As the title say, would less quests make a better mmo? Because if i enter area i would expect to see few quests that gives a lot of xp instead of having 30 npc's giving me stuff to do....what do you think guys and gals?
Better's so subjective. Just removing huge chunks of quests and going back to mob-grinding could definitely make a better MMO in terms of vertical progression, because it's infinitely easier to add levels when all you need to do is add scaled-up mobs for grinding, scaled-up gear and a bit of terrain. When you have to write, animate, path, voice and QA test 200 quests for 5 levels, it becomes a financial sink hole in a hurry. I'm not sure there are enough people interested in the mob-grinding lifestyle to even finance a Kickstarter campaign, though, let alone support a AAA release.
If you're just talking quests that take longer to do, maybe. I think that runs into a question of pacing, though. Most MMOs now have quick quests, because a large segment of their desired playerbase is composed of working adults. Bite-sized content is more valuable to people with time constraints, which is why I think we see so much of it.
I meant that instead of doing 50 quests to gain a level you do 5 quests that have meaning and quality other than "hey can you kill 10 pigs because...well why not" thing.
Originally posted by Vaske1984 I meant that instead of doing 50 quests to gain a level you do 5 quests that have meaning and quality other than "hey can you kill 10 pigs because...well why not" thing.
You mean like SWTOR, GW2, Neverwinter Online, etc?
Originally posted by Vaske1984 As the title say, would less quests make a better mmo? Because if i enter area i would expect to see few quests that gives a lot of xp instead of having 30 npc's giving me stuff to do....what do you think guys and gals?
Yes, but those fewer quests needs to be better written and far more epic than the average quest.
You would also need to add some more things for players to do, like adding some dynamic events or PvP as well.
One epic quest beats 100 stupid simple ones every time in my book at least. I always end up with a full questlog of boring FEDEX and exterminator quests which i only bother to do when I am extremely bored or can't take new quests unless I grind a bunch of crap quests first.
While MMOs shouldn't be all about instant gratification neither they should feel like a boring old job you go to every day with little or no challenge. Quests can be truly epic (and not only instanced ones) and they can have multiple solutions.
But for some reason do many of MMO players seems to feel that 10 000 poorly written quests trumps 200 epic ones, just like 80 very similar skills beats 20 varied and interesting ones.
Originally posted by Vaske1984 As the title say, would less quests make a better mmo? Because if i enter area i would expect to see few quests that gives a lot of xp instead of having 30 npc's giving me stuff to do....what do you think guys and gals?
yes...
and to others...we dont need another lesson on 'subjective'. Do you tell that to someone every time they say 'this is the best meal ever!'
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
I just find it quite stupid that for example i as level 10 enter area lets say 10-15 level range, and then i walk to the boss elite npc that is like unknown level maybe 100+ that ask me to do 10 quests for him and his guards that are also super high levels.....or even worse when i enter area that is my level range and then i see like 20 npc's begging for your help....would made much more sense if they gather up and solved all issues on their own, ofc then players would not complete quests and not gain levels.
TL;DR maybe quest npc's could actually help you with that quest like in LOTRO in case of story quests instead of standing there crying for help.
Why not just add areas to zones with elite mobs that take a group to kill and give 20% more xp an hour than quests can give. Thus you can still play mmos in single player mode by doing the tiny boring quests, or you can group with some friends and go on a kill fest and socialize and level just as fast? Sure people would complain that people grouping get more xp than solo but that's how it should work in a multi-player game.
Originally posted by slikeytre Why not just add areas to zones with elite mobs that take a group to kill and give 20% more xp an hour than quests can give. Thus you can still play mmos in single player mode by doing the tiny boring quests, or you can group with some friends and go on a kill fest and socialize and level just as fast? Sure people would complain that people grouping get more xp than solo but that's how it should work in a multi-player game.
Faster leveling is garbage in my opinion, unless levels don't matter and you still use the entire world when you're maxed out. For me, instead of removing or reducing the number of quests, I want to be able to level just as effectively by grinding mobs (exp per hour) because I don't like questing. Along with other leveling possibilities.
Originally posted by Vaske1984 I meant that instead of doing 50 quests to gain a level you do 5 quests that have meaning and quality other than "hey can you kill 10 pigs because...well why not" thing.
No, definitely not... MMOs should not be about getting to max level - if you are going to do it your way why have levels, just start at end game. They should be about developing your character not speeding to end game. MMOs need to have alternate ways to progress to give people options other than questing. If people want to dungeon grind, pvp, craft, gather, explore... or quest... these should all be options allowing you to gain experience at the same pace whatever you do.
I actually really like questing, I especially liked it when people worked hand in hand with one another. Although with modern MMO's I find that questing has kinda been diluted and used to kinda mask a mass-grind. Games that should have quests are games that have a story to tell. For example, Final Fantasy 14 has a good story, the quests there used to help enrich the game and the lore within it. TSW uses quests which are also interesting.
