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Foundry Call to Arms - Article by Starbase UGC
mattjohnsonva
Member Posts: 4,974 Arc User
http://starbaseugc.com/index.php/news/a-foundry-call-to-armsor-maybe-just-a-sad-plea/
Mods, please leave this in General Discussion, it needs to be read by all, not just those who visit the foundry board.
Mods, please leave this in General Discussion, it needs to be read by all, not just those who visit the foundry board.
by CaptPFDennis
Since 2011, when Star Trek Online was still young, and Foundry was introduced on the Tribble server, the game has evolved and grown in some significant and exciting ways. This latest expansion was a resounding success, especially with players for whom Deep Space Nine has always been a particular favorite. The meandering Iconian War storyline is a distant memory, and it seems that story development has hit its stride. With the announcement that we will have a new Discovery addition in the Fall, players have a solid indicator that STO will live on well into the future. That being said, things are not so rosy for a broken and sadly neglected Foundry.
In March of 2011, Foundry finally went live on Holodeck, STO’s main game server. The player base was intended to be used as guinea pigs to gauge reaction to, and use of, this User Generated Content(UGC) creator before they released a bigger and debatably better UGC Editor in the highly anticipated Neverwinter. Things did not work out as expected.
While players in STO went right to work building story content, Cryptic went to work promoting and focusing both developer and player attention to Foundry. Ideas were coming fast and furious. There were conference calls between the Executive Producer and our humble organization, as we were the first official Foundry-centric community. There was so much excitement for what was possible and what Foundry could become. Nearly all of the first original authors were members of StarbaseUGC.
As the months went by Foundry exploded, as more and more players became authors. Podcasts sprung up. There were shows broadcast and articles published to review the newest missions. STO was onboard choosing monthly Spotlight missions that the chosen authors considered a point of pride, and a badge of honor. Authors made trailers for missions in an attempt to get plays. It was healthy competition at its best. Members of StarbaseUGC got together and published the first truly collaborative series of missions with the release of Purity, which was immediately spotlit by Cryptic. StarbaseUGC had a booth in the vendor’s room at Star Trek Las Vegas in 2012. With all of this attention and participation came great UGC content. Authors learned to do amazing things with the Foundry editor, and in many cases, coaxing it to perform above and beyond its limitations. It was a great time to be both player and author. This was Foundry’s Golden Age.
Fast forward to 2018. It has been years since Foundry got regular and steady attention from Cryptic. A precious few precious devs had spent their off hours putting new assets into the details tab of the editor in an attempt to keep the UGC content alive. It was a type of creativity triage. There is nobody at Cryptic who can program the old editor, as far as we know. They don’t talk about it. The editor itself is bugged. You can’t play your mission through in Preview mode. Map Transitions are broken. Some assets are invisible, and it seems that it just gets worse each time there’s a major update to the game. Half of each author’s work is no longer qualified for rewards when it once did, leaving players less incentive to bother spending their time.
Once upon a time, the community was promised that the editor would get some of the fancier upgrades that Neverwinter players have enjoyed since they got their Foundry. No updates materialized. Interestingly enough, Foundry seemed a much better fit for Star Trek than it ever was for Neverwinter. The Foundry there may not even be working now. I don’t know. The guinea pigs became the most prolific users of this tool, while the players who got a finished version of Foundry, couldn’t care less. Did I mention that STO Foundry is still a Beta?
StarbaseUGC also released a second collaborative series. Cryptic didn’t notice. That was a long time ago, now. We were talking about a third series, but there just isn’t as much interest these days. It also may be that the editor is now harder to use. There are also those lost StarbaseUGC souls still haunting our corridors, having forsaken STO completely. There’s only one podcast left that focuses on Foundry, and as the producer of a few Foundry podcasts that no longer exist, I marvel at the dedication of the Foundry Roundtable guys. How they have carried on in the face of plummeting interest in Foundry by both devs and players is an amazing feat. At this point in STO’s history, the future of UGC looks grim.
This is the part where I have to beg. Authors please get back into Foundry. I know it’s harder these days, but if you still have any love of STO, and Star Trek in general, please tell your stories. Make noise. Let Cryptic know we’re still here and Foundry badly needs their help. Players please play Foundry missions. Even if there’s no reward other than a good story, please spend some time with content made by other players. I promise you there is better storytelling, in many cases, than you’ll find in the official content. Review the missions. Let authors know what you think. Usher in a Foundry Latinum Age. Authors and players please tell Cryptic that STO just won’t be as good a game without Foundry missions. If they know we’re still here, maybe they’ll get someone to fix it. We accept that they’ll never upgrade it. We no longer hold out that hope. We want the bugs fixed so we can continue to tell stories.
