Well, I have to say it - I am seriously disappointed.
It wouldn't have given anything away if the announcement had said something along the lines of "we remain committed to exploration and diplomacy being a part of the game." It would have reassured me that something was going on, somewhere in the background of game development - that someone was working on, or at least thinking about, those aspects.
But there is nothing in the statement that gives me any confidence in that.
It reads, to me, as though the devs' attitude might be summarized thus:-
"STAR TREK ONLINE IS A GAME ABOUT GOING TO GRIND ZONES AND BLOWING AWAY ALIEN SCUM. IF YOU WANT EXPLORATION AND DIPLOMACY YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE IT YOURSELVES. NYAH NYAH NYAH SUCKS BOO TO THE SPIRIT OF THE FRANCHISE."
Like I said, I am seriously disappointed, here. This is a lousy move, and so long as it is permitted me, I will say it's a lousy move.
I love how Smirk pointed at this devblog to answer all our concerns regarding explorations. Yes, it answered them, basically saying "It's gone. Deal with it. Go grinding."
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
I love how Smirk pointed at this devblog to answer all our concerns regarding explorations. Yes, it answered them, basically saying "It's gone. Deal with it. Go grinding."
I love how Smirk pointed at this devblog to answer all our concerns regarding explorations. Yes, it answered them, basically saying "It's gone. Deal with it. Go grinding."
Hey, let's give Smirk some credit.
1- No typos this time.
2- Links that worked and went to the right game.
3- Using the forums instead of ignoring them and doing it all through twitter.
Smirk's almost 1/4 of the way up to speed on being able to communicate through multiple platforms!
Well, I have to say it - I am seriously disappointed.
It wouldn't have given anything away if the announcement had said something along the lines of "we remain committed to exploration and diplomacy being a part of the game." It would have reassured me that something was going on, somewhere in the background of game development - that someone was working on, or at least thinking about, those aspects.
But there is nothing in the statement that gives me any confidence in that.
It reads, to me, as though the devs' attitude might be summarized thus:-
"STAR TREK ONLINE IS A GAME ABOUT GOING TO GRIND ZONES AND BLOWING AWAY ALIEN SCUM. IF YOU WANT EXPLORATION AND DIPLOMACY YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE IT YOURSELVES. NYAH NYAH NYAH SUCKS BOO TO THE SPIRIT OF THE FRANCHISE."
Like I said, I am seriously disappointed, here. This is a lousy move, and so long as it is permitted me, I will say it's a lousy move.
lol, ikr? Hell, I'm not calling this "NGE of STO". I'm just calling it what it is, a "content massacre". It's not just the missions, but there's a ton of accos and titles that will be inaccessible because of this.
You know, if they wanted to bring it in line with grinding etc, why didn't they just make it and the foundry into a faction specific "Exploration rep" or something? use each one to buff the factions specific stuff, giving buffs to those who use faction boats, or using faction damage types?
Another reason why the removed star clusters is the easy way to collect data samples. Cryptic is desperate to get people in PvE queues, if you haven't notice since the removed the daily bonus marks hour from the game the queues are almost dead apart from the easiest grind missions. By giving different crafting mats for ground, space and enemy they hope to repopulate these dead queues. PvE queues are going the way of PvP and Cryptic can't sell STO as an mmo if there is no team play. Don't really see it working well, and I'd guess they will have to change it in a few months if no one is will to pay. Knowing Cryptic they will just want to stick it's head in the sand and think there is nothing seriously wrong with the game until PWE pulls the plug on STO.
Another reason why the removed star clusters is the easy way to collect data samples. Cryptic is desperate to get people in PvE queues, if you haven't notice since the removed the daily bonus marks hour from the game the queues are almost dead apart from the easiest grind missions. By giving different crafting mats for ground, space and enemy they hope to repopulate these dead queues. PvE queues are going the way of PvP and Cryptic can't sell STO as an mmo if there is no team play. Don't really see it working well, and I'd guess they will have to change it in a few months if no one is will to pay. Knowing Cryptic they will just want to stick it's head in the sand and think there is nothing seriously wrong with the game until PWE pulls the plug on STO.
Oh god yes, which is why I suggested simply removing the crafting mats from the exploration missions and clusters and adding limited drops as rewards for completing the missions, as well as adding them in greater numbers to the game as a whole.