Games, that have quests such as "collect four legs of this beast" for some unknown and benign reason is not good.
Although, part of me just wishes for a massive sandbox, with no quests, no uncovered map with no indication on whats powerful or not, allowing the players to explore, rally together and uncover the secrets and dungeons in wait.
I actually really like questing, I especially liked it when people worked hand in hand with one another. Although with modern MMO's I find that questing has kinda been diluted and used to kinda mask a mass-grind. Games that should have quests are games that have a story to tell. For example, Final Fantasy 14 has a good story, the quests there used to help enrich the game and the lore within it. TSW uses quests which are also interesting.
Games, that have quests such as "collect four legs of this beast" for some unknown and benign reason is not good.
Although, part of me just wishes for a massive sandbox, with no quests, no uncovered map with no indication on whats powerful or not, allowing the players to explore, rally together and uncover the secrets and dungeons in wait.
Originally posted by Vaske1984 As the title say, would less quests make a better mmo? Because if i enter area i would expect to see few quests that gives a lot of xp instead of having 30 npc's giving me stuff to do....what do you think guys and gals?
no.
A better questing system completely different from the boring generic grindfest we have had for years would make a better mmo. As long as we keep getting what we have now every mmo that comes out will be the same. Nobody will beat WoW at their own game (generic questing), so devs really need to completely overhaul the questing system. How? i dont know, thats why we open topics for discussions of different ideas, including developers creativity (which seems to have faded away)
They just need to increase mob/boss XP. I love having the choice to do AOE parties, Bosses, or quest. Currently western MMO design post WoW has been "you must quest to level efficiently". I'd rather play L2/Rohan dungeons and grind on monsters when I feel like it OR do a quest. In L2 I could go do all the raids, grind mobs with friends in dungeons, solo grind while doing repeatable quests. Really only 2.5 choices, but it's much better than only questing giving decent enough experience.
The genre needs to go back to having all things optional rather than having 1 set style of progression.
Originally posted by slikeytre Why not just add areas to zones with elite mobs that take a group to kill and give 20% more xp an hour than quests can give. Thus you can still play mmos in single player mode by doing the tiny boring quests, or you can group with some friends and go on a kill fest and socialize and level just as fast? Sure people would complain that people grouping get more xp than solo but that's how it should work in a multi-player game.
I never said that quest should be solo now did i?
What i was saying was give more options than making more or less quests, i never thought group quests really worked unless 80% of the games quests were meant for groups. I'm just trying to get away from the group up for 5 min, kill a mob, then return to soloing.
In response to people that said grinding being a bad alternative, I was just saying why keep quests but also have group content that was just as good as solo questing.
But yes i believe quests are bad(but i know we cant get rid of them) because they are almost always meant to do solo and are a major contribution to what make MMOs a single player game. Thus why i want an alternative that puts the social aspect in the game prior to endgame raids or pvp by giving both options.
They just need to increase mob/boss XP. I love having the choice to do AOE parties, Bosses, or quest. Currently western MMO design post WoW has been "you must quest to level efficiently". I'd rather play L2/Rohan dungeons and grind on monsters when I feel like it OR do a quest. In L2 I could go do all the raids, grind mobs with friends in dungeons, solo grind while doing repeatable quests. Really only 2.5 choices, but it's much better than only questing giving decent enough experience.
The genre needs to go back to having all things optional rather than having 1 set style of progression.
i'd love a MMORPG with few but long and meaningful heroic-fantasy quests, something like "The princess needs to be rescued" or "There's rumor about a necromancer in those swamps, the town is paying good to check the rumor and, if needed get ride of him" or "Duke Russel was found dead last night, we need someone to investigate this murder".
And then i'll go with my friends look around, trying to solve all these misteries and defeat evil lords !
I don't need a quests or dynamic event to motivate me to "kill 10 wolfs" ! Where are all these wolfs coming from anyhow ??
In my dream MMORPG, i'll kill 10 wolfs if i feel the need too, or if enjoy it.
Comments
Better's so subjective. Just removing huge chunks of quests and going back to mob-grinding could definitely make a better MMO in terms of vertical progression, because it's infinitely easier to add levels when all you need to do is add scaled-up mobs for grinding, scaled-up gear and a bit of terrain. When you have to write, animate, path, voice and QA test 200 quests for 5 levels, it becomes a financial sink hole in a hurry. I'm not sure there are enough people interested in the mob-grinding lifestyle to even finance a Kickstarter campaign, though, let alone support a AAA release.
