I dont care if william shakespear rose from the grave to write a foundry mission. It's. Still. Fanfic. I don't care how another fan finishes the story, i don't even care if the story ends really. Just that it's continued.
Sorry if this hurts yopur foundry author ego, kirksplat, but unless you get a job for cryptic i have no interest in what you or other fans are offering and nothing ypu say will change that.
Ok, to each his own. I do think you're missing out. Perhaps you'll get 1 or maybe even 2 FE series by the end of 2014. Hopefully they will continue the story for you. However, I'd be surprised if it wasn't just some kind of new enemy of the season, designed more with the c-store in mind. Story tacked on later.
While you're waiting, visit the exploration clusters and also level a toon. There are some great stories in the official content. Others, well, I'd rather be reading the worst of the worst fan-fic. Some slash fiction is far more coherent.
Ok, to each his own. I do think you're missing out. Perhaps you'll get 1 or maybe even 2 FE series by the end of 2014. Hopefully they will continue the story for you. However, I'd be surprised if it wasn't just some kind of new enemy of the season, designed more with the c-store in mind. Story tacked on later.
While you're waiting, visit the exploration clusters and also level a toon. There are some great stories in the official content. Others, well, I'd rather be reading the worst of the worst fan-fic. Some slash fiction is far more coherent.
Isn't this the problem though? You and others are doing Cryptics job for them. They even now admit this by
A: Telling you to play the foundry if you want story.
B: We will add rewards to the foundry for playing them.
What exactly are they doing now instead of moving the story on or creating new interesting content? Fleet bases? About as much use as interiors.
More lock boxes and Z store stuff. And please before people come back and say it's a separate team, didn't we hear this from day 1 that it's a separate team. Why not make it one team and just create content.
I think you forget that to you and the other authors, the Foundry is STO, so your not that fussed about the rest of STO. For the main stream players, they just want stuff to do that rewards their time playing. Grind isn't a problem, it's boring tedious grind that is.
When/if they implement rewards to foundry, wait until this is used as just another grind. People won't care about the story, just what the reward is.
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
It's Star Trek and it's one of the only media in which I can create a Trek episode and have other people experience it, even if it's in the context of a grade B video game that doesn't really care about story. Sure, there are other fanfic avenues, but this is one of the only ones where the production qualities are remotely on the same playing field. Yes the mechanics of a Foundry mission will often be inferior to a FE, but the stories are often far better. Many UGC missions rival or exceed the production quality of official content. The fans of this genre know their stuff, and unlike many devs, they don't have deadlines.
Why I play UGC:
I have far more confidence in Trek fans than I do in this dev team. I know that sounds harsh, but I generally dislike the STO universe of 2409. It doesn't feel like Star Trek. It never really has, except for a half dozen moments of real immersion. Whether I'm grinding for dilithium or plotting like a Ferengi to earn Zen, I'm constantly aware of the contrasts between this game and what I know to be Star Trek. This game requires an incredible amount of suspension of disbelief for me. But, I can't tell you how many times I'm playing UGC and getting really excited about how the plot of the mission connects with canon, characters, episodes, debates, moral conundrums, temporal paradoxes, etc. For example, I basically button-mashed by way through all of the game's DS9 content (prior to the Dominion FE). Then, I played "The Spirits of Ramok Nor." It was an instant reminder of why I loved DS9, and it made me rewatch the entire series on netflix.
Star Trek is about characters. Star Trek Online is not. The main quest-giver has no personality. Every once in awhile, we get a good VO for a character. But for the most part, there are no characters in STO.
Star Trek is about "issues." Not all Trek, of course, but a lot of TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY had central themes, controversial questions, or ham-fisted debates about ethics, the prime directive, rights, etc. Star Trek Online is not. It's about shinies, gold, tokens, barrel smashing and chicken-kicking. There is no "there" there. But Foundry missions have a "there" quite often. Whether it's Havraha calling you to account for your STO war crimes or other authors demanding that you make a choice that isn't easy, UGC missions put some of the Trek back into Star Trek Online.
