When i was playing CO and WoW my answer would be not a single one. But i have read every quest while I have been playing Fallen Earth. It all has to do with immersion for me. I could care less about the WoW or CO lore, but I do care about the Fallen Earth lore. So much so I have written short stories using the Fallen Earth universe.
I started in MMOs reading all quests and then just got to the point many others here have mentioned where it's "Meh, they're all the same in the end". Then I started playing FE, and I read everything again. There's something about the post-apocalyptic world that makes even the kill ten prairie chickens/throwbacks/whatever you're having yourself stuff have a certain sense to it. In FE there tends to be a reason for such things (they're attacking travelers on the road, blocking trade routes etc.)
It's an immersive world, and the quest text actually deepens the immersion.
I can understand Ghost writing stories set in the FE world, I actually started playing because the game description reminded me of silly sci-fi novels (silly cause I wrote them, purely for fun) I've been messing with since the '90s (*cough* am old *cough*). And while there's tons of stuff that's different, there's enough commonality to make the wasteland feel even more like a home than any other game I've played. Also helps that their writers are better than I'll ever be : )
I read them all. To me, a MMORPG is a book that I'm a part of. I never skip pages or paragraphs when I read a book, so why would I skip quest text...
Real men don't have time for words... or steak sauce... or napkins.
Says the guy sitting behind a computer playing MMORPGs...and posting about them in a forum, no less.
Before PC's, this was tabletop DDO...it's not any "cooler" because it now takes place on a PC.
Yes it is. Now you don't have to feel so weird when your friends keep asking you why you are role playing a female bard who doesn't wear any clothing. Now you can do it from the comfort of your home, without the uncomfortable moments around the table. <diety> bless the Internet!
I always read the interesting quests, but as soon as I see that it's a kill xxx or fedex quest, I tune it out completely. I could give a rats ass about the story if all it really boils down to is the same old crap I did at level 1. Story doesn't mean a damn thing if your character doesn't actually affect the outcome, it doesn't change the way the game plays or the results in the end. Whose fault is that? The developers who are too lazy to actually create something other than the same old grind, the same old raiding and the complete lack of ability to actually affect the story or the virtual world.
Depends on how readable they are and how much they impact my character. I read almost all the text of PotBS quests, occasional text in WOW and absolutely none of that 3-5 panel spam in EQ2.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
During my first years playing MMOs, I read all quest texts, and clicked all interactable objects/NPCs to find lore bits. Probably a habit from playing MUDs where you had to read a lot to get anything out of the experience. I started skimming quest texts about 20 levels into WoW. Not so much because the quests were poorly written, but the lore didn't interest me, and there were too many walls of text that did nothing to put the reason for doing the quest into a greater perspective. I'm guessing I read about 20% of quest texts during my 5-6 months playing WoW, and the same is true for most MMOs I tried after.
Like others have mentioned, Fallen Earth has renewed my interest in reading quest texts, though. The quest objectives are rather dull, but the texts are very well written. Almost all quests either tie into a greater story-line, or they have some quirky humor. Often both. It also helps that my pace through the game is rather slow compared to most quest based MMOs. I know I'll get distracted by scavanging nodes, or random explorations while doing the quests, so taking a few more seconds to appreciate the writing doesn't feel like it affects my levelling speed. Besides, I always have some crafting project I want to finish before I get to the level where I can use what I have crafted.
I really hate what questing has turned into in todays MMOs so I read none of them. Quests are something I feel like I have to do to get to a point in the game where I can start having fun.
I try to read all the quests but I end up maybe reading 75% of the quests. I've never really been much of a reader in the first place. What really pisses me off about most quest based games there is no interaction with NPCs at all. You can't really ask them questions, you just click on them and a scroll or whatnot pops up and they tell you what to do. NPC just feel like human bulletin boards to me with a quest attached to their forehead.
