The suggestion that opinions are fine so long as conditions A, Blue, Rutabega/21/TRX, FishFart, Echo, Echo, Echo, Saturn Lipstick Calico are met is a bit of a weird position to take.
People are allowed to have opinions. People are also free to voice their opinions in the positive or the negative. I myself have said I am not a fan of this decision but I understand they had to make a business decision. Thus I voiced my opinion. You are also free to voice your disagreement with the opinions of others.
With that said, there are still rules for conduct on this forum that will be adhered to if people wish to post on this forum and keep posting on this forum. If all someone is going to do is attack Cryptic while hurling insults, that is a violation of the forum rules and will not be tolerated.
At the end of the day Cryptic is a business and they made a business decision. The reasons for that decision, being time and resources, as stated by our own Ambassador Kael and others, are the reasons for this decision. There is no evil mastermind plan to destroy the game. It just came to a point it was no longer feasible to keep the foundry running.
It sucks that this happened, and people are free to voice their opinion that it sucks. Open and civil discussion is what encourages change and how things get done. Continuing to assert that there is some evil masterminded plan and/or asserting conjecture as fact are not helpful in this situation.
To be clear, it's not the rules of conduct to which I object. My objection comes into play when conditions are placed upon civil discourse in this kind of venue.
The suggestion that opinions are fine so long as conditions A, Blue, Rutabega/21/TRX, FishFart, Echo, Echo, Echo, Saturn Lipstick Calico are met is a bit of a weird position to take.
People are allowed to have opinions. People are also free to voice their opinions in the positive or the negative. I myself have said I am not a fan of this decision but I understand they had to make a business decision. Thus I voiced my opinion. You are also free to voice your disagreement with the opinions of others.
With that said, there are still rules for conduct on this forum that will be adhered to if people wish to post on this forum and keep posting on this forum. If all someone is going to do is attack Cryptic while hurling insults, that is a violation of the forum rules and will not be tolerated.
At the end of the day Cryptic is a business and they made a business decision. The reasons for that decision, being time and resources, as stated by our own Ambassador Kael and others, are the reasons for this decision. There is no evil mastermind plan to destroy the game. It just came to a point it was no longer feasible to keep the foundry running.
It sucks that this happened, and people are free to voice their opinion that it sucks. Open and civil discussion is what encourages change and how things get done. Continuing to assert that there is some evil masterminded plan and/or asserting conjecture as fact are not helpful in this situation.
To be clear, it's not the rules of conduct to which I object. My objection comes into play when conditions are placed upon civil discourse in this kind of venue.
I should have been more specific in that regard.
The only "conditions" being placed are that one should obey the previously posted rules of conduct for these forums. That means that insulting other users, even the mods (who are, as already noted, fellow users, not Cryptic employees), is out of bounds.
Further, it is courteous, when trying to divine what someone is thinking, to paraphrase what you think they're saying, then ask them, "Is this what you meant?" Stating baldly that someone (Baddmoon, for instance) is a lickspittle minion of Them Evil Powers What Is Taking Away Mah Foundry is, well, not courteous.
And speaking as someone who had to work to update software written in FORTRAN (this was in the '80s, we were updating to COBOL of all things), I can attest that this whole foundry maintenance thing isn't just "needs TLC" - it's more like the rebuilding job in The Six Million Dollar Man, or more accurately Martin Caidin's original novel Cyborg, where just replacing Austin's legs and one arm was insufficient, he needed a new artificial spine and strengthened skeleton to support the stress his new parts were putting on them. When the entire programming team has to buckle down just to fix the one part of the software that breaks every single time, thus preventing them from working on anything else, and that part is not essential to the whole and is not used by the majority of the userbase, the suits will reach the economically-dictated answer that the affected portion has to go. It's not unlike a surgeon removing a diseased gall bladder - nobody (well, nobody with any sense) wants to open a human body unnecessarily, but you can live without a gall bladder, and taking it out will help the rest of the patient survive.