The main issue with most of the pve queues though, is that there is very little reason for people to do them. The game has become so rep grind focused that people want to get as many marks as possible as quickly as possible. That and the change to omega rep from the old system, which didn't help matters at all.
Another reason why the removed star clusters is the easy way to collect data samples. Cryptic is desperate to get people in PvE queues, if you haven't notice since the removed the daily bonus marks hour from the game the queues are almost dead apart from the easiest grind missions. By giving different crafting mats for ground, space and enemy they hope to repopulate these dead queues. PvE queues are going the way of PvP and Cryptic can't sell STO as an mmo if there is no team play. Don't really see it working well, and I'd guess they will have to change it in a few months if no one is will to pay. Knowing Cryptic they will just want to stick it's head in the sand and think there is nothing seriously wrong with the game until PWE pulls the plug on STO.
They can sell it as an MMO kind of because a great deal of the playerbase like to play solo.
The point of this thread remains. They are removing a feature of the game and resorting to the foundry to provide an alternative.
This to me is unacceptable. Especially when it is an aspect that is key to the whole ethos of STO.
Cryptic you need to be making a new alternative ASAP. If your plan is for the foundry TRIBBLE to permanently replace the exploration side of STO, then i really think you are walking a dangerous path. I see no mention of there being plans for a new exploration system in that dev blog.
Player content SHOULD NEVER be considered as an alternative for key features. That's what people pay you for.
" Experience is a hard mistress, she gives the tests first, and the lessons after... "
The best way to get people into the PvE queues is to have stuff in them that people are interested in doing....
Mostly, people aren't interested in endlessly repeating the same stuff... which is why the quicker missions get full on a regular basis, while the rest languish. If you have to grind, you want to do a quick grind and get it over with.
This is where a semi-random mission generator would actually be a bloomin' good idea - something that serves up some approximation of novel content. The fact that it would also actually tie into what some of us sign up for a Star Trek game to do would be an added bonus.
A revamped exploration system, therefore, would be a good move in every imaginable way. Well, except someone at Cryptic would have to make one, I suppose - but that's the sort of thing they're paid for.
It's all very well saying "Foundry missions", but - while I support the Foundry, as an idea - it's not an adequate substitute for real development. The number of Foundry missions that achieve any sort of level of quality is very, very small - Sturgeon's Law applies to the Foundry in full, believe me. And there is precious little incentive on offer for a player to develop a Foundry mission - Foundry mission writers are a tiny, tiny minority of players. So, reliance on the Foundry just means we get a small pool of - mostly - significantly lower-quality content than the existing exploration missions.
I'd love to make Foundry exploration missions. Unfortunately, nobody will be able to find them with the terrible UI that only shows 50 or 100 missions. So, thanks for the doors. Maybe if I spam the forums with a sig banner, I'll get 3 plays.
I'd love to make Foundry exploration missions. Unfortunately, nobody will be able to find them with the terrible UI that only shows 50 or 100 missions. So, thanks for the doors. Maybe if I spam the forums with a sig banner, I'll get 3 plays.
no disrespect intended to you or any of the serious Foundry writers... but you get what you pay for, in this world. And most Foundry content is of the quality you'd expect from unskilled labour working for nothing.
Exploration = Star Trek. No Exploration = minor league war game, with dinosaurs.
So true and
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Another reason why the removed star clusters is the easy way to collect data samples.
I don't believe that for one second. Why not? Because you can easily get them from running story missions. You don't even have to complete the mission....
I'd love to make Foundry exploration missions. Unfortunately, nobody will be able to find them with the terrible UI that only shows 50 or 100 missions. So, thanks for the doors. Maybe if I spam the forums with a sig banner, I'll get 3 plays.
I think it'd actually give the foundry a purpose, to put missions in that can be flagged as "exploration" so that they will come up in the exploration clusters, adding a bit of variety and getting the foundry authors some exposure. Hell, I can't even think of any reason why it hasn't been done already.
I don't believe that for one second. Why not? Because you can easily get them from running story missions. You don't even have to complete the mission....
More fool you. The clusters themselves (not the missions, just the clusters which form the 'lobby') contained far more anomalies than any mission. You could farm them in the cluster itself far more efficiently than you could in any pve mission.
Yes, you could get them from the missions themselves as well as story missions, but the clusters let you get them far more efficiently.
