People, people... lets not lose our heads here. There is absolutely no reason for the rising hostility going on. Perhaps I mispoke when I said they are silent. Again, I'm fairly new to the community and tbh, the only place I know where to get any sort of info on the foundry is here on this forum, from you guys.
I am extremely grateful for you doing your best to keep us updated. I guess my frustration stems from the lack of official communication from Cryptic. I've never really used Twitter before, so I don't know where to even start looking for the developers page. I also have no idea what these ten-forward/roundtable discussions are that I keep hearing about.
So believe me when I tell you, your efforts are appreciated. I apologize if my comments came across differently. I am understandably frustrated with the situation here and I find being able to 'vent' in the forums helps reduce that frustration. That does not mean your updates are falling on deaf ears.
I think everyone needs to take a step back, take a deep breath, and remember- this is a game. I'm in no way diminishing how important it can be to some people. (I, myself, spend about 6-8 hours on it a day. It's the only source of entertainment I really have.) But this is supposed to be just that: entertainment- fun. We are all feeling the frustrations, as are the developers, I'm sure. I'm also sure they have their reasons for not making the foundry a priority- whether we agree with them or not.
That doesn't mean we can't vent our frustrations. I encourage it, actually. It's unhealthy to bottle stuff up. But the moment we begin to turn on one another is the moment we need to step back and chill out. We need to respect what one another has to say (and especially the efforts that some of us make to keep us informed.) Just keep in mind- we're all in the same situation. Fighting with eachother is absolutely pointless not to mention a bit on the juvenile side.
All of that being said, @duncanidaho11 if you are really done relaying information, could you please leave me the info for all of your sources so I can at least try to stay up to date?
Thanks! LLAP
"Today is a good day to die... but I'd rather go to Risa."-Fleet Admiral Christopher D. Marshall
I'll talk to the guys about when we can start that discussion up in proper. I think "week after the challenge officially ends" is the most likely date but folks are certainly free to start throwing ideas around here.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
I'll talk to the guys about when we can start that discussion up in proper. I think "week after the challenge officially ends" is the most likely date but folks are certainly free to start throwing ideas around here.
Hmmm ... why don't you make a thread asking for suggestions for foundry challenges with a list of the previous challenges?
I'll talk to the guys about when we can start that discussion up in proper. I think "week after the challenge officially ends" is the most likely date but folks are certainly free to start throwing ideas around here.
Hmmm ... why don't you make a thread asking for suggestions for foundry challenges with a list of the previous challenges?
We'll probably be making that but this needs talking out first (things have naturally been slow with the Roundtable, no decisions yet about when exactly we'll get the ball rolling with the next change. Some ideas but a strong component of we need to wait and see what's going on with everything.)
But if folks wanted to start talking about that now...well then that would only be a productive use of downtime.
All of that being said, @duncanidaho11 if you are really done relaying information, could you please leave me the info for all of your sources so I can at least try to stay up to date?
Thanks! LLAP
It's primarily through Kael, poking him on twitter is probably the best way to go with regard to Foundry status updates (though be respectful of a non-answer, since we're probably still in the "working on it" stage of the bug fix.)
Foundry Roundtable is still the main Foundry liason with Kael and any big news (challenges, activities, projects) will pass through us first before the community. Roundtable activities aren't at all in question here (so if you keep an eye on GreenDragoon's Roundtab twitter account you'll be up to date on the big news and major updates), just me relaying information between other outlets and the forum (it's been a special effort which I'm not feeling too good about ATM.) When the Foundry is back online I'd expect Drogyn or one of the folks from Starbase UGC to make a thread announcing it and for relevant PSA's.
Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Kael mentioned the most recent status of progress on the Foundry during this evening's Ten Forward livestream.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Kael mentioned the most recent status of progress on the Foundry during this evening's Ten Forward livestream.
Yes, I saw that too, sadly no date as yet but at least we know they are still working on it. I think it must have been more than a couple of accidentally deleted files.
Soooo I take it that means any hopes I had of the foundry coming back up today are nothing more than wishful thinking?
I'm glad they are working on it but Jesus...
"Today is a good day to die... but I'd rather go to Risa."-Fleet Admiral Christopher D. Marshall
Kael mentioned the most recent status of progress on the Foundry during this evening's Ten Forward livestream.
Yes, I saw that too, sadly no date as yet but at least we know they are still working on it. I think it must have been more than a couple of accidentally deleted files.
Soooo I take it that means any hopes I had of the foundry coming back up today are nothing more than wishful thinking?
