Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
No need for glowing signs over NPC heads. I like the idea of using the notice boards in taverns which direct you to the area where the quest givers are.
Having a shaded area on the mini map is helpful. Not the exact place of what you need, but a vague area to look in.
So, here is my suggestion. All quest giving NPCs should have a name bar that is glowing, this is non-intrusive, but still allows those looking for quests, to find them. There could be an option in the settings to allow players to see quest icons above an NPC's head instead.
Locating Quests and Markers
When a quest giver gives a quest and they know the location of the quest, they can mark it on the players' map. Otherwise, all quests should be exploration based where players must go out and search for the quest location on their own. However, just like quest giving NPCs as mentioned above. Monsters and items found that are related to a quest you have, should have their name bars highlighted when targeted.
That being said, if I must do quest as a main source of xp gain it's nice to have markers on the map atleast. I'm a simple meat head that doesn't like to think to much while running errands for the local NPC's 🙄
As for quest breadcrumbs, my opinion is that you could add a system option within games settings, for example, something called quest tips/help. This could, potentially, satisfy all those people who want to play game hardcore/ roleplay without obvious help and casual players. This setting could contain something like a general indicated area for required mobs/gatherables, point to or give clues to a city you have to get to etc.
I would really, REALLY, like if the games quest information contained the clues/ names you need to finish the quest (after talking to npc, like when opening the list of all your quests) or something like the full conversation you had with the npc etc, because i've had some experience with other MMO'S where after talking with npc and accepting quest, if you didnt pay close attention, the quest description is too vague to progress, there is no clue/ tips on map etc. that would help with completing quest, making it hard to progress as well as making the whole experience annoying and unpleasant.
Just make breadcrumbs / helpers optional as suggested by a lot of other people.
What I do not enjoy:
Quest markers on top of the NPCs doesn't really matter to me but what matters is how many and how long the quests are. I hate World of warcraft classic quests where you take 10 quests from hub and all are pretty much 5 to 10minutes long. There's WAY too much running around and "kill 10 bears" kinda quests.
Also what difference does it make if I have the quest or not? I'm still killing the damn bears so the quest itself just makes me run back and forth between town to return the quest in order to maximize experience gain.
What I enjoy:
Quests should not give experience at all. This way it doesn't force you to make them every stop of the way. I like Lineage 2 big progression quests even tho the excecution especially in class change quests were lacking. However Subclass quest, Nobless quests are awesome.
In order to access your subclass you have to have 3 quests which all contribute to the final quest.
First NPC of the quest asks you to bring him "inferium ore" and in order to get inferium ore you must do another quests which involves killing mobs ALL OVER the place. This quest just "hangs around" while you kill mobs. The quest items are tradeable so you don't even have to do this quest if you have the money to skip it.
Some players farm these items and make their money by it because they know the good spots.
Once you get the "inferium ore" the quest actually starts and it requires you to kill 3 raidbosses. These 3 raidbosses are usually contested and need group PvP and organization to complete.
The quest has many smaller steps that requires you to get bloody fabric for example which are group mobs only on kinda hard to reach location. These mobs are not otherwise very useful so you have to ask your friends to help you in order to get the fabrics.
At last you have to prove you are worthy of the subclass and have to bring quite expensive weapon and convert it to bettter grade weapon. If you don't need this better grade weapon this also creates trading/haggling if someone else is looking for upgrade.
All in all quest like this might take week or two to complete but at least it has some kind of point in the game. It creates economy, it creates PvP, it creates clan interaction and it creates market.
What you get is not millions of experince but you get access to your subclass. Subclass which starts at lv40 (85 is max) and makes you eligible for Nobless quest which you can start once your subclass reaches lv75.
Let people explore the world, kill mobs for ingredients, loot etc. and don't force them to make quests in order to proceed in the game the most efficient way. Tradeable quest items actually create "quests" so to speak. You can go and kill bears for 1h if you then can sell the bearfurs to other players. Where do you need the quest NPC for?
That being said, the quest objectives shouldn't be obvious. I'd prefer having to read quest text and only having that information available but since that isn't preferrable by so many others I'd personally settle for the middle ground of giving the general area of the quest on the map but then you have to figure out yourself what you have to do there.
I'll be honest. This is fast-food garbage binge gaming.
Think of a book or a movie.
Do you think a book would be more interesting to read by skipping chapters ? Most likely, no
Do you think a movie is more interesting to watch at x2 speed ? Most likely, no
Video-games, and especially role-playing games, are also more interesting, committing, immersive,... when you don't skip content.