I played this game since its closed beta and I'm proud to say I am a fan since day one. One of the things that kept me playing continuously was THE FOUNDRY . I loved all the content created by fans and gamers for gamers and it was fun. That was the thing that made this game what it is. Those story lines created by the fans where great and true Star Trek material. Most of them took me hours to complete because of the complex dialog options or areas to discover. It was lots of fun and I really could immerse my self into those stories and felt like a starfleet officer. To take down the foundry is the same as to remove the internet-connectivity of a smartphone. Sure you still can make calls and write text messages but the phone is no fun at all. The Foundry is one of the basic functions of the game. I can't get my head around that it is deactivated because you (CRYPTIC) lacks the manpower / knowledge to maintain it. And WHY DON'T YOU HAVE BACKUPS???? The is the IT-principle number 1!!!! The first thing you do is to create a back up BEFORE working on game files. The Foundry is a fan favourite and as I said before an essential part of the game. To shut it down is to kill one of the best parts of the game itself. With the new Discovery story line integrated in to the game I can only assume that the game is fighting for its life as Discovery itself. I'm very sorry that Cryptic didn't stay clear of all the subspace anomalies that CBS created inside the fan base. I would love to see STO survive the fallout but with the shut down of the Foundry I very much doubt it.
The fact that Cryptic can no longer afford to maintain the foundry does not bode well for the future of the game as a whole. If they can no longer afford the man-hours to keep the foundry running then it means that either the personnel with the expertise to maintain it have been terminated, or have quit of their own accord. Either way, this decision means that the STO development team is getting smaller and less competent, which in turn leads to fewer updates and more of those updates will be either non-functional, or will be detrimental to the gameplay experience (see the recent skin and hair texture fiasco).
You are correct. For something like this to happen indicates nothing but bad things.
Most importantly it reveals that original code was poorly documented and further that it wasn't built for long term support and updates. If true for the Foundry, it likely true for the entire game.
It comes down to this: [paraphrased] "The guy that knew how to do that doesn't work here anymore." I've heard these words before. It was never a sign of great things to come.
Yeah cutting the fat off the game is always good plus I can't remember the last time i've bothered to even play one. So its all good get rid of the old and in with the new.
It is said they considered every possible way of keeping the Foundries open, but I haven't seen this one mentioned. Volunteers. I would imagine that of the thousands of people who used the Foundry, a handful are skilled programmers who could maintain the system. Various games use volunteer moderators for forums and volunteer guides for in-game help. It might be a risk from a business perspective, but turning the Foundry over to volunteers who have been vetted and selected for reliability... making it a totally fan-driven, sandboxed extension of the game would keep the Foundries alive.
Yeah cutting the fat off the game is always good plus I can't remember the last time i've bothered to even play one. So its all good get rid of the old and in with the new.
Yeah the issue is that there is less new stuff coming and most of the stuff is only available through Zen or boxes. So they asking for more and more money from the players but delivers less and less.
It is said they considered every possible way of keeping the Foundries open, but I haven't seen this one mentioned. Volunteers. I would imagine that of the thousands of people who used the Foundry, a handful are skilled programmers who could maintain the system. Various games use volunteer moderators for forums and volunteer guides for in-game help. It might be a risk from a business perspective, but turning the Foundry over to volunteers who have been vetted and selected for reliability... making it a totally fan-driven, sandboxed extension of the game would keep the Foundries alive.
Yeah but that would mean to open their code and they won't do that. It's very bad for business. The only thing that would do it, is to totally rebuild a new foundry but they obviously don't have the means to do so. They are all caught up in the Discovery content (a total fan favourite as I heard)
That would be more comforting if Cryptic hadn't played the "no one is left who understands the code" and "Our code is too complex to maintain" cards. Those indicates problems far more profound than a simple lack of headcount.
Yeah the issue is that there is less new stuff coming and most of the stuff is only available through Zen or boxes. So they asking for more and more money from the players but delivers less and less.
One of the best things about this game is there are no "subscriber only" missions or play areas. The few things that are subscriber only are not "need it to win" items, but rather cosmetics and conveniences. The closest they get to that is making you join a fleet for access to certain things, and that's more of a way of forcing social interaction than pay-to-win. Lock boxes are unnecessary and Zen can be earned without spending a dime. Spending money essentially buys shortcuts and vanity items. Lets hope that's not the next thing that changes.
[The few things that are subscriber only are not "need it to win" items, but rather cosmetics and conveniences. The closest they get to that is making you join a fleet for access to certain things, and that's more of a way of forcing social interaction than pay-to-win.
