Dev Discussion #1 - Memorable Content

LieutenantToast

Greetings all and welcome to our new forum series, Dev Discussion! Dev Discussion topics are kind of like a "reverse Q&A" - rather than you asking us questions about Ashes of Creation, we want to ask YOU what your thoughts are.

Our design team has compiled a list of burning questions we'd love to get your feedback on regarding gameplay, your past MMO experiences, and more. Join in on the Dev Discussion and share what makes gaming special to you!


Dev Discussion #1 - Memorable Content
What makes a quest memorable? Are there any raids or events that you'll never forget? What made them unforgettable?


Keep an eye out for our next Dev Discussion topic, Solo Progression!

dphantomtv

Unfortunately, long “doing errands” quests stick out for me. Mainly cause they’ve burned a hole in my brain for their monotonous dribble. But yah that

Rem_

I wish I could help with this but Ashes will be my first heckin mmo >.> Good idea with asking the Community questions though~!

Gumdrops

I love to do every event quest just to get the unique items and titles!

Damokles

I once did the longest AION questchain. I had to go through 5 zones by foot to talk and bring things to other people. Got a titel out of it and i was so happy when it ended xD
Sometimes its the long and dull ones that you will always remember ;D

gnarCia

On an old mmo called silkroad online they had a caravan system and we would wait and ambush caravans. They had player guards for the caravans and it’d be like an all out war. If the theivs won we would steal their loot and go to a black market buyer. Good times

Zii

One raid I will never forget has got to be the Lich King fight in WOW. At the end Arthas does a spell, and kills everyone in the raid, or so you think. His father jumps in and theres a fight between the two, and then his father resurrects all of you so you can finish the fight.

CM Kalez

gnarcia wrote: »

On an old mmo called silkroad online they had a caravan system and we would wait and ambush caravans. They had player guards for the caravans and it’d be like an all out war. If the theivs won we would steal their loot and go to a black market buyer. Good times

Thats the exact system this game has.

psym3x

I personally think any quest you can fail could be quite memorable. If you had to escort a NPC for a quest but if they were to die they were dead for good would surely stick in the minds of the people who attempted it.

CM Kalez

I've really enjoyed some wow raids that took weeks to clear. Hard content that you couldn't just stomp. spend hours trying to figure long hard boss fights. monsters between bosses that werent just trash.

MrPancake

gnarcia wrote: »

On an old mmo called silkroad online they had a caravan system and we would wait and ambush caravans. They had player guards for the caravans and it’d be like an all out war. If the theivs won we would steal their loot and go to a black market buyer. Good times

I loved SRO. The movements you could do when performing skills, the caravan system. If this games caravan system is in any way similar it would be great. The rush of being a thief and hiding or being a trader / hunter and protecting your goods... I will always remember that.


As others said, it's okay to have extremely grinding quests as long as there's a good reward. Killing 5k of the same mobs so you can get something special, only available from those... sure!

Rabbit

The first thing that comes to mind is playing the Ultima series by Lord British. The "morality" quiz you take to begin the game always stuck with me because you weren't given clear "good" or "evil" options. You were simply put in a scenario, then given two different options based on two different points of view. That was genius.

Shaze

When challenging content reaps meaningful rewards. Wildstar raids were a great example of this.

Gattsu

Horde mode i think will be the most interesting thing i will be looking forward to as well as if there is " different Tier"

50 Man Normal Defence
100 man Epic Defence with increased Difficulty
200 man/woman guild Defence now this would blow my mind ^_^

use to love this system in L.o.t.r.o but it was a lot smaller player based

Hral

First day playing EQ, traveling on foot, as a low level, from Halas, through Blackburrow, then from Qeynos, to Freeport, taking a boat from Freeport, to Butcherblock, then walking to Kaladim. It took hours, I gained no xp for doing it but it felt like a legit journey. It was extreme exploring.

Stanjones

Fighting world bosses in ArchAge while trying to defend against the enemy with an entire guild. Lots of fun.
I'm not a huge fan of quest chains unless there is some worthwhile reward at the end; I find that doing chains of quests boring and almost a waste of time. I don't want to click through dialog that nobody reads and talk to countless people just to get a simple item, when I could be doing a raid and actually playing the game. *imo*

Gizmo

a raid ill never forget is a one with an epic fight like a dragon is flying above the metropolis and breathing fire killing its citizens until a group of adventurers grapple up to him and have an epic fight with him in the sky.

DrEpoch

That one time when GM Joshua spawn camped us in Alpha 0 because we were pvping at spawn.

Good times

Infinia

For me, most dungeons, trials, raids in Final Fantasy 14 are very fun and memorable. The mechanics of all the dungeons, trials and raids are a fun challenge whereas the visuals are just really stunning.

I remember doing The Royal City of Rabanastre and The Ridorana Lighthouse blind-runs with random matchmade players when they were released - it was so much fun. The entire 3 squads of players had to figure out all the mechanics and work together to complete the raids, wiping and trying over and over again.

Ciffer

Long and rich questlines that give you unique rewards like cool weapon/armor skins or mounts. "You saved us from certain doom" "here's 10 gold or an item you are going to change during the next hour." This is something I dislike a lot. Questing is like an adventure the whole dnd experience, make it rewarding so we can look forward finishing it. This is something I would love to see in Ashes of Creation so I can enjoy questing like I really want to.

Scherwin

Fun quests is quest which gives you an abillity to change the normal style of gameplay. or give you the option to go rampage and clear alot of stuff really fast.

Bonus (quests), serverwide announcement of achivements for server firsts of diffrent things. which allow hardcode people to compete of these achivements. (like server first max level, server first weaponsmith max level, ect)

No-go quest: escort quest.

