Author Topic: Reviews and Feedback WANTED! (Read 849 times)

Legacy_Dragon Studios · « **on:** April 14, 2011, 12:20:21 am »

               Hello everyone. I belong to Dragon Studios and we have made many modules for NWN. Sadly due to the lack of active users on the vault and on Moddb, no one has left feedback or reviews for many of our modules despite one having 400 downloads. That's why I have come here to ask for feedback and reviews for two of our modules for our Tales of a Forgotten Realms series.

The Rise of a Legend (new edition is to be released soon which contains more content and a few fixes)
The Lowland General (sequel to be released soon which contains free roaming unlike the first plus it is more darker)

Learn more about our series here:

Tales of a Forgotten Realm

                     ModifiÃ© par Dragon Studios, 13 avril 2011 - 11:21 .

Legacy_Luspr · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2011, 07:26:20 am »

No idea if you've explained all this before, or if I am about to open a can of worms, but... ':whistle:'

Honestly, if you hosted these on the Vault I am sure you would be more likely to get downloads, feedback and ratings. I reckon that linking to external websites can be a significant barrier. It somehow contributes to the feeling that these mods are not quite part of the community.

Other recently released (2010-11) mods are getting feedback and ratings, enough to HoF too, although that is of course more difficult these days.

Nevertheless, there's nothing wrong with requesting some feedback - good luck to you '<img

'>

Legacy_jmlzemaggo · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2011, 09:55:32 am »

Seconding...
That's for me the usual and only way to find or bump into a module. And not only. Somehow, it also shows some faith. The most needed ingredient if not spice when choosing going for one module out of thousands.
Well, that's the way I see it anyway...
The Vault being like an engagement ring. ':wub:'

Both sides being involved, the old boring romantic stuff, you know... ':police:'

Only, if you ever make the first move, we might even dance together some day.
But if you're shy, it's like begging for staying alone... Not very sexy...
So... about some:wizard:...?

                     ModifiÃ© par jmlzemaggo, 14 avril 2011 - 09:05 .

Legacy_AndarianTD · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2011, 01:03:57 pm »

Luspr wrote...

Honestly, if you hosted these on the Vault I am sure you would be more likely to get downloads, feedback and ratings. I reckon that linking to external websites can be a significant barrier. It somehow contributes to the feeling that these mods are not quite part of the community.

Other recently released (2010-11) mods are getting feedback and ratings, enough to HoF too, although that is of course more difficult these days.

They are on the Vault. See here:

Tales of a Forgotten Realm - The Rise of a Legend Version 0.90
Tales of a Forgotten Realm - The Lowland General
Tales of a Forgotten Realm - Dravet - The Dark Lord
Tales of a Forgotten Realm - Dragon Studios

Dragon Studios wrote...

Hello everyone. I belong to Dragon Studios and we have made many modules for NWN. Sadly due to the lack of active users on the vault and on Moddb, no one has left feedback or reviews for many of our modules despite one having 400 downloads. That's why I have come here to ask for feedback and reviews for two of our modules for our Tales of a Forgotten Realms series.

The Rise of a Legend (new edition is to be released soon which contains more content and a few fixes)
The Lowland General (sequel to be released soon which contains free roaming unlike the first plus it is more darker)

Learn more about our series here:

Tales of a Forgotten Realm

First of all, good luck to you in your modding endeavors! A few thoughts and observations:

For the record, the download count you're referring to is on ModDB. On the Vault, your three mods have a total between them of about 400 downloads. That's relevant, because...

ModDB is an interesting idea, and I'm supportive of it in principle. However, the vast majority and core of the Neverwinter Nights modding community is and always has been centered around the NWN Vault, and the BSN forums here. Enthusiastic players of the kind who would be likely to download, play, and provide feedback on your work are for the most part going to be looking there for your mods. There's nothing wrong with having an external site where you actually host your downloads and linking to them from the Vault (as you do), but there are several things you could do to improve your visibility to players there:

1) The number one rule of getting your mods noticed is: marketing, marketing, marketing. You've started that by posting this thread, of course '<img

'>. Some other things you could do to call attention to them on the Vault would be to create a thread on the BSN here with the name of your mod series in the title (as, for example, I did here); become active participants on the BSN's NWN forums here, and put information about your mods in your forum signature, as I did (see below); and ask for a module spotlight on the main Vault page.

2) Although they appear to have been on ModDB for a couple of months, you only posted your mods to the Vault about two weeks ago, and only created your BSN account yesterday. You may need to give it a little more time for your work to be noticed there.

3) Of the three modules you posted, one is listed as about 3 hours long, and the others less than one hour. A lot of folks will pass over mods that are shorter than an hour, and even three hours is toward the low end of what many players will want to decide to invest time in. If you have an opportunity to make some of your mods longer or to combine some of them into a single work, that may help you to fare a bit better.

4) I noticed that two out of three of your mods have comments and ratings turned off. By doing that, you're opting out of one of the primary mechanisms that the Vault has for drawing attention to your work, namely: the top modules sidebar. Once you've got 10 votes, if your rating is high enough your mods will show up there. Also, if potential players on the Vault see an N/A and/or no comments on the Vault page, they will be more likely to pass it by, assuming (sometimes incorrectly) that that indicates that it's not very good.

