Let's Party!

ArchivedUser

When a group gets a quest to collect items or kill so many monsters, please let it count for the whole party when one of us does the quest objective.  I hate when the quest gets slowed down simply because we are in a group.

MMOs should be designed to encourage people to want to play together.   If you make each person in the party collect 10 special mushrooms and we are there all day waiting for each person to get the mushrooms, it sends a message that it is better to quest alone.

However, if you let anyone in the party, that does part of an objective, count for everyone in that quest, that makes people want to group because it makes things easier to finish objectives.

I have always believed that games that encourage grouping is the best design.  Forced grouping, except for dungeons and epic quests, is usually a bad idea.  At the same time, designs that discourage groups are not a good idea either.  A nice balance can be achieved with good quest design, IMHO.

Thank you. 

ArchivedUser

Would this not lead to one player completing low-key quests for groups of up to 8 players where all players get xp and reward for finishing said quest?

If not, I am in. If that would be the end result though, if you want the xp and loot, pick your 10 mushrooms.

ArchivedUser

Azathoth said:

Would this not lead to one player completing low-key quests for groups of up to 8 players where all players get xp and reward for finishing said quest?

If not, I am in. If that would be the end result though, if you want the xp and loot, pick your 10 mushrooms.

No, the rest of the party has to be in range of the quest objective.  It's not like one guy goes out and does the quest while the rest stays in town.

Also, I would think you would be in a party with friends most of the time.  I would think they all would want to help do the quest.

However, let's say we are in a field and we have to collect 10 hard to find flowers.  You say to have to go to the bathroom, I could still collect the flowers for us while you are gone, but that would be a rare case.  I don't see the benefit of grouping with a person that does not want to pull their own weight.

You could argue that I could pay a person to collect flowers for me.  Well, I would still have to be in the area and it would take longer than me just helping.  So, no real reason for this to ever really happen. 

But let's say this happens for some reason.  I'm super rich and willing to pay a guy to find 10 rare flowers for me.  Where is the harm?  I have to be there.  He gets paid.  I get my flowers.   The quest giver gets his quest items.  Where is the harm?

ArchivedUser

Unless it's to advance crafting I really, really hope to not have collect 10 bear asses quests.

Kill X are not AS bad as long as there's a viable reason for me to kill shit and there's a viable reason for the shit I have to kill to be hanging around.

I do hope that quest objectives are shared across all group members who are 'in range' whatever that is.

ArchivedUser

In videos the quests seem to update for all participants at the same time. They have 3 types of quests and we saw a 'Task' quest to pick mushrooms and all mushrooms were collated across a group. It varied the amount each person picked up. I would imagine this would equate to group efforts in all quest aspects but we'll know more further into the Alphas.

ArchivedUser

I demand at least 10 "Kill this and bring me their hoofs" quests!
The dropchance has to be at least 1 in 10, even though the add has clearly a minimum of 6 hoofs on their body!

ArchivedUser

@rigamorti
I suppose if everyone has to go and be there it wouldn't be as bad, I think the 'range' should not be further than line of sight to at least one other member (not necessarily all members).

You are right though, if your group wants to carry a PC about that doesn't do anything but collect xp and loot that would be the groups decision and no one else's concern.

...unless groups were doing this just to advance their alts (you, me, and another and our 3 alts). I guess that's still not a problem, just something I would consider lazy or 'gaming' the system.

ArchivedUser

Simple answer is to have group size specific quest.
8 man group - collect 80 mushrooms
1 man group - collect 10 mushrooms

You can share the burden like Chlamydia Lydia!

ArchivedUser

Rune_Relic said:

Simple answer is to have group size specific quest.
8 man group - collect 80 mushrooms
1 man group - collect 10 mushrooms

You can share the burden like Chlamydia Lydia!

That is the very thing I am saying should not happen.   Grouping up with others should not make the quest harder or slower.

ArchivedUser

rigamorti said:

Rune_Relic said:

Simple answer is to have group size specific quest.
8 man group - collect 80 mushrooms
1 man group - collect 10 mushrooms

You can share the burden like Chlamydia Lydia!

