Sorry to bother, guys, but could it be that the foundry has been taken offline today for maintenance due to the rewards changes to be implemented or related issues?
I was working on a project up to a couple of hours ago, but unable to save it... then I lost connection, and now I am unable to log back on.
The game works just fine - but I am not even able to click on the "Create Content" tab on the main screen any more.
Any idea what it might have happened?
I've seen that in zone chat for a few hours now actually. I have no desire to play Foundry missions anymore so I hadn't noticed...
i bl***Y well hope so but then again its satady so probs not
They probably saw a big spike in users grinding Foundry missions for dilithium, and of course all the one star ratings that are going to be meted out in anger..:P
Now their going to nerf dilithium in Foundry missions...
Officer of the watch should give at least 30 marks...its such a wasted mission as is.
It would be nice if you could aquire other fleet missions from him that aren't queued pves. Have fleet versions of patrols and explore strange new worlds. Those type of missions feel more Trek and add some variety.
If FM are to be earned through group play then why not add some sort of FM boost for teaming with your own fleeties. It could give a minimal amount of extra marks and be purchased from your starbase.
It just seems there could be easy solutions to lessen the "grinding feeling without even adding new content. It's what keeps being done with dilithium and seems to be working pretty well now.
Having a choice of equally beneficial options is what is missing from FMs.
They probably saw a big spike in users grinding Foundry missions for dilithium
...and that blew the whole thing up? xD
I guess it's possible, since no foundry missions are available at all at the moment, even from the game itself. Looks like the whole thing has been locked off for the time being...
Which is perfectly fine if it broke or needed to be modified... but they could at least post an announcement somewhere? Gosh, I really hope I have not lost hours of work on my mission when I couldn't save it!
They probably saw a big spike in users grinding Foundry missions for dilithium, and of course all the one star ratings that are going to be meted out in anger..:P
Now their going to nerf dilithium in Foundry missions...
Officer of the watch should give at least 30 marks...its such a wasted mission as is.
It would be nice if you could aquire other fleet missions from him that aren't queued pves. Have fleet versions of patrols and explore strange new worlds. Those type of missions feel more Trek and add some variety.
If FM are to be earned through group play then why not add some sort of FM boost for teaming with your own fleeties. It could give a minimal amount of extra marks and be purchased from your starbase.
It just seems there could be easy solutions to lessen the "grinding feeling without even adding new content. It's what keeps being done with dilithium and seems to be working pretty well now.
Having a choice of equally beneficial options is what is missing from FMs.
Agreed
Give me more ways, not less ways to get Fleet Marks....three kinds of Marks is overkill and tedious.
My apologies if this was already suggested earlier in this thread....I just didn't want to read 106 pages worth to see if it was.
Perhaps including a mechanic that will award additional Fleet Marks in the Fleet Missions based on how many people in your fleet are participating (teamed with you) in the instance would be something to consider. It might encourage fleet members to band together more often as a group during Fleet Missions in order to take advantage of a "bonus multiplier" or something like that...fostering teamwork as a FLEET instead of relying on PUGs to fill in the gaps. After all...that IS what Cryptic is suggesting about the whole Fleet System anyway, right? Cooperation with your fleetmates?
They probably saw a big spike in users grinding Foundry missions for dilithium, and of course all the one star ratings that are going to be meted out in anger..:P
Now their going to nerf dilithium in Foundry missions...
probably lol
"oh no they are getting to much dilithium. quick set phasers to full nurf!!!!"
My apologies if this was already suggested earlier in this thread....I just didn't want to read 106 pages worth to see if it was.
Perhaps including a mechanic that will award additional Fleet Marks in the Fleet Missions based on how many people in your fleet are participating (teamed with you) in the instance would be something to consider. It might encourage fleet members to band together more often as a group during Fleet Missions in order to take advantage of a "bonus multiplier" or something like that...fostering teamwork as a FLEET instead of relying on PUGs to fill in the gaps. After all...that IS what Cryptic is suggesting about the whole Fleet System anyway, right? Cooperation with your fleetmates?
well there do something like this if your teamed up with a vet for EXP so i think some thing like this could be done. there could do it by a tier system of fleet rank your in a team with fleet leader bounes 50% fleet marks your in a mission with the 1st officer rank bounes 45% fleet marks and so on. there would probs lock it to only work with a full team of 5 fleet members.