Just had a frightening thought. I wonder how difficult it is to maintain the code that supports fleets, and if the guy who knew how to do that is gone, too?
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
> @jonsills said: > theboxisred wrote: » > > darkbladejk wrote: » > > marty123#3757 wrote: » > > It dose seem like you’re that upset about it when you’re attacking people for having an opinion. > > > > theboxisred wrote: » > > The suggestion that opinions are fine so long as conditions A, Blue, Rutabega/21/TRX, FishFart, Echo, Echo, Echo, Saturn Lipstick Calico are met is a bit of a weird position to take. > > > > > People are allowed to have opinions. People are also free to voice their opinions in the positive or the negative. I myself have said I am not a fan of this decision but I understand they had to make a business decision. Thus I voiced my opinion. You are also free to voice your disagreement with the opinions of others. > > With that said, there are still rules for conduct on this forum that will be adhered to if people wish to post on this forum and keep posting on this forum. If all someone is going to do is attack Cryptic while hurling insults, that is a violation of the forum rules and will not be tolerated. > > At the end of the day Cryptic is a business and they made a business decision. The reasons for that decision, being time and resources, as stated by our own Ambassador Kael and others, are the reasons for this decision. There is no evil mastermind plan to destroy the game. It just came to a point it was no longer feasible to keep the foundry running. > > It sucks that this happened, and people are free to voice their opinion that it sucks. Open and civil discussion is what encourages change and how things get done. Continuing to assert that there is some evil masterminded plan and/or asserting conjecture as fact are not helpful in this situation. > > > > > To be clear, it's not the rules of conduct to which I object. My objection comes into play when conditions are placed upon civil discourse in this kind of venue. > > I should have been more specific in that regard. > > > > The only "conditions" being placed are that one should obey the previously posted rules of conduct for these forums. That means that insulting other users, even the mods (who are, as already noted, fellow users, not Cryptic employees), is out of bounds. > > Further, it is courteous, when trying to divine what someone is thinking, to paraphrase what you think they're saying, then ask them, "Is this what you meant?" Stating baldly that someone (Baddmoon, for instance) is a lickspittle minion of Them Evil Powers What Is Taking Away Mah Foundry is, well, not courteous. > > And speaking as someone who had to work to update software written in FORTRAN (this was in the '80s, we were updating to COBOL of all things), I can attest that this whole foundry maintenance thing isn't just "needs TLC" - it's more like the rebuilding job in The Six Million Dollar Man, or more accurately Martin Caidin's original novel Cyborg, where just replacing Austin's legs and one arm was insufficient, he needed a new artificial spine and strengthened skeleton to support the stress his new parts were putting on them. When the entire programming team has to buckle down just to fix the one part of the software that breaks every single time, thus preventing them from working on anything else, and that part is not essential to the whole and is not used by the majority of the userbase, the suits will reach the economically-dictated answer that the affected portion has to go. It's not unlike a surgeon removing a diseased gall bladder - nobody (well, nobody with any sense) wants to open a human body unnecessarily, but you can live without a gall bladder, and taking it out will help the rest of the patient survive.
Yeah the issue is that there is less new stuff coming and most of the stuff is only available through Zen or boxes. So they asking for more and more money from the players but delivers less and less.
One of the best things about this game is there are no "subscriber only" missions or play areas. The few things that are subscriber only are not "need it to win" items, but rather cosmetics and conveniences. The closest they get to that is making you join a fleet for access to certain things, and that's more of a way of forcing social interaction than pay-to-win. Lock boxes are unnecessary and Zen can be earned without spending a dime. Spending money essentially buys shortcuts and vanity items. Lets hope that's not the next thing that changes.
Still they are taking a very essential part out of the game. A part that made the game what it is. The content the players created will be lost for ever and it was great content much better and deeper than everything that Cryptic offered over the last decade. Also the content they are providing is getting worse and as I said you have to pay for it. Now you have to play the lottery to get to the good stuff because it is not enough to pay directly for it (like the crossfield class) Sorry but the more greedy the developers get the quality of the game drops in the same amount.
I never insulted a moderator. I never presumed to know what a moderator was thinking.
Nor did I introduce phrases like, "tin foil hat," or "conspiracy nuts," to this topic.