5) If you don't have one and are inclined to, start a blog for your project (like mine here) and post regular updates and screenshots to keep the buzz about your work going.

Hope that helps!

                     ModifiÃ© par AndarianTD, 14 avril 2011 - 06:04 .

Legacy_jmlzemaggo · « **Reply #4 on:** April 14, 2011, 01:39:26 pm »

I suppose what Luspr & I meant was about the only external links Dragon Studios provided, not using the Vault ones as the main ones. Knowing that they're now on the Vault, and because of this calling, I'd make sure to take a closer look at it. I think I've always tried at least for a few minutes any module the writer was advertising for here, sometimes to find a truly good one even, like with Agrenost - Beneath the Cobbles FINAL v4 (Directors Cut) for instance.
I liked it, playtested it without even knowing I was... '<img

'>, reported respectfully to Bubba as his work highly deserved it, but never voted for it, as, in my opinion, it wasn't finished like it shoud be... and like it shoud be soon from what I've heard...
In another hand, if I don't like a module, my personal policy is to say nothing. No vote, no comments. I'm no God and my test is my own, and I couldn't go against years of working aroud a module, one many other players could enjoyed eventually, if not myself.
Just to mention one of the many reasons a writer couldn't hear anything from anyone, which it's not the case here, as I never tried any of yours... yet. '<img

'>
I see they all come with CEP 2,3 which is already a very tempting initiative on your side.
Andarian is right, only time may tell... Surely not the easiest part of the job...
(Anything he said about things that could prevent a player like me to play a module, like comments and ratings turned off, is also very right.)
Advertising is fine, even crucial, and highly recommended... as long it's for a good cause. One of the reasons why I tend to play modules their authors have been calling for right here, at the BSN forums: because of the faith they show by doing so.
Again this is me and nothing but my own way.

                     ModifiÃ© par jmlzemaggo, 14 avril 2011 - 01:09 .

Legacy_TimG · « **Reply #5 on:** April 14, 2011, 02:56:52 pm »

               posting here is a good start. Andarian's post is chock full of good points

Legacy_Luspr · « **Reply #6 on:** April 14, 2011, 06:48:34 pm »

jmlzemaggo wrote...
I suppose what Luspr & I meant was about the only external links Dragon Studios provided, not using the Vault ones as the main ones.

Exactly. It creates a barrier, for sure.

Legacy_Dragon Studios · « **Reply #7 on:** April 14, 2011, 10:41:37 pm »

               Thanks for all the advice on advertising. We have advertised on a community fan site called NWNCitadal but there's few people there. We've also created a few promotions for the vault before but only one has ever been approved. We're trying to get more people to visit and use Moddb as well since it allows you to create an entire page about your module where you can add images and videos for that module on the same page too but we'll try working with the vault more as well. I will probably create a blog here and spend more time on these boards promoting Dragon Studios' modules so thanks for the replies.

However, with that said. Will any of you try them and provide feedback now?

Legacy_Dragon Studios · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2011, 10:53:11 pm »

               You can now track ToaFR on here:

http://social.biowar...m/project/4561/

Legacy_ChaosInTwilight · « **Reply #9 on:** April 15, 2011, 05:02:32 am »

1.) The vault freely brands your entries there as "External Website Beyond Our Control"

That can and will scare people who don't know better. Upload copies to the vault, 7zip it up or what have you, its not hard, and in the NWN community, the vault has a lot more credibility than modDB.

You can(and may be wise to) tell the vault that comments should be posted on your forum/site and link that to the modDB page.

I personally hadn't even heard of Mod DB until about a month ago.

2.) Don't confuse people on the vault 'eh?

Expansions Works on all versions

....

ATTENTION: THIS MOD REQUIRES CEP V 2.3.

So I can or cannot play it with NWN + SoU, patched to V 1.39?

I can't. CEP 2.Something and onwards require 1.69, and ALL XP's.

Legacy_jmlzemaggo · « **Reply #10 on:** April 15, 2011, 07:50:53 am »

Hey, it's your day, Dragon Studios, now every one is going after you. '<img

'>
I have one question which makes one criticism: are these 3 modules of yours linked, and is there an order to play them? This is not clear enough on your vault page for instance. I only assumed "Tales of A Forgotten Realm - The Rise of A Legend" would be the one to start with, eventually? Only it seems to be the longest one, 10 hours, which makes a prequel longer than the main plot?Is that a saga somehow?
I remember my moduler days and I almost spent more time back then on advertising for the module than writing it...
People have already tried yours, 400 downloads, only, for now, they chose to not get back to you for reasons on their own. I understand you being pushy and willing to learn from players about your work, just don't scare them away. I personally appreciate your determination, now lets life maybe come with a surprise, as you polish the whole thing in between?
For instance, as Andarian was saying, you could make a nice "Tales of A Forgotten Realm" page right here. The Vault might not be the best structure for it, not being the beauty salon it could and should be...
Here, I'll show you something, very personal, I've done years ago around that idea, and it worked pretty well. I'm not used to dig into my past, only when it's needed. So please be highly tolerant and even more respectful ':devil:'

with a retired but still high tempered moduler :innocent::

My "Vault page"
My Home page & here
My "BSN page"

(The last time I went there, 3000 downloads, and today 8000. A module's got its own life, even after you left...)

