully as the Foundry is fleshed out for NW, some of that functionality will be adapted for STO as well.

    Patience is the key here. These threads were consolidated to make it easier for the devs to find comments.
  • pendra3780pendra3780 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    atomictiki wrote: »
    snip

    Can you PLEASE fix your space key?

    I kinda dig JJ thing. If you watch it as a futuristic episode of the Die Hard franchise, then it is quite enjoyable. I miss Bruce Willis, but Karl Urban makes up for it.

    I really wish the captain would say "YIPIKAYE MOTHER F***ER!" when the Narada gives in to the black hole.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,231 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    pendra3780 wrote: »
    Can you PLEASE fix your space key?

    I kinda dig JJ thing. If you watch it as a futuristic episode of the Die Hard franchise, then it is quite enjoyable. I miss Bruce Willis, but Karl Urban makes up for it.

    I really wish the captain would say "YIPIKAYE MOTHER F***ER!" when the Narada gives in to the black hole.
    I like it as a sort of What If version of Star Trek. I'm actually interested in seeing where things go from here.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • kirksplatkirksplat Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    lordmalak1 wrote: »
    While I do enjoy your (and others) content creations and appreciate everything you guys contribute to the community to help others learn the craft I feel your 'scorched earth' campaign to remove the other type of content from the foundry is counterproductive to the entire idea of user created content. We don't need to be in competition with each other and if you decide to cease production you will be sorely missed but am confident given enough time other 'artists' will come forward to fill the spaces left in your absence.

    With that said, can we work together to find a solution that will benefit everyone instead of making it an us vs. them brawl ?

    I don't think getting complaining about exploits or AFK grinders constitutes a scorched earth campaign. I've made a lot of statements about story-less grinders being legit missions, if the players actually have to earn the lootz.

    But that doesn't mean that I put them on the same level as story missions that took far, far longer to write and produce. The grinders are made to allow players to earn rewards quickly and easily, not to contribute to the lore of this game.

    It's one thing to see legit grinders and stories compete, but as it stands right now, I see far more boff grinders and a new breed of AFK mission that is going to be copied 50x.

    Do you think of boff grinders and AFK missions as legit foundry missions?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • atomictikiatomictiki Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    I don't think getting complaining about exploits or AFK grinders constitutes a scorched earth campaign. I've made a lot of statement about story-less grinders being legit missions, if the players actually have to earn the lootz.

    It seems that anything not a 1hour story mission is an exploit to you. There really is noneed to be so insecure. I dont know how else to keep you from freaking out. A ui update would do worlds of good for your sense of self-worth.
    Leave nerfing to the professionals.
  • stardestroyer001stardestroyer001 Member Posts: 2,615 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    This is PRECISELY why I needed my own separate thread. No productive progress will be made here.

    But I don't call the shots, so it's not my fault when nothing productive ends up in this pointless complaining thread.
    stardestroyer001, Admiral, Explorers Fury PvE/PvP Fleet | Retired PvP Player
    Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
    My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,231 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    atomictiki wrote: »
    It seems that anything not a 1hour story mission is an exploit to you. There really is noneed to be so insecure. I dont know how else to keep you from freaking out. A ui update would do worlds of good for your sense of self-worth.
    Um, dude, that's not what he said at all.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • kirksplatkirksplat Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    atomictiki wrote: »
    It seems that anything not a 1hour story mission is an exploit to you.

    No. A mission that has actual combat that a player must participate in = combat mission.

    Do you have a different definition of combat in a video game?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • smazazelsmazazel Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~BranFlakes
  • ajstonerajstoner Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~syberghost
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ajstonerajstoner Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    smazazel wrote: »
    This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~BranFlakes

    See... What did I tell you?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • lordmalak1lordmalak1 Member Posts: 4,681 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    kirksplat wrote: »
    I don't think getting complaining about exploits or AFK grinders constitutes a scorched earth campaign. I've made a lot of statement about story-less grinders being legit missions, if the players actually have to earn the lootz.

    But that doesn't mean I put them on the same level as story missions that took far, far longer to write and produce. The grinders made not to allow players to earn rewards quickly and easily, not to contribute to the lore of this game.

    It's one thing to see legit grinders and stories compete, but as it stands right now, I see far more boff grinders and a new breed of AFK mission that is going to be copied 50x.

    Do you think of boff grinders and AFK missions as legit foundry missions?

    Well <snicker> AFK grinders do allow one to gauge whether their BOFF's are effective in combat or not but I admit I see an error or cryptics part in allowing NPC's to drop loot if killed by a players BOFF without any player assistance. But to be fair a player IS in mission and time spent in mission is rewardable regardless if the player is hiding in a corner or not while his BOFF's are engaged in combat. It IS an exploit but I won't presume to tell another player they should or should'nt play like that since it's not my time they're playing on. Just so you know, I did try that colliseum BOFF grinder once out of curiosity, and tho entertaining to watch I never played it again as it wasn't inline with my playstyle nor very beneficial to bank account.

    I also won't judge a mission to be on a higher level than another because it took longer to create, but that's something that should be part of another discussion, NOT this one.
    KBF Lord MalaK
    Awoken Dead
    giphy.gif

    Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
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