There will come a day when STO will reach the end of its life. There will be no more official content. The only possible way that players who are still interested will get new content and new stories to challenge them will be through a working Foundry. Authors will be the only source, yet we always feel ignored. Isn’t it worth a little time and money to keep Foundry in good working order? I think it is, but I’m just an author like many others. I spend my free time building maps and writing dialog, and I’ve done it for about 28 missions now. Many of us do it for free. Many have paid to do it in the form of a lifetime subscription, and all have spent dilithium on more Foundry slots. It is a laborious endeavor that can take months to complete. It is a labor of love that gains us nothing but satisfaction while Cryptic reaps the quality content. We aren’t asking for very much in return. All we want is the opportunity to continue. How can they turn down that proposition?
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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Comments
We, the Foundry community can only do so much. IT NEEDS ATTENTION FROM CRYPTIC.
When someone like me who is a real advocate for this potentially wonderful asset to the game has had to withdraw all his missions due to lack of even basic 'maintenance' work by PWE - and I say PWE (not Cryptic) because they are the ones who allocate scheduled, PAID Dev time on this game - you know something is terribly wrong.
It's a Catch 22 situation here. PWE can't monetize the Foundry so it is absolutely LAST when it comes to resource allocation. So no Dev time = things break. Things break = people don't play. People don't play = No Dev time invested. 'Round and round it goes...
The Foundry would make an absolutely fantastic basis for an exploration system in STO. With literally TENS OF THOUSANDS of unique missions already in the system - which if combined with a procedurally generated space program (something like No Mans Sky) in which you could return to locations as many time as you wished - would allow nearly limitless and detailed exploration of the galaxy. THIS IS SOMETHING NO OTHER GAME HAS. All PWE needs to do is show it a little attention and advertise this. All those people involved in exploration games like Star Citizen, No Mans Sky, etc. would suddenly be spending money here in STO (looking at the funding for just Star Citizen alone.... that's some serious cash).
A little love from PWE would go a LONG way towards increasing profits INDIRECTLY from the Foundry. But apparently PWE is too short-sighted to see this.
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
Right now, in particular, we're dealing with a very nasty bug where a lot of missions no longer give completion rewards as they should.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
My character Tsin'xing
Sound idea. This ongoing bug has been causing a number of Foundry missions to simply stop getting any exposure in-game via the pop-up system windows in sector space. And of course, the Foundry search engine being wonky at best isn't making things any better.
Thanks for doing this. At this point we need all the help we can get!
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
The foundry could be a great resource for that with a bit of funding for tools development and some time allocated to pointing players to foundry content that they might want to play.
When people complain about the Iconian war feeling too short, the response should be to point to a curated list of foundry missions and where they should be played in between the official episodes.
When someone says they wish there was more Ferengi content, have another curated list of suggestions.
Make search much better so it's easy for someone to find whatever they might like, from playing a mercenary, playing missions designed for a specific race, exploring, non-combat missions, whatever.
All of that might lead to more "long tail" sales of niche ships, costumes, gear.
Or not, I'm a software developer not a marketing guy. But it seems plausible and low-risk to me.
* stayAwayEditMonster! *
but aside form a few instances, I have found the Foundry content to be superior to the 'official' episodes.
mostly as there is a direct feed back method, that (in theory) will see issues fixed.
the only (mild) issue I have with them is there (generally) isn't a min level indicator, so I end up trying missions I don't have the skills/equipment for.
yes there have bene a handful I have 'dropped' and rated below two-star, but the vast majority ate 4+. A FAR better average than the 'episodes' particularly on the second pass.
Actually, you can only see the missions that are appropriate for your level in the search tool. For instance, a mission containing NPC groups that are normally not met before lvl51 (such as for instance the Vaadwaur) will not be visible till you reach that level.
one thing that i would like to point out , if we near us to a planet. foundry missions pop up. that is confusing for many new players. even causes them to leave the game
Not necessarily confusing if they read their mission log carefully. On the contrary, I think the Foundry mission pop ups allow less known Foundry content to get some exposure instead of being simply lost in the depths of some very awkward and unwieldy search tool.
