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This is a Quest?
iceseraph
Member Posts: 202
What's the deal with quests in games anymore? They have become completely senseless and lacking in both creativity and reward. Recently in trying out a new game (not naming names) and running through some of the quests, I came across a quest that went something like this (actual quest details changed to protect the identity of the gamemaker....lol):
NPC: I cant find Johnny..Can you look for him by the river?
/e -run......run......run...to the river - Find Johnny
NPC Johnny: Someones looking for me? Oh well take him this letter for me.
/e -run......run......run.....back to original NPC - give him the letter
NPC: Thank you. It seems Johnny is hurt and need a special potion to heal him. Bring me 10 pig feet to use in the potion.
/e -kill....kill...kill......300 pigs later (at 10 xp per pig - no less)- woot! 10 pigs feet collected!
/e run....run....run...back to original NPC - "here are the @#@! pigs feet!"
NPC: let me make the potion....*makes silly gestures - potion appears in your pack* Now please take this to Johnny quickly!
/e pant...run....run......Back to Johnny at the river - give him the potion (hope he chokes at this point)
NPC Johnny: Oh thank you! I feel much better - return this bottle with my thanks and collect your reward.
/e thinks you have to be kidding! ....run....run...back to original NPC - hand over the empty bottle
NPC: Thank you - Here is your reward (you get 2000 xp and a health potion).
NPC: Now...I have another urgent matter. Can you help me?
/e screams and logs off game!!!!
This is not my idea of questing! What happened to the good quests. Quests that were risky and exciting - required skills and some exploration and problem solving - involved some lore? Quests that weren't right in front of you like a tutorial with an NPC with a arrow above his head?
Alot of new games are basically requiring this type of questing as well. The quests are accounting for the biggest source of xp. Hunting as a source of xp seems to be less and less the norm. While I like a good quest as much as the next person, I would prefer to choose whether to be out exploring and hunting -or- running errands intended to be quests. I'd like to see some of the upcoming games offer a little more diversity of choices and alot more challenge both in hunting and questing.
Comments
lol that quest is from WOW nightelf newbie quest
Dont touch my stuff, or i swear to god i will karate chop you in the head
NPC: I cant find Johnny..Can you look for him by the river?
/e -run......run......run...to the river - Find Johnny
NPC Johnny: Someones looking for me? Oh well take him this letter for me.
/e -run......run......run.....back to original NPC - give him the letter
NPC: Thank you. It seems Johnny is hurt and need a special potion to heal him. Bring me 10 pig feet to use in the potion.
/e -kill....kill...kill......300 pigs later (at 10 xp per pig - no less)- woot! 10 pigs feet collected!
/e run....run....run...back to original NPC - "here are the @#@! pigs feet!"
NPC: let me make the potion....*makes silly gestures - potion appears in your pack* Now please take this to Johnny quickly!
/e pant...run....run......Back to Johnny at the river - give him the potion (hope he chokes at this point)
NPC Johnny: Oh thank you! I feel much better - return this bottle with my thanks and collect your reward.
/e thinks you have to be kidding! ....run....run...back to original NPC - hand over the empty bottle
NPC: Thank you - Here is your reward (you get 2000 xp and a health potion).
NPC: Now...I have another urgent matter. Can you help me?
/e screams and logs off game!!!!
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EQ2 Qeynos guild -
www.imperium-arcanum.com
Not exactly the holy grail heh.
I find that what games call "quests" these days are more like what one reviewer referred to as "tasks".
Such is the way of the new MMO's iceseraph. They are catered to attract people who have never played MMORPG's before and hence are very dumbed down. That's so new players don't get so frustrated with the game they don't subscribe after the initial free trial period. The problem with this is that experienced players get short changed because they want something more stimulating. Alas, such is the way of a free market economy....developers have to go where the money is....and unfortunetly that's not with people such as you and me. But don't think your alone with your feelings of being treated like your an 8 year old that needs their hand held to cross the street.
When it all boils down you just have to pick the game that best fits your play style and this game didn't sound like it was yours....but keep your head up....I'm sure a game will come along that stimulates our minds as much as EQLive did that first time.
Ahh. I loved the old AC1 quests. They actually seemed fun, and meaningful, exciting, etc. etc.
They weren't exactly given to you. There weren't direction. There were pieces to the puzzle slewn out everywhere. You'd have hints, rumors, etc.
Such as I remember being an axeman and the legends of some powerful lightning stilifi being hidden in the dessert.
Or hidden quests like the nexus armor that was in the middle of the direlands, which only an explorer would find. Then you'd have to figure out how to get the doors unlocked. Get past the pit, etc.
Which is what really made AC1 enjoyable, the quests felt worthwhile. They were pretty much never camped. They weren't handed to you on a silver platter. And it wasn't go to X, kill 10 rats, return with tails, and collection your apple.