Star Trek is about ideals. There are no ideals in STO. It's errily similar to the mirror universe. We kill bar patrons, Romulan scientists, and alien babies. We kill, kill, kill. We still kill a lot in UGC, but the authors actually give us compelling and justifiable reasons for endless war. And, some missions have very little fighting. Rather, they have a story to tell that culminates in conflict, whereas STO just starts with conflict and offers a cookie for the head count.
So, content, a thing that many say the game lacks, but others say we have content every day due to the foundry.
I have never liked the foundry and will never subscribe to it, simply because it was always suppose to be an extra for fans. It was never going to be a substitute for official content and this was said many times by the devs and the eps. Now ofc we know that they are pushing it for you the fans to basically make the story element for STO, whilst they push out more lock boxes or money sinks, but very little substance stuff.
That said, why do you play the foundry or why won't you.
I do play Foundry missions and have used the tools to create missions, but I don't view the Foundry as the answer to new content. There's some great stuff in there (Personal favorite thus far is "Checks and Balances") that I play every so often to get my fix for some Star Trek adventure, but none of it advances the storylines of STO. Sure there are missions that add to the canon of STO, or try to elaborate on it, but don't actually advance the stories they may play off of.
Don't get me wrong, I love anything that further expands the universe, and the fact that they won't be recognized as being official for the STO universe does sadden me, but that doesn't ruin my enjoyment of them. It isn't any different than reading some of the great novels out there that are based in the ST universe. They aren't canon either, but I love them all the same.
It was just stated in another thread that there aren't enough devs to actually have some create content AND create shineys at the same time, so they choose to create items that make money and rely on the players to attract new players by creating stories.
:eek:
Pretty sinister, right ? Best part is tho, to create content you gotta PAY for the privilege.
It was just stated in another thread that there aren't enough devs to actually have some create content AND create shineys at the same time, so they choose to create items that make money and rely on the players to attract new players by creating stories.
:eek:
Pretty sinister, right ? Best part is tho, to create content you gotta PAY for the privilege.
Aye, I just read that too.
Don't they now harp on about they have doubled their team? Still don't see much change.
I bet Cryptic doubled their workforce and most went to NW.
And before people rush to say these people need to be brought up to spec on STO dev tools etc. How long does this take?
Not convinced. If you want to make money and you have a "workforce" that is prepared to make things for free, why make your own?
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
It was just stated in another thread that there aren't enough devs to actually have some create content AND create shineys at the same time, so they choose to create items that make money and rely on the players to attract new players by creating stories.
:eek:
Pretty sinister, right ? Best part is tho, to create content you gotta PAY for the privilege.
link please. I'm not sure what I'm looking for in the dev tracker.
link please. I'm not sure what I'm looking for in the dev tracker.
Not a Dev, an opinion.
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
Here it comes, 'it didn't come from a dev so it doesn't mean a thing'.
<ducks for cover>
Why not? I don't understand this type of statement. It's like someone at Cryptic can give you a very unpolished TRIBBLE and that "means a thing." But a very polished, enjoyable, and wonderful story set in the universe of STO simply "doesn't mean a thing."
Is it simply because one person got paid to produce a TRIBBLE and the other worked for free on a masterpiece?
The people with the ideological issues arent going to budge, so theres no point trying. But the majority would be motivated by comparable rewards, which needs to happen ASAP.
Why not? I don't understand this type of statement. It's like someone at Cryptic can give you a very unpolished TRIBBLE and that "means a thing." But a very polished, enjoyable, and wonderful story set in the universe of STO simply "doesn't mean a thing."
Is it simply because one person got paid to produce a TRIBBLE and the other worked for free on a masterpiece?
What is the distinction here?
I thought we were talking about a comment about the devs priorities, not the product. Some of the best content I've ever played in STO came from the foundry.
The people with the ideological issues arent going to budge, so theres no point trying. But the majority would be motivated by comparable rewards, which needs to happen ASAP.
Facts Nagus, facts. Do you have any? I don't and neither have you.
You're "probably" right, but you don't know what motivates most people in STO.
I suppose though you're right in some way. Foundry lovers like yourself, won't budge from the stance that the Foundry is the place to get the content fix, so there's no point in telling you different eh?
Edited because I was generalising (again).