Speaking of this topic...
If the Foundry really is a borked and as lost a cause as it seems and as the Devs are telling us, them maybe it should go.
That being the case, I wonder if it will be apparent in upcoming content that those resources have been reallocated. We all know how this works; If it's not immediately apparent some Gloomy Doomers will be frothing with I-Told-You-So's.
The fact that Cryptic can no longer afford to maintain the foundry does not bode well for the future of the game as a whole.
They can't afford it because they spent *WAY* too much money on VA's.
I don't know how much the actors they are using are charging for their work, but I can not imagine that it makes that big a dent in their budget.
Yeah, it's not really essential to have the voice acting, but that is an attempt to tap into the nostalgia and it can lead some outsiders towards the game.
The nostalgia effect should be obvious, but some casual gamers or even non-gamers that may enjoy Trek are more likely to learn about this game because of the use of the actors that appeared in the shows doing voice work for the game.
Nana Visitor's Wikipedia page, for example, contains a reference of her work in this game.
People going there will see this, and some of them may choose to search for more info on this and the other games mentioned and a potential player is born.
Still they are taking a very essential part out of the game. A part that made the game what it is. The content the players created will be lost for ever and it was great content much better and deeper than everything that Cryptic offered over the last decade. Also the content they are providing is getting worse and as I said you have to pay for it. Now you have to play the lottery to get to the good stuff because it is not enough to pay directly for it (like the crossfield class) Sorry but the more greedy the developers get the quality of the game drops in the same amount.
The foundry is not "essential". No more so than the voice acting. It may add gameplay for those looking for something new and different, it may add ways for RPers to install some very specific environments (something that passes for a character's quarters or a starbase that serves as a fleet's HQ to name a couple of examples), but it is not "essential".
Foundry or no foundry the game will remain.
Also? "Good stuff" is highly subjective, but asking for players to actually contribute financially to the game that they claim to enjoy doesn't seem like a big ask, and if they are offering "good stuff" in exchange for that money then it seems to me that they are on the right path.
The game costs money to maintain and expand. Everyone that works on it is entitled to make a living for the time they spend, from the higher-ups that manage the business all the way down to the people that sweep the floors, empty the garbage cans, and wash the windows.
The fact that Cryptic can no longer afford to maintain the foundry does not bode well for the future of the game as a whole.
They can't afford it because they spent *WAY* too much money on VA's.
I don't know how much the actors they are using are charging for their work, but I can not imagine that it makes that big a dent in their budget.
Yeah, it's not really essential to have the voice acting, but that is an attempt to tap into the nostalgia and it can lead some outsiders towards the game.
The nostalgia effect should be obvious, but some casual gamers or even non-gamers that may enjoy Trek are more likely to learn about this game because of the use of the actors that appeared in the shows doing voice work for the game.
Nana Visitor's Wikipedia page, for example, contains a reference of her work in this game.
People going there will see this, and some of them may choose to search for more info on this and the other games mentioned and a potential player is born.
Still they are taking a very essential part out of the game. A part that made the game what it is. The content the players created will be lost for ever and it was great content much better and deeper than everything that Cryptic offered over the last decade. Also the content they are providing is getting worse and as I said you have to pay for it. Now you have to play the lottery to get to the good stuff because it is not enough to pay directly for it (like the crossfield class) Sorry but the more greedy the developers get the quality of the game drops in the same amount.
The foundry is not "essential". No more so than the voice acting. It may add gameplay for those looking for something new and different, it may add ways for RPers to install some very specific environments (something that passes for a character's quarters or a starbase that serves as a fleet's HQ to name a couple of examples), but it is not "essential".
Foundry or no foundry the game will remain.
Also? "Good stuff" is highly subjective, but asking for players to actually contribute financially to the game that they claim to enjoy doesn't seem like a big ask, and if they are offering "good stuff" in exchange for that money then it seems to me that they are on the right path.
The game costs money to maintain and expand. Everyone that works on it is entitled to make a living for the time they spend, from the higher-ups that manage the business all the way down to the people that sweep the floors, empty the garbage cans, and wash the windows.