"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didn't exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didn't exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
Yes! Makes me feel like an old-timer to say "The older games had better quests" - but they clearly did.
And I had higher expectations with the newer MMORPGs.
I certainly can't say I didn't look up the quest steps from time to time on WCry - which I suppose removed a lot of the exploration (Bad I suppose). But even then I was in awe of those that performed the quests the first time.
DAoC added Tasks & KillTasks for the 1st 20 levels: but they didn't treat them as quests really. Not sure when the "Kill X frogs" and "Collect 12 ears" came about, but I could live without them. Or at least without so many of the "quests" being in that template.
I love good quests, and generally want them to provide items/equipment. Quests being the major source of leveling XP also seems to be the current direction, at least in the last few ORPG I've played.
Who the heck at blizzard is going to spend lots of time making good NEWBIE quests. For crying out loud, they are supposed to be brain dead simple. Wait till you start doing elite and instance quests, quite a bit better.
Also, many quests are simply Tasks that are grouped in the quest category for sheer conveniance.
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Played: Asheron's Call 1, Dark Age of Camelot, Earth & Beyond, Star Wars Galaxies
Tested: Asheron's Call 1, Asheron's Call 2, Dark Age of Camelot, Eve Online, Lineage 2, Risk Your Life, Saga of Ryzom, World of Warcraft
Uninstalled ASAP: MU Online, Knight Online, Rubies of Eventide, Priston Tales, Star Sonata, DarkSpace
i know exactly what you mean quests like this are why some games arnt reaching ther full potential. i happen to have a very short attention span when it comes to tasks like this and tend to abort it and look for something interesting after compleating 3/8 parts of it and then falling into a coma at the keyboard
is it just me or have I seen this thread over 5 times? and the answer is QUEST WILL *ALWAYS* be like that. What other way can it be? how? if you get too involved in a quest it becomes a storyline, if it's too shallow players start to whine = so I really don't know what other way you guys want it to be.
But you forget the purpose of that quest/task: the experience you get from completing it allows you to advance faster than simply grinding through mobs.
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Played: Asheron's Call 1, Dark Age of Camelot, Earth & Beyond, Star Wars Galaxies
Tested: Asheron's Call 1, Asheron's Call 2, Dark Age of Camelot, Eve Online, Lineage 2, Risk Your Life, Saga of Ryzom, World of Warcraft
Uninstalled ASAP: MU Online, Knight Online, Rubies of Eventide, Priston Tales, Star Sonata, DarkSpace
i see your point knives but (and this is just my personal oppinion nobody needs to agree) what is wrong with quests with a storyline? i would find that more fun in all respects than just
to be honest i know that giving every quest in any mmorpg a good interesting storyline that you want to compleat so you can hear the rest of the story is nigh on immposible but its a nice thought dont you think
Yes the quest says you need to kill 300 pigs. So you either do it or cancel the quest and get another one. Every mmrpg will have a grind. What these quests/tasks do is make the grind less obvious and killing masses of a specific mob more fun when there is another purpose to it besides just getting exp. ANYTHING that improves the grind is a step in the right direction.
As you level up, you get quests that involve killing harder mobs in more difficult places, that drop better loot.
And there are TONS of 'kill special mob' quests in the game. They are called Elite quests and are much more complex and difficult than regular quests.
Finally, if you dont like the crappy quests, dont do them. Do only the elite quests and grind the mobs for your exp. Whatever works for you.
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Played: Asheron's Call 1, Dark Age of Camelot, Earth & Beyond, Star Wars Galaxies
Tested: Asheron's Call 1, Asheron's Call 2, Dark Age of Camelot, Eve Online, Lineage 2, Risk Your Life, Saga of Ryzom, World of Warcraft
Uninstalled ASAP: MU Online, Knight Online, Rubies of Eventide, Priston Tales, Star Sonata, DarkSpace
one thing that always takes all the fun and supprise out of a quest that acctualy has a story is when it becomes very popular and you go to it because othere people have reccomended it. instead of going for it because it seems to have an intriguing starting story and you already know how it will turn out.
A lot of ORPG are falling into this rut. While I have no problem with KillTasks per se - they should not be the quickest way to level. Group hunting should be the quickest, then Tasks, then solo hunting, then quests (in my opinion only). Quests should provide lore and equipment primarily.
And how would I know that canceling the idiot-type quests doesn't prevent me from receiving a really nice quest (if the early one was a prerequisite)?
If, in WoW, Elite quests are the only non-trivial quests - then they are sorely lacking in Quests. I think 1-2 Elites in the first 20 levels was the most I saw for any class. And there were several non-Elite quests that were not in the idiot-mold... so deleting non-Elite quests wouldn't work well.
Having the Kill-Collect tasks kept somewhere besides the primary QuestLog, or having them start from killing special mobs (ala AC2) would at least let players know whether the quests were menial or rich in content.