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
Oh, I've got facts. And precedents set by the entire MMO genre. If people in general were not motivated by rewards, then there would be no need to attach rewards to almost every mission. They could simply let you buy the items/gear/etc from the in game vendors. But because the developers know people are motivated by the rewards, they attach them to missions, and the developers of this game have done the same. Enjoy those facts.
As others have mentioned, the Foundry's content often eclipses the best of Cryptic's. Plus the Foundry missions are just far more Trek for the most part.
The fans care far more about adhering to the lore than Cryptic does. I mean, the game is now overrun with ships from the 29th century created by organization which existed for the explicit purpose of preventing timeline corruption.
In short, Cryptic does whatever they want and doesn't care one iota about any type of consistency with the canon. The Foundry let's us have the mission content we were supposed to have.
I tend to check it out sometimes, and the authors really do an amazing job despite the clunkiness of it at times. I find myself impressed by the esoteric details that's in the storylines as well, stuff that was mentioned in one episode as a passing line. These guys are true Trek nerds.:P
Cryptic failed in delivering a return (dilithium / item-token-store / reputation system...) of investment (TIME) for foundry players.
no rewards for it that you can't get through the clickies
The "Spotlights" on the Website i tend to just ignore.
the clicky missions have to be well known by cryptic by now,.
The next big update to Foundry is supposed to be changing the way rewards are handled.
Anyways, yeah I'm sure Cryptic knows about the "click to win" missions. But, I think they don't do anything because a: it's technically not a TOS violation(you could argue that it is an exploit, but that's debatable), b: the Foundry daily is not meant as a permanent game feature. As soon as they finish the new reward system, the Foundry Daily will be history and all the click to win missions will be worthless.
The next big update to Foundry is supposed to be changing the way rewards are handled.
Anyways, yeah I'm sure Cryptic knows about the "click to win" missions. But, I think they don't do anything because a: it's technically not a TOS violation(you could argue that it is an exploit, but that's debatable), b: the Foundry daily is not meant as a permanent game feature. As soon as they finish the new reward system, the Foundry Daily will be history and all the click to win missions will be worthless.
Just so we're all on the same page, they never said they were working on a new reward system for mission in general, only for the Spotlight missions. They have never said anything to even remotely suggest the daily was being removed.
So, we have been discussing this at StarbaseUGC and it 'forced' me to go to a source regarding it. I asked Dayton Ward, author of numerous Star Trek novels (that you should be reading btw) and someone who got their professional Star Trek writing career started by submitting to Strange New worlds where he stood. The Following is his response:
"Dayton Ward:*Well, I'm a fan, and I write fiction. *If you mean "fan fiction" and "official fiction" the big difference is licensor approval/oversight.*"Fan fiction" and "official fiction" is not a judgment about quality. It's not a valid blanket statement. Name a fandom. They'll have great fanfic & lousy official fic (or movies, or TV eps)*"
While I cannot disagree that developer side additions to the game MUST be maintained and improved upon, it is categorically unfair to outright declare an entire segment of the populations work as illegitimate just because it comes from another source. I will also concede that there are bad Foundry missions. But remember that officially, Star Trek V was made through official channels, and it is terrible
So, we have been discussing this at StarbaseUGC and it 'forced' me to go to a source regarding it. I asked Dayton Ward, author of numerous Star Trek novels (that you should be reading btw) and someone who got their professional Star Trek writing career started by submitting to Strange New worlds where he stood. The Following is his response:
"Dayton Ward:*Well, I'm a fan, and I write fiction. *If you mean "fan fiction" and "official fiction" the big difference is licensor approval/oversight.*"Fan fiction" and "official fiction" is not a judgment about quality. It's not a valid blanket statement. Name a fandom. They'll have great fanfic & lousy official fic (or movies, or TV eps)*"
While I cannot disagree that developer side additions to the game MUST be maintained and improved upon, it is categorically unfair to outright declare an entire segment of the populations work as illegitimate just because it comes from another source. I will also concede that there are bad Foundry missions. But remember that officially, Star Trek V was made through official channels, and it is terrible
Very well said.
But this thread isn't really about logic or reasoning. It's an opportunity for some people to complain about Cryptic and the game.
Same old, same old in other words, at least from some people.
Just so we're all on the same page, they never said they were working on a new reward system for mission in general, only for the Spotlight missions. They have never said anything to even remotely suggest the daily was being removed.
