Would you like to have more quests available in game?

[fitzer]

As I've posted in other threads... WE DON'T NEED QUESTS WRITTEN. We need them programmed. There are enough to give a programmer some work to do, and more can easily be written by approved writers.

What is needed is an interface programmed once, with tags like an xml file, and a parser that do the job, like WML system in Battle for Wesnoth for example, that allowed programmers to focus on programming new things, bugfix and code optimization, and the campaign development free for everyone, and that way they passed from 1 official campaign to the actual six. Once a player submit the quest well coded, Entropy could test it in the test server.

So my suggestion is to stop adding things that could work or not (like att and def potions, or horse whistles at 3kgc and now only for $, or speedhax potions... do i have to continue?) and to spend some time to think about that interface and in the meanwhile write documentation on how it works.

Another way to make quests more interesting (no need to make them interesting, just MORE) could be a system that once you get a quest some skill are blocked from getting XP, while the other related to the quest objective get a bonus %, a nice bonus, like 2 times regular XP, but only when making quest needed things, after you make the items the % for the skill return the same. For example:

Quest NPC: "Hey newbie, i need 2000 fire essence to be sure that in the winter i could get some warm"

You got a bonus on harvesting the flowers and the sulphur required for a 2000 FE set, not 120 / hours pieces limit for that experience

You got a bonus on mixing 2000 fire essences

Other skill like a/d are not needed and are blocked, no xp from fighting. Same for summoning, magic, ranging etc.

 

And yes, it require very skillfull programmers to be well written, more than one, i think, and some part of the actual server should be re-written (maybe the server could become opensource as well so other people can see what have to be changed?)

 

Also, now is off-topic but is not important, a full changelog of server and client would be very appreciated.

[robotbob]

WE DON'T NEED QUESTS WRITTEN. We need them programmed.

 

The caps still does not fix the massive ambiguity of "need them programmed".

Both bkc56, and fitzer hit the nail on the head. So AGAIN(caps ftw), what design

specs does such a system require, what are its expectations. It needs to be made module

so non-programmers can submit quests beyond the tenure of the 'approved writers epeenmanship'.

 

Since a there will probably never be another server dev, what I suggested is:

Someone post a design requirements for the quest system, so someone can submit

something to be approved by the server devs (blind to the server code, someone

can still make it, as long as a design\expectations is available)

 

(FYI: to a programmer, 'need them programmed' is tantamount to; dear builder:

We don't need interior decorating! we need a house)

 

Again this is if, its actually desired. Personally I like "Kill them mighty dragon and get

a cool dragon sword crap"

 

(Yes 'someone' ends up being 2 people without a free moment to do this, anyway)

[sywren]

Personally, I hate quests. I'd rather just hand Mortos some gc and get back to training. I can see the purpose in some quests, but I don't really see the purpose in quests for quests' sake.

 

One of the reasons I love this game is because I don't feel like a trained monkey punching the same pedals as the monkey before me. If we add a bunch of new quests for new players, won't that give them the wrong impression about the game?

 

Here's the only new quest I think we need:

 

Welcome to the Questman!

 

Let's get started. See that little question mark icon? That's the encyclopedia! Ready for quest #1? Open the encyclopedia!

 

Congratulations! You have completed quest #1. Ready for #2? Read the damn thing.

 

End of quests.

[robotbob]

Personally, I hate quests. I'd rather just hand Mortos some gc and get back to training. I can see the purpose in some quests, but I don't really see the purpose in quests for quests' sake.

 

One of the reasons I love this game is because I don't feel like a trained monkey punching the same pedals as the monkey before me. If we add a bunch of new quests for new players, won't that give them the wrong impression about the game?

 

Well for some, quests fulfill a role play need that some people enjoy in...role play games.

Quests are more than, connect the dots, well done quests involve a story, and are not mere

collection an item and return to the NPC. I started RPGS in the 1980s with D&D and pencil,

so I remember the fun that could be had with a DM quest.

 

Training, in this game means grinding, and for some people, that does not interest them.

Other games, reaching the max is just a prereq for playing and not the entire reason to play.

(Obviously I'm ok with the grind, or I would have left years ago)

 

PK server probably highlights this, reaching its 100ad cap, does not mean game over.

(It does for a grinder however)

 

Well anyway, Quests help further the games lore and entice people to role play.

(Means more people attracted to the game)

 

But I do recall Radu\Roja saying (paraphrased) 'El will never be a quest game, if you want one

with many quests, try WoW[insert quest heavy rpg].'

[Shea]

I would love to see some quests that help with the Ale and Mead as both are needed for the new potions. Not to mention the cost of looms for tailoring. Maybe a quest that would make them possible to buy in bulk like wine and leather?

 

Shea

[piojosnos]

I voted for "Yes" and "Yes"

 

Considering the drive to get newbies to stay in-game, the only quests I think should be focused on right now are newbie quests, of the tutorial nature. That is, quests that get players started on various skills such as making fire essies, first heal spell, and such.

