Quests

[Brannor McThife]

I've been thinking a bit about quests in general, in any MMORPG.

What do you look for in a quest?

Uber XP? Uber item reward? A good storyline? A complex quest that requires you working something out first?

Be honest. I've found that if XP and/or reward aren't there, nobody does them. People, YOU, in general, simply don't explore.

-G

 

[krait]

You're correct in that xp/rewards are mainly what people would look for in a quest ,but it would be nice if they were also more puzzle-orientated.
Another thing i'd like to see would be if the quests with uber xp/rewards were random riddles/puzzles with different journeys and endings.
A lot of work would probably need to be done ,to randomize enough of them ,to make it seem a unique quest for whoever who did it.

 

[-yoda-]

i like quests that dont involve toooooooooo much traveling. im sure you all know the ones that send you back n forth ALL over the realm for a mediocre item or low exp/cash reward . there are a cple of quests in alb that are HUGE for a decent item ... but because of all the traveling and time etc etc people tend not to do them .

as above said id liketosee more puzzle orientated quests "similer to ones in tomb raider games?" and also vary so itsnot summin people know how do to it before they even start same eng prize but different puzzles in between and hopefully not to any zones to travenl across back n forth.

 

[Pin]

First character I made a point of doing every quest I could find, so I have done 72 with him I think, stopped after a few months when he was no longer my main. Didn't care about exp or items, just wanted to do the quests to explore everywhere and also so I could help any guildies when they asked about stuff.

Now I tend to only do them for items (although I did a few SI ones just to explore for the first few days).

 

[klavrynd]

imo exping is a tiresome part you need to get through so i'm in for the xp or uber items

 

[krait]

Just an addendum to random puzzles etc
Not sure if it would be possible ,but if every week a new set of riddles could be downloaded that overwrite the old ones and so keep the quest fresh and original every time.
A bonus side effect to this could be guilds getting together to figure out the answer to them everytime someone new gets the quest.
Probably too difficult to implement ,but it does sound good in theory.

 

[old.linnet]

I did every quest I could find with my first character. Why do them? It's a combination of xp/ cool item/ interesting storyline that tells you more about the game background? First time around, I got a kick out of the stories (the hibbie ones in particular are adorable at low levels, so cute).

But after that, you tend to only pick up the ones with the best rewards, because you have 'experienced' the story/exploring once. And lets face it, most quests boil down to 'go to place X and kill creature Y then return to NPC Z'.

The one I think we all enjoyed in Albion is the level 46 one where you get to wipe out an ellyll village (Think the mids who were camping it when we went there the second time enjoyed that bit too...) It WOULD be interesting to see more quests that followed a different sort of script. Better AI on the NPCs, more of a chance for what the player does to affect the outcome.

Like all drops, many quest items got devalued after spellcrafting in this game. And it still seems wrong somehow to see epic armour on characters who haven't reached 50 yet and done the quest for it - I'm sure when I got my epic armour it seemed like such a big deal, such a special thing about getting to 50. (Although it still does screw crafters somewhat.)

 

[Tasans]

Background storyline, and uber itamz.
Travelling through whole realms just to kill something is stupid.
Go to mularn! Now go to Varulvham! Then to Yggdra! Then to some place thats further away than the "middle of nowhere". Now come back! Oops forgot something...
I was the only one spamming FU at elizabeth?

 

[CliffyG]

I did quests for my first char on each realm cos i needed items, also some cos i started em by mistake and hate having uncompleted ones. DAoC have nothing on everquests quests, i remember trying to get my ghoulbane for my pally and it took about 10 times as long as bracer of veiled eyes quest, far too long.

EDIT

I did enjoy the bracer quest in SI, nice story and was different with very nice reward also helped me explore the new lands rather than horse to here horse to there etc.

 

[Vorcyn]

Good story line confined within a small area.

The mithra quest is an excellent example.

 

[Shaniah]

I like Krait's idea.
Quests should be more puzzle-orientated, although I must admit that I don't know how to picture this.
I loved doing all the quests with my first few Middie characters, exploring, reading everything the NPC's said... I was enthralled by the Seer and Mystic epics, too. But all you ever do when on epic is travel and kill. I liked one particular quest in Shrouded Isles more - you were asked to kill the guy who brought Gaszi his troubled dreams, and then drop dust in the ground around him where there were sources of power. It's not a high level quest and at 50, the reward is silly, but it was fun all the same. It took us quite a while to find the sources of power, until we took the advice in our quest log and waited for the elves to show them to us
Anyway this quest had a hint of puzzle in it, and it was great. More of that kind
(and yes if you want to get people to do quest even when they know what the reward is, that reward would do well to be worth the trouble )

 

[old.Hellskor]

good storyline, some puzzles (not go-bash-mob123-return-get-reward) and a reward that makes the quest worthwhile.

Furthermore I'd like to see quests that don't start from NPCs ...

For example you go into the royal library, read some books and find a hint on an item of legend (or whatever) and then try to backtrack the information you get from that story.
Similiar things were in some of the Ultima games, fairy tales with a bit of truth
Would be more fun to me than those NPC43 tells you to go bash Mob123. Get's boring real fast.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Let's put it shortly as i can:

If i do a quest that requires me to run from JOrdheim to gna, back to haggerfell, back to gna, back to a pook to kill it, back to jordheim, into nisse and once more around gna to haggerfell to get my reward...

*ahem*

... i want more then a +1 piety ring!!!

Time=money

money=equip

equip=happy player

Quests that give you something unique, like an armor with your name on it would be excellent but lift your ass up and get ready to be humped by a 7 foot 2 persian before that happens.

Basic formula for making me a happy quester(umm..yes..quester):

Time X Effort = Reward Size