True, but there are expectations surrounding what goes into NW as coming (eventually) to STO. Right now, they've only stated that spotlight rewards are coming, which could even mean that missions are taken away from the authors to edit. It could be different from what is happening at NW.
But, I wouldn't really expect the STO team to be doing new work on a different system which only rewarded the spotlights. Most likely, they are trying to port work done by others, not doing new work themselves.
True, but there are expectations surrounding what goes into NW as coming (eventually) to STO. Right now, they've only stated that spotlight rewards are coming, which could even mean that missions are taken away from the authors to edit. It could be different from what is happening at NW.
But, I wouldn't really expect the STO team to be doing new work on a different system which only rewarded the spotlights. Most likely, they are trying to port work done by others, not doing new work themselves.
My guess is that the new spotlight system will increase mission rewards temproarily.
Oh, I've got facts. And precedents set by the entire MMO genre. If people in general were not motivated by rewards, then there would be no need to attach rewards to almost every mission. They could simply let you buy the items/gear/etc from the in game vendors. But because the developers know people are motivated by the rewards, they attach them to missions, and the developers of this game have done the same. Enjoy those facts.
Glad you agree :cool:
As I said, probably, but still not facts Nagus.
That said, it seems to me that you and the other authors are quite happy that people don't do your missions now because of lack of rewards, but will be happy that people "may" play your missions if rewards are placed in. So basically people will just click the buttons just to get the reward and won't give a hoot about what the story is?
Why bother creating "great" stories knowing that people are more motivated by rewards? Or are you so convinced that people will play foundry missions for story and reward?
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
I've been thinking... (This is usually a mistake. Feel free to take offense.)
Whatever method of attaching rewards to the Foundry missions they come up with, with season 7 on the horizon it could be a good idea if they tied Foundry missions into one of those new reputation systems. I don't know. The Starfleet Operational Report Review Board? And for the Klingons... hmmm... Glegh! (That's official sounding Klingon, right?) So you get whatever rewards come with Foundry missions (probably some skillpoints, underwhelming vendor trash, maybe some dilithium) but over time you'll unlock tiers in a store with some slightly more exotic and vanity goodies.
Why? Cause MMO players are highly susceptable to progress bars. (I should know. This starbase is KILLING ME!) And this could be the most genuinely fun and varied grind that this, or for that matter, any MMO, has ever seen. It'll be ages before you have to replay anything.
But this thread isn't really about logic or reasoning. It's an opportunity for some people to complain about Cryptic and the game.
Same old, same old in other words, at least from some people.
Still felt the need to respond eh? Same old same, in other words, at least from some people.
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
So, we have been discussing this at StarbaseUGC and it 'forced' me to go to a source regarding it. I asked Dayton Ward, author of numerous Star Trek novels (that you should be reading btw) and someone who got their professional Star Trek writing career started by submitting to Strange New worlds where he stood. The Following is his response:
"Dayton Ward:*Well, I'm a fan, and I write fiction. *If you mean "fan fiction" and "official fiction" the big difference is licensor approval/oversight.*"Fan fiction" and "official fiction" is not a judgment about quality. It's not a valid blanket statement. Name a fandom. They'll have great fanfic & lousy official fic (or movies, or TV eps)*"
While I cannot disagree that developer side additions to the game MUST be maintained and improved upon, it is categorically unfair to outright declare an entire segment of the populations work as illegitimate just because it comes from another source. I will also concede that there are bad Foundry missions. But remember that officially, Star Trek V was made through official channels, and it is terrible
As a Foundry author, I get that. I think the Foundry has the BEST missions in game and know many devs have agreed before.
I'd add that I tend to see the difference between fan fiction and official fiction as a mentality. There's a lot of comic books/TV shows/etc. that I'd describe as fan fiction because it plays in the margins of other people's work. Stylistically, what makes something "not fan fiction" to me is whether it's concerned with creating something new or exploring issues versus using someone else's ideas as the prime vehicle to do that. In that sense, "Trials and Tribble-ations" is fan fiction... and is great fan fiction. Whereas "The Visitor" is somewhat less fan fiction because it's concerned with a new personal history and "The Inner Light" is hardly at all because the important characters there are almost all new and not even really tied to anything Roddenberry created, aside from Picard.