I loved how FFXI missions were, you'd get a cut scene with something to read, that gets me more interested in whats going on. I also like the direction that SWTOR is going with their dialog with NPC's. I sure hope FFXI does the cut scene thing but with voice overs. Honestly I think the way quests are given and how many of them their are should be changed. I like my quests how I like my herb, don't give me this shwag quests where you get more of them but they are not as quality, give me some chronic quests that are higher quality but less of them.
For me it totally depends on if I'm enjoying the story or the quest texts. I always start games reading the quests and then seeing how it goes from there.
Sorry, what's story? If we take the usual meaningless quest-driven mmo's with quest tracker and short description - such as Lotro, WoW, AoC, WAR, EQ2, ... what is the actual story behind 95% of the quests?
Example of Evendim in Lotro - camp with around 40 quests, for levels 28-35.
The chain lines are pretty much consisted of:
kill 18 spiders, kill spider queen, take 5 flowers from spider area. (story - camp is being threatened by spiders)
Kill 12 orcs on fields, kill 12 different orcs further in their camp, kill their leader, take 3 sacks of grain from the camp (story - camp is being threatened by orcs)
Kill 5 aurochs (story - to get meat for the camp)
Kill 12 corrupted dwarves, take the map from them, kill their leader along with a few oversized crows (story - kill nasty dwarves that threatens the good dwarves)
Collect a couple of flowers for some remedy.
... which makes 95% of all the quest content in game. This is not a story, this is an excuse for holding players by hand.
I typically don't read the quests in games due to poor writing/lack of creativity.
I must admit, though, that I do enjoy reading the quests in AoC. The quests themselves may be par for the course, but the dialogue for the quests are usually pretty well done.
I am also really hoping that Bioware's SWTOR shows everyone how it's done. If anyone can do it, they can.
If its a new MMO I'm playing and my first character, I like to read all the quests I take part in. But then after a few toons created I just skip through all the details because I already know what happens in the end. Its always fun and interesteing reading through them for the first time.
All of them at least first time offocores when its repeatable maybe second time some but after a while i skip them hehe.
In solo rpgs or online i always love reading story lore of game.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
I mostly read quests that are a part of the main story not some random quests that are needed to level take for example aion I would read the campain quests because they were part of the main story and were not bad imo
RPGs would be very boring (in any incarnation) if you just went by the mechanics of the game. Its the story and descriptions that make it fun and interesting.
I never read them! I look at them later in the journal! When you have 6000 quests to do, you don't give a shit! That is why I quit quest-to-progress-solo MMO's and maybe all MMO's because I don't think any of them will have a way to progress without running 10000000 quests. I would much rather go back to the EQ way to progress; by camping camps and camping dungeons to progress if you don't die in the process. That means struggling to survive and planning a strategy to get through it.
I couldnt give a percentage. It depends on the MMO for me. I also tend to read more in singleplayer RPGs then in MMO's.
Oh, I also read more in the 'CORPG' Guild Wars then for example the MMO LOTRO. Its the kill x quests. Their stories are utterly boring (main LOTRO quest is very nice though).
EDIT: I also read them in Fallen Earth. This MMO also has nice questwriters and it has a lot of engaging stories. Hell, even the item descriptions are funny in this game
I read all of them. Lore is hugely important to the point where I will completely ignore the game if it has some weak poorly thought out and paperthin backstory to it as it ceases to be a "virtual world" (in may day this is what MMOs were designed to be) and more or less a soulless and boring grind fest. Obviously if the quest text is dull or trite I'll just skim it, every quest of a few thousand can't be a novel, but I'll at least make the effort to look it over so I'm not "that guy" who's asking stupid shit and complaining about a quest in the zone channel because he decided reading is too hard.
I have always prefered to play a bit freely in my MMOs, I do like quests but I dont like the endless chain of quests that many MMOs have developed. I enjoy having some time needing to figuer out what to do next as opposed to being told what to do next. Having said that some MMOs with seemingly endless quest manage to leave some to the imagination but ya if your talking about say WoW I read the major ones but spam most of the minor ones. Do I miss out some lore? I'm sure I do. I do however find it more inguaging to find my own way from start to end game.