Yes the game costs money and I am willing to pay as I did over the entire lifetime of the game. But as of late the quality of the content they released dropped massively. The story content gets less and less and the new ships they release are mostly available in boxes. The amount of money one have to spend to get one of those ships is massive and not in any relation to its value. The foundry is an essential part of the game because it was there from the start. So it is essential. It would be the same if your local garage or car dealer would simply decided to remove your GPS /SATNAV from your car. it is not essential for the cars overall operation but as it was part of your car when you bought it, it would be a massive loss in your cars value.
BUT if this means the Devs can spend more time on new content, I'm all for it.
Sadly that is not the case. It's not as if they had a team of 10 devs working flat out on the foundry, they had nobody. The only time any dev resources were used was when it broke after a major update, which was most updates last year. Then they had to spend time fixing it, but whilst it was up they invested no time in it at all, and any assets that were added were done by devs in their own free time. So closing this will have almost no impact to the rest of the game except a resource draw when it would have broken.
I get all that - already had that figured out. My point stands though, the Devs won't be diverting resources to fix it every time an update breaks it, which means they will be quicker with new content and general bug fixes.
***
The Foundry was nice, but it was far from perfect and buggy as hell. If people want it back, then Cryptic would have to look at the subscriber model again - because if you want an MMO with all the bells and whistles, it's not going to be on a free to play one - we've been lucky it lasted this long after the move to F2P. It's not like the Foundry existed when the game first launched. Things change, and like most things in life you can't have your cake and eat it.
The Foundry has had it's day - let it go with dignity, and move on. Or, TRIBBLE like hell. Makes no difference to me, and it won't make a difference to the decision that's been made. They don't have the people, time, money or resources to keep it going. I'd rather they focus on getting new content in game.
Under the current circumstances, I think the Devs are doing a fantastic job. Rather than making them hate the player base, we should be acknowledging the time and work they put into the game - especially as they do so many things out-of-hours in their own free time (like all the new cutscenes in certain episodes).
Thanks Devs - keep up the hard work. Most of us do appreciate what you do, and we thank you for it.
People ask how long have I been playing STO - well the answer is simple: I have been here since the beginning. I just haven't always had a lot to say.
For those asking about it, I included a link to the livestream in the OP.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Seriously, folks. This is not the end of the world. The simple fact is that the old code is no longer fully integrating with the new code, and there's only so far you can patch before it needs a comolete overhaul.
In this case, the Foundry code was written for an old version of the game, and with the many updates the game has had, a lot of which involved fundamental gameplay settings, the Foundry couldn't keep up as it was designed fort the older code.
With the people who coded the Foundry gone, the only thing they've been able to do is basic patchwork, but eventually the patchwork isn't gonna be able to keep up with the main program. So out it goes.
Space Barbie Extraordinaire. Got a question about Space Barbie? Just ask.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
Comments
To be clear, it's not the rules of conduct to which I object. My objection comes into play when conditions are placed upon civil discourse in this kind of venue.
I should have been more specific in that regard.
Further, it is courteous, when trying to divine what someone is thinking, to paraphrase what you think they're saying, then ask them, "Is this what you meant?" Stating baldly that someone (Baddmoon, for instance) is a lickspittle minion of Them Evil Powers What Is Taking Away Mah Foundry is, well, not courteous.
And speaking as someone who had to work to update software written in FORTRAN (this was in the '80s, we were updating to COBOL of all things), I can attest that this whole foundry maintenance thing isn't just "needs TLC" - it's more like the rebuilding job in The Six Million Dollar Man, or more accurately Martin Caidin's original novel Cyborg, where just replacing Austin's legs and one arm was insufficient, he needed a new artificial spine and strengthened skeleton to support the stress his new parts were putting on them. When the entire programming team has to buckle down just to fix the one part of the software that breaks every single time, thus preventing them from working on anything else, and that part is not essential to the whole and is not used by the majority of the userbase, the suits will reach the economically-dictated answer that the affected portion has to go. It's not unlike a surgeon removing a diseased gall bladder - nobody (well, nobody with any sense) wants to open a human body unnecessarily, but you can live without a gall bladder, and taking it out will help the rest of the patient survive.
You are correct. For something like this to happen indicates nothing but bad things.
Most importantly it reveals that original code was poorly documented and further that it wasn't built for long term support and updates. If true for the Foundry, it likely true for the entire game.