I actually feel that it would be a good thing, missions like "Easy Money" and "Battleship Royal Rumble" were somewhat of an exploit of the original intention of the Foundry. I am no fan of Cryptic, believe me but I can understand this...
People who abuse a system, should have it taken away... its a common principle in parenting and essentially that is what is going on here. If you want to blame anyone, blame the creators of the missions in question.
The Foundry was designed for people who love Star Trek to share their adventures together and try out new stories and new experiences. Not plough through for Fleet marks. I think the penny finally dropped with me and I understand, I am just willing to be patient while my Collective work at any pace.
I mean, its not life or death that the Starbase is not Tier V next week. Who really cares at the end of the day?
Can I ask why that needs to happen, its not like you have to be at Tier 5 tomorrow or you lose the Starbase?
Because it's a game if you bought a single player game off the shelf and wanted to complete it but there was code in the game that didn't let you complete until 5 years from installing the game... would you bother to play it?
No.
End of story.
The idea that fleet construction should take years is a joke, there is not even much of a consensus that this game will even last that long.
Of course I've entirely given up with fleets, I started one in Season 6 and got a number of recruits and things were going well, I was ready to start a website up and really get the ball rolling. Then Season 7 hit and I lost all my players who either quit the game due to the increase in grind or who moved to bigger fleets because of it.
I did initially try to get more recruits but not even T3 Fleets can attract players these days let alone a T1 fleet.
Can I ask why that needs to happen, its not like you have to be at Tier 5 tomorrow or you lose the Starbase?
Because that's how their bottlenecking players. If they control how many FMs you can make, they control how fast your starbase advances. Its a ploy to slow your advancement so they don't have to keep putting out new content. A few fleets are approaching Tier 5. After that what will they do?
They didn't count on the bigger fleets. Remember, their model was all based on a 25 person average sized fleet.
So a 300 person fleet gets done how much faster? Fleets are now arriving at Tier 5 faster than was planned. They need to slow it down...
Because it's a game if you bought a single player game off the shelf and wanted to complete it but there was code in the game that didn't let you complete until 5 years from installing the game... would you bother to play it?
No.
End of story.
The idea that fleet construction should take years is a joke, there is not even much of a consensus that this game will even last that long.
In Cryptic's defense, the construction of Earth Spacedock took about 50 years, so actually I think a year, two years for a whole starbase is not actually that bad. Besides, new stuff is coming in may, can't you just be patient and wait?
People who abuse a system, should have it taken away... its a common principle in parenting and essentially that is what is going on here. If you want to blame anyone, blame the creators of the missions in question .
There was no abuse. No one was getting hurt. No starbases were getting dramatically closely to completion. The only people getting hurt were authors who didn't get the amounts of players they wanted.
The Foundry was designed for people who love Star Trek to share their adventures together and try out new stories and new experiences. Not plough through for Fleet marks.
You're being a bit short sighted. These missions did create some interest in the Foundry. If it weren't for the XP and FM wrapper, I wouldn't even had bothered with the Foundry. Now, with basically limited to no incentive there is no reason to even bother with the Foundry. Maybe some people did use it for FM, but exactly who was being harmed? Have any more Starbases reached all T5?
There is no more choice; we must now grind the same stale content for the meager rewards for a relatively high time investment. Not to mention the dramatic increase in AFKers
Your attitude is common among the author Foundry authors who demanded this change. I can't understand why we must all play your way.
Live and Let Live is a dying concept nowadays.
How the Devs see Star Trek, apparently:
Star Trek: The Original Grind
Star Trek: The Next Grind
Star Trek: Deep Space Grind
Star Trek: Voyage to the Grind
There was no abuse. No one was getting hurt. No starbases were getting dramatically closely to completion. The only people getting hurt were authors who didn't get the amounts of players they wanted.
You're being a bit short sighted. These missions did create some interest in the Foundry. If it weren't for the XP and FM wrapper, I wouldn't even had bothered with the Foundry. Now, with basically limited to no incentive there is no reason to even bother with the Foundry. Maybe some people did use it for FM, but exactly who was being harmed? Have any more Starbases reached all T5?