I'm glad they are working on it but Jesus...
But... they are working on a fix..... for the last 2 months..... LOOOOL.
I think not even them belive that anymore.
Kael mentioned the most recent status of progress on the Foundry during this evening's Ten Forward livestream.
Yes, I saw that too, sadly no date as yet but at least we know they are still working on it. I think it must have been more than a couple of accidentally deleted files.
Soooo I take it that means any hopes I had of the foundry coming back up today are nothing more than wishful thinking?
I'm glad they are working on it but Jesus...
But... they are working on a fix..... for the last 2 months..... LOOOOL.
I think not even them belive that anymore.
I legitimately believe they are working on it. The problem lies with where the foundry is on their priority list.
"Today is a good day to die... but I'd rather go to Risa."-Fleet Admiral Christopher D. Marshall
Also Starbase UGC, community group (and fleet) with resources, news, and other Foundry goodies (good folks to talk to about mission creation, collaboration.) http://starbaseugc.com/
(Matt can also team this up with some links to SRS resources. )
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
So when it's running these are the, mostly, team orientated missions, designed for 5 on elite, they will push you. There are some easier than others, and one, the Vega mission has got rave reviews, if you're interested in TMP you'll like this and interestingly it has no combat at all. Find them all here.
Yes, when the foundry comes back up definitely check out the SRS missions if you haven't. They're fairly difficult, but a lot of fun, even in groups which is unique because a lot of foundry missions are not designed for them.
Duncan's missions are all really good too if you're into episodic missions with a lot of background information, interesting characters and science, and that's sort of my thing. The Trident two part mini-series is probably my all time favorite because of how well the world's built from a sociological and ecological perspective.
There's a lot of good work out there though, Purity and Photonomy and the Unsung/Omnitabula series are other favorites of mine as well as many, many others.
Ugh, I seriously hope its back up soon. I was really hoping it would be by my Birthday (Monday) but its not looking like it, which sucks but oh well, at least they're working on it and at least we have it at all. Most MMOs don't have much in the way of user generated content except UI mods and stuff that guilds do in-game. Its rare that a game offers quests/missions that users make, which is why STO has always been a favorite of mine, warts and all.
I am a Starfleet Officer first, but an Intelligence Professional second to none. With pride in my heritage, but focused on the future. Performing the first task of an Army; To find, know and never lose the enemy. With a sense of urgency and of tenacity, professional and physical fitness. And above all: Integrity--for in truth lies victory. Always at Silent War while ready for a shooting war: The silent warrior of the Starfleet team
Wow Matt, nice trailer. Your mission really captures the feeling and epic scale of V'Ger in TMP.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I know what you mean about music and VOs, but you know, the fans are the ultimate arbiters here and when you look at some of the amazing work done on the Nexus for things like Skyrim with full cast of VOs, royalty free and ingame music it really works. Someone does something that doesn't fit the game the fans will slag it off in the reviews and it won't be popular. There is an extraordinary amount more we could do given Cryptic's involvement, but I can't see it ever happening sadly, hope I'm mistaken though.
Bethesda also doesn't have to worry about the web of licensing issues that are inherent to Star Trek with Paramount and CBS both controlling different parts of the IP.
About the biggest thing they had to worry about in terms of using other owners' content was Fallout after they bought most of the IP but prior to Interplay's lawsuit where they still owned rights to some of it. Bethesda Game Studios is also one of the most permissive IP holders in gaming and has a huge modding community for all of their games because of how lenient they are. They could be like Ubisoft in terms of how heavy handed they are about protecting their IP, but they aren't and the overall ecosystem for their games is much better for it. Look at how much user generated content exists for Skyrim or Fallout: New Vegas on just the Nexus sites alone.
But that being said, its not a new thing for them really. Back before every game had a Wiki, Bethesda allowed and encouraged Dave H. and his Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages to do their thing, going so far as to provide bandwidth on their servers for a couple of months when Dave's hosting provider shut him down because of the amount of traffic the pages generated around the time Morrowind came out in the early 2000's and basically allow him and his community to write an in-depth encyclopedia for all of their games in the series with images, sounds, even some official mods (like Fort Firemoth for Morrowind) all kinds of IP that they let him and his community use because it encourages the community to create and grow with it.
