TSW definitely has the best, you have to read them or you have no clue what is going on... the rest just hit accept and go kill your 10 rats. If it wasn't for the combat and skill wheel I would I'd still be playing it.
Pirates of the Burning Sea has really high-quality PvE stories, I loved leveling up in that game "the old fashioned way" instead of just joining a fleet and letting them powerlevel me to cap in only a few days. The game is mostly instanced so you never get a "kill X of Y" quest, although you do get a fair number of "kill everything in this instance" quests.
Unfortunately, it's just that the vast, vast majority of people (i.e.99%+) don't know how to actually play that part of the game as it was intended.
If you think the questing system is complex you must be quite simple. Even if 99% of gamers did not play the game as intended then the fault is clearly with the game and not the players.
But, people do know how to play it, they just don't necessarily like it.
I totally agree with TSW, GW2, and ESO. All of these games have their issues, but they also have plenty of quests that go beyond the traditional boring quests that many of us have grown to expect from MMOs. I gave up GW2 and TSW for unrelated reasons, and I'm taking a break from ESO. But each of them deserves praise for their non-traditional questing.
I disagree with your assessment of EQ1 epic quests -- they were extremely grindy, and required long hours camping (including some very contentious camps that could incite griefing). If 'kill X monster' quests and 'collect Y item' quests are bad, eq1 quests were that on steroids. In other words they were endless time sinks with little creativity or immersion.
It has tragic moments, Comedy moments, dramatic moments, treasons etc. Neither of these games has these, TSW excepted.
Again:
WHERE IS SWTOR???
Since GW2 is mandatory in every list, even 'top 5 first person shooters', something had to be scrapped. Sorry bro.
Hmm, I think Neverwinter takes that spot actually.
Can't bite the hand that feeds you, and I've seen Neverwinter banners plenty of times on this site.
Have you played Neverwinter?
Some of those Foundry quests are the best quests I've ever done!
There's this one quest (can't remember the name atm) that was a thriller/suspense/horror type quest that freaked me the hell out! I literally had to get up and turn on all the lights.
The user and all related content has been deleted.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
There is no game to claim this award they are all pretty much identical involving a starting npc then go find another NPC or npc's.
The effort is just lazy,99% of the time involves already made assets however i have seen a few from game to game that adds a few new things but interaction is usually weak as well.What ruins most fo them is immersion,your following some guided path so you don't even need to think,if stumped look on your map and the markers are there as well.
That is my main peeve with questing,it is more about chasing around markers than actually engaging in the story.Look at SWTOR as example sure they added dialogue voice overs which is a nice touch but you were chasing green markers and even the map area is shaded green telling you "go there".MOST of the time quests are also predictable seldom do i get a pleasant surprise but again it happens from game to game nobody shines above the rest.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I haven't played enough of three, four, and five to really give a solid opinion. But #1 and #2 are spot on. GW2 has the most organic questing system in the genre, regardless of how the writing itself it. And TSW has the best quests I've ever played in the genre, trumping even single player games.
IMHO SWTOR has the best story telling via quest, no other MMO has it or even close to it. They did a really great and tremendous work. Wish the class story continues I would jump back in.
1)SWTOR ive gone back to this game recently and the story driven quests with full voice acting are second to none even outplacing my all time favourite mmo coming in second
2)TSW awesome and sooooo under hyped everyone who likes a challenge and loves a good mystery and story should play this
3)mmm im going for joint third here between LotRO and D&D online both have a ton of decent story content
4)TESO it captures elder scrolls story very well it as a whole is a fun game but the lvl50+ content is pretty meh so only 4th for me
5)thinking hard about this last place and although I haven't played it for a long while AoC probably has it over any others.
GW2 should not have made that list and the total lack of SWTOR makes the OP pretty nul and void but I see for once the community set aside there opinions to actualy give a pretty decent thread for once
Story driven content is still a big part of playing mmo's for me so long live the immersive story telling
Some mmo's that I haven't played enough to comment but have seen a little of to at least list them
destiny pretty decent story in the beta I played STO and Rift also deserve a small mention
Comments
TSW first is clear
but why not Swtor? The Class Story Quests were really great
EQ1 / EQ2 Epic quests for all classes
i havent seen anything else to compare to them
EQ2 Heritage quests are fun too
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Heritage_Quests_Timeline
EQ2 fan sites
I got to agree with the consensus here
GW2 - boring quest system and one of the reasons i left after a month of playing bored the hell out of me.