There is no more choice; we must now grind the same stale content for the meager rewards for a relatively high time investment. Not to mention the dramatic increase in AFKers
Your attitude is common among the author Foundry authors who demanded this change. I can't understand why we must all play your way.
There is only one thing I can say to this, if you are not a Star Trek fan, why are you even bothering to play this game? If you do not enjoy a good story about Star Trek? Why are you playing this game? I mean seriously? Why are you bothering?
Using the Foundry other then Cryptic intended is called "abuse" and I understand that Cryptic had to stop it. A lot of missions that had minimal effort but were reviewed about 1000 times were being used just to exploit the reward system.
I've read this entire thread, plus the first one that showed up on Wednesday. I'm not going to yell, scream, rant, or rave (its pretty much all been said already anyway). I was taught if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. In addition to not saying anything, I'm also not going to log in a play for a while. Possibly a long while.
In Cryptic's defense, the construction of Earth Spacedock took about 50 years, so actually I think a year, two years for a whole starbase is not actually that bad. Besides, new stuff is coming in may, can't you just be patient and wait?
Are you joking? that is the most pathetic defense I've ever heard mainly because it's irrelevant, how long something took build in a mythical world is irrelevant, furthermore what Cryptic think is the right amount of time it should take is irrelevant.
The only thing that is relevant is whether tangible rewards are obtainable in a short period of time (6-12 months of casual playing) and in a way that is fun and keeps people interested. With the Fleet System they have utterly failed and compounded that failure meddling in the economy. The truth is most of us don't have the time to spend 3 or 4 hours a day on this game and there isn't even an option to pay for content so enforced grinding means those of us cash-rich / time-poor can't even forgo the grind to enjoy the few parts of the game that are actually fun.
There's no point in me being patient I've entirely given up with fleets, I started one in Season 6 and got a number of recruits (about 8) and things were going well, I was ready to start a website up and really get the ball rolling. Then Season 7 hit and I lost all my players who either quit the game due to the increase in grind or who moved to bigger fleets because of it.
I did initially try to get more recruits but not even T3 Fleets can attract players these days let alone a T1 fleet.
There is only one thing I can say to this, if you are not a Star Trek fan, why are you even bothering to play this game? If you do not enjoy a good story about Star Trek? Why are you playing this game? I mean seriously? Why are you bothering?
Using the Foundry other then Cryptic intended is called "abuse" and I understand that Cryptic had to stop it. A lot of missions that had minimal effort but were reviewed about 1000 times were being used just to exploit the reward system.
This is also irrelevant and if that is called "abuse" then about 80% of what players do in the game at the moment is abuse. Most of us spend our time willfully trying to escape the straightjacket of grind that the developers have intended to restrict us with.
To set the record straight, Foundry authors fell into multiple categories as to what they/we asked for. One sarcastic comment about nerfing appeared, but every other Foundry author shouted that person down as to what a bad idea that was.
A lot of Foundry authors, myself included, would have preferred a solution that involved an overhaul of the UI for the Foundry, to make it easier for everyone to search for what they wanted in the Foundry. A tag system, so you know what kind of mission you're signing up for, or even multiple tabs on the interface itself, so people can select and automatically filter what they are and aren't interested in. The current search doesn't work right, and there were a lot of us who were actually trying to come up with a workable solution. Heck, I even used the e-mail Dan Stahl provided in a recent chat, to e-mail the suggestions we were coming up with for an improved UI, proposing it as a solution that could (hopefully) please everyone.
I ALSO called for a much longer testing period on Tribble. I specifically said that any serious changes needed to be tested for a long time to assess for any unintended consequences. Tribble clearly was not used as intended by the devs, and that I do have a problem with. There is definitely something very broken about Cryptic's development cycle and testing procedures. I also think that Cryptic/PWE have made a mess of the game economy. That is not the fault of those of us who write Foundry missions. The fault lies right at the top, with the devs and with PWE.
I have also followed Foundry podcasts, and the majority of authors are just as interested as you are in having fleet marks added to other parts of the game. One suggestion I heard on such a podcast was for the removed fleet marks to be added to PVP, given that it involves player interaction. I think that would actually be quite a good idea.