It'd really be nice if PWE, Cryptic, CBS, and Paramount had a similar attitude, and in some ways, they do. The Foundry is a great example of that, but its not at the same level because a lot of people don't even know that there's UGC in an MMO because they're used to how a lot of MMORPG publishers are in terms of limiting what you can do with their games and assets. I really wish there was more awareness of the foundry out there, there's a LOT of great content out there and I wish there was a wider audience, thats one of the reasons I have a huge amount of respect for Foundry authors. Ya'll do excellent work and I've always thought so.
I am a Starfleet Officer first, but an Intelligence Professional second to none. With pride in my heritage, but focused on the future. Performing the first task of an Army; To find, know and never lose the enemy. With a sense of urgency and of tenacity, professional and physical fitness. And above all: Integrity--for in truth lies victory. Always at Silent War while ready for a shooting war: The silent warrior of the Starfleet team
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I suppose licensing wouldn't be too much of an issue if we had a "playlist" of preset music tracks (essentially either cryptic made or music they have license to use) that we could choose from.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I suppose licensing wouldn't be too much of an issue if we had a "playlist" of preset music tracks (essentially either cryptic made or music they have license to use) that we could choose from.
Well, i have a very easy way to set the music according to the current mood when playing STO : turn the music off in the option tab, and play some adequate Star Trek OST from Youtube.
I used to do so back then when playing that (now sadly defunct) V'ger-related foundry mission called "Children of a Lesser God". It also featured a V'ger fly-over scene that was rendered very nicely when ran with the matching OST in the background.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I suppose licensing wouldn't be too much of an issue if we had a "playlist" of preset music tracks (essentially either cryptic made or music they have license to use) that we could choose from.
Well, i have a very easy way to set the music according to the current mood when playing STO : turn the music off in the option tab, and play some adequate Star Trek OST from Youtube.
I used to do so back then when playing that (now sadly defunct) V'ger-related foundry mission called "Children of a Lesser God". It also featured a V'ger fly-over scene that was rendered very nicely when ran with the matching OST in the background.
True but we were talking more about directing the mood of the scene thru in-game assets, for example if you want a map/location to look nice at first glance but still be unnerving to the player you could have ambient music that contrasts with the scenery as it seems to be.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I suppose licensing wouldn't be too much of an issue if we had a "playlist" of preset music tracks (essentially either cryptic made or music they have license to use) that we could choose from.
Well, i have a very easy way to set the music according to the current mood when playing STO : turn the music off in the option tab, and play some adequate Star Trek OST from Youtube.
I used to do so back then when playing that (now sadly defunct) V'ger-related foundry mission called "Children of a Lesser God". It also featured a V'ger fly-over scene that was rendered very nicely when ran with the matching OST in the background.
True but we were talking more about directing the mood of the scene thru in-game assets, for example if you want a map/location to look nice at first glance but still be unnerving to the player you could have ambient music that contrasts with the scenery as it seems to be.
I get your point, and I do agree that being able to choose from different musics while designing Foundry maps would be great. Although, considering the editor's current state of disrepair, I'm not keeping my hopes too high for such an update in the future.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I suppose licensing wouldn't be too much of an issue if we had a "playlist" of preset music tracks (essentially either cryptic made or music they have license to use) that we could choose from.
Well, i have a very easy way to set the music according to the current mood when playing STO : turn the music off in the option tab, and play some adequate Star Trek OST from Youtube.
I used to do so back then when playing that (now sadly defunct) V'ger-related foundry mission called "Children of a Lesser God". It also featured a V'ger fly-over scene that was rendered very nicely when ran with the matching OST in the background.
True but we were talking more about directing the mood of the scene thru in-game assets, for example if you want a map/location to look nice at first glance but still be unnerving to the player you could have ambient music that contrasts with the scenery as it seems to be.
I see your point, and I agree that the possibility to set a certain musical ambience when designing Foundry maps would be great for the sake of immersion during play. However, considering the state of wonkiness/disrepair the editor is in at the moment, i'm not keeping my hopes too high for such an update to come, at least in the near future.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
I suppose licensing wouldn't be too much of an issue if we had a "playlist" of preset music tracks (essentially either cryptic made or music they have license to use) that we could choose from.
Exactly, its one of those little tweaks for you guys that I wouldn't figure would be all that hard to implement on the server-side or in the foundry editor and wouldn't require that much overhead in the client either since I'd figure the music's all there in one of the container files and it would be just a matter of making a script able to call up that particular part of the file, perhaps tied to the particular stage of the quest and possibly the ability have it change during it, depending on which stage is triggered at the time.
Maybe its wishful thinking but it shouldn't be impossible or even all that hard.