Comments
I started in MMOs reading all quests and then just got to the point many others here have mentioned where it's "Meh, they're all the same in the end". Then I started playing FE, and I read everything again. There's something about the post-apocalyptic world that makes even the kill ten prairie chickens/throwbacks/whatever you're having yourself stuff have a certain sense to it. In FE there tends to be a reason for such things (they're attacking travelers on the road, blocking trade routes etc.)
It's an immersive world, and the quest text actually deepens the immersion.
I can understand Ghost writing stories set in the FE world, I actually started playing because the game description reminded me of silly sci-fi novels (silly cause I wrote them, purely for fun) I've been messing with since the '90s (*cough* am old *cough*). And while there's tons of stuff that's different, there's enough commonality to make the wasteland feel even more like a home than any other game I've played. Also helps that their writers are better than I'll ever be : )
Real men don't have time for words... or steak sauce... or napkins.
Says the guy sitting behind a computer playing MMORPGs...and posting about them in a forum, no less.
Before PC's, this was tabletop DDO...it's not any "cooler" because it now takes place on a PC.
Real men don't have time for words... or steak sauce... or napkins.
Says the guy sitting behind a computer playing MMORPGs...and posting about them in a forum, no less.
Before PC's, this was tabletop DDO...it's not any "cooler" because it now takes place on a PC.
Yes it is. Now you don't have to feel so weird when your friends keep asking you why you are role playing a female bard who doesn't wear any clothing. Now you can do it from the comfort of your home, without the uncomfortable moments around the table. <diety> bless the Internet!
I always read the interesting quests, but as soon as I see that it's a kill xxx or fedex quest, I tune it out completely. I could give a rats ass about the story if all it really boils down to is the same old crap I did at level 1. Story doesn't mean a damn thing if your character doesn't actually affect the outcome, it doesn't change the way the game plays or the results in the end. Whose fault is that? The developers who are too lazy to actually create something other than the same old grind, the same old raiding and the complete lack of ability to actually affect the story or the virtual world.
I read all of the quests.
And if there are books in the shelves standing around, I'll also make a point of reading every single one.
And if MMO developers ever implement bathrooms with shampoo bottles in them, I'm pretty sure I'll end up reading them, too!
First itme through I read them all. After that, not so much.
I treat them just like reading a book. If I like the story I'll read every single word. If the story sucks I ditch the book (or game).
If there's not a good storyline to the game I just can't get into it. And if that means I take 3 times as long to level up, then so be it.
For me the journey is much more important than the end.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
^
I play in a sandbox.
Depends on how readable they are and how much they impact my character. I read almost all the text of PotBS quests, occasional text in WOW and absolutely none of that 3-5 panel spam in EQ2.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Depends on the game.
In Fallen Earth I read about 80% of the quests. They're interesting and well written.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
During my first years playing MMOs, I read all quest texts, and clicked all interactable objects/NPCs to find lore bits. Probably a habit from playing MUDs where you had to read a lot to get anything out of the experience. I started skimming quest texts about 20 levels into WoW. Not so much because the quests were poorly written, but the lore didn't interest me, and there were too many walls of text that did nothing to put the reason for doing the quest into a greater perspective. I'm guessing I read about 20% of quest texts during my 5-6 months playing WoW, and the same is true for most MMOs I tried after.
Like others have mentioned, Fallen Earth has renewed my interest in reading quest texts, though. The quest objectives are rather dull, but the texts are very well written. Almost all quests either tie into a greater story-line, or they have some quirky humor. Often both. It also helps that my pace through the game is rather slow compared to most quest based MMOs. I know I'll get distracted by scavanging nodes, or random explorations while doing the quests, so taking a few more seconds to appreciate the writing doesn't feel like it affects my levelling speed. Besides, I always have some crafting project I want to finish before I get to the level where I can use what I have crafted.
I really hate what questing has turned into in todays MMOs so I read none of them. Quests are something I feel like I have to do to get to a point in the game where I can start having fun.
Why should i read the quest? they put a dot on the map.
LotRO - all of them.
RuneScape - all of them.