So before you make accusations about us greedy, greedy Foundry authors who wanted to ruin everyone's fun, I recommend you check out what the majority of us were really after--and that was a UI overhaul that would've benefited everyone.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
No one will have time to do any stupid foundry missions because pwe wants everyone to grind fleet mission for a crappy amount 17-22 fm its going to take along time before we have free time.
There is only one thing I can say to this, if you are not a Star Trek fan, why are you even bothering to play this game? If you do not enjoy a good story about Star Trek? Why are you playing this game? I mean seriously? Why are you bothering?
Using the Foundry other then Cryptic intended is called "abuse" and I understand that Cryptic had to stop it. A lot of missions that had minimal effort but were reviewed about 1000 times were being used just to exploit the reward system.
If anything, this has hurt the foundry. Sure, there are times I don't mind doing RP and going on a little adventure, but that's maybe once a week. for the most part, I want progression. So I could say I gave it a go, I did one of the spotlight foundry missions and did not get the rewards that it said I would get. I didn't get the 1440 dil and I didn't get any ec. Also, the story was unappealing to me and silly so I didn't get anything out of it.
Do you seriously want someone like me playing your hour long missions when all I am going to do is spam F all through your dialog just so I can move on to the next fight? If that's what you want, fine. Just don't get mad when I give you 1 star because the mission is full of nothing more than walls of text and maybe two battles. If I want a story, I will go watch TNG or read a book. When I logon to the game, I want to progress. You can say that I am in the minority, but you'd be wrong. There are a ton of us here who value our progression more than the story...and yes, we can still be ST fans at the same time. It's not hard.
No, I am not who you think I am. I am someone different. I am instead a banana.
To set the record straight, Foundry authors fell into multiple categories as to what they/we asked for. One sarcastic comment about nerfing appeared, but every other Foundry author shouted that person down as to what a bad idea that was.
A lot of Foundry authors, myself included, would have preferred a solution that involved an overhaul of the UI for the Foundry, to make it easier for everyone to search for what they wanted in the Foundry. A tag system, so you know what kind of mission you're signing up for, or even multiple tabs on the interface itself, so people can select and automatically filter what they are and aren't interested in. The current search doesn't work right, and there were a lot of us who were actually trying to come up with a workable solution. Heck, I even used the e-mail Dan Stahl provided in a recent chat, to e-mail the suggestions we were coming up with for an improved UI, proposing it as a solution that could (hopefully) please everyone.
I ALSO called for a much longer testing period on Tribble. I specifically said that any serious changes needed to be tested for a long time to assess for any unintended consequences. Tribble clearly was not used as intended by the devs, and that I do have a problem with. There is definitely something very broken about Cryptic's development cycle and testing procedures. I also think that Cryptic/PWE have made a mess of the game economy. That is not the fault of those of us who write Foundry missions. The fault lies right at the top, with the devs and with PWE.
I have also followed Foundry podcasts, and the majority of authors are just as interested as you are in having fleet marks added to other parts of the game. One suggestion I heard on such a podcast was for the removed fleet marks to be added to PVP, given that it involves player interaction. I think that would actually be quite a good idea.
So before you make accusations about us greedy, greedy Foundry authors who wanted to ruin everyone's fun, I recommend you check out what the majority of us were really after--and that was a UI overhaul that would've benefited everyone.
I was also one of the people that backed a UI change, but there is no money for Cryptic in this so they did what they know best, tear bits of the game out and let the players rant in the forums until they get bored of the wall of silence.
With regards to adding things to PVP there is already a massive exploit in PVP that I won't publish so adding anything to it that may publicize that exploit I am against.
What an STO gamer thinks he's/she's doing: sitting in the captain's chair running a new exciting mission with his crew, battling injustice against all odds.
What an STO gamer actually is doing: the same mission over and over again to grind something to get more somethings just to do the same mission over and over again "better"
What the STO devs think their customers are doing: having fun.
