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EQII quests: I just don't get it...
Mapleshade
Member Posts: 38
I'm hoping some veterans of the game can help explain something that has been bothering me about EQ2 since I started the game. A brief background, I have a lvl. 60 main, lvl. 46 & lvl. 20 alts, and been playing for about 6 months, mostly solo. There are some aspects that I thoroughly enjoy in EQ2, such as dungeon crawling, combat, housing, and a great community.
Now, to the part that I can't seem to understand and my question; why are the quests so mindless? From the three characters I've ran through every zone up to KoS, and besides the HQs and a few quests here and there, I honestly cannot say I enjoy doing the quests in EQ2. For the most part, they seem to have little to do with the lore, and mostly kill X number of mobs, and run through all four corners of the maps to complete a quest.
Being a casual gamer, these quests seem more like time sinks, and are more frustrations than fun. EQ2 graphics, game play mechanics are great, but the quests are subpar in production value compare to the rest of the game.
I've only played GW and LoTRO, so I can only compare EQ2 to those two. EQ2, imho, outshines both games in certain regards, but when it comes to quests and how they relate to lore/story line, the EQ2 quests are mind numbing, repetitive, and just plain boring. Sure, this can be applied to LoTRO and GW, but there it's in small doses, while in EQ2 it's the main course.
Please enlighten me on how this came about? What is it about EQ2 that I'm not getting? I play the game for the storylines (EQ2 lore is great, btw), it's just the quests seem so...disconnected and meaningless.
Comments
When you have well over 3000 quests in a game they cant all be brilliant. You have to have your stock standard kill x quests.
Sometimes those kill x quests are extremely boring, but get your teeth stuck into something like the Claymore, peacock or prismatic series of quests for example and its all worth it.
I personally dont mind the kill x quests, sometimes when i play i dont want to think too much, just want a little xp or whatever and whacking a few critters fills in those times. When im in the mood for something more ill do something like the ones i mentioned above or a heritage, hallmark or signature quest.
Additionally sometimes the end result out weighs the task at hand like the Lore & Legend quests for example. I dont mind swatting the same mob until i get all the updates cause im usually happy with getting a new house item.
Thats just me though, if you cant stand the quests maybe find a good group and get some instance action happening and explore another aspect of the game.
as they were also not that many the rest was
pretty generic which was sad as it realy had some nice quests.
EQ2 got lots and lots of quests and there are many int.sides out there just to call up the best rated,
the longest, the shortest etc.
and with the *mentorng* you can just hop in and
build or join a group to expierience am at the right
lvl
an take your beating. One day maybe i go back to LotrO, but at this time all the little
xtras in eq2 and the long time it evolved
makes more fun for me.
____________________
It`s alright
AC2,AO,D&L,Lotro,VsoH,SWG,Uo,HGL,Drunners,CoH,GW,Potbs,PWI
Eq2,Dofus,WoW,WWIIO,Ryzom,Planetside,EvE,TR,DDO,RFonline,FOM,VC,..etc blabla
also hobbies....staring at loadingbars
I beta'd LOTRO. That game sucks in so many ways, there aren't even words.
EQ2 is the best game out there at the moment and I don't know how you can expect a game to have every question be brilliant. LOTRO's quests were exactly the same, but they were just in a different colored wrapper.
The astonishing number of Quests has produced a huge variety. Some are brilliant. Some are easy. Others are difficult and require a lot of time. Others still are difficult and require little time.
The tremendous variety of Quests, I think, is an enormous plus. Solo, group, small group, multiple group, raid, and so forth. We are talking about a ton of content, and a ton of Quests for that content. Overall, I think the effect has worked very well.
[I should say I am not much of a "Quester." I am more, believe it or not, of a "grinder" or a "deep Quester." I like epic Quests. Nevertheless, it is always a huge plus to log-in for an hour and get something done, perhaps a Quest, tradeskill, etc.]
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Okay it seems people still don't get the difference betwen TASKS and QUESTS. Tasks are errands given to you by the npc to aid in your leveling, you don't have to do them if you don't want to and usually the tasks have crappy rewards like a few silvers (or some gold for the high level ones). Tasks are the usual Go to, Fedex,collect x amount, or kill x amount type of quest. QUESTs on the otherhand have a story line and lore associated with them. They are usually multi-step and may require a party to complete them although there are a hugee amount of solo and group quest. Quests may come in the form given by npc, from items that drops or from interactible objects in the game world. There's also something called instance quest which are given to you the moment you step into an instance dungeon.
Over the last three years, EQ2 has been WoWified (if I might make up that word). It has moved well away from it's roots as a hardcore level based PvE game to much more of an easy-mode, quest driven game. Hence your ability to Solo so high and the proliferation of the type of content you now see in EQ2.
Note that I am not passing judgement on the early game, or the current game. Just trying to answer your core question.
Good Hunting
Over the last three years, EQ2 has been WoWified (if I might make up that word). It has moved well away from it's roots as a hardcore level based PvE game to much more of an easy-mode, quest driven game. Hence your ability to Solo so high and the proliferation of the type of content you now see in EQ2.