That is the very thing I am saying should not happen.   Grouping up with others should not make the quest harder or slower.

So grouping should act like an exploit then ? Same reward less effort if you group ?

Dont understand what you are trying to say I guess.

ArchivedUser

Rune_Relic said:

rigamorti said:

Rune_Relic said:

Simple answer is to have group size specific quest.
8 man group - collect 80 mushrooms
1 man group - collect 10 mushrooms

You can share the burden like Chlamydia Lydia!

That is the very thing I am saying should not happen.   Grouping up with others should not make the quest harder or slower.

So grouping should act like an exploit then ? Same reward less effort if you group ?

Dont understand what you are trying to say I guess.

I'm making a pie.  I need 10 rare mushrooms for my pie.  

One guy walks up to me and I ask him to slay a troll in a nearby cave and gather 10 mushrooms in that cave, because I am an npc and can't do anything for myself.

He can do that quest alone or take his friend along to help.  The quest should not become more difficult just because he brings his friend along. 

The game should make grouping helpful to finishing a quest.  It is a social game.

If you change the quest to make a troll per person and add 10 more mushrooms per person then the quest could take much longer to finish.  

As a player, why would I want to get a party together just to make my quest harder to finish?

ArchivedUser

I suppose just like in real life if you work with others you get the job done faster compared to working alone, the idea is great for some quests but others should be separate for players.

ArchivedUser

Yes, but the pay should also be divided.
So if it's 10 gold coins to collect 10 mushrooms, and you go out with a group of 5 players they would each get 2 gold. Same work, same quest, same reward, split evenly among number of participants.

This would also apply to experience points. Grouping makes the quest easier so split the same xp among all participants. They should not get more gold or xp because they took more friends... or they should each have to gather at least 2 mushrooms.

ArchivedUser

Hmmm well there are merits and demerits to both, if you can complete the quest all together then it's a given that the reward will have to be split as well (maybe not the exp reward) on the other hand solo takes longer but is more beneficial to yourself... well I will solo most of the time anyway 'w'

ArchivedUser

As long as quest completion is similar to what Tera has, then I will be happy. To get credit towards your quest you have to be within proximity of the player that is completing said task, whether it be killing or collecting. Quest rewards do not get split between the party because the quest just has the reward you get, that's it. Your friends are just able to help you. This keeps partying up relevant and will keep everyone happy.

EDIT: read my post again and regret not saying this at the end instead:

"It just works." -Todd Howard

ArchivedUser

Do you hear the children of the night, oh what sweet music they make then I tell them to get of my lawn before I show them what a true undead is

ArchivedUser

If we could spawn Children it would make summoners less special:

Summoner: "Welcome to my twin demons."

Rogue: "Welcome to my fifty War Children."

ArchivedUser

I don't generally have an issue with each member of a party having go collect the items for a quest.  I only really see this as an issue with quests where the drop rates of the items are fairly low, and the items don't drop for every member of the party when they do finally drop.

ArchivedUser

There are some rl jobs that cannot be done alone, lifting a sick horse onto a cart, for example.

There are other tasks that can be done alone, but are done much more quickly when you have several helpers, loading that cart with firewood, for example.

There are some jobs that you really don't need any help to get done, leading the donkey pulling the above carts, for example.

Perhaps quests should be the same.  There should be some that need a group to complete, some a group will speed up but can be done eventually by one character, and some suited for solo (or perhaps dual) play.

ArchivedUser

TauTau said:

There are some rl jobs that cannot be done alone, lifting a sick horse onto a cart, for example.

There are other tasks that can be done alone, but are done much more quickly when you have several helpers, loading that cart with firewood, for example.

There are some jobs that you really don't need any help to get done, leading the donkey pulling the above carts, for example.

Perhaps quests should be the same.  There should be some that need a group to complete, some a group will speed up but can be done eventually by one character, and some suited for solo (or perhaps dual) play.

I think quests like this are pretty standard in MMOs, most quests are soloable, many of which can be completed faster if you have a friend, quest like go kill X goblins.  Then you have the group quests that require you to enter a dungeon or kill an elite mob that can't be soloed if you are at the appropriate level.