I like the idea of Foundry missions replacing the existing "exploration" content. For one, exploration as it exists today is very weak. The move, if it works, will force people to create more content thus providing more missions and much more true exploration with a variety no randomly generated game mechanic could provide. The Foundry solution provides endless missions.
But people need to make more Foundry content. I've read some ideas of StarbaseUGC planning a community exploration zone using the Foundry, those are the types of innovative ideas that will make the current exploration system easily forgotten, you never know what you're getting into.
One caveat, and I've only read a post so not sure if it's true, but if Cryptic intends not to continue adding functionality and features to the Foundry then that may cause a problem.
Foundry? Where's that? Last I knew, the doorway was just outside of the transporter room on the old ESD. Now it's ... nowhere in the forums that I've searched.
I enjoy First Contact missions, even though I have only been allowed to play the introduction one. Due to glitches, I have never been able to play another. I feel that a new version of these are in order. Most mission only have one-way "Cow-boy" diplomacy, not letting me use my enjoyment of use tact, argument, and truth. Please add a substitute for this. Thank you,
Sorry, but what has this to do with what I posted? The places on the map where you pick up the old crafting materials will have to be replaced. So the devs will have to go in and spend however long it takes for just one map to remove the old crafting material nodes so that the old materials no longer drop and replace them with nodes for the new crafting materials. Then you have to test and edit to make sure that all nodes are accessible.
they already did this with Story missions. It's AWESOME!!! You can SEE what mat you'll get before you interact with the node. For example, you might be flying through an asteroid belt and see a green cloud of Hexaflourine gas. If you interact with it the particle scan mini-game comes up and depending on completion, you get as much as 4 Hexaflourine for it. This is just an example though, each material has it's own look for it's node point. Magnesite looks like a bunch of rocks, the other gases have their own colors.
I like the idea of Foundry missions replacing the existing "exploration" content. For one, exploration as it exists today is very weak. The move, if it works, will force people to create more content thus providing more missions and much more true exploration with a variety no randomly generated game mechanic could provide. The Foundry solution provides endless missions.
Unfortunately, the exploration missions (machine generated) are on par with a lot of the ones made in the foundry. Besides, removing 3700 missions from a game as content starved as STO is insane. There is no other word for it.
It would suit everyone much better if the exploration was fixed up and given an injection of foundry stuff for variety, rather than just deleted whole sale and people told to "make do with the foundry. Deal with it".
It is simply laziness to just delete the whole shebang and pass the buck on to the foundry authors. The two should work together, they should complement each other. So far that hasn't happened and with this move it moves ever further away from actually happening.
But people need to make more Foundry content. I've read some ideas of StarbaseUGC planning a community exploration zone using the Foundry, those are the types of innovative ideas that will make the current exploration system easily forgotten, you never know what you're getting into.
One caveat, and I've only read a post so not sure if it's true, but if Cryptic intends not to continue adding functionality and features to the Foundry then that may cause a problem.
Ideas are great, but implementing them can be a nightmare.
I enjoy First Contact missions, even though I have only been allowed to play the introduction one. Due to glitches, I have never been able to play another. I feel that a new version of these are in order. Most mission only have one-way "Cow-boy" diplomacy, not letting me use my enjoyment of use tact, argument, and truth. Please add a substitute for this. Thank you,
~Keedoul~~
That stuff has been broken for...18 months? Even then, it was not worth doing at the time. A shame really.
What does it say about cryptic and pwe when instead of fixing something, it is just left for 18 months before they simply go "bleh, DELETED. Deal with it.".
.... will force people to create more content thus providing more missions and much more true exploration with a variety no randomly generated game mechanic could provide....
Forcing the player base to do the devs' jobs for them is not, in my humble opinion, a very good idea.
More fool you. The clusters themselves (not the missions, just the clusters which form the 'lobby') contained far more anomalies than any mission. You could farm them in the cluster itself far more efficiently than you could in any pve mission.
Yes, you could get them from the missions themselves as well as story missions, but the clusters let you get them far more efficiently.
Is it true that it was somewhat faster? Yes.
Is "somewhat faster" the actual reason for removal? unlikely. Besides.... they would have only given out common or uncommon mats. those will be in plentiful supply anyways. It's the blue and purple rarity mats that will be hard to come by.
Is "somewhat faster" the actual reason for removal? unlikely. Besides.... they would have only given out common or uncommon mats. those will be in plentiful supply anyways. It's the blue and purple rarity mats that will be hard to come by.
and those blue & purple mats would probably be more likely to drop the more scan minigames you do, no? Having a number of small areas literally filled with those scan minigames would make getting them far easier for those with the time to spare.