That being said, I'm an ops guy with a background in negative testing and IT, I'm not a developer. From a purely ops standpoint it should be possible to do that, but there may be a reason that it can't be done that I don't know about and unlike a BGS/id/ZOS game I know next to nothing about STO's internals and how it works, I just play it and have fun with it. Especially when the Foundry's working.
So hopefully when Q's up and running this week, we get the Foundry back too. I'd be very happy with that outcome.
I am a Starfleet Officer first, but an Intelligence Professional second to none. With pride in my heritage, but focused on the future. Performing the first task of an Army; To find, know and never lose the enemy. With a sense of urgency and of tenacity, professional and physical fitness. And above all: Integrity--for in truth lies victory. Always at Silent War while ready for a shooting war: The silent warrior of the Starfleet team
Comments
I am extremely grateful for you doing your best to keep us updated. I guess my frustration stems from the lack of official communication from Cryptic. I've never really used Twitter before, so I don't know where to even start looking for the developers page. I also have no idea what these ten-forward/roundtable discussions are that I keep hearing about.
So believe me when I tell you, your efforts are appreciated. I apologize if my comments came across differently. I am understandably frustrated with the situation here and I find being able to 'vent' in the forums helps reduce that frustration. That does not mean your updates are falling on deaf ears.
I think everyone needs to take a step back, take a deep breath, and remember- this is a game. I'm in no way diminishing how important it can be to some people. (I, myself, spend about 6-8 hours on it a day. It's the only source of entertainment I really have.) But this is supposed to be just that: entertainment- fun. We are all feeling the frustrations, as are the developers, I'm sure. I'm also sure they have their reasons for not making the foundry a priority- whether we agree with them or not.
That doesn't mean we can't vent our frustrations. I encourage it, actually. It's unhealthy to bottle stuff up. But the moment we begin to turn on one another is the moment we need to step back and chill out. We need to respect what one another has to say (and especially the efforts that some of us make to keep us informed.) Just keep in mind- we're all in the same situation. Fighting with eachother is absolutely pointless not to mention a bit on the juvenile side.
All of that being said, @duncanidaho11 if you are really done relaying information, could you please leave me the info for all of your sources so I can at least try to stay up to date?
Thanks! LLAP
I'll talk to the guys about when we can start that discussion up in proper. I think "week after the challenge officially ends" is the most likely date but folks are certainly free to start throwing ideas around here.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Hmmm ... why don't you make a thread asking for suggestions for foundry challenges with a list of the previous challenges?
We'll probably be making that but this needs talking out first (things have naturally been slow with the Roundtable, no decisions yet about when exactly we'll get the ball rolling with the next change. Some ideas but a strong component of we need to wait and see what's going on with everything.)
But if folks wanted to start talking about that now...well then that would only be a productive use of downtime.
It's primarily through Kael, poking him on twitter is probably the best way to go with regard to Foundry status updates (though be respectful of a non-answer, since we're probably still in the "working on it" stage of the bug fix.)
Foundry Roundtable is still the main Foundry liason with Kael and any big news (challenges, activities, projects) will pass through us first before the community. Roundtable activities aren't at all in question here (so if you keep an eye on GreenDragoon's Roundtab twitter account you'll be up to date on the big news and major updates), just me relaying information between other outlets and the forum (it's been a special effort which I'm not feeling too good about ATM.) When the Foundry is back online I'd expect Drogyn or one of the folks from Starbase UGC to make a thread announcing it and for relevant PSA's.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
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Soooo I take it that means any hopes I had of the foundry coming back up today are nothing more than wishful thinking?
I'm glad they are working on it but Jesus...
But... they are working on a fix..... for the last 2 months..... LOOOOL.
I think not even them belive that anymore.
I legitimately believe they are working on it. The problem lies with where the foundry is on their priority list.
Links!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqcqBq4rvt63uPHUWhmE11g
https://www.twitch.tv/thefoundryroundtable/videos/all
I'll also throw a shout out to Legion of Myth (another streaming group) who does a lot with the Foundry when its online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASBwusBnCt4&list=PL7EtdhpcaaJXWAAyJgTBPqV6Axv6w4swQ
https://www.twitch.tv/legionofmyth
Also Starbase UGC, community group (and fleet) with resources, news, and other Foundry goodies (good folks to talk to about mission creation, collaboration.)
http://starbaseugc.com/
(Matt can also team this up with some links to SRS resources.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Yes, when the foundry comes back up definitely check out the SRS missions if you haven't. They're fairly difficult, but a lot of fun, even in groups which is unique because a lot of foundry missions are not designed for them.
