polygrove

I still think that data is valuable though, even if it is in poor taste by the player. The question the creator should ask themselves is, "Why was the first impression of my mission so poorly received?". Even so though, I really think that kind of reviewer would be in the minority. You guys seem to have a very pessimistic view of the average TDM player. And if you feel the missions can't stand up to a bit of scrutiny I think that says something. I would argue that the scores on Thief Guild are mostly accurate. Not perfect of course but I believe that is due to sample size. Sure you will always have assholes that score everything but Iris '0/10' and some people that give everything a '10' but every data set has outliers. And the more you have, the more things tend to average out.

My apologies, disrespect was not my intent. I do stand by the statement that the vast majority of players will still probably opt for the ‘best content’ available. TDM is already pretty damn niche, and playing the missions that aren’t as skillfully designed is even more niche than that. To be clear I don’t think length or complexity has anything to do with quality. A 30 min map can be just as good as Iris or the like. I’m mostly talking about well designed and polished experiences which every content creator should already be striving for. If a ranking system were implemented I don’t think that would mean less players for the ‘amateur ’ levels. I’d argue that’s already the case that they are least played, the top tier missions are still the most played, it’s just that that information is not readily available. Which is annoying. I even bet if a mission were ranked poorly that would mean more feedback for the creator to work with. By the way I am no stranger to creating large amounts of content for free. I just spent a year and over 1000 hrs co-developing a quite involved Half Life Alyx campaign so I recognize the effort involved. I don’t wanna come into this community rocking the boat, it seems like you guys value positivity and constructive, (rather than sheer democratic) feedback. I stand by my statement though that I think adopting a ratings system would help grow the community and encourage more creators.

I'm sorry but I love this response. It's so unreasonable that it made me chuckle. I was trying to be diplomatic with my original post but let me be more clear; I have no interest in playing the more amateur fan missions and I would not be surprised if this is sentiment of the vast majority of players. I doubt even the most dedicated Thief fans want to wade through hundreds of hours of mediocre content to find a handful of brilliant missions. To suggest that everyone with a passing interest in playing good fan missions should be expected to play every single one is ridiculous.

I respect and admire that viewpoint and maybe that attitude is what makes this community so special. But realistically most people don't have time to play every mission, let alone even 10. I think for the community to grow (and thus more missions and more support) it would be paramount to have a rating system, so people less inclined to scroll through every forum post regarding outstanding missions don't get disinterested straight out of the gate. In this respect I see this as an opportunity to include more people into the community, not exclude content creators. I see the lack of a ratings system as a barrier to entry, and it would be great to remove that.

Maybe worth doing a new thread to rally people to vote on there. Though I feel I don't have the authority haha.

I dunno, the top of the list seems pretty consistent with my findings. Keep in mind if I’ve got limited time I can’t play them all, so it helps to have at least some notion of what many people consider ‘top tier’ missions.

Damn, this is exactly what I need. Thank you!

Hey guys, relatively new to the community here but I've been enjoying TDM for a few years now. I'm making my way through the backlog but it seems like you beautiful geniuses never quit! There's so many missions, and many of them are exceptional. I don't have time to go through them all and searching "Best Dark Mod missions" in google shows me results from 5 to 10 years ago. A lot of good stuff has come out since then so I was wondering - what are the best missions of the last 10 years? I'll give my favorites thus far. I'm a sucker for classic mission design and visual polish keep in mind - Sir Talbot's Collateral The Painter's Wife Iris Behind Closed Doors Written In Stone What are your favs of the last decade? The more replies the better, could use some solid data.

About halfway through the level as we speak. Damn, son. You've got some serious design chops @Wellingtoncrab. I'm wondering if you've always just done this as a hobby or if you're at a studio somewhere, and if you have any other work visible online. The scene lighting and architecture is excellent, the writing, the loot placement, etc... Feels like The Painter's Wife 2.0 as others have said. Hoping you'll give us more in the future.