Unfortunately, the exploration missions (machine generated) are on par with a lot of the ones made in the foundry.
Check out my awesome first contact mission! It involves "exploring an unknown system," where a planet's inhabitants say, "Starfleet, where are the supplies you promised to bring us?" You can then explore a cave where a console is half-sticking out of a wall and describes itself as a "transporter pad." Scan 5/5 to discover that the starfleet research outpost in this "unknown system" was raided by Gorn, according to Starfleet records of this "unknown system." Sorry, but one of the things that you have to scan is misplaced inside of a large gas giant. I did that for flare.
Oh and I made sure that random anomalies are placed directly above you, so you have to fly in circles to discover whether you're heading for a mission objective or just trying to find some annoying anomaly.
This mission was truly inspired by the quality of Cryptic's exploration clusters. I've never felt more like an explorer.
Mission is named "Explore System TRD-47474747474747474747474747474747474747474747-474747474747."
Check out my awesome first contact mission! It involves "exploring an unknown system," where a planet's inhabitant's say, "Starfleet, where are the supplies you promised to bring us?" You can then explore a cave where a console is half-sticking out of a wall and describes itself as a "transporter pad." Scan 5/5 to discover that the starfleet research outpost in this "unknown system" was raided by Gorn, according to Starfleet records of this "unknown system."
This mission was truly inspired by the quality of Cryptic's exploration clusters. I've never felt more like an explorer.
You forgot your [/sarcasm] tags. :P
Hey, some of the missions are pretty good. But most of the ones I've played are awful. They actually make the ones in the exploration clusters, machine generated missions, look good.
But adding an exploration "flag" that a foundry author could set so that their mission would be in the 'deck' of exploration cluster missions would get that author their precious epeen swelling "plays" as well as giving the whole thing a bit more variety.
If they added in a faction specific rep system around the exploration missions with some of the foundry missions thrown in, I think it would work rather nicely, so long as the rewards were decent (faction specific stuff, like buffs for those who use faction ships and weapons etc).
Also, yes I get it that you're a foundry author. Yes, I get it that you are one of the better ones, but that doesn't mean going "foundry only" is what's best for the game. It would be better overall if both systems, both parties, worked together and not against each other.
Check out my awesome first contact mission! It involves "exploring an unknown system," where a planet's inhabitant's say, "Starfleet, where are the supplies you promised to bring us?" You can then explore a cave where a console is half-sticking out of a wall and describes itself as a "transporter pad." Scan 5/5 to discover that the starfleet research outpost in this "unknown system" was raided by Gorn, according to Starfleet records of this "unknown system." Sorry, but one of the things that you have to scan is misplaced inside of a large gas giant. I did that for flare.
This mission was truly inspired by the quality of Cryptic's exploration clusters. I've never felt more like an explorer.
Mission is named "Explore System TRD-47474747474747474747474747474747474747474747-474747474747."
*Slaps Kirksplat*
Aid the planet!!!! How can you making missions when there are planets out there that need aiding!!!!
Also, yes I get it that you're a foundry author. Yes, I get it that you are one of the better ones, but that doesn't mean going "foundry only" is what's best for the game. It would be better overall if both systems, both parties, worked together and not against each other.
We're lucky that they're giving us doors. It's not like it's part of some master plan to turn clusters into "foundry only." They gutted the stuff out of a plan for crafting and they threw us a bone. Maybe one day, they'll do something to help players find the stuff we create. Who knows?
Aid the planet!!!! How can you making missions when there are planets out there that need aiding!!!!
It's fortunate that those human colonists on a Y-class demon planet only need 15 stem cells, when they don't have industrial replicators. It's a tribute to the human spirit of survival, against the odds. They've even started a school.
We're lucky that they're giving us doors. It's not like it's part of some master plan to turn clusters into "foundry only." They gutted the stuff out of a plan for crafting and they threw us a bone. Maybe one day, they'll do something to help players find the stuff we create. Who knows?
They aren't just "gutting" it. They are nuking it from orbit and putting a foundry door where the stumps are. If that isn't a step towards "foundry only" then I don't know what is.
The only thing exploration clusters ever had to do with crafting was the fact that you could get a lot of crafting materials in a relatively short space of time.