There are Four Lights... say no to ARCFleet: 1st Order of Role-Players' Guild - gaming together since 2004
In Cryptic's defense, the construction of Earth Spacedock took about 50 years, so actually I think a year, two years for a whole starbase is not actually that bad. Besides, new stuff is coming in may, can't you just be patient and wait?
I am also sure making it to Vice Admiral required more than a few weeks. Would 20 years of leveling to get to 50 have been too much for you? This is irrelevant and no defense for Cryptic.
Yes, for smaller fleets two years is probably not unreasonable. That was about the going rate prior to this change. The problem is that one to two years has now become a LIFETIME for small fleets, particularly KDF fleets.
In reference to your statements regarding parenting techniques in response to the use of exploits... we are not children. This is not some important life lesson we all need to learn. It is a game. Furthermore, if people were "exploiting", this is no way interfered with your ability to make or run creative Trekkie foundry missions. So why would you feel it needs to be stamped out? Why does how you WANT to play dictate how others GET to play?
There is only one thing I can say to this, if you are not a Star Trek fan, why are you even bothering to play this game? If you do not enjoy a good story about Star Trek? Why are you playing this game? I mean seriously? Why are you bothering?
Using the Foundry other then Cryptic intended is called "abuse" and I understand that Cryptic had to stop it. A lot of missions that had minimal effort but were reviewed about 1000 times were being used just to exploit the reward system.
Ooh another author rushing to be the knight in shining armor to Cryptics damsel in distress....
For starters, if I wasn't a Star Trek fan, I would have been long gone. It is up to me to decide what I feel is a good story and what isn't, and most of the foundry missions are *not* good stories. They are just walls of text and boring as hell. Also, enjoying a good story about ST does not mean I have to do the foundry stuff. I wish foundry authors like you wouldn't go so whiney over the ratings. Yes, your missions weren't popular. So what? Thought you where here to enjoy a good ST story, not to increase the length of your e-peen based on foundry mission ratings...Do you think that this change will make your missions, or the Foundry in general more popular? If you do, you'll be in for a nasty surprise...
Lost and Delirious... and Disenchanted too Apparently some forum posters have diplomatic immunity nowadays, where can I get mine?
No one will have time to do any stupid foundry missions because pwe wants everyone to grind fleet mission for a crappy amount 17-22 fm its going to take along time before we have free time.
Let your DOFFs do the work for you. If you get your CXP maxed, all you have to do is go to your fleet starbase every time a category hits 110,000 and turn in a commendation report. That will net you a minimum of 75 FM per report and if you get a critical success, 150 on a report. (You cannot fail a Commendation Report assignment, so you won't lose anything.)
An investment in your DOFFs will relieve you, for the most part, of FM-related time sinks. And your DOFFs can be working on it for you, while you do more interesting stuff. Personally, I always found--even before the changes--that I did much better on fleet marks through Commendation Reports, when you consider the yield gained versus the amount of time and effort put in.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
If anything, this has hurt the foundry. Sure, there are times I don't mind doing RP and going on a little adventure, but that's maybe once a week. for the most part, I want progression. So I could say I gave it a go, I did one of the spotlight foundry missions and did not get the rewards that it said I would get. I didn't get the 1440 dil and I didn't get any ec. Also, the story was unappealing to me and silly so I didn't get anything out of it.
Do you seriously want someone like me playing your hour long missions when all I am going to do is spam F all through your dialog just so I can move on to the next fight? If that's what you want, fine. Just don't get mad when I give you 1 star because the mission is full of nothing more than walls of text and maybe two battles. If I want a story, I will go watch TNG or read a book. When I logon to the game, I want to progress. You can say that I am in the minority, but you'd be wrong. There are a ton of us here who value our progression more than the story...and yes, we can still be ST fans at the same time. It's not hard.
He is clearly either trolling or grossly mistaken if he thinks his narrative of how the game should be played and how long things should take must take primacy other what a great many other players feel is acceptable.
He has the same problem as Cryptic does, ignoring what players enjoy and just going straight ahead with what you *think* they should enjoy.
Horrible amateurish practice that has sunk plenty of games and businesses before this team and game came along.
Comments
I've seen that in zone chat for a few hours now actually. I have no desire to play Foundry missions anymore so I hadn't noticed...