EVE (missions) - only the Objectives/rewards, except for Epic Arcs.
WoW - Reading in WoW? Since when?
I try to read all the quests but I end up maybe reading 75% of the quests. I've never really been much of a reader in the first place. What really pisses me off about most quest based games there is no interaction with NPCs at all. You can't really ask them questions, you just click on them and a scroll or whatnot pops up and they tell you what to do. NPC just feel like human bulletin boards to me with a quest attached to their forehead.
I loved how FFXI missions were, you'd get a cut scene with something to read, that gets me more interested in whats going on. I also like the direction that SWTOR is going with their dialog with NPC's. I sure hope FFXI does the cut scene thing but with voice overs. Honestly I think the way quests are given and how many of them their are should be changed. I like my quests how I like my herb, don't give me this shwag quests where you get more of them but they are not as quality, give me some chronic quests that are higher quality but less of them.
Sorry, what's story? If we take the usual meaningless quest-driven mmo's with quest tracker and short description - such as Lotro, WoW, AoC, WAR, EQ2, ... what is the actual story behind 95% of the quests?
Example of Evendim in Lotro - camp with around 40 quests, for levels 28-35.
The chain lines are pretty much consisted of:
... which makes 95% of all the quest content in game. This is not a story, this is an excuse for holding players by hand.
REALITY CHECK
I typically don't read the quests in games due to poor writing/lack of creativity.
I must admit, though, that I do enjoy reading the quests in AoC. The quests themselves may be par for the course, but the dialogue for the quests are usually pretty well done.
I am also really hoping that Bioware's SWTOR shows everyone how it's done. If anyone can do it, they can.
Prax
If its a new MMO I'm playing and my first character, I like to read all the quests I take part in. But then after a few toons created I just skip through all the details because I already know what happens in the end. Its always fun and interesteing reading through them for the first time.
All of them at least first time offocores when its repeatable maybe second time some but after a while i skip them hehe.
In solo rpgs or online i always love reading story lore of game.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
I mostly read quests that are a part of the main story not some random quests that are needed to level take for example aion I would read the campain quests because they were part of the main story and were not bad imo
I read almost all of them, or at least i try to.
RPGs would be very boring (in any incarnation) if you just went by the mechanics of the game. Its the story and descriptions that make it fun and interesting.
I never read them! I look at them later in the journal! When you have 6000 quests to do, you don't give a shit! That is why I quit quest-to-progress-solo MMO's and maybe all MMO's because I don't think any of them will have a way to progress without running 10000000 quests. I would much rather go back to the EQ way to progress; by camping camps and camping dungeons to progress if you don't die in the process. That means struggling to survive and planning a strategy to get through it.
I couldnt give a percentage. It depends on the MMO for me. I also tend to read more in singleplayer RPGs then in MMO's.
Oh, I also read more in the 'CORPG' Guild Wars then for example the MMO LOTRO. Its the kill x quests. Their stories are utterly boring (main LOTRO quest is very nice though).
EDIT: I also read them in Fallen Earth. This MMO also has nice questwriters and it has a lot of engaging stories. Hell, even the item descriptions are funny in this game
I read all of them. Lore is hugely important to the point where I will completely ignore the game if it has some weak poorly thought out and paperthin backstory to it as it ceases to be a "virtual world" (in may day this is what MMOs were designed to be) and more or less a soulless and boring grind fest. Obviously if the quest text is dull or trite I'll just skim it, every quest of a few thousand can't be a novel, but I'll at least make the effort to look it over so I'm not "that guy" who's asking stupid shit and complaining about a quest in the zone channel because he decided reading is too hard.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
I have always prefered to play a bit freely in my MMOs, I do like quests but I dont like the endless chain of quests that many MMOs have developed. I enjoy having some time needing to figuer out what to do next as opposed to being told what to do next. Having said that some MMOs with seemingly endless quest manage to leave some to the imagination but ya if your talking about say WoW I read the major ones but spam most of the minor ones. Do I miss out some lore? I'm sure I do. I do however find it more inguaging to find my own way from start to end game.