Kirksplat, what do you think of my idea about having an "exploration" flag on foundry missions you want putting in to the pile for the clusters? It would for sure help with the issue you cited of not being able to find the stuff you create, so long as there was a compelling reason for exploration missions to be done, something like a faction specific rep or rewards system for exploration etc.
Perhaps at the end of a foundry mission that's come up in that exploration cluster, a box would pop up crediting the author and saying "try out these other missions from the same author" or "other highly rated missions"?
Comments
I love how Smirk pointed at this devblog to answer all our concerns regarding explorations. Yes, it answered them, basically saying "It's gone. Deal with it. Go grinding."
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Yep. The PWE version of "helpful."
Hey, let's give Smirk some credit.
1- No typos this time.
2- Links that worked and went to the right game.
3- Using the forums instead of ignoring them and doing it all through twitter.
Smirk's almost 1/4 of the way up to speed on being able to communicate through multiple platforms!
Progress!
lol, ikr? Hell, I'm not calling this "NGE of STO". I'm just calling it what it is, a "content massacre". It's not just the missions, but there's a ton of accos and titles that will be inaccessible because of this.
You know, if they wanted to bring it in line with grinding etc, why didn't they just make it and the foundry into a faction specific "Exploration rep" or something? use each one to buff the factions specific stuff, giving buffs to those who use faction boats, or using faction damage types?
Oh god yes, which is why I suggested simply removing the crafting mats from the exploration missions and clusters and adding limited drops as rewards for completing the missions, as well as adding them in greater numbers to the game as a whole.
The main issue with most of the pve queues though, is that there is very little reason for people to do them. The game has become so rep grind focused that people want to get as many marks as possible as quickly as possible. That and the change to omega rep from the old system, which didn't help matters at all.
They can sell it as an MMO kind of because a great deal of the playerbase like to play solo.
The point of this thread remains. They are removing a feature of the game and resorting to the foundry to provide an alternative.
This to me is unacceptable. Especially when it is an aspect that is key to the whole ethos of STO.
Cryptic you need to be making a new alternative ASAP. If your plan is for the foundry TRIBBLE to permanently replace the exploration side of STO, then i really think you are walking a dangerous path. I see no mention of there being plans for a new exploration system in that dev blog.
Player content SHOULD NEVER be considered as an alternative for key features. That's what people pay you for.
Mostly, people aren't interested in endlessly repeating the same stuff... which is why the quicker missions get full on a regular basis, while the rest languish. If you have to grind, you want to do a quick grind and get it over with.
This is where a semi-random mission generator would actually be a bloomin' good idea - something that serves up some approximation of novel content. The fact that it would also actually tie into what some of us sign up for a Star Trek game to do would be an added bonus.
A revamped exploration system, therefore, would be a good move in every imaginable way. Well, except someone at Cryptic would have to make one, I suppose - but that's the sort of thing they're paid for.
It's all very well saying "Foundry missions", but - while I support the Foundry, as an idea - it's not an adequate substitute for real development. The number of Foundry missions that achieve any sort of level of quality is very, very small - Sturgeon's Law applies to the Foundry in full, believe me. And there is precious little incentive on offer for a player to develop a Foundry mission - Foundry mission writers are a tiny, tiny minority of players. So, reliance on the Foundry just means we get a small pool of - mostly - significantly lower-quality content than the existing exploration missions.
In short: lousy idea.
My character Tsin'xing
I think it'd actually give the foundry a purpose, to put missions in that can be flagged as "exploration" so that they will come up in the exploration clusters, adding a bit of variety and getting the foundry authors some exposure. Hell, I can't even think of any reason why it hasn't been done already.
More fool you. The clusters themselves (not the missions, just the clusters which form the 'lobby') contained far more anomalies than any mission. You could farm them in the cluster itself far more efficiently than you could in any pve mission.
Yes, you could get them from the missions themselves as well as story missions, but the clusters let you get them far more efficiently.
I like the idea of Foundry missions replacing the existing "exploration" content. For one, exploration as it exists today is very weak. The move, if it works, will force people to create more content thus providing more missions and much more true exploration with a variety no randomly generated game mechanic could provide. The Foundry solution provides endless missions.
But people need to make more Foundry content. I've read some ideas of StarbaseUGC planning a community exploration zone using the Foundry, those are the types of innovative ideas that will make the current exploration system easily forgotten, you never know what you're getting into.
