General Discussion

I'm one of those ones that tout open sandbox. I don't like doing the "save the maiden" quest 20 times in a row, or even 20 times a month. I like making my own "quests". Would MMO's be better without quest's?

Then I thought about, quests do add some structure to the game, and are very nice for those with less imagination, or less time to play than me. They could be a very useful tool for the developers, if they were used to introduce new items or content to the game.

Its been forever since I played Runescape, but I seem to remember that they were fun quests that made me use my brain. They helped me level up quicker, and they didn't repeat. Some quests took me a very long time to complete, but they were fun.

So what do you think? Are quests good or bad for a MMO. I was against them, but now am thinking that as long as they are non-repetive, fun, and of a wide variety, they are a very good thing as something for the casual player to do, a great tool for the devs, and something of structure for the timelines.

Mindless quests, or repetitive ones I am still very against. I know that having 200 quest that are fundamentally and visually different would take a lot of writers, but I think 50 well planned quests, that require some "non questing" time to complete would be wonderful. Runescape did a great job there.

Your thoughts?

Quests are good if done correctly.

If you can feel the grind...the quests are bad. If you know you are grinding, but it's just fun, then you have yourself a winner.

I have never played Runescape so I cannot give any opinion about their system, but I would love to see a new approach to the questing. An approach that would bring the RPG aspect back to the game.

RPG is all about making choices and current games end its "rpgness" at the character's creation screen stage. In best case we get the possibility to customize our toons more or less (EQ2 and AA system, PvP fame in WAR etc.) but usually there is one and the best build so the customization is an illusion

How about a system of heavily chained quests where a player will be forced to make choices every 2-3 sub quests? The amount of ways he will be given to choose from could be determined by his skills/race/ previous choices. I think Witcher have similar system, when at the one point you had to choose if you save you friend or your girlfriend, because there is no way to save them both. Or do you let the local peasants burn the witch, or not. Do you join vampiress Bodhi or do you hook up with the Thieves Guild? (Baldur"s Gate) Your choice influence the rest of the gameplay. This is also possible in mmorpg's persistent worlds, where the outcome of you choices will determine the other quest paths available for your character. If made right it can even influence the world itself and by this way - other players.  But I guess it would required very heavy scripting and for some reason chief developers consider graphic designers to be on the top of their payrolls.

I also just realized that I do not remember when was the last time when I red the whole quest - I just jump to the objective, knowing that the story around it is not need to complete it. Especially that the objective itself is often only made up to cover the heavy grind(kill 50 Picts, bring me skins of 30 alligators - hell no grinding at all, just pure questing ). In single player games that never happens to me - I read everything carefully.

There was a time I though the mmorpg means death for single player rpg games, but as long  as the mmorpgs will keep continue to clone each other and keep focusing on the gfx as they top priority, the single player rpg will still be a viable option both for crpg fans and developers (vide Fallout 3 ).

Check this thread out as it is the same thing you are talking about: Why the Quest Grind is becoming so popular

Then this thread talks about what people believe are the best quests: The Best Quests

What goes for quests in lots of games are really tasks.  "Go kill 10 orcs" is a "task" and could just as easily be rewarded by informing the player that for "every" orc he or she kills, they gain 5 faction points; no need for a quest or a log at all for that sort of thing.

True "quests" such as "assemble the bone handle with the mithril blade to form the Sword of Paladins" are great to have in a game as long as the challenge matches the reward.  If it's too easy, then after awhile, every paladin will have a "Sword of the Paladin" and it'll be no big deal.

Todays MMO's have too many quests (or tasks masquerading as quests) and create a forced and linear feel to gameplay, even though these quests and tasks are optional.

Players go for the path of least resistance, and if that means kill X of such-and-such monster, they will do that until they die of boredom.

"Then I thought about, quests do add some structure to the game, and are very nice for those with less imagination, or less time to play than me." 

Never thought quests were for those with  "less imagination" "than me", that sounds rather insulting.

Quests tell stories, oh I could do my own quest, invent my own story, but isn't "questing" in MMOs just telling the game lore's story?

CoH has some nice story telling in Story Arcs (my current MMO).

Quests(missions in CoH) are the same, kill this many of those, go here beat this NPC's fanny, collect this glowing item, ect ect. But the clues and mission giver dialouge tell the story (and eventually get you a prize =)). It's rather fun fighting Archvillans after a good Story Arc or Task Force.

Quests are good.

Too many quests in some games? Maybe.

Terribly sorry, that came out totally wrong, I would had been offended if I had read it.

I meant to say something along the lines of quests are a guidlines for imagination to follow.

I am known for 2 things, a extremem imagination, and the unerring ability to present words in such a way that their literal meaning is correct but they are entirely incomprhesible and sensless, sometimes offensive, so that no one can understand my initial intentions that preceeded the wording by a nanosecond.

See what I mean? :P

I like the way NetDevil is making Jumpgate: Evolution as far as quests go. Well, everything else too, but quests are the topic at hand, so that is what I'm addressing =)

Basically, if I remember correctly, they are making a sort of "template" quest, where you have to escort a NPC (or player!) cargo ship from one star to another to ensure it isnt attacked. However, depending on the ship you have, the cargo ship, the person piloting the cargo ship, and the other players that attack you, every time you do a mission like this, it would be completely different! It's a different ship, a different player, and a different scenario every time, taking the traditional "I've done this quest 10 times before, why won't it change" into "I've done a quest similar to this before, but every situation is different, making it fun.

I think other game developers need to look at this and reconsider the tradition that questing has put itself into.

Quests can be really fun.

But you should always have a choice if you wanna do it or not.  If you have to do them or everyone else have done them....i see no point in having them there.