For raids it's really fun when you have a boss which required simultaneous coordination on 2 diffrent abillties in 2 diffrent places. the abillties should be clear what is expected of you but still be pushing if you do not do these abillties correctly.

No-go raid mechanics?, random 1 shot abillties without warnings.
And try to avoid long runbacks after a wipe ^^

Events: i particularly enjoy'd the PvE event of Opening the Gate of ahn'qiraj in world of warcraft. server wide gathering materials and awarding achivements for the most hardcode farmers.
This also lead to some world pvp for the pvp'ers to come PK the farmes of the other faction

noscoc

Quests that allow the players to experience something they wouldn't otherwise be able to do through the game. For example, transforming into a giant monster with a new skill set to rampage through enemies or participating in a class specific quest that requires doing things only your class can do.

LieutenantToast

CmScherwin wrote: »

No-go quest: escort quest.

Ha, I love that you included "no go" examples as well as memorable ones! I personally would also nuke every escort quest from orbit, especially if your escortee moves at a speed that's not quite a walk and not quite a run. Just my personal opinion though

Damokles

I like escort quests. (At least if the npc at leasts runs as fast as the player does on foot)

aaronvienneau

My absolute favorite and most memorable dungeon was Twintania in the Binding Coil of Bahamut in FFXIV.

For one main reason:
* It was difficult! Listen, I don't wanna rage-quit just as much as the next guy, but I also don't want to beat something in my first try. Which means, I love failing because it gives me a chance to strategize and feel as though I'm getting better at the game, and my character's mechanics (when I finally and inevitably succeed). In FFXIV BCoB Turn 5, there were many "stages" of the fight that players had to memorize boss-mechanics and react to; this is all part of having an immersive and interactive experience. Additionally, every class had their role to play in the fight, making everyone embrace their class' play style instead of just trying to DPS shit down ASAP. For instance, tank and off-tank were very well defined. There were parts of the fight that one solo tank just simply *couldn't* solo, so off-tank felt needed and integral to the fight when an aggro trade was inevitable. Healers had to remain constantly alert because players could take large amounts of damage very quickly, but spamming heals would run you out of mana, so you had to be tactical. DPS needed to move the fight along quickly into the next stage so as not to deplete the rest of the party of their resources. Utility classes focused on restoring resources if the fight *did* drag on longer than expected, and much needed buffing/off-healing/debuffing, ect.

I've yet to experience boss battles/dungeon mechanics like those of FFXIV, but if you're looking to mimic engaging fight-content, start your search there!

Selinerath

I like quests have a story line that matters! Rewards have a part too...i think that memorable quests must give unique rewards.

AION's Beshmundir Temple was the best dungeon I ever been, also i was loving to raid AION's Sunayaka, Ragnarok & Omega. (Yeah AION lover, a long time ago...now mmorpgs are dark and full of terrors. :P )

What makes them unforgettable? I cant say, cant explain...its up to you to give us an unforgettable mmo!

Scherwin

LieutenantToast wrote: »

CmScherwin wrote: »

No-go quest: escort quest.

Ha, I love that you included "no go" examples as well as memorable ones! I personally would also nuke every escort quest from orbit, especially if your escortee moves at a speed that's not quite a walk and not quite a run. Just my personal opinion though

Yea general problem with escort quest is

1. They often move really slow.
2. You can't just go afk in the middle of the quest if something comes up or the quest will "reset" or bug or something and you have to start over again, (maybe the door ring or you spill a glas of water)
3. You can't do the quest at your own speed as often you have to wait for "attackers" to spawn" then some monolog, then we start moving again.

toalux

I think silly quests can often be the most memorable!

In Guild Wars 2, there's a quest where you try to deliver a deliver a package through a snowy mountain trail; but bunnies roaming along the path hop up, kick you in the chest, and send you into a nearby snow drift, slowing you down. It's a little outlandish, but quite funny!

Angry Joe, a popular game reviewer, actually added the quest into his GW2 review, highlighting how it added a fun and creative twist to an otherwise traditional quest! He ended up giving GW2 a 10/10 review.
https://youtu.be/ Ax-_06Acj8Y?t=244

Another example of a silly quest that became really popular among fans is the "Shoot Me in the Face" guy from Borderlands 2, in which an NPC enemy rants in a hilarious monologue at the player to shoot them in the face. That's the whole quest. Shoot the guy in the face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnAOH8wXogw

Edit: Split the first YT link because it removed the timestamp.

seaber

Monkey Madness
but also, I can remember going through almost every single quest in runescape, even ones I completed 10 years ago.

Hral

Just thought of two more. A mimic jumped at me on Neverwinter Online and scared the crap out of my group. On GW2, the bosses were massive, no matter what level.

TruthEternal

What makes a quest memorable?
Real rewards for completing challenging content. Outside of that, I've always preferred quests that feel as though you are doing something that a regular old strong dude couldn't do, so things like tracking a large threat as a ranger or dispelling a curse as a wizard rather than collecting 6 carrots or killing 10 pests. Massive props if puzzles are involved; real puzzles without keys hidden in the game world or obvious placards on walls to tell you the answer.

Are there any raids or events that you'll never forget? What made them unforgettable?
I'll never forget the raids that were totally lore-changing in game world, but even more importantly, that were actually difficult or rarer to encounter. Avatus from Wildstar comes to mind in this vein. Also, punishing raids like Venril Sathir from EQ who dropped a single legendary item each kill (it was a dream to be the one to grab that item). Or even Algalon from WoW with it's limited availability and difficulty. Working together with friends to complete these difficult/rare bosses is the highlight of my MMO experience to this day.