Note that I am not passing judgement on the early game, or the current game. Just trying to answer your core question.
Good Hunting
Judging by the massive increase in subscribers, it's obvious that most people don't like group grinders. Most are happy with the changes. I mean, there's a reason why nobody likes Asian grinders.
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There are tasks and there are quest lines. Most of the games 'quests' are of the earlier type. But as you advance up, you will find that the quests begin to tie together much better. There was one line I did a while back in Barren Sky that gave you some insight into the war of the aviaks and such. There are also other lines such as the claymore (if you can stand that much time in the Sanctum) and SoD that open up a bit more of the story, I think (though I've completed neither).
Go and get a raid group together to learn draconic and you learn some about Vox and Nafagen and the drakota. Then you have HQs as well, some of them try to throw in some 'lore' as well and the Legend and Lore quests give you books that are full of lore.
Have I done every quest in the game? No, but who needs to. Do the ones you want to do and skip the rest (I've done almost none of the HQs above 40 for example). Do the froglock unlocking quest, some lore there as well.
Whether you call it WoWified or something else, the addition of solo content that is meaningful and fun (deep Quests with valuable rewards) is necessary in 2007.
You know, people just will not, do not, should not tolerate forced-grouping. People's threshold for tolerating "LFG" (looking for group) or "LFM" (looking for more) is in the matter of minutes.
Hence, EQ II by design allows you to achieve and do fun things while "LFG" or "LFM."
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Over the last three years, EQ2 has been WoWified (if I might make up that word). It has moved well away from it's roots as a hardcore level based PvE game to much more of an easy-mode, quest driven game. Hence your ability to Solo so high and the proliferation of the type of content you now see in EQ2.
Note that I am not passing judgement on the early game, or the current game. Just trying to answer your core question.
Good Hunting
Judging by the massive increase in subscribers, it's obvious that most people don't like group grinders. Most are happy with the changes. I mean, there's a reason why nobody likes Asian grinders.
most ppl hate um cause 90% are basicly the same, cheap shit made, copy cat F2P games...
The original 2004 released Everquest in 2004 was originally designed to catered to the same hardcore crowd that played Everquest 1. Unfortunately for Sony at that time, World of Warcraft (designed to be a VERY casual game) also launched almost at the same time which stole probably a huge amount of Everquest 1 players. As more and more people go casual a hardcore game where you must dedicate 8 hours a day playing simply cannot survive in the current market trend where games are going "casual". Let's face it, the online gaming market is a constantly evolving market, what holds true today will be obsolete tomorrow. Also the original Everquest 2 was horribly designed featuring "experimental" features that just simply does not work, a prime example of this is the "shared XP debt" feature that originally came with the launch. In theory the shared XP debt is meant to make the "playing field" fair for classes that die more often like enchanters/illusionist or pullers like monks by spreading the XP debt between all players in the party, unfortunately this feature does not work well at all despite what SOE thinks. This feature is wildly reviled and a lot of players quit the game due to it (me included) due to frustrations (a few bad wipes can have players ending up with 2-3 levels in XP debt). This is also the reason why they cap the XP debt to 50% of your level (back then there's no cap although you cannot de-level like you can in the original EQ). A lot of hardcore players initially called WoW as a dumb down game of Everquest, they maybe right but a mass market game simply cannot survive by catering to a minor segment of the market.Also back then soloing is such that the game basically turned into an "asian grinder" game where you have to kill hundreds of mobs to level and grouping is the only way you can level up efficiently. I am glad they change EQ2 into a casual friendly game. I think the current EQ2 is what I like best and will continue to play the game as long as SOE doesn't make any negative design changes.
Pretty sure EQ2 has the most quests for a MMOG, not even sure EQ1 has as many.
Good example why theres so many mindless quests/tasks would actually be EQ1. Back then when you did a quest it almost always meant you would need a group and likely a raid to finish it and would get something really awesome at the end you would likely not be replacing any time soon. Now these mindless quests or tasks, provide a way to play without just grinding through mobs solo or grouped or doing some exetremely involved quest that would span over large areas and have multiple parts.
So basically these are alternatives to grinding, and I for one am very grateful for them.
As others have said when the game went live in '04 it was just far to focused on group content nowadays people dont want to be forced into that situation and i for one think that this is a good thing.
The days of hardcore MMO's are most liekly over now hell even Vanguard is begining to see the light and has put solo quest lines in the latest patch, EQ2 as it stands now is a fine game (the best MMO out there IMO) and far from being "dumbed" down its been refined to the point where its a gem of a game to play.
In my opinion EQII quest writers never showed much imagination, plus the lore always seemed to be just a after thought.
I miss DAoC
Wow I always thought everquest had some of the best lore. There really is no game in general I can think of that has the sheer quantity of lore thats actually used and has an impact. Hell they even have people staffed at EQ2 JUST for the lore. thats all they do, manage lore.
It does have the best lore in the genre created by inside sources. Jackdog has no clue, he doesn't even play the game.