 

I think this is very important. I've shown the game to many people and one of the first things they ask is "Are there many quests?" and I have to say, "well, not exactly there are a few, but not too many really".

 

I think new players wants (and needs) quests. And I think that new players will stay longer (hopefully long enough to get addicted with the game) if it has more and more interesting quests. Some players don't get interested in the game cause the lack of quests.

 

May be Radu/Roja once said "El will never be a quest game" but the idea is to have a good player base isn't it? It would mean more income for Radu/Roja (At least theoretically)... so may be more quest would help newbies to stay.

 

Quests for the we've-been-here-a-while crowd, not so important. Maybe later, nothing against them. Just don't seem so important in comparison.

 

I think those are important too in the long term... I would really like to play challenging quest that tests my hard earned skills and give nice rewards (and I'm not talking of gc or valuable stuff directly in term of gc). There have been nice ideas for rewards on this thread... for example, finishing some quest would give discounts when buying some things (like wine quests, the sand paper discount would be great), or would give some perks free of pick points and so on...

 

...but, the outcome of these quests, the reward for them, should not offer something that isn't obtainable through non-quest play style.

Isnt that the way of life?

Everyday somewhere someone does something that some one else doesnt like doing. And they usually get paid for doing it.

 

This would make the quests more interesting... and it's happening right now... if I make the wine quest I can buy wine in bulk

 

I also think that the kind of quest's of make me 100 items of X and bring them there and then make 100 of Y and carry them here are boring, I think there should be a better kind of quests or at least some way to do that kind of quests more interesting.

 

I think more quest getting coded "should" be more important than things like horse whistles, spell-over-head, random bag placement, etc

 

More quest would be great for newer players to explore even more and hopefully keep them busier longer so they stick around and see more of what EL is about.

 

Also quest should force players to learn more about skills! IE: Code it so that things needed for quest(that can be made) can not be just simply purchased but have to be made by the person doing the quest thus making them take more time/strategy/teamwork to complete. (Yes I would like to see quest that require more than 1 person to complete seeing as EL is all about working together)

 

100% agree with this, specially the part of people making the stuff instead of buying it, and the part of need more than 1 person to do the quest

 

I also agree with the people suggesting some way for players or not server related programmers to be able to help implementing quests. Some XML markup, some script language, or some kind of API, and support for the people to tests their quests in the test server without administrators intervention so that way quest can be written and then once ready reviewed by developers and integrated in main servers. Yes I know as a developer I am that XML or script support is a lot of work and probably there might be to change a lots of things in the server implementation, but I think it will pay off a lot in the long term (if designed carefully).

 

Regards

dmi

[Ateh]

im one of those ones that dont really like quests, and in the past with EL ive just looked for some sort of spoiler guide so I can just run through it as fast as possible to get the bonus at the end

 

in a game like EL where theres actually real people playing it im not really too interested in speaking with NCP's all that much , and sure its nice to have some sort of background to the game but if you ask me about EL's role playing background I havent got a clue even tho ive been playing for a few years now

 

*edit* typos of course ( and some donuts for good measure )

Edited April 7, 2009 by Ateh

[Zamirah]

I hate quests, only did the leatherquest because a guildie followed me all the way when I was low level.

Bought wine from NPCs untill I had level 50-60 potion, only made the quest because I was helping a newbie doing it.

 

What I would like was more books readable, with hints like - Do you know there are a lottery in Grahms Village ?

[Pyewacket]

Just a quick note regarding quests..

 

I see some people dislike the old chestnuts of "go here collect me X of this item" or the "kill XXX monsters" styled quests.

 

Thing is, the game is set up with certain game mechanics which restrict what the quest types can be, and thats pretty standard to all games of this setting/type. You either make stuff or kill stuff as part of your game experience normally, so thats pretty much the limit that quest creation has from the outset. Having said that, there are one or two little things that have been added to the quest, such as location flags and NPC dialogue, which gives a little twist to the usual fair. I submit "finding Fortan", "Kelchas Diary", and "the right flower for Kelcha" as but three examples of how the quests have had some attempt to change the usual format of completing a quest.

 

Regardless of whether the quest is for new players or old, I'd like to see some brainstorming here suggesting ways in which a quest can be done which has variations from the normal/standard "collect/kill" format. The storyline side isnt important, try to think in terms of the games mechanics and how "doing something" for the quest will fit in with a player attempting to complete it. Obviously quest tools such as a "gameswitch" that needs to be clicked (such as the flower mentioned above, or a book that needs to be read) can be used, have been used, probably will be used in future quests too. But what else can you think up to spice up quests away from the old chestnuts that seem to deter certain players from undertaking these quests?

 

Still lost?