SWTOR had some of the best quests and made me want to play on to see the next cut scene
ESO I enjoy a lot but think SWTOR should be one spot above ESO on this list.
GW2 definitely deserves to be on this list.
Unfortunately, it's just that the vast, vast majority of people (i.e.99%+) don't know how to actually play that part of the game as it was intended.
If you think the questing system is complex you must be quite simple. Even if 99% of gamers did not play the game as intended then the fault is clearly with the game and not the players.
But, people do know how to play it, they just don't necessarily like it.
I disagree with your assessment of EQ1 epic quests -- they were extremely grindy, and required long hours camping (including some very contentious camps that could incite griefing). If 'kill X monster' quests and 'collect Y item' quests are bad, eq1 quests were that on steroids. In other words they were endless time sinks with little creativity or immersion.
What?! No SWTOR?!
What are you smoking?
Say what you will about the game, but SWTOR has the best quests, hands-down!
That Inquisitor storyline is frackin awesome!
Oh, and GW2 number two? You don't happen to work for ArenaNet do you? One of the reasons I left that game was because those quests bored me to tears.
Agree with you on Neverwinter though, although it should be number 2...AFTER SWTOR!!!
NEW, IMPROVED LIST:
1. SWTOR
2. Neverwinter
3. TSW
4. DCUO
5. ESO
Have you played Neverwinter?
Some of those Foundry quests are the best quests I've ever done!
There's this one quest (can't remember the name atm) that was a thriller/suspense/horror type quest that freaked me the hell out! I literally had to get up and turn on all the lights.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
There is no game to claim this award they are all pretty much identical involving a starting npc then go find another NPC or npc's.
The effort is just lazy,99% of the time involves already made assets however i have seen a few from game to game that adds a few new things but interaction is usually weak as well.What ruins most fo them is immersion,your following some guided path so you don't even need to think,if stumped look on your map and the markers are there as well.
That is my main peeve with questing,it is more about chasing around markers than actually engaging in the story.Look at SWTOR as example sure they added dialogue voice overs which is a nice touch but you were chasing green markers and even the map area is shaded green telling you "go there".MOST of the time quests are also predictable seldom do i get a pleasant surprise but again it happens from game to game nobody shines above the rest.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
It's painfully obvious GW2 should never have made it to this list.
What questing? All you did was run around doing random crap to fill in hearts. That's not questing. That's busy work.
As others have stated, GW2 should be replaced by SWTOR. Then you'd have a decent list.
1)SWTOR ive gone back to this game recently and the story driven quests with full voice acting are second to none even outplacing my all time favourite mmo coming in second
2)TSW awesome and sooooo under hyped everyone who likes a challenge and loves a good mystery and story should play this
3)mmm im going for joint third here between LotRO and D&D online both have a ton of decent story content
4)TESO it captures elder scrolls story very well it as a whole is a fun game but the lvl50+ content is pretty meh so only 4th for me
5)thinking hard about this last place and although I haven't played it for a long while AoC probably has it over any others.
GW2 should not have made that list and the total lack of SWTOR makes the OP pretty nul and void but I see for once the community set aside there opinions to actualy give a pretty decent thread for once
Story driven content is still a big part of playing mmo's for me so long live the immersive story telling
Some mmo's that I haven't played enough to comment but have seen a little of to at least list them
destiny pretty decent story in the beta I played STO and Rift also deserve a small mention
This I agree with 100%
I'll tell you what I liked in GW2 was trying to climb to those hard to reach bonus locations or quests or whatever you called them.
My List would be:
1. TSW - Only game other than EQ that I even felt like the word quest should be used.
2. EQ
3. The rest are awful. They're all repetitive and lack immersion and complexity, so I'll stop here.
Asdar
How GW2 (or any MMO in that list except for TSW) is on this list, and SWTOR isn't, is f**lin crazy lol.
MMORPG.com keeps going down hill by the day