Yeah the issue is that there is less new stuff coming and most of the stuff is only available through Zen or boxes. So they asking for more and more money from the players but delivers less and less.
Yeah but that would mean to open their code and they won't do that. It's very bad for business. The only thing that would do it, is to totally rebuild a new foundry but they obviously don't have the means to do so. They are all caught up in the Discovery content (a total fan favourite as I heard)
That would be more comforting if Cryptic hadn't played the "no one is left who understands the code" and "Our code is too complex to maintain" cards. Those indicates problems far more profound than a simple lack of headcount.
One of the best things about this game is there are no "subscriber only" missions or play areas. The few things that are subscriber only are not "need it to win" items, but rather cosmetics and conveniences. The closest they get to that is making you join a fleet for access to certain things, and that's more of a way of forcing social interaction than pay-to-win. Lock boxes are unnecessary and Zen can be earned without spending a dime. Spending money essentially buys shortcuts and vanity items. Lets hope that's not the next thing that changes.
Here in Europe we also are very dissapointed about this
Just had a frightening thought. I wonder how difficult it is to maintain the code that supports fleets, and if the guy who knew how to do that is gone, too?
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
> theboxisred wrote: »
>
> darkbladejk wrote: »
>
> marty123#3757 wrote: »
>
> It dose seem like you’re that upset about it when you’re attacking people for having an opinion.
>
>
>
> theboxisred wrote: »
>
> The suggestion that opinions are fine so long as conditions A, Blue, Rutabega/21/TRX, FishFart, Echo, Echo, Echo, Saturn Lipstick Calico are met is a bit of a weird position to take.
>
>
>
>
> People are allowed to have opinions. People are also free to voice their opinions in the positive or the negative. I myself have said I am not a fan of this decision but I understand they had to make a business decision. Thus I voiced my opinion. You are also free to voice your disagreement with the opinions of others.
>
> With that said, there are still rules for conduct on this forum that will be adhered to if people wish to post on this forum and keep posting on this forum. If all someone is going to do is attack Cryptic while hurling insults, that is a violation of the forum rules and will not be tolerated.
>
> At the end of the day Cryptic is a business and they made a business decision. The reasons for that decision, being time and resources, as stated by our own Ambassador Kael and others, are the reasons for this decision. There is no evil mastermind plan to destroy the game. It just came to a point it was no longer feasible to keep the foundry running.
>
> It sucks that this happened, and people are free to voice their opinion that it sucks. Open and civil discussion is what encourages change and how things get done. Continuing to assert that there is some evil masterminded plan and/or asserting conjecture as fact are not helpful in this situation.
>
>
>
>
> To be clear, it's not the rules of conduct to which I object. My objection comes into play when conditions are placed upon civil discourse in this kind of venue.
>
> I should have been more specific in that regard.
>
>
>
> The only "conditions" being placed are that one should obey the previously posted rules of conduct for these forums. That means that insulting other users, even the mods (who are, as already noted, fellow users, not Cryptic employees), is out of bounds.
>
> Further, it is courteous, when trying to divine what someone is thinking, to paraphrase what you think they're saying, then ask them, "Is this what you meant?" Stating baldly that someone (Baddmoon, for instance) is a lickspittle minion of Them Evil Powers What Is Taking Away Mah Foundry is, well, not courteous.
>
> And speaking as someone who had to work to update software written in FORTRAN (this was in the '80s, we were updating to COBOL of all things), I can attest that this whole foundry maintenance thing isn't just "needs TLC" - it's more like the rebuilding job in The Six Million Dollar Man, or more accurately Martin Caidin's original novel Cyborg, where just replacing Austin's legs and one arm was insufficient, he needed a new artificial spine and strengthened skeleton to support the stress his new parts were putting on them. When the entire programming team has to buckle down just to fix the one part of the software that breaks every single time, thus preventing them from working on anything else, and that part is not essential to the whole and is not used by the majority of the userbase, the suits will reach the economically-dictated answer that the affected portion has to go. It's not unlike a surgeon removing a diseased gall bladder - nobody (well, nobody with any sense) wants to open a human body unnecessarily, but you can live without a gall bladder, and taking it out will help the rest of the patient survive.
Well said. Very well said.