Anyone else feeling a quick fix coming on?
i bl***Y well hope so but then again its satday so probs not
They probably saw a big spike in users grinding Foundry missions for dilithium, and of course all the one star ratings that are going to be meted out in anger..:P
Now their going to nerf dilithium in Foundry missions...
It would be nice if you could aquire other fleet missions from him that aren't queued pves. Have fleet versions of patrols and explore strange new worlds. Those type of missions feel more Trek and add some variety.
If FM are to be earned through group play then why not add some sort of FM boost for teaming with your own fleeties. It could give a minimal amount of extra marks and be purchased from your starbase.
It just seems there could be easy solutions to lessen the "grinding feeling without even adding new content. It's what keeps being done with dilithium and seems to be working pretty well now.
Having a choice of equally beneficial options is what is missing from FMs.
...and that blew the whole thing up? xD
I guess it's possible, since no foundry missions are available at all at the moment, even from the game itself. Looks like the whole thing has been locked off for the time being...
Which is perfectly fine if it broke or needed to be modified... but they could at least post an announcement somewhere? Gosh, I really hope I have not lost hours of work on my mission when I couldn't save it!
Possibly, but I really hope not. As a casual gamer, foundry missions are my main source of Dilithium. :P
yep 480 dilith and 20 fleet marks :eek:
Agreed
Give me more ways, not less ways to get Fleet Marks....three kinds of Marks is overkill and tedious.
Delirium Tremens
Tier 4 Starbase, Tier 3 Embassy
http://dtfleet.com/
Perhaps including a mechanic that will award additional Fleet Marks in the Fleet Missions based on how many people in your fleet are participating (teamed with you) in the instance would be something to consider. It might encourage fleet members to band together more often as a group during Fleet Missions in order to take advantage of a "bonus multiplier" or something like that...fostering teamwork as a FLEET instead of relying on PUGs to fill in the gaps. After all...that IS what Cryptic is suggesting about the whole Fleet System anyway, right? Cooperation with your fleetmates?
probably lol
"oh no they are getting to much dilithium. quick set phasers to full nurf!!!!"
well there do something like this if your teamed up with a vet for EXP so i think some thing like this could be done. there could do it by a tier system of fleet rank your in a team with fleet leader bounes 50% fleet marks your in a mission with the 1st officer rank bounes 45% fleet marks and so on. there would probs lock it to only work with a full team of 5 fleet members.
People who abuse a system, should have it taken away... its a common principle in parenting and essentially that is what is going on here. If you want to blame anyone, blame the creators of the missions in question.
The Foundry was designed for people who love Star Trek to share their adventures together and try out new stories and new experiences. Not plough through for Fleet marks. I think the penny finally dropped with me and I understand, I am just willing to be patient while my Collective work at any pace.
I mean, its not life or death that the Starbase is not Tier V next week. Who really cares at the end of the day?
This is a small but friendly fleet btw.
Can I ask why that needs to happen, its not like you have to be at Tier 5 tomorrow or you lose the Starbase?
Because it's a game if you bought a single player game off the shelf and wanted to complete it but there was code in the game that didn't let you complete until 5 years from installing the game... would you bother to play it?
No.
End of story.
The idea that fleet construction should take years is a joke, there is not even much of a consensus that this game will even last that long.
Of course I've entirely given up with fleets, I started one in Season 6 and got a number of recruits and things were going well, I was ready to start a website up and really get the ball rolling. Then Season 7 hit and I lost all my players who either quit the game due to the increase in grind or who moved to bigger fleets because of it.
I did initially try to get more recruits but not even T3 Fleets can attract players these days let alone a T1 fleet.
So I've given up, Cryptics legacy to the players.
#2311#2700#2316#2500
Because that's how their bottlenecking players. If they control how many FMs you can make, they control how fast your starbase advances. Its a ploy to slow your advancement so they don't have to keep putting out new content. A few fleets are approaching Tier 5. After that what will they do?
They didn't count on the bigger fleets. Remember, their model was all based on a 25 person average sized fleet.
So a 300 person fleet gets done how much faster? Fleets are now arriving at Tier 5 faster than was planned. They need to slow it down...
