Comments on: Problems with the MMO Quest Grind

By: /AFK – October 25 « Bio Break

/AFK – October 25 « Bio Break — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:06:24 +0000

[...] Ferrel re: Quests – “The biggest annoyance I have with quests are pre-requisites.” [...]

By: Vaellen

Vaellen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:18:17 +0000

One of the major issues that WoW still has after Wrath with questing is that the dungeon in each zone is the culmination of all quest efforts. This leads to people finishing Gundrak or Storm Peaks, and then doing the instances for those zones 1 or 2 times to finish the quests they need, and moving on.

Imo, Wrath did a good job of giving a bit more story, although the “Collect more bear ass plz,” is still there. Integrating dungeons better, using a phasing technology that progresses a storyline as you level, and also allowing people at any step to come together as a group and knock out each members needs is something i hope the development team is aware of and plans to implement in future endeavors.

By: Ferrel

Ferrel — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:43:22 +0000

I get a huge amount of experience somehow when I tell some NPC in town that I killed 10 wolves, and probably money and magical items too. Had I instead remained in the forest and killed 50 wolves, or grouped with friends to kill 100 wolves, or went through a dungeon, I’m worse off in terms of progress.

This is one of my biggest problems when it comes to the quest hub games. I just don’t understand the need to make killing mobs less viable. EQ2 does a pretty good job of making kill experience worse than quest experience but not in a way that makes it pointless.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:57:43 +0000

The problem I have with the Wow style is it generally makes no sense. I get a huge amount of experience somehow when I tell some NPC in town that I killed 10 wolves, and probably money and magical items too. Had I instead remained in the forest and killed 50 wolves, or grouped with friends to kill 100 wolves, or went through a dungeon, I’m worse off in terms of progress. There is just very little attempt to stand up to scrutiny like that.

Fewer but more substantial quests, with real design and intent behind them instead of just meeting the X-number per hub quota would be nice. If there is an item reward, consider carefully how and why that is awarded. It always bothers me when an NPC seems to have a bunch of great gear…where did they get it? Why not use your superior items and complete the quest yourself? If your village is really in great danger, why don’t you just give me the weapons or at least sell them to me so I have a better chance to save you?

By: Blue Kae

Blue Kae — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:49:55 +0000

I don’t remember ever finishing a single quest in EverQuest. They were difficult to find, difficult to figure out what to do (without checking the web), and often required gaining several levels to complete. Easier questing was one of the major reasons I shifted from EQ to DAoC. Even after WoW, LoTRO, etc. I’m still not sick of the current quest mechanice, but I would love to see some innovations. Less of the ping-ponging would be nice. A shift from errands to more heroic quests would be nice as well, although I don’t think they need to all be epic. So say collecting hides or mushrooms is out, but rescuing the local village chief’s daughter would be fine.

Still, given a choice between camping an area and killing gnolls for four hours one night, or going to Loch Modan and picking up and completing half a dozen errand, I’ll take the latter.

By: Tesh

Tesh — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:57:32 +0000

*chuckle*
I realize it’s probably very impolitic of me to phrase it that way, but hey, Warriors wouldn’t care about politics, either.

By: evizaer

evizaer — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:17:38 +0000

There's no fix for the "we're on different steps" problem if you stick to a static world of static quests from static NPCs. We really want to have MMOs that allow everyone to start in the middle of the action--just like all good fiction does--but we're chained to these old-fashioned, single-player holdover notions of quest chains and static content. If you want to stick with static content, the answer is to move the entire game world ahead in the story at the same time--make everything a public quest. The real answer is to move forward with dynamic virtual worlds and emergent gameplay. For this, we just need more simulation.

By: Ferrel

Ferrel — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:23:10 +0000

a Warrior might defend the altar boy’s honor for it

That made me laugh!

By: Tesh

Tesh — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:34:21 +0000

I’d like more fluid quests, too. Say, a local baron wants to cement his claim on the throne in case *cough* the King dies soon, but he needs a certain relic to prove his lineage. Of course, he’s not quite sure where that relic is or how to get it, but he’s paying top coin to anyone who brings it in… discreetly. The quest has a clear goal, but the means are variable. A Rogue might just go nick it from the local Church that has it in its relic vault, a Cleric might convince the clergy that it’s needed elsewhere for a purification rite, a Warlock might pull a dog and pony trick to show that the relic is actually an Unholy trinket that the prior would be wise to part with, a Merchant might barter for it, a Politician might blackmail for it, a Warrior might defend the altar boy’s honor for it, and a Death Knight might just kill everything in the area and take what he wants and burn the rest (so nobody knows exactly *what* went missing). Whatever the case, whatever your character’s talents, there is a solution, and often, more than one. (A well-heeled Thief might just buy the thing instead of stealing it or whatever. A Merchant might hire a thief NPC to grab it.)

Short story long, I want quests to feel more like a series of decisions and intellectual involvement with the world, rather than a bloodsoaked laundry list.

By: Mobhunter.com » Babies and Bathwater

Mobhunter.com » Babies and Bathwater — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:02:05 +0000

[...] Rather than abandoning hope for the Diku MMO–which is about as likely to disappear from the gaming landscape as the FPS–we should look for ways to address its shortcomings. [...]