Still they are taking a very essential part out of the game. A part that made the game what it is. The content the players created will be lost for ever and it was great content much better and deeper than everything that Cryptic offered over the last decade. Also the content they are providing is getting worse and as I said you have to pay for it. Now you have to play the lottery to get to the good stuff because it is not enough to pay directly for it (like the crossfield class) Sorry but the more greedy the developers get the quality of the game drops in the same amount.
Nor did I introduce phrases like, "tin foil hat," or "conspiracy nuts," to this topic.
Speaking of this topic...
If the Foundry really is a borked and as lost a cause as it seems and as the Devs are telling us, them maybe it should go.
That being the case, I wonder if it will be apparent in upcoming content that those resources have been reallocated. We all know how this works; If it's not immediately apparent some Gloomy Doomers will be frothing with I-Told-You-So's.
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Thanks in advance.
I don't know how much the actors they are using are charging for their work, but I can not imagine that it makes that big a dent in their budget.
Yeah, it's not really essential to have the voice acting, but that is an attempt to tap into the nostalgia and it can lead some outsiders towards the game.
The nostalgia effect should be obvious, but some casual gamers or even non-gamers that may enjoy Trek are more likely to learn about this game because of the use of the actors that appeared in the shows doing voice work for the game.
Nana Visitor's Wikipedia page, for example, contains a reference of her work in this game.
People going there will see this, and some of them may choose to search for more info on this and the other games mentioned and a potential player is born.
The foundry is not "essential". No more so than the voice acting. It may add gameplay for those looking for something new and different, it may add ways for RPers to install some very specific environments (something that passes for a character's quarters or a starbase that serves as a fleet's HQ to name a couple of examples), but it is not "essential".
Foundry or no foundry the game will remain.
Also? "Good stuff" is highly subjective, but asking for players to actually contribute financially to the game that they claim to enjoy doesn't seem like a big ask, and if they are offering "good stuff" in exchange for that money then it seems to me that they are on the right path.
The game costs money to maintain and expand. Everyone that works on it is entitled to make a living for the time they spend, from the higher-ups that manage the business all the way down to the people that sweep the floors, empty the garbage cans, and wash the windows.
Yes the game costs money and I am willing to pay as I did over the entire lifetime of the game. But as of late the quality of the content they released dropped massively. The story content gets less and less and the new ships they release are mostly available in boxes. The amount of money one have to spend to get one of those ships is massive and not in any relation to its value. The foundry is an essential part of the game because it was there from the start. So it is essential. It would be the same if your local garage or car dealer would simply decided to remove your GPS /SATNAV from your car. it is not essential for the cars overall operation but as it was part of your car when you bought it, it would be a massive loss in your cars value.
I get all that - already had that figured out. My point stands though, the Devs won't be diverting resources to fix it every time an update breaks it, which means they will be quicker with new content and general bug fixes.
The Foundry was nice, but it was far from perfect and buggy as hell. If people want it back, then Cryptic would have to look at the subscriber model again - because if you want an MMO with all the bells and whistles, it's not going to be on a free to play one - we've been lucky it lasted this long after the move to F2P. It's not like the Foundry existed when the game first launched. Things change, and like most things in life you can't have your cake and eat it.
The Foundry has had it's day - let it go with dignity, and move on. Or, TRIBBLE like hell. Makes no difference to me, and it won't make a difference to the decision that's been made. They don't have the people, time, money or resources to keep it going. I'd rather they focus on getting new content in game.
Under the current circumstances, I think the Devs are doing a fantastic job. Rather than making them hate the player base, we should be acknowledging the time and work they put into the game - especially as they do so many things out-of-hours in their own free time (like all the new cutscenes in certain episodes).
Thanks Devs - keep up the hard work. Most of us do appreciate what you do, and we thank you for it.
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Seriously, folks. This is not the end of the world. The simple fact is that the old code is no longer fully integrating with the new code, and there's only so far you can patch before it needs a comolete overhaul.
In this case, the Foundry code was written for an old version of the game, and with the many updates the game has had, a lot of which involved fundamental gameplay settings, the Foundry couldn't keep up as it was designed fort the older code.
With the people who coded the Foundry gone, the only thing they've been able to do is basic patchwork, but eventually the patchwork isn't gonna be able to keep up with the main program. So out it goes.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!