In Cryptic's defense, the construction of Earth Spacedock took about 50 years, so actually I think a year, two years for a whole starbase is not actually that bad. Besides, new stuff is coming in may, can't you just be patient and wait?
There was no abuse. No one was getting hurt. No starbases were getting dramatically closely to completion. The only people getting hurt were authors who didn't get the amounts of players they wanted.
You're being a bit short sighted. These missions did create some interest in the Foundry. If it weren't for the XP and FM wrapper, I wouldn't even had bothered with the Foundry. Now, with basically limited to no incentive there is no reason to even bother with the Foundry. Maybe some people did use it for FM, but exactly who was being harmed? Have any more Starbases reached all T5?
There is no more choice; we must now grind the same stale content for the meager rewards for a relatively high time investment. Not to mention the dramatic increase in AFKers
Your attitude is common among the author Foundry authors who demanded this change. I can't understand why we must all play your way.
Live and Let Live is a dying concept nowadays.
Star Trek: The Original Grind
Star Trek: The Next Grind
Star Trek: Deep Space Grind
Star Trek: Voyage to the Grind
There is only one thing I can say to this, if you are not a Star Trek fan, why are you even bothering to play this game? If you do not enjoy a good story about Star Trek? Why are you playing this game? I mean seriously? Why are you bothering?
Using the Foundry other then Cryptic intended is called "abuse" and I understand that Cryptic had to stop it. A lot of missions that had minimal effort but were reviewed about 1000 times were being used just to exploit the reward system.
I've read this entire thread, plus the first one that showed up on Wednesday. I'm not going to yell, scream, rant, or rave (its pretty much all been said already anyway). I was taught if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. In addition to not saying anything, I'm also not going to log in a play for a while. Possibly a long while.
Are you joking? that is the most pathetic defense I've ever heard mainly because it's irrelevant, how long something took build in a mythical world is irrelevant, furthermore what Cryptic think is the right amount of time it should take is irrelevant.
The only thing that is relevant is whether tangible rewards are obtainable in a short period of time (6-12 months of casual playing) and in a way that is fun and keeps people interested. With the Fleet System they have utterly failed and compounded that failure meddling in the economy. The truth is most of us don't have the time to spend 3 or 4 hours a day on this game and there isn't even an option to pay for content so enforced grinding means those of us cash-rich / time-poor can't even forgo the grind to enjoy the few parts of the game that are actually fun.
There's no point in me being patient I've entirely given up with fleets, I started one in Season 6 and got a number of recruits (about 8) and things were going well, I was ready to start a website up and really get the ball rolling. Then Season 7 hit and I lost all my players who either quit the game due to the increase in grind or who moved to bigger fleets because of it.
I did initially try to get more recruits but not even T3 Fleets can attract players these days let alone a T1 fleet.
So I've given up, Cryptics legacy to the players.
#2311#2700#2316#2500
This is also irrelevant and if that is called "abuse" then about 80% of what players do in the game at the moment is abuse. Most of us spend our time willfully trying to escape the straightjacket of grind that the developers have intended to restrict us with.
#2311#2700#2316#2500
A lot of Foundry authors, myself included, would have preferred a solution that involved an overhaul of the UI for the Foundry, to make it easier for everyone to search for what they wanted in the Foundry. A tag system, so you know what kind of mission you're signing up for, or even multiple tabs on the interface itself, so people can select and automatically filter what they are and aren't interested in. The current search doesn't work right, and there were a lot of us who were actually trying to come up with a workable solution. Heck, I even used the e-mail Dan Stahl provided in a recent chat, to e-mail the suggestions we were coming up with for an improved UI, proposing it as a solution that could (hopefully) please everyone.
I ALSO called for a much longer testing period on Tribble. I specifically said that any serious changes needed to be tested for a long time to assess for any unintended consequences. Tribble clearly was not used as intended by the devs, and that I do have a problem with. There is definitely something very broken about Cryptic's development cycle and testing procedures. I also think that Cryptic/PWE have made a mess of the game economy. That is not the fault of those of us who write Foundry missions. The fault lies right at the top, with the devs and with PWE.