If you're just talking quests that take longer to do, maybe. I think that runs into a question of pacing, though. Most MMOs now have quick quests, because a large segment of their desired playerbase is composed of working adults. Bite-sized content is more valuable to people with time constraints, which is why I think we see so much of it.
You mean like SWTOR, GW2, Neverwinter Online, etc?
Yes, but those fewer quests needs to be better written and far more epic than the average quest.
You would also need to add some more things for players to do, like adding some dynamic events or PvP as well.
One epic quest beats 100 stupid simple ones every time in my book at least. I always end up with a full questlog of boring FEDEX and exterminator quests which i only bother to do when I am extremely bored or can't take new quests unless I grind a bunch of crap quests first.
While MMOs shouldn't be all about instant gratification neither they should feel like a boring old job you go to every day with little or no challenge. Quests can be truly epic (and not only instanced ones) and they can have multiple solutions.
But for some reason do many of MMO players seems to feel that 10 000 poorly written quests trumps 200 epic ones, just like 80 very similar skills beats 20 varied and interesting ones.
yes...
and to others...we dont need another lesson on 'subjective'. Do you tell that to someone every time they say 'this is the best meal ever!'
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
I just find it quite stupid that for example i as level 10 enter area lets say 10-15 level range, and then i walk to the boss elite npc that is like unknown level maybe 100+ that ask me to do 10 quests for him and his guards that are also super high levels.....or even worse when i enter area that is my level range and then i see like 20 npc's begging for your help....would made much more sense if they gather up and solved all issues on their own, ofc then players would not complete quests and not gain levels.
TL;DR maybe quest npc's could actually help you with that quest like in LOTRO in case of story quests instead of standing there crying for help.
I never said that quest should be solo now did i?
No, definitely not... MMOs should not be about getting to max level - if you are going to do it your way why have levels, just start at end game. They should be about developing your character not speeding to end game. MMOs need to have alternate ways to progress to give people options other than questing. If people want to dungeon grind, pvp, craft, gather, explore... or quest... these should all be options allowing you to gain experience at the same pace whatever you do.
I actually really like questing, I especially liked it when people worked hand in hand with one another. Although with modern MMO's I find that questing has kinda been diluted and used to kinda mask a mass-grind. Games that should have quests are games that have a story to tell. For example, Final Fantasy 14 has a good story, the quests there used to help enrich the game and the lore within it. TSW uses quests which are also interesting.
Games, that have quests such as "collect four legs of this beast" for some unknown and benign reason is not good.
Although, part of me just wishes for a massive sandbox, with no quests, no uncovered map with no indication on whats powerful or not, allowing the players to explore, rally together and uncover the secrets and dungeons in wait.
I also like this concept. In ArcheAge you can turn in a quest for less xp if you get bored or if you like it you can do extra for more xp.
Basically, instead of saying "kill 100 boars" just say "kill me some boars".
+1
no.
A better questing system completely different from the boring generic grindfest we have had for years would make a better mmo. As long as we keep getting what we have now every mmo that comes out will be the same. Nobody will beat WoW at their own game (generic questing), so devs really need to completely overhaul the questing system. How? i dont know, thats why we open topics for discussions of different ideas, including developers creativity (which seems to have faded away)
They just need to increase mob/boss XP. I love having the choice to do AOE parties, Bosses, or quest. Currently western MMO design post WoW has been "you must quest to level efficiently". I'd rather play L2/Rohan dungeons and grind on monsters when I feel like it OR do a quest. In L2 I could go do all the raids, grind mobs with friends in dungeons, solo grind while doing repeatable quests. Really only 2.5 choices, but it's much better than only questing giving decent enough experience.
The genre needs to go back to having all things optional rather than having 1 set style of progression.
What i was saying was give more options than making more or less quests, i never thought group quests really worked unless 80% of the games quests were meant for groups. I'm just trying to get away from the group up for 5 min, kill a mob, then return to soloing.
In response to people that said grinding being a bad alternative, I was just saying why keep quests but also have group content that was just as good as solo questing.
But yes i believe quests are bad(but i know we cant get rid of them) because they are almost always meant to do solo and are a major contribution to what make MMOs a single player game. Thus why i want an alternative that puts the social aspect in the game prior to endgame raids or pvp by giving both options.
+1 This is what im saying
i'd love a MMORPG with few but long and meaningful heroic-fantasy quests, something like "The princess needs to be rescued" or "There's rumor about a necromancer in those swamps, the town is paying good to check the rumor and, if needed get ride of him" or "Duke Russel was found dead last night, we need someone to investigate this murder".
And then i'll go with my friends look around, trying to solve all these misteries and defeat evil lords !
I don't need a quests or dynamic event to motivate me to "kill 10 wolfs" ! Where are all these wolfs coming from anyhow ??
In my dream MMORPG, i'll kill 10 wolfs if i feel the need too, or if enjoy it.