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Tell Trion & XL how to fix quest problems
What is the problem with quests?
The problem is that the game does not do a good job showing other paths enough early on. This leads many players to believe that is all that there is to AA and they quit. Or even worse...they grind thru level 30 and then are confused by the lack of quests and quit thinking the game wasn't finished or something.
The possible fixes
A simple change to the color of quest ! to ! with one color being exp and some loot reward and the other being key unlock quests for glider, farm, mount etc.
Along with this there could literally be a tool tip added in the beginning of the game about this difference. That way people could choose to skip all questing except the ones that unlock important things.
There could also be a starter island similar to Mirage island or perhaps a section of Mirage Island dedicated to exploring the fundamentals of all the crafting. Maybe with a boosted crafting unlock of 30,000 to all crafting skills just within the structure of this location. There would be items and vendors and crafting tables and farm areas with Practice items for purchase with practice credits. You could plant and craft and learn some of the fundamentals before venturing out to the full game world.
The benefit of this would be to show new players the underlying systems early and how they work. After that it would be up to player if they want to quest of craft or both.
Not saying my idea is perfect. Just throwing out that instead of complaining...we should offer positive ideas up and maybe one or more of them will be received and used to make the game better for everyone.
Please share your ideas in this thread. Keep it positive if possible. 
Comments
It sees weird to me that they locked out farming during Beta unless you have bought a pack.
There isn't much I can do besides quest. Not only is it not allowing me to test stuff, but it's also just not as much fun. I guess that's the reason- so they can sell more packs.
I'll definitely be subbing when the game comes out, but if I hadn't done research about this game I would think it's only a quest game.
Remove all quest icons from game.
i wonder why you are doing them if you don't like em.....
<logic> afk, fu trolls!
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
It's not a good idea to have tutorials as quests because most people don't read text quests anymore, they just click accept and go do it... mindless grind. In my opinion EVE has one one of the best tutorials, it makes you read what you have to do before you progress onto the next part of the tutorial.
Play the game the way you want, no one is forcing you to do quests or even see the quest indicators. Stop hitting yourself in the head with a hammer then complaining you have a headache
There is a real simple fix for you, go into options and turn off NPC name. And the quest indicators ! disappear. O)f course I guess ytou want to make them disappear for everyone to force people to play the game the same way you want to .
So far at level 23 on my highest toon questing has enabled me to acquire 4 farms, 1 house, a horse, a pack donkey fro doing trade packs, a hang glider, a rowboat, a clipper ship, a black saber tooth tiger battle pet, and a white wolf wolf battle pet. Also I am still all in quest armor and using quest weapons until Trion retweaks the archeum drops so I can craft my own or buy some crafted off AH
The secret to questing in AA is to pick and choose the quests and just do the ones you want the rewards from. if I tried to do the all I would go nuts. Sometimes I turn off NPC names when crafting, or if I just want to explore a bit. Gotta admit the world is lot prettier place without the names etc. Now if there was just some way I could go up to the guards at the front gate and ask him where Captain Mustard was so I could turn in the quest to get that new bow.
I miss DAoC
I miss DAoC
The quests are part and parcel to the beginning of the game. They ARE the game in the beginning. They are there to be read and completed. If people are short on patience, and in their stubborn stance decide they don't want to read them, how is that the game's fault? Stop trying to change these games and play them how they were designed to be played.
And this thing about players not reading quests? I mean, what is that? It's an MMORPG for crissakes. MMORPGs have quests by design. They are an integral part of MMORPGs. Yet, there is a subset of players who refuse to read them and demand that they be removed? Does that sound reasonable to anyone with a modicum of understanding of how MMORPGs are to be played?
Its ironic because when PvEers come to forums complaining, trying to change a OWPvP game the first thing you hear pro-OWPvP players scream is ... "stop trying to change the game, it was designed to be OWPvP." How are their requests any different than PvPers in this case? The game calls for quest completion during the beginning phases of the game. Play the game as it was designed. Is it really that difficult to invest a few hours completing quests? Are we really that adverse to reading a bit of text nowadays?
I don't even know why I find myself defending AA. Although I like PvP, I am not an advocate of OWPvP in MMORPGs. As such, I have no dog in this fight. It just irks me the direction MMORPGs have taken. No other genre is experiencing the disarray that MMORPGs are experiencing. No one complains about design fundamentals in FPS games, MOBAs, Platformers, in RTSs, MOGs, etc., but for some reason there is this desire by players of all those genre's to come to MMORPG game forums and demand they be changed to conform to their desired genres.
Completing quests, experiencing a progressive journey, immersing oneself and living in a virtual world, socialization, community building, these are all integral components/features of MMORPGs. Play them, or not ...just stop trying to change them.
Looks like you are one of those who has came to define a RPG as a interactive video time killer which is indeed all most MMO's are these days. I have done the pPaint by the numbers, no bad decisions, follow the quest breadcrumbs to raidville in several dozen MMO's now. I delighted I can play AA as a RPG. and put my caster in plate if I decide I want to.
I miss DAoC
I don't see the point in changing any quests. There are crafting quests that explain the systems. If people leave early, that is their problem. There is enough info around the internet to explain that the questing isn't the only thing to do in this game.
This is not simple game, and if people don't give it a chance, good riddance, we didn't need them anyway.
Put a ! over tutorial quests, a ! over grind quests, a ! over story quests, a ! over dungeon quests, a ! over attunement quests, a ! over exploration quests, and a ! over PVP quests.
Each objective/mob/NPC will be similarly marked with a color coordinated * symbol directly over it so that you know what it is there for.
These will also show up in the map so you can use them like a compass to find your objective.
This feature must be turned on the UI as it is disabled by default.
Once enabled, a color coordinated ? symbol will appear above your characters head to let everyone around you know that you are using this feature, and what sort of task you are currently on. It will not be visible to you, only to other players. The more you use this feature, the bigger the symbol gets, until eventually the entire world is blocked by it. This encourages other players to help their fellow players so that they don't use it for very long, otherwise their gameplay becomes affected as well.
Paid subscribers will have the ability to block the ? symbol from appearing on their screen.
Problem fixed, and a brilliant idea I might add too.
This is actually a good idea for a themepark MMORPG but in this case I hope your post was meant to be sarcastic. AA is supposed to be a sandbox. My preference, given its a sandbox and should require no handholding, would be for the game to not have any marks at all. Just NPC scattered about the world ... go find them, champ! If it were the case, I wonder if we'd have as many complaints about quests in the game?
I bet the complaints would then be ... "why aren't there any ! over the head of the quest giving NPC's so we can know who they are and be able to complete them!