I really don't remember a GRIND so much in many ORPGs: what I remember is being eager to play. I don't think a GRIND is a required part of gaming. But my objective is rarely to level as fast as possible. I do enjoy new or improved skills/spells frequently: which may be why I enjoy non level-centric RPGs. In many you could advance your skills partway into a level - not have to wait until you'd killed 10k critters to see any character changes.
Errrr... back to topic. I hope all the major MMORPG coming out try and avoid using Kill-Collection Tasks in place of Quests. In addition to Quests is fine, but let's not lose the real quests in the process.
Excuse the meandering post.
I know what you mean but , IF the quest becomes too deep is going to be a story , then why not just make a complete story? then quest would be useless right? and is not easy to follow hundreds of stories, you get what I mean?
I think you misuderstand my point. I am not talking about any one particular game. While the game you are referring to may indeed have "Elite" quests, many do not.
As far as for 'grinding mobs for xp", why should hunting have to be a grind? Many of the older mmos made hunting fun. There was interesting flora, spectaular landscapes and an assortment of creatures to hunt with varied risks and rewards. I personaly dont play a game to see how fast I can level, I play for challenge and entertainment. After all, isnt that what a game is?
Definitely agree that most Quests should not take 2 weeks to complete - that would be a grind in and of itself. One or two significant Quests at a time is about tops.
Following a bunch of concurrent quests is hard - and I do have to credit recent ORPG: they manage the quest log extremely well. Something the "classics" failed at usually.
And by level 30 I had over a dozen elite quests queued up to be done. They are rare early on, but eventually there is a lot of them.
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Played: Asheron's Call 1, Dark Age of Camelot, Earth & Beyond, Star Wars Galaxies
Tested: Asheron's Call 1, Asheron's Call 2, Dark Age of Camelot, Eve Online, Lineage 2, Risk Your Life, Saga of Ryzom, World of Warcraft
Uninstalled ASAP: MU Online, Knight Online, Rubies of Eventide, Priston Tales, Star Sonata, DarkSpace
is it just me or have I seen this thread over 5 times? and the answer is QUEST WILL *ALWAYS* be like that. What other way can it be? how? if you get too involved in a quest it becomes a storyline, if it's too shallow players start to whine = so I really don't know what other way you guys want it to be.
Umm, totally untrue and doesnt have to be that way at all. If game companies like Interplay and Bethesda ever make a mmorpg they show the big boys like SOE what a quest is SUPPOSED to be. Personally I have high hopes for a game called Fallen Earth.
I guess what we want is a game that puts the RPG in MMORPG. There are many old-school games that used storylines that had nothing to do with the main story or quest. An excellent example can be seen with Fallout 2.
There were so many side quests that were 1.) totally involving. 2.) Had little to do with main story line 3.) Didnt have to do to beat game 4.) Usually involved several npcs spread across towns and had problem solving and exploration needed to complete.
I loved those side quests like having to fix the mutant town's power reactor. This had nothing to do with the game but was neat to do. It took several missions involving two towns to complete.
This is probably why many like myself complain about sucky quests and continue to play old-school games like Fallout 2 (and dream of a Fallout mmorpg). New games today are definitely dumbed down.
LOL! That is not a "quest" ... It have multiple NPC conversitations, lot's of traveling and it takes lot's to time to complete.... according MMORPG marketing standards - it is called "epical quest"!
Seriously - I fully agree. MMORPGs "quests" are something where developers have lot's of space for improvement. I think that biggest problem (and reason why quests are failing to be entertaiming) in current MMORPGs is that their world is not dynamic. Players really can't directly affect anything in world.
They can develope and change their characters and in some games they can even build buildings (which doesn't affect to anyone else than players) - but they really can't change world. You can do same quest 12313 times and NPC is asking same thing to do everytime (or in more "advanced" MMORPGs you can do it only ones, but 43243 players can do some quest).
It would be really intresting to play MMORPG, where NPCs would move around, change their behaviour and players actions would make a difference. But I guess that developers don't want to waste time to AI and modeling dynamical behaviour. Currently it seems like that better graphics and better sounds are reasons why new games are developed
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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." -Shakespeare, King Henry VI
"I know I said this was my last post, but you my friend are a idiotic moron." -Shadow4482
.you should just keep playing fallout rpg's
because you won't ever see quests like that in current mmorpgs. and you will still have to get from point a to point b and do something then comeback to the NPC. that's how is always going to be, no matter how you look at it.
i wasent suggesting the quest would have to be 2 weeks long or even close to that. but having a story dosent have to mean the quest is going to take an ungodly ammount of time to compleat that would be worse than grinding in the most extreme cases i would suggest about 4 hours of non hardcore gaming time at most.
well everyone has their opinions, as for me Id rather follow a full, complete storyline then deep long quest.