That said, the Foundry doesn't DEFINITIVELY answer any of the devs' storylines. That's where it doesn't count. It has the best stories in-game IMHO and in many respects is less "fan fiction" than much of what Cryptic does. But nothing in the Foundry definitively answers what the fate of the Romulans or Iconians are, who's an Undine, or what the Preservers do now that they're back.
The Foundry are much like the Trek novels and people's interest in those varies. Some are more into the novels than the shows. Some weight them equally. Some have a few favorites from the books and ignore everything else. (That's me.) Some people ignore or actively resist ANYTHING from the novels. Because they are not definitive. It can be hard to get invested in something that you know won't change anything outside of that one author's work.
Listening to people complain makes me want to assimilate them..... painfully.
And yet you still feel the need to respond?
Are you not complaining about those complaining?
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
That said, it seems to me that you and the other authors are quite happy that people don't do your missions now because of lack of rewards, but will be happy that people "may" play your missions if rewards are placed in. So basically people will just click the buttons just to get the reward and won't give a hoot about what the story is?
Why bother creating "great" stories knowing that people are more motivated by rewards? Or are you so convinced that people will play foundry missions for story and reward?
I think both are necessary. Reward is what validates that the story mattered in a gaming environment. Reward is a measurable consequence. Without a measurable consequence of a story (or a chance for measurable consequence), yes, I think stories lose their meaning.
Comments
Ok, to each his own. I do think you're missing out. Perhaps you'll get 1 or maybe even 2 FE series by the end of 2014. Hopefully they will continue the story for you. However, I'd be surprised if it wasn't just some kind of new enemy of the season, designed more with the c-store in mind. Story tacked on later.
While you're waiting, visit the exploration clusters and also level a toon. There are some great stories in the official content. Others, well, I'd rather be reading the worst of the worst fan-fic. Some slash fiction is far more coherent.
Isn't this the problem though? You and others are doing Cryptics job for them. They even now admit this by
A: Telling you to play the foundry if you want story.
B: We will add rewards to the foundry for playing them.
What exactly are they doing now instead of moving the story on or creating new interesting content? Fleet bases? About as much use as interiors.
More lock boxes and Z store stuff. And please before people come back and say it's a separate team, didn't we hear this from day 1 that it's a separate team. Why not make it one team and just create content.
I think you forget that to you and the other authors, the Foundry is STO, so your not that fussed about the rest of STO. For the main stream players, they just want stuff to do that rewards their time playing. Grind isn't a problem, it's boring tedious grind that is.
When/if they implement rewards to foundry, wait until this is used as just another grind. People won't care about the story, just what the reward is.
However, I don't use it nearly as much as I would if the rewards system from NW was here already.
It's Star Trek and it's one of the only media in which I can create a Trek episode and have other people experience it, even if it's in the context of a grade B video game that doesn't really care about story. Sure, there are other fanfic avenues, but this is one of the only ones where the production qualities are remotely on the same playing field. Yes the mechanics of a Foundry mission will often be inferior to a FE, but the stories are often far better. Many UGC missions rival or exceed the production quality of official content. The fans of this genre know their stuff, and unlike many devs, they don't have deadlines.
Why I play UGC:
I have far more confidence in Trek fans than I do in this dev team. I know that sounds harsh, but I generally dislike the STO universe of 2409. It doesn't feel like Star Trek. It never really has, except for a half dozen moments of real immersion. Whether I'm grinding for dilithium or plotting like a Ferengi to earn Zen, I'm constantly aware of the contrasts between this game and what I know to be Star Trek. This game requires an incredible amount of suspension of disbelief for me. But, I can't tell you how many times I'm playing UGC and getting really excited about how the plot of the mission connects with canon, characters, episodes, debates, moral conundrums, temporal paradoxes, etc. For example, I basically button-mashed by way through all of the game's DS9 content (prior to the Dominion FE). Then, I played "The Spirits of Ramok Nor." It was an instant reminder of why I loved DS9, and it made me rewatch the entire series on netflix.