A lot of these replies are just crap they made up to sound like they know, but they don't. Here's the gist of it. There are quests and tasks. Tasks are just another way to grind what you are already grinding. You just get extra reward for killing stuff you kill anyways, and it appeases the grinders that enjoy that sort of thing. Plus it gives something to do for the real questers as they move from "real" quest to "real" quest. So they don't get as much of a feeling of grinding.
Plus, the quests are harder to find than the tasks. Joe Bob Baker you pass 10 times a day going to the broker and bank to find tasks, but Old Man Witherspoon sitting under a shade tree on the outskirts of a wayward village you might pass once the whole game. Explorers, that explore every inch of Norrath, are more likely to find the bests quests.
There's your explanation, and it's a lot easier to understand and explain than all that garbage about, "Well back in the day...". That was over 2 years ago... seriously...
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
Your not going to get people to pick up on this "task" concept unless the games themselves accommodate it. Until then their all gonna be called quests, so you might as well get used to people calling "kill 10 snakes" and "defeat a family of dragons for uber weapon" both quests. You may call it a task but no matter how you slice it it still goes in the quest journal or whatever with everything else. At best a "task" is a type of quest.
As far as EQ2 goes its really the other way around. everything is just plain quests except for the special quests like Heritage, and Hallmark quests. Just confusing crap when you call quests tasks and specialized quests just plain quests.
What is really fascinating is that even though there are the standard "Tasks"...they seem more fun than some other titles (LOTRO comes to mind)
I have yet to get bored at Level 30 compared to LOTRO...but, I also accept these tasks exist...so, when I am done doing that killing, I may go get some mats, or decorate my home or tradeskill (some of the best out there of any title)
It is an acceptance that all RPG's force this type of gameplay, and all new games follow this format (Hellgate, Tabula Rasa)...we will never escape it..all we can hope is that they are fun to do...like hunting griffons in Thundering Steppes...that is a great challenge solo, and quite fun!
Cheers!
Yea, I agree, but sometimes the big quests even start out as tasks. Ole Man Witherspoon might ask you to get him some deer meat and make a cup of tea for him, and then a couple "tasks" down the line you find yourself fighting the monk spirits of the four winds to get the uber belt of dps. It's usually best to pick up whatever you find, talk to a bunch of npc's and see where it all leads. You never know. (btw, this is an actual quest in the game, names changed to protect the innocent) I guess they figure if you aren't willing to get him a deer sandwich and a cup of tea, then no use making you run all over Norrath fighting greater foes.
It reminds me of the movie (forgot the name) where the hero fights all these villians to finally get this item for the quest giver and he throws it over his shoulder onto a pile of the same stuff he got him. Then he gives him the real quest.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
Ignore jackdog, he doesn't play the game and is only here trolling for a reaction.
Unfortunately, both tasks and quests are called quests. I think its mostly because its easier to call everything a quest. Less work and brainpower involved. You don't have to do any of them if you don't want to. I never do the tasks. I think they're incredibly boring and, especially in early levels, you don't need them to help you level up because there are quests everywhere to help you do that.
As a new EQ2 players, I love the quests. The lore is amazing. I take my time reading the quests just to feel part of the game..
I think the funnest thing about Everquest II is what makes Everquest fun, and that is grouping, crawling a dungeon or exploring a region together. It's not being overly structured and just wading in the content and having a blast.
Unfortunately developers are making MMO's more and more linear and structured. So to compensate they make a storyline. Everquest II doesn't really have a storyline, just a world. So really your just in that world and interacting.
Thanks all for the thoughtful responses. My personal preference would've been maybe less, but more lore related type quests. I'm on my third char, and having ran around Antonica for the past week does get a little tiresome. I do try to complete every quests I come across, and maybe that's what's causing the boredom.
The EoF zones are definitely better with quest hubs. I don't mind doing kill x mobs quests, but I guess for me it comes down to running around all over the maps for quests that I thought were irrelevant to the storyline.
But thats the point, mapleshade. This type of quest line is much preferable to the storyline type of questline for most people. Its like WoW has destroyed the genre by spoonfeeding information to lazy people, and now all the new games are copying it. Some people are protesting that type of behavior on the devs part, but too many people would rather have it so they're getting what they want. Its dumbing down the games.
I've actually had friends burn out on EQ2 trying to do every quest they get even after I tell them not to do that. You just can't do that on EQ2, he was even trying to finish quests that were grey con to him. This isn't the type of game where you finish every quest in a zone then move on.
I can see why people might do that, its mostly how it works on other games, but on EQ2 you kind of need to be mindful of what quests your doing. If trying to finish every quest you come across is something you like to do then fine, just keep in mind your going to end up having to do many more quests than you would in other games.
I've met people who don't really play EQ2 and think there is no storyline at all, just makes me laugh. Think its because the game doesn't revolve around some singular event, like a war. They can't grasp the idea that the world is more like a living world, where people have their own problems or are trying to cause their own. could you imagine if the whole game was based on the freeport vs qeynos type faction stuff? Man that would suck.