No more fast-food questing, gaming. Please.
I totally agree. The GW2 system was great at allowing you to organically find these locations by just exploring, but also providing map completion bonuses/achievements so that you wouldn't want to miss anything either. The best part was as you ventured towards these targeted locations you also ran into events ongoing which you could chose top participate in. The fact that you rarely ever had to talk to an NPC to trigger an event was very fluid and enjoyable.
Yes please! Definitely include them or at the very least have an option for it. No one wants to run around in a metropolis clicking on every NPC to find out if there is a quest available. It's just not fun. In fact it's the opposite of fun. I don't mind if there are a few "hidden" quests here or there without any markers though.
Target locations and other highlights
This is a bit trickier. On one hand it's not fun to get stuck on a quest if the directions are unclear. This can force people utilize a 3rd party site to figure out where they need to go which is bad imo. The game should provide all the necessary information to complete the quest. On the other hand too may markers, highlights etc. kind of makes you feel like someone's holding your hand.
I think some kind of markers are needed. Some can be exact (position shown on map) while others can be a bit more vague (just show a general area but not the exact location).
How do decide which to use and when? I'd say if it makes sense for the quest giver to know the exact location, you could assume he'd be able to mark it in your map with an X. For example if a local guard wanted you to clear a lighthouse of bad guys, it would make sense for him to know the exact location. If the quest giver is not that familiar with the surroundings (a traveling merchant wants you to find some rare plants for example), maybe a generic area highlight would make more sense in that case.
quest givers with icons above their heads - do it
Glowing q items - meh
info about this mob is for q(with q progress) when you hover over/highlight it - do it
In games like ESO, Oblivion and Skyrim, it's great to turn off the quest markers and wander the world; listen to instructions, ask for directions, actually pay attention to and appreciate your surroundings instead of staring at a GPS. In all of these games, the quests are designed with this GPS in mind, however. Dialogue often is just "kill the werewolf" but no mention of where the werewolf is -- because the GPS tells you. Turning that off leaves you lost with no clues to work with. There's no one to ask either, because GPS. Morrowind doesn't deal with this because you are given detailed directions to each location. RuneScape has a plethora of great examples of quests with diegetic directions.
I prefer no UI markers at all, but acknowledge they can be a needed bandaid when level design gets confusing. I experienced this recently in DOOM (2016) where collectibles and secrets constantly led me off the beaten track and turned around, disoriented -- I'd be wandering for far longer if not for the compass pin. But with good enough level design and quest writing, these UI elements are unnecessary as the player can navigate with their eyes and ears alone.
Remember the TAVERN that you have put into play. And the War Rooms?
Why not ask around someone in the tavern who has accomplished the quest already? Meet up in the War Room and with that you could get the icons in your map.
Also that Radar feature for NPCs how about that only occurs when you have a Ranger in your party. Who is using some sort of Tracking Feat.
Otherwise, even if the quest has been accomplished many times by many other people it will be the breadcrumbs the first time for anybody or any character.
Heroes Fade but Legends last forever
Available quests show up in the form of an exclamation above an NPC's head - however upon receiving the quest, all you had to go on was the dialogue. This made players read the quest and potentially pick up on the lore as well as immerse them into the game by using contextual clues and directions from the quest dialogue.
There is no map markers or indicators, no 'breadcrumbs'. I don't really like the idea of it. It's just more clutter in the game world when people could just read.
What I really want/need in the quest journal is who/what I need to interact with and where to find them (names). After some time passes I forget these details.
Formerly T-Elf
I wouldnt mind quests that leave you with the minimum, for like better quest rewards either.
What I absolutely dont want, is some magical trail leading me to the quest area. All I need is to know where I need to do, and the general area its in, the rest I can deduce myself.
For example you talk to a random npc and they mention that they saw a strange beast enter a cave near the lake that's south of the village. You find the cave but there doesn't seem to be anything there. Some time later you talk to a farmer npc and they mention that their cabbages get constantly eaten or trampled at night. You go to the cave with cabbages in your inventory and then the beast appears.
This kind of quest rewards players who are immersed in the game and lore. Gives a reason to actually talk to and listen to all npcs, not just those with giant exclamation marks above their head.
edit grammer
If it is a run of the mill kill 10 wolves / bandits / whatever quest I'd like the quest area highlighted so I can get it done quickly.
If the quest is actually good has interesting backstory and is supposed to immersive me in the game, I'd prefer having no breadcrumbs since I would like to solve that out on my own and have a good time with it.