I have also followed Foundry podcasts, and the majority of authors are just as interested as you are in having fleet marks added to other parts of the game. One suggestion I heard on such a podcast was for the removed fleet marks to be added to PVP, given that it involves player interaction. I think that would actually be quite a good idea.
So before you make accusations about us greedy, greedy Foundry authors who wanted to ruin everyone's fun, I recommend you check out what the majority of us were really after--and that was a UI overhaul that would've benefited everyone.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
If anything, this has hurt the foundry. Sure, there are times I don't mind doing RP and going on a little adventure, but that's maybe once a week. for the most part, I want progression. So I could say I gave it a go, I did one of the spotlight foundry missions and did not get the rewards that it said I would get. I didn't get the 1440 dil and I didn't get any ec. Also, the story was unappealing to me and silly so I didn't get anything out of it.
Do you seriously want someone like me playing your hour long missions when all I am going to do is spam F all through your dialog just so I can move on to the next fight? If that's what you want, fine. Just don't get mad when I give you 1 star because the mission is full of nothing more than walls of text and maybe two battles. If I want a story, I will go watch TNG or read a book. When I logon to the game, I want to progress. You can say that I am in the minority, but you'd be wrong. There are a ton of us here who value our progression more than the story...and yes, we can still be ST fans at the same time. It's not hard.
I was also one of the people that backed a UI change, but there is no money for Cryptic in this so they did what they know best, tear bits of the game out and let the players rant in the forums until they get bored of the wall of silence.
With regards to adding things to PVP there is already a massive exploit in PVP that I won't publish so adding anything to it that may publicize that exploit I am against.
#2311#2700#2316#2500
What an STO gamer actually is doing: the same mission over and over again to grind something to get more somethings just to do the same mission over and over again "better"
What the STO devs think their customers are doing: having fun.
Fleet: 1st Order of Role-Players' Guild - gaming together since 2004
I am also sure making it to Vice Admiral required more than a few weeks. Would 20 years of leveling to get to 50 have been too much for you? This is irrelevant and no defense for Cryptic.
Yes, for smaller fleets two years is probably not unreasonable. That was about the going rate prior to this change. The problem is that one to two years has now become a LIFETIME for small fleets, particularly KDF fleets.
In reference to your statements regarding parenting techniques in response to the use of exploits... we are not children. This is not some important life lesson we all need to learn. It is a game. Furthermore, if people were "exploiting", this is no way interfered with your ability to make or run creative Trekkie foundry missions. So why would you feel it needs to be stamped out? Why does how you WANT to play dictate how others GET to play?
Ooh another author rushing to be the knight in shining armor to Cryptics damsel in distress....
For starters, if I wasn't a Star Trek fan, I would have been long gone. It is up to me to decide what I feel is a good story and what isn't, and most of the foundry missions are *not* good stories. They are just walls of text and boring as hell. Also, enjoying a good story about ST does not mean I have to do the foundry stuff. I wish foundry authors like you wouldn't go so whiney over the ratings. Yes, your missions weren't popular. So what? Thought you where here to enjoy a good ST story, not to increase the length of your e-peen based on foundry mission ratings...Do you think that this change will make your missions, or the Foundry in general more popular? If you do, you'll be in for a nasty surprise...
Apparently some forum posters have diplomatic immunity nowadays, where can I get mine? [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Let your DOFFs do the work for you. If you get your CXP maxed, all you have to do is go to your fleet starbase every time a category hits 110,000 and turn in a commendation report. That will net you a minimum of 75 FM per report and if you get a critical success, 150 on a report. (You cannot fail a Commendation Report assignment, so you won't lose anything.)
An investment in your DOFFs will relieve you, for the most part, of FM-related time sinks. And your DOFFs can be working on it for you, while you do more interesting stuff. Personally, I always found--even before the changes--that I did much better on fleet marks through Commendation Reports, when you consider the yield gained versus the amount of time and effort put in.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
He is clearly either trolling or grossly mistaken if he thinks his narrative of how the game should be played and how long things should take must take primacy other what a great many other players feel is acceptable.
He has the same problem as Cryptic does, ignoring what players enjoy and just going straight ahead with what you *think* they should enjoy.
Horrible amateurish practice that has sunk plenty of games and businesses before this team and game came along.
#2311#2700#2316#2500