One caveat, and I've only read a post so not sure if it's true, but if Cryptic intends not to continue adding functionality and features to the Foundry then that may cause a problem.
~Keedoul~~
My character Tsin'xing
Unfortunately, the exploration missions (machine generated) are on par with a lot of the ones made in the foundry. Besides, removing 3700 missions from a game as content starved as STO is insane. There is no other word for it.
It would suit everyone much better if the exploration was fixed up and given an injection of foundry stuff for variety, rather than just deleted whole sale and people told to "make do with the foundry. Deal with it".
It is simply laziness to just delete the whole shebang and pass the buck on to the foundry authors. The two should work together, they should complement each other. So far that hasn't happened and with this move it moves ever further away from actually happening.
Ideas are great, but implementing them can be a nightmare.
That stuff has been broken for...18 months? Even then, it was not worth doing at the time. A shame really.
What does it say about cryptic and pwe when instead of fixing something, it is just left for 18 months before they simply go "bleh, DELETED. Deal with it.".
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
Is "somewhat faster" the actual reason for removal? unlikely. Besides.... they would have only given out common or uncommon mats. those will be in plentiful supply anyways. It's the blue and purple rarity mats that will be hard to come by.
My character Tsin'xing
and those blue & purple mats would probably be more likely to drop the more scan minigames you do, no? Having a number of small areas literally filled with those scan minigames would make getting them far easier for those with the time to spare.
####
EDIT
THIS. IS. SPAR.TA. (post 300)
Indeed.
/10chars.
Check out my awesome first contact mission! It involves "exploring an unknown system," where a planet's inhabitants say, "Starfleet, where are the supplies you promised to bring us?" You can then explore a cave where a console is half-sticking out of a wall and describes itself as a "transporter pad." Scan 5/5 to discover that the starfleet research outpost in this "unknown system" was raided by Gorn, according to Starfleet records of this "unknown system." Sorry, but one of the things that you have to scan is misplaced inside of a large gas giant. I did that for flare.
Oh and I made sure that random anomalies are placed directly above you, so you have to fly in circles to discover whether you're heading for a mission objective or just trying to find some annoying anomaly.
This mission was truly inspired by the quality of Cryptic's exploration clusters. I've never felt more like an explorer.
Mission is named "Explore System TRD-47474747474747474747474747474747474747474747-474747474747."
You forgot your [/sarcasm] tags. :P
Hey, some of the missions are pretty good. But most of the ones I've played are awful. They actually make the ones in the exploration clusters, machine generated missions, look good.
But adding an exploration "flag" that a foundry author could set so that their mission would be in the 'deck' of exploration cluster missions would get that author their precious epeen swelling "plays" as well as giving the whole thing a bit more variety.
If they added in a faction specific rep system around the exploration missions with some of the foundry missions thrown in, I think it would work rather nicely, so long as the rewards were decent (faction specific stuff, like buffs for those who use faction ships and weapons etc).
Also, yes I get it that you're a foundry author. Yes, I get it that you are one of the better ones, but that doesn't mean going "foundry only" is what's best for the game. It would be better overall if both systems, both parties, worked together and not against each other.
*Slaps Kirksplat*
Aid the planet!!!! How can you making missions when there are planets out there that need aiding!!!!
We're lucky that they're giving us doors. It's not like it's part of some master plan to turn clusters into "foundry only." They gutted the stuff out of a plan for crafting and they threw us a bone. Maybe one day, they'll do something to help players find the stuff we create. Who knows?
It's fortunate that those human colonists on a Y-class demon planet only need 15 stem cells, when they don't have industrial replicators. It's a tribute to the human spirit of survival, against the odds. They've even started a school.
They aren't just "gutting" it. They are nuking it from orbit and putting a foundry door where the stumps are. If that isn't a step towards "foundry only" then I don't know what is.
The only thing exploration clusters ever had to do with crafting was the fact that you could get a lot of crafting materials in a relatively short space of time.
Kirksplat, what do you think of my idea about having an "exploration" flag on foundry missions you want putting in to the pile for the clusters? It would for sure help with the issue you cited of not being able to find the stuff you create, so long as there was a compelling reason for exploration missions to be done, something like a faction specific rep or rewards system for exploration etc.
Perhaps at the end of a foundry mission that's come up in that exploration cluster, a box would pop up crediting the author and saying "try out these other missions from the same author" or "other highly rated missions"?