The New Quest, Bigger Prize

[Mithrandir]

Well, since the prizes have been given out, can I maybe get someone to point out to me where this quest starts?

 

and yes...cheaper leather would be beautiful.

[Lyanna]

I take that back...having completed the quest, I know it has little or nothing to do with "cheaper leather". That might be part of yet ANOTHER quest. However, the "cheaper leather" comment can be a clue for you, Mithrandir.

 

-Lyn-

 

 

EDIT: Now, as for my comments: (I'm trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible, but one or two may slip through - apologies in advance)

 

*shakes head* I don't like it. I'm worried. I can see what you're trying to do, Ent (well, at least, I THINK I can see the world you're trying to create...) but it's not coming to pass very well. Bits and pieces of loose info that don't go together, minor contradictions, implausible statements (not impossible...just highly unlikely), and it sounds like rather good science fiction mixed up with bad fantasy. The trouble is, Eternal Lands is largely a fantasy world in the eyes of the players. Trying to write a science fiction story into it is troublesome... I'm not saying it CAN'T be done, but (please forgive me for this, it's just my technical opinion) you don't have enough skill or finesse to truly create a masterfully-integrated world of SF&F. I'm having an extremely hard time trying to keep track of the storyline and history. Details...details are everything. And good characterization is important too. Right now, a lot of the NPCs sound like you.

 

With regards to the quest mechanics, it's okay, if a bit simple. Basically, it's just another "find the person, talk to them, solve 1 riddle (I admit that the riddle was fairly good - but not that difficult), find some item(s), and talk all the way". I like how you've set up the possibility of future quests from that NPC ("Jobs"). There are just two bones I want to pick:

 

1) Linear storyline. One quest after the other. No possibility of failure or messing up in conversation - just stalling until you've found the right thread or right item and going on again. It would be interesting to have quests you could actually FAIL, rather than just quests that you can't do/solve. Or likewise, quests with multiple good/bad endings. And these quests should have consequences in the future. But, like I said earlier...you may not have the temperament to deal with that level of story complexity. And it's okay, I guess...after all, you DO have limited time to spend on this game - but I'd rather have a perfectly-tuned quest once in a while rather than quickly-put together quests. Hopefully, the quest that has a magic serp sword reward would be the one I'm looking for.

 

2) Shrinking of vision. By this, I mean two things: One, Draia has now been confirmed to have only 2 continents and scattered islands, plus a history of about 4,000 years. Whether this is due to the hope of a larger EL 2, I don't know. But nevertheless, it lessens the scope of the game - there's only so much to work with, and nothing more. Two, there are limits to the player's involvement and interaction with the game. There are no world-shaking events that players can take part in, or cooperate with. We seem to be running minor errands in the quests. (Well, you can argue that this last quest was fairly important, but it's all based on a dream...) I still argue for a stronger player-based event storyline, rather than NPC-based event storyline. (Yes, there would be sync problems, but there are already sync problems now...) There are ways to do this. I can give some details, if you're interested. All you need are a few people willing to take part and role-play. And trust. Lots of trust.

 

Yes, it's all my opinion, and I know that there are a lot of players who disagree with me - who just want the rewards of the quest, and couldn't care less about the challenge of solving it, or what the storyline is like. How you want to shape the world is eventually up to you - but please make it a good one.

 

-Lyn-

Edited September 19, 2004 by Lyanna

[Entropy]

Ok

[sirdan]

happy 3000th post entropy

[stasia]

hmm, well way i see it is once we finally get past those damn pirates to where the gnomes live, with their high technology there will surely be scope for them to have invented some kind of transport to other places/planets etc. - sooo this equals unlimited possibiltiies for future exploration and storylines.

[stasia]

and before someone says, "well why haven't the gnomes used their superior tech to get past the pirates themselves", maybe the gnomes need some vital info that's in the back of our (as an engineer from another planet) heads, which we give to them as part of another quest (after the "defeat the pirates' hold over the trade routes" quest). etc..

[Aepox]

It sounds...confusing... I LIKE IT!!