I have one of the first missions that appears in that context and I can say that data the experience for people has generally been a positive one. I've never had anyone even hint in the reviews that they were quitting STO because of the Foundry, in part because while you do see these missions without a tutorial the top 3 interface does separate the list from mission interacts. In context, it should be fairly obvious which thing is what you need to continue the arc and which thing is an accessory something which you can take at your leisure, and once you learn its UGC (which takes all of one mission) you can dive into it or not at you preference.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Agreed. The search tool needs updates to make it easier to search -all- missions. On the whole, it is rather puzzling to me that Cryptic isn't taking better care for the Foundry because it is the only thing that makes this game quite unique. And what better place to tell stories of one's own than in Star Trek?
Please Cryptic, take more care of the Foundry!
1: Stairs - we only have 1 set of stairs to use in the foundry.
2: Angled pieces to go with said stairs, either as wells, ceilings, or floors.
3: Blank terrain maps. Not the cluttered up junk they give us.
4: Increased asset numbers. So we can really build things, including environments. This way we can build our own forests and such.
5: Access to all NPCs appearances and ships.
6: A more intuitive editor, one that's easier to use.
7: An unlocked tailor, so I can actually make custom appearances for aliens and such, even animals.
I have completed missions, that need to be republished. I also have ones that I'm "working on", more like not bothering with due to lack of assets and the annoying jumping in and out of the preview hundreds of times to place a single piece correctly.
PWE could monetize the foundry. I won't say how. If they can't figure that out, then they're not the brightest cookie in the tool shed. But, what can you expect from Preferred Wallet Entertainment? Not a whole lot. Since they're overlooking the Foundry, the greatest asset the game has. Since it's player created content, meaning we don't have to follow CBS' policy of the "friendship is magic" plot.
The Foundry need love, and Cryptic needs to get away from Preferred Wallet Entertainment.
I haven't heard any indication that the reason the Foundry isn't supported more is orders from PWE. The devs have their own priorities and those, so far, have been focused on other kinds of content updates (based on what they can do and what they think players will use most.) For my two cents: I think there's been a view the Foundry is fine as is (we authors can do a lot) but the accumulation of bugs and development stopping just shy of easy access (ie. a better search interface) is putting us in an awkward position that requires some input from Cryptic to help stabilize.
And that said, Kael has expressed concern about the Foundry. What I think will help translate that into dev effort is some more vocal support from the community (both authors and players) to show we're not taking this wonderful thing for granted either (such as through threads like this
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
We are here to show our support for the foundry people. Prove your support!
I love the foundry and it's a big part of my life. I also agree that the most probable way to get the foundry more dev time would be if it was a profit center. That being said. Charging Authors to build Maps for others to play is NOT the answer in my opinion.
I'd much prefer for the editor to get an additional set of features similar to [Game that must not be named]'s Stongholds Feature. Where people could purchase items to be used in the editor to build personal maps. Whether that be in the form of a Risian Beach-house, or a Ship Interior. Buying items that I can put in a ship interior I build, where I could then go to that map everyday has a far more perceived value to me, than unlocking a set of items to be able to use in a story mission, that people might play once.
This would better tie the foundry editor to ship interiors and give them a far bigger usefulness. Something people have been asking for, for years.
Like episodes and PVE's? Content development in an MMO doesn't require direct monetization. A very significant part of the game is developing an ecosystem that players want to continue playing, which in turn supports monetized aspects (ie. buying a ship to use that for un-monetized episodes). That's what the Foundry contributes most to. It's a gameplay activity which adds emotional investment and motivates players to continue playing STO.
Charging authors for resources I think is a non-starter. It makes it much less accessible to everyone for the sake of a minor money drip (I think I can name everyone who would pay into content packs within the first few months) which taps those who are already making significant contributions to the playability of STO. It also takes creative assets away from those that don't pay (ie. just about anyone starting out), to the detriment of the content they would otherwise create (both from the author's point of view and the player's.) I've also been through this with Microsoft's Project Spark (a Foundry-like game of creating games.) That tried to support itself by monetizing content creators and I don't think it went anywhere. Halo's Forge, on the other hand, developed a much greater following in part by making the whole sandbox available (and whatever components most grabbed someone's particular fancy.)
Basically, charging authors for supporting the game is misplaced, IMO. The economics aren't there and the F2P structure of STO isn't at issue (ie. no paywalls for activities). Where I think the Foundry could be improved is making it more integral to STO's gameplay ecosystem (through for example an updated search interface and furthering top 3's development) for the systemic benefit of having more than just featured episodes to look forward to (and plenty of alternatives for those that prefer different styles of mission than Cryptic can create, given their priorities and constraints.)
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Plus there is already an initial Charge to unlock the Foundry Editor. I believe its about 10,000 Dilithium, but It's been 5 years since I bought it.