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Questing Via Minimap

FutureCultLeaderFutureCultLeader Member
in General Discussion
Hello all,

I noticed in one of the dev updates, that a quest involving searching for and looting items had all the locations of said items neatly and obviously laid out on the minimap.

I'm a little concerned about this (not hugely) because generally if these mechanics are implemented, you very quickly begin to ignore the visually stunning area that the devs have built and simply start pointing your minimap at said item and running at it. Rinse and repeat.

I've found that games that prefer players to visually look for clues and cues of item locations to be FAR more engaging, does it take a little more time? Yes, do you end up missing items and having to backtrack? Yes! Is it all round a far more engaging and fulfilling style of gameplay? Absolutely. It keeps you in the world. It activates and stimulates your senses far more.

It's such a small thing, but one I believe that leads to big impact over the entire gaming experience.

I hope this is something that you might reconsider.

Love,

Your FutureCultLeader

Comments

  • DreohDreoh Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    There was a dev discussion about quest breadcrumbs a few months ago, and the replies were majority against them, so it's more than likely we won't have to worry about "follow the arrow/dots" questing unless Intrepid really wants to go against the communities' desires.

    What you saw was raw alpha footage. A revamp of the questing UI and system is definitely going to be done at some point before beta or even during beta where they will probably redo it entirely, and thus everything you see at the moment is not indicative of anything.

    The current system is more than likely just set up for ease of testing systems.
  • George_BlackGeorge_Black Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    I wish we could go back to simple UI. A mini map window that shows the map and your location icon, a skill bar and a health/mp/buffs-debuffs bar.
  • GannitoGannito Member
    FutureCultLeader wrote: »
    Hello all,

    I noticed in one of the dev updates, that a quest involving searching for and looting items had all the locations of said items neatly and obviously laid out on the minimap.

    I'm a little concerned about this (not hugely) because generally if these mechanics are implemented, you very quickly begin to ignore the visually stunning area that the devs have built and simply start pointing your minimap at said item and running at it. Rinse and repeat.

    I've found that games that prefer players to visually look for clues and cues of item locations to be FAR more engaging, does it take a little more time? Yes, do you end up missing items and having to backtrack? Yes! Is it all round a far more engaging and fulfilling style of gameplay? Absolutely. It keeps you in the world. It activates and stimulates your senses far more.

    It's such a small thing, but one I believe that leads to big impact over the entire gaming experience.

    I hope this is something that you might reconsider.

    Love,

    Your FutureCultLeader

    I agree with you.

    Also, that's what the guides are for, which will surely not take long to do;

    Searches, treasures, missions, etc.

  • McShaveMcShave Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited April 2021
    I do believe that long ago, they said that you couldn't just follow the dots on the minimap for quest objectives, but that may be hopeful thinking I don't have a source. I would think that the quest objective markers seen on the Alpha videos is just for testing purposes. It would be a lot easier to see if the questing system works when you can complete it faster.
  • OceirisOceiris Member
    Yeah I definitely hope they don't have that sort of thing. Absolutely kills immersion for me. As long as the quest dialogue is pretty clear with a mostly reasonable direction, and good use of landmarks, I'd be fine with no breadcrumbs at all on the mini map.
  • SaeduSaedu Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited April 2021
    I think highlighting the area the quest is in on the map is helpful enough without ruining immersion. No need to show the specific items in that area on the map.
  • Handsome JakxHandsome Jakx Member
    edited April 2021
    I can appreciate a simple location or a general location being marked on my map (or atleast the option to make my own waypoints) for guidance.

    It might even be worth considering of making it an optional setting in the options, this way imersion is not broken for the players who dont want to see it. (easier to opt out than opt in)
    Handsome-Jakx.png
  • DreohDreoh Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Saedu wrote: »
    I think highlighting the area the quest is in on the map is helpful enough without ruining immersion. No need to show the specific items in that area on the map.

    If it highlights regions sure, but not something even close to as specific as like a circle on the map specifically positioned around the objective
  • SaeduSaedu Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Dreoh wrote: »
    Saedu wrote: »
    I think highlighting the area the quest is in on the map is helpful enough without ruining immersion. No need to show the specific items in that area on the map.

    If it highlights regions sure, but not something even close to as specific as like a circle on the map specifically positioned around the objective

    It needs to be specific enough that people know the general area they need to be in (not just the node or zone). If this doesn't happen, then people will be going to external websites to get answers and I'd argue that breaks immersion even more.

    It should be something that can be toggled on/off so you only see it on the map when you want it.
  • SaeduSaedu Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    It also depends on what part of the quest you are on. When you pick up the quest then its time to have the general indicator of the area to go look for the quest, but when the quest is done and it's time to turn it in its better to have a specific mark for of the questgiver (unless the person you are turning it into is different and finding that person is part of the experience, then just show the general area).
  • LeonerdoLeonerdo Member, Alpha Two
    I don't enjoy I Spy games much any more. So I don't wanna see any quests that are just like "Go find my lost kitten" with zero context and zero guidance. Searching randomly is not fun.

    But yeah, I would be overjoyed to receive guidance in the form of verbal directions or clues, and actually be engaged with finding quest objectives, rather than just following constant map markers. (Although, if map markers were used sparingly, and had variations, then they could be considered just another type of clue.)
  • DreohDreoh Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Saedu wrote: »
    Dreoh wrote: »
    Saedu wrote: »
    I think highlighting the area the quest is in on the map is helpful enough without ruining immersion. No need to show the specific items in that area on the map.

    If it highlights regions sure, but not something even close to as specific as like a circle on the map specifically positioned around the objective

    It needs to be specific enough that people know the general area they need to be in (not just the node or zone). If this doesn't happen, then people will be going to external websites to get answers and I'd argue that breaks immersion even more.

    It should be something that can be toggled on/off so you only see it on the map when you want it.

    I'd argue that's still preferable

    Players will optimize the fun out of a game as long as it's easy, and a toggleable option, while a good compromise, is still far easier than looking up the answers.
  • OceirisOceiris Member
    For me it'll boil down to how good the quests are written out, if they give a decent direction accompanied by good land marks then I'd rather not have any quest markers. Just staring at a mini map running towards an arrow is really bad design.
  • Handsome JakxHandsome Jakx Member
    Dreoh wrote: »
    Saedu wrote: »
    Dreoh wrote: »
    Saedu wrote: »
    I think highlighting the area the quest is in on the map is helpful enough without ruining immersion. No need to show the specific items in that area on the map.

    If it highlights regions sure, but not something even close to as specific as like a circle on the map specifically positioned around the objective

    It needs to be specific enough that people know the general area they need to be in (not just the node or zone). If this doesn't happen, then people will be going to external websites to get answers and I'd argue that breaks immersion even more.

    It should be something that can be toggled on/off so you only see it on the map when you want it.

    I'd argue that's still preferable

    Players will optimize the fun out of a game as long as it's easy, and a toggleable option, while a good compromise, is still far easier than looking up the answers.

    Toggle for the win! If it is a toggle then there is no issue here. I think expecting that everyone will read the text and understand the tips is a little fargone. Especially for non-english speaking players.

    Handsome-Jakx.png
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