Duncan's missions are all really good too if you're into episodic missions with a lot of background information, interesting characters and science, and that's sort of my thing. The Trident two part mini-series is probably my all time favorite because of how well the world's built from a sociological and ecological perspective.
There's a lot of good work out there though, Purity and Photonomy and the Unsung/Omnitabula series are other favorites of mine as well as many, many others.
Ugh, I seriously hope its back up soon. I was really hoping it would be by my Birthday (Monday) but its not looking like it, which sucks but oh well, at least they're working on it and at least we have it at all. Most MMOs don't have much in the way of user generated content except UI mods and stuff that guilds do in-game. Its rare that a game offers quests/missions that users make, which is why STO has always been a favorite of mine, warts and all.
Original Join Date: 19 December 2010
Wow Matt, nice trailer. Your mission really captures the feeling and epic scale of V'Ger in TMP.
Boy, I wish we had control of background music for our missions. It really sets the mood. (But I know the abuse and licensing issues there, so I understand why we don't have that option.)
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
Bethesda also doesn't have to worry about the web of licensing issues that are inherent to Star Trek with Paramount and CBS both controlling different parts of the IP.
About the biggest thing they had to worry about in terms of using other owners' content was Fallout after they bought most of the IP but prior to Interplay's lawsuit where they still owned rights to some of it. Bethesda Game Studios is also one of the most permissive IP holders in gaming and has a huge modding community for all of their games because of how lenient they are. They could be like Ubisoft in terms of how heavy handed they are about protecting their IP, but they aren't and the overall ecosystem for their games is much better for it. Look at how much user generated content exists for Skyrim or Fallout: New Vegas on just the Nexus sites alone.
But that being said, its not a new thing for them really. Back before every game had a Wiki, Bethesda allowed and encouraged Dave H. and his Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages to do their thing, going so far as to provide bandwidth on their servers for a couple of months when Dave's hosting provider shut him down because of the amount of traffic the pages generated around the time Morrowind came out in the early 2000's and basically allow him and his community to write an in-depth encyclopedia for all of their games in the series with images, sounds, even some official mods (like Fort Firemoth for Morrowind) all kinds of IP that they let him and his community use because it encourages the community to create and grow with it.
It'd really be nice if PWE, Cryptic, CBS, and Paramount had a similar attitude, and in some ways, they do. The Foundry is a great example of that, but its not at the same level because a lot of people don't even know that there's UGC in an MMO because they're used to how a lot of MMORPG publishers are in terms of limiting what you can do with their games and assets. I really wish there was more awareness of the foundry out there, there's a LOT of great content out there and I wish there was a wider audience, thats one of the reasons I have a huge amount of respect for Foundry authors. Ya'll do excellent work and I've always thought so.
Original Join Date: 19 December 2010
Well, i have a very easy way to set the music according to the current mood when playing STO : turn the music off in the option tab, and play some adequate Star Trek OST from Youtube.
I used to do so back then when playing that (now sadly defunct) V'ger-related foundry mission called "Children of a Lesser God". It also featured a V'ger fly-over scene that was rendered very nicely when ran with the matching OST in the background.
I get your point, and I do agree that being able to choose from different musics while designing Foundry maps would be great. Although, considering the editor's current state of disrepair, I'm not keeping my hopes too high for such an update in the future.
I see your point, and I agree that the possibility to set a certain musical ambience when designing Foundry maps would be great for the sake of immersion during play. However, considering the state of wonkiness/disrepair the editor is in at the moment, i'm not keeping my hopes too high for such an update to come, at least in the near future.
Mercury comes out of retrograde on 6 December.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Exactly, its one of those little tweaks for you guys that I wouldn't figure would be all that hard to implement on the server-side or in the foundry editor and wouldn't require that much overhead in the client either since I'd figure the music's all there in one of the container files and it would be just a matter of making a script able to call up that particular part of the file, perhaps tied to the particular stage of the quest and possibly the ability have it change during it, depending on which stage is triggered at the time.
Maybe its wishful thinking but it shouldn't be impossible or even all that hard.
That being said, I'm an ops guy with a background in negative testing and IT, I'm not a developer. From a purely ops standpoint it should be possible to do that, but there may be a reason that it can't be done that I don't know about and unlike a BGS/id/ZOS game I know next to nothing about STO's internals and how it works, I just play it and have fun with it. Especially when the Foundry's working.
So hopefully when Q's up and running this week, we get the Foundry back too. I'd be very happy with that outcome.
Original Join Date: 19 December 2010