Star Trek is about characters. Star Trek Online is not. The main quest-giver has no personality. Every once in awhile, we get a good VO for a character. But for the most part, there are no characters in STO.
Star Trek is about "issues." Not all Trek, of course, but a lot of TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY had central themes, controversial questions, or ham-fisted debates about ethics, the prime directive, rights, etc. Star Trek Online is not. It's about shinies, gold, tokens, barrel smashing and chicken-kicking. There is no "there" there. But Foundry missions have a "there" quite often. Whether it's Havraha calling you to account for your STO war crimes or other authors demanding that you make a choice that isn't easy, UGC missions put some of the Trek back into Star Trek Online.
Star Trek is about ideals. There are no ideals in STO. It's errily similar to the mirror universe. We kill bar patrons, Romulan scientists, and alien babies. We kill, kill, kill. We still kill a lot in UGC, but the authors actually give us compelling and justifiable reasons for endless war. And, some missions have very little fighting. Rather, they have a story to tell that culminates in conflict, whereas STO just starts with conflict and offers a cookie for the head count.
There are other reasons, but I'll stop there.
I do play Foundry missions and have used the tools to create missions, but I don't view the Foundry as the answer to new content. There's some great stuff in there (Personal favorite thus far is "Checks and Balances") that I play every so often to get my fix for some Star Trek adventure, but none of it advances the storylines of STO. Sure there are missions that add to the canon of STO, or try to elaborate on it, but don't actually advance the stories they may play off of.
Don't get me wrong, I love anything that further expands the universe, and the fact that they won't be recognized as being official for the STO universe does sadden me, but that doesn't ruin my enjoyment of them. It isn't any different than reading some of the great novels out there that are based in the ST universe. They aren't canon either, but I love them all the same.
:eek:
Pretty sinister, right ? Best part is tho, to create content you gotta PAY for the privilege.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Aye, I just read that too.
Don't they now harp on about they have doubled their team? Still don't see much change.
I bet Cryptic doubled their workforce and most went to NW.
And before people rush to say these people need to be brought up to spec on STO dev tools etc. How long does this take?
Not convinced. If you want to make money and you have a "workforce" that is prepared to make things for free, why make your own?
link please. I'm not sure what I'm looking for in the dev tracker.
Not a Dev, an opinion.
<ducks for cover>
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Why not? I don't understand this type of statement. It's like someone at Cryptic can give you a very unpolished TRIBBLE and that "means a thing." But a very polished, enjoyable, and wonderful story set in the universe of STO simply "doesn't mean a thing."
Is it simply because one person got paid to produce a TRIBBLE and the other worked for free on a masterpiece?
What is the distinction here?
I thought we were talking about a comment about the devs priorities, not the product. Some of the best content I've ever played in STO came from the foundry.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Facts Nagus, facts. Do you have any? I don't and neither have you.
You're "probably" right, but you don't know what motivates most people in STO.
I suppose though you're right in some way. Foundry lovers like yourself, won't budge from the stance that the Foundry is the place to get the content fix, so there's no point in telling you different eh?
Edited because I was generalising (again).
Oh, I've got facts. And precedents set by the entire MMO genre. If people in general were not motivated by rewards, then there would be no need to attach rewards to almost every mission. They could simply let you buy the items/gear/etc from the in game vendors. But because the developers know people are motivated by the rewards, they attach them to missions, and the developers of this game have done the same. Enjoy those facts.
Glad you agree :cool:
The fans care far more about adhering to the lore than Cryptic does. I mean, the game is now overrun with ships from the 29th century created by organization which existed for the explicit purpose of preventing timeline corruption.
In short, Cryptic does whatever they want and doesn't care one iota about any type of consistency with the canon. The Foundry let's us have the mission content we were supposed to have.
Anyways, yeah I'm sure Cryptic knows about the "click to win" missions. But, I think they don't do anything because a: it's technically not a TOS violation(you could argue that it is an exploit, but that's debatable), b: the Foundry daily is not meant as a permanent game feature. As soon as they finish the new reward system, the Foundry Daily will be history and all the click to win missions will be worthless.
My character Tsin'xing
Just so we're all on the same page, they never said they were working on a new reward system for mission in general, only for the Spotlight missions. They have never said anything to even remotely suggest the daily was being removed.