Legacy_AndarianTD · « **Reply #11 on:** April 15, 2011, 02:56:31 pm »

ChaosInTwilight wrote...

1.) The vault freely brands your entries there as "External Website Beyond Our Control"

That can and will scare people who don't know better. Upload copies to the vault, 7zip it up or what have you, its not hard...

I have to disagree on that particular point. I've used those "External Website Beyond Our Control" links to host my files on my own website for years, and my mods have pretty consistently remained on the first page of the modules list since their release. Also, there are reasons for linking to rather than hosting your files on the Vault if you want to retain greater control over their use and distribution, since the Vault policies and guidelines apply differently to each.

...and in the NWN community, the vault has a lot more credibility than modDB.

I think that's true, at least in the NWN community. That may change in the future, though, if ModDB turns out to be a better or more flexible site for mod hosting. Also, it may catch on with the general modding community since it's not NWN specific. But you can get the best of both worlds by having your Vault page point to it as an external download site.

You can (and may be wise to) tell the vault that comments should be posted on your forum/site and link that to the modDB page.

IIRC, that's what they do. My advice was to turn comments on on the Vault page, though, since the voting and ratings system there won't work with comments disabled. It's a pain only in that you have to check both sites for comments, but I personally don't find that to be too difficult.

Legacy_Dragon Studios · « **Reply #12 on:** April 16, 2011, 02:23:06 am »

jmlzemaggo wrote...

Hey, it's your day, Dragon Studios, now every one is going after you. '>
I have one question which makes one criticism: are these 3 modules of yours linked, and is there an order to play them? This is not clear enough on your vault page for instance. I only assumed "Tales of A Forgotten Realm - The Rise of A Legend" would be the one to start with, eventually? Only it seems to be the longest one, 10 hours, which makes a prequel longer than the main plot?Is that a saga somehow?
I remember my moduler days and I almost spent more time back then on advertising for the module than writing it...
People have already tried yours, 400 downloads, only, for now, they chose to not get back to you for reasons on their own. I understand you being pushy and willing to learn from players about your work, just don't scare them away. I personally appreciate your determination, now lets life maybe come with a surprise, as you polish the whole thing in between?
For instance, as Andarian was saying, you could make a nice "Tales of A Forgotten Realm" page right here. The Vault might not be the best structure for it, not being the beauty salon it could and should be...
Here, I'll show you something, very personal, I've done years ago around that idea, and it worked pretty well. I'm not used to dig into my past, only when it's needed. So please be highly tolerant and even more respectful with a retired but still high tempered moduler :innocent::

My "Vault page"
My Home page & here
My "BSN page"

(The last time I went there, 3000 downloads, and today 8000. A module's got its own life, even after you left...)

Dravet is the first.
Rise is the second.
Lowland General is the third.
Lowland General 2 is the fourth. (Not yet released)

Then the "main" module is the next module that continues the story and it's set in a free roaming world where you can do what you want, be that becoming a treasure hunter, joining a group of knights, joining the army or getting on with the main quest, you can do it. We already have over 150 areas for it and have worked on the main module for some months now. If a long module is what many people want then the main module will offer that.

Legacy_Guest_Lowlander_* · « **Reply #13 on:** April 16, 2011, 03:28:01 pm »

               I played Rise. I like the look feel, areas.

But it does seem to be a work in progress. Maybe I am missing the point here, there are some rather odd things:

Unless it was a glitch, it appeared that all my companions were invulnerable. From beginning to end, not one took a single point of damage.

My character also seemed to only take 1 point of damage from everything until near the end when he started taking more regular damage. Though, I was a Ranger and noticed that my pet Bear took regular damage.
(Edit: I tried another character and this didn't happen, maybe the script from the first mass battle got stuck on?).

It seems like a lot of work went into designing areas that you largely just rush through.

Experience point rewards are off the chart, both for killing things and near random rewards. There is one point where I recieved enough to go up 5 or 6 levels in one shot and I wasn't even aware of the reason.

So again, I don't understand. Is this quite unfinished? Meant to be a movie like intro to an epic module?

Legacy_jmlzemaggo · « **Reply #14 on:** April 16, 2011, 03:47:54 pm »

               @ Dragon Studios:
you've got mail, and some "The Rise of a Legend Version" reviews if you want.

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Author Topic: Reviews and Feedback WANTED! (Read 849 times)

Legacy_Dragon Studios

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_Luspr

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_AndarianTD

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_TimG

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_Luspr

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_Dragon Studios

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_Dragon Studios

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_ChaosInTwilight

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_AndarianTD

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_Dragon Studios

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_Guest_Lowlander_*

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

Reviews and Feedback WANTED!