'Top Three' interface offline and Foundry UI update

captainhunter1

Looks like the 'Top Three' interface for Foundry missions in Sector Space is still offline. Anyone hear a rough time when this will be back up?

This 'downtime' for the Top Three system just underscores the incredible need for a UI update for the main Foundry mission window. One that has been proposed and has major player support along with the most important element - very little Dev time required to implement - is shown here: https://arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1193842/modify-the-foundry-ui-for-better-mission-access

This simple 'fix' would go a long way to opening up the Foundry which has absolutely stagnated under the current UI (and it's outdated 'weighted' system).

In addition to the above UI upgrade, I'd love to see the Top Three interface be turned into a single "Other available missions" button where the Top Three is currently placed in solar systems windows. Clicking this button would open up a page showing ALL Foundry missions for that system, rated highest to lowest (using the 'Next 50' button to cycle through missions described in the UI update link above). That way multi-part missions could be played easily without the need for a random generator to show another part - or have a player try to use the current terrible UI in an attempt to find them. But most importantly, it would open up play to every mission for that solar system, regardless of its rating. (There are some hidden jems out there that get very little play and thus never make the Top Three list).

theyredeadjim

Cryptic's current strategy regarding the Foundry might be in a quite different direction than the one authors might want.

I occasionally play Champions Online, and have become aware that the STO Foundry sends publishing status emails to my CO in-game mailbox that it does not send to my STO in-game mailbox. (That in itself is a most strange feature.)

I just signed into CO in the past couple of days, to discover that I had an in-game email from The Foundry which read as follows:

Project: We Wish You A Mirror Christmas! (ST-HHSJYFHGA)

Your project has been inactive for more than 30 days and was withdrawn. You may publish it again if you wish.

Note: This is an automated email message; any replies to this message will not be received.

When I checked the status in the Foundry editor, this mission had been withdrawn. Now, I don't really care that this one has been withdrawn, as it is of a seasonal nature; the only reason that I left it up this time around is that the publishing conditions last holiday season meant that it was down for most of the time that it was relevant. But I'm not looking for plays out of season, either.

That said, if all missions are now being withdrawn after 30 days of inactivity, this should be of great concern to all Foundry authors, as hidden missions receive no plays, and unplayed missions now appear to be subject to automatic withdrawal. It may be that the easiest way for Cryptic to deal with the interface issue is just to make the hidden missions go away.

*edit* BTW, the date of the CO in-game email referenced above was June 8, 2017.
*2nd edit* June 8, 2017 was also the date of the recent unannounced and unexpected Foundry downtime. It would seem that it was unannounced, but was with purpose.

captainhunter1

theyredeadjim wrote: »

Cryptic's current strategy regarding the Foundry might be in a quite different direction than the one authors might want.

I occasionally play Champions Online, and have become aware that the STO Foundry sends publishing status emails to my CO in-game mailbox that it does not send to my STO in-game mailbox. (That in itself is a most strange feature.)

I just signed into CO in the past couple of days, to discover that I had an in-game email from The Foundry which read as follows:

Project: We Wish You A Mirror Christmas! (ST-HHSJYFHGA)

Your project has been inactive for more than 30 days and was withdrawn. You may publish it again if you wish.

Note: This is an automated email message; any replies to this message will not be received.

When I checked the status in the Foundry editor, this mission had been withdrawn. Now, I don't really care that this one has been withdrawn, as it is of a seasonal nature; the only reason that I left it up this time around is that the publishing conditions last holiday season meant that it was down for most of the time that it was relevant. But I'm not looking for plays out of season, either.

That said, if all missions are now being withdrawn after 30 days of inactivity, this should be of great concern to all Foundry authors, as hidden missions receive no plays, and unplayed missions now appear to be subject to automatic withdrawal. It may be that the easiest way for Cryptic to deal with the interface issue is just to make the hidden missions go away.

*edit* BTW, the date of the CO in-game email referenced above was June 8, 2017.
*2nd edit* June 8, 2017 was also the date of the recent unannounced and unexpected Foundry downtime. It would seem that it was unannounced, but was with purpose.

I think it's kinda cool that Champs shares its in-game mail system with STO. It certainly helps when jumping back and forth between the two games.

That said, it is very disturbing news that missions left inactive for more than 30 days are automatically unpublished.

What is the purpose here? If the data is still being held somewhere (it wasn't deleted, just unpublished), why would it be removed from play? Is there some limitation going on behind the coding scenes here that prevents more than a certain number of missions to be listed at any given time? Is this why the current interface is so incredibly small when it comes to listing missions - and why a simple thing like adding a 'Next 50 mission' button hasn't been added after all this time?

patchm142

*sigh*

It's the age old catch 22. No dev time for the foundry because not enough people use it, but getting more people to use it requires redesigns that take dev time.

duncanidaho11

Update from Kael/Cryptic

https://twitter.com/AmbassadorKael/status/885177887812341760

Unknown

This content has been removed.