"Dayton Ward:*Well, I'm a fan, and I write fiction. *If you mean "fan fiction" and "official fiction" the big difference is licensor approval/oversight.*"Fan fiction" and "official fiction" is not a judgment about quality. It's not a valid blanket statement. Name a fandom. They'll have great fanfic & lousy official fic (or movies, or TV eps)*"
While I cannot disagree that developer side additions to the game MUST be maintained and improved upon, it is categorically unfair to outright declare an entire segment of the populations work as illegitimate just because it comes from another source. I will also concede that there are bad Foundry missions. But remember that officially, Star Trek V was made through official channels, and it is terrible
Very well said.
But this thread isn't really about logic or reasoning. It's an opportunity for some people to complain about Cryptic and the game.
Same old, same old in other words, at least from some people.
True, but there are expectations surrounding what goes into NW as coming (eventually) to STO. Right now, they've only stated that spotlight rewards are coming, which could even mean that missions are taken away from the authors to edit. It could be different from what is happening at NW.
But, I wouldn't really expect the STO team to be doing new work on a different system which only rewarded the spotlights. Most likely, they are trying to port work done by others, not doing new work themselves.
Anyways, the Dev team is mostly programmers. There's probably only one or two that actually write story.
My character Tsin'xing
My character Tsin'xing
As I said, probably, but still not facts Nagus.
That said, it seems to me that you and the other authors are quite happy that people don't do your missions now because of lack of rewards, but will be happy that people "may" play your missions if rewards are placed in. So basically people will just click the buttons just to get the reward and won't give a hoot about what the story is?
Why bother creating "great" stories knowing that people are more motivated by rewards? Or are you so convinced that people will play foundry missions for story and reward?
Whatever method of attaching rewards to the Foundry missions they come up with, with season 7 on the horizon it could be a good idea if they tied Foundry missions into one of those new reputation systems. I don't know. The Starfleet Operational Report Review Board? And for the Klingons... hmmm... Glegh! (That's official sounding Klingon, right?) So you get whatever rewards come with Foundry missions (probably some skillpoints, underwhelming vendor trash, maybe some dilithium) but over time you'll unlock tiers in a store with some slightly more exotic and vanity goodies.
Why? Cause MMO players are highly susceptable to progress bars. (I should know. This starbase is KILLING ME!) And this could be the most genuinely fun and varied grind that this, or for that matter, any MMO, has ever seen. It'll be ages before you have to replay anything.
Still felt the need to respond eh? Same old same, in other words, at least from some people.
As a Foundry author, I get that. I think the Foundry has the BEST missions in game and know many devs have agreed before.
I'd add that I tend to see the difference between fan fiction and official fiction as a mentality. There's a lot of comic books/TV shows/etc. that I'd describe as fan fiction because it plays in the margins of other people's work. Stylistically, what makes something "not fan fiction" to me is whether it's concerned with creating something new or exploring issues versus using someone else's ideas as the prime vehicle to do that. In that sense, "Trials and Tribble-ations" is fan fiction... and is great fan fiction. Whereas "The Visitor" is somewhat less fan fiction because it's concerned with a new personal history and "The Inner Light" is hardly at all because the important characters there are almost all new and not even really tied to anything Roddenberry created, aside from Picard.
That said, the Foundry doesn't DEFINITIVELY answer any of the devs' storylines. That's where it doesn't count. It has the best stories in-game IMHO and in many respects is less "fan fiction" than much of what Cryptic does. But nothing in the Foundry definitively answers what the fate of the Romulans or Iconians are, who's an Undine, or what the Preservers do now that they're back.
The Foundry are much like the Trek novels and people's interest in those varies. Some are more into the novels than the shows. Some weight them equally. Some have a few favorites from the books and ignore everything else. (That's me.) Some people ignore or actively resist ANYTHING from the novels. Because they are not definitive. It can be hard to get invested in something that you know won't change anything outside of that one author's work.
And yet you still feel the need to respond?
Are you not complaining about those complaining?
I think both are necessary. Reward is what validates that the story mattered in a gaming environment. Reward is a measurable consequence. Without a measurable consequence of a story (or a chance for measurable consequence), yes, I think stories lose their meaning.