 

Ok, heres a couple of examples to try and get this rolling then:-

"Quest related to an EL version of Olympics - Part of this quest can only be completed if the attributes of the player doing it meet certain requirements."

"Alexandrias Librarian quest - specific book knowledge is required to complete this quest by a player."

"Mortos's true follower quest - Only a deathmessage from the player will allow this quest to continue past a certain point."

Edit: new one for ya: "Defender of Draia: You only get this when an Invasion Warning (giws or Mod based) sends an Invasion_starting flag out. You then have to either have at least 5 kills or 5 deathmessages before the end_of_invasion flag gets sent out by the server."

 

Ok, your turn, good luck ^ ^

Edited April 7, 2009 by Pyewacket

[Columba]

More quests would add a lot to the game for me. Interlinked quests would be nice, and could add a lot to the role playing in the game. They could be used to get special one off items to unlock new maps, perks etc. It would be nice if it didn't merely involve talking to NPC X followed by NPC Y, but also involved doing things like killing some monster or shooting a target with a bow and arrow etc.

Just my 2 cents.

[punti]

Group quest would be nice, too.

[gilhad123]

I would like more quests in game. I still remember how funny it was to do them and how sad was, when i realized that no more quests are implemented.

And IMHO many of the quests should be "non-rewarding" or only verry litle rewarding - such as was the searching for my true origin - i had to go here and there, spend some small items (buy books to be able harv rose quartz) and got interesting story as reward - i very liked it. There should be more of such quests. Maybe to help some orphans, find their relatives over all C1 safe maps and get rewarded with family reunion and 1 Bread+1 Wine or so ... and then find the family happy together everytime i hit there on visit.

Or something like that - really small "material" reward, small risk, lot of walking and stories ... it would also helped to keep newbies in game ... something rewarding AND archievable directed at THEIR level - no dragons, no tons of wolframite bars, only 5 flowers, 3 rose quartz and reward as cheap armor, most plain sword, nice story and so.

 

I know it WOULD NOT help to the 10 top PKers to get more power, but still i think it could be good to do something also for the small one

 

Edit: I want mainly quests, which are net loss in terms of gc, or gc/hour, but which are FUN and accessible to everyone. (And no, killing thousands of animals is not a fun - it is only paid work)

Edited April 8, 2009 by gilhad123

[RallosZek]

Regardless of whether the quest is for new players or old, I'd like to see some brainstorming here suggesting ways in which a quest can be done which has variations from the normal/standard "collect/kill" format.

 

• Add factions: by slaying enemies of group X and/or doing quests for them, one becomes more favorable and less favorable to those enemies. At different levels of favor, different quests open up. Groups can be rooted in alliances (Whitestone for example), races, deities or all of the former.
  
• Rare quest mobs, spawned by lesser forms, which then drop an item needed for a quest: f.e. killing a goblin can with low chance spawn Bob the Goblin Warlord. He drops "head of bob", which is used in "Unravel the Goblin Conspiracy" quest.
  
• Access quests: talk to npc, choose the right answers from several given, bring several items/proof of kills, get a key to enter an instanced (group) map, survive and get flagged for a reward type map. This system can be used as a pyramid leading to a "promised land".
  

 

Within the existing game mechanics, I don't think there's much you can do that is dynamic and suitable for long term.

[bkc56]

Group quest would be nice, too.

In EL the group "quests" are called instances. I would be nice if there were some for lower-level people too though.

[Headbangster]

Quests for all kinds of levels for experience also. Most quest is for lower level making things n stuff. so more difficult things to do. I really like quests

[nathanstenzel]

I would love to see some quests that help with the Ale and Mead as both are needed for the new potions. Not to mention the cost of looms for tailoring. Maybe a quest that would make them possible to buy in bulk like wine and leather?

 

Shea

Ale and mead quests might be an idea. For the tailoring, perhaps a quest to make it so you can get looms at a discount or looms that have a chance to be used more than once. I never did understand why looms in this game are used up in mixing.

 

More quests would add a lot to the game for me. Interlinked quests would be nice, and could add a lot to the role playing in the game. They could be used to get special one off items to unlock new maps, perks etc. It would be nice if it didn't merely involve talking to NPC X followed by NPC Y, but also involved doing things like killing some monster or shooting a target with a bow and arrow etc.

Just my 2 cents.

I would like to see quest items. It is a special category in storage and could be awarded for such things. A number of quests in this game can be bought out. Buy every single item in the quest. If quest items were involved, you wouldn't be able to trade that, I believe. If you can't trade the item, you can't buy out that task for the quest. Being able to access more maps, perks, etc would be an interesting way of doing things. Also, you could forbid someone to take quest Q if they took quest S. That would also add flavor to the game.

 

Group quest would be nice, too.

Besides instance, which I would consider group invasions and not group quests (there is nothing in there but combat that I know of....and find that part kinda disappointing), there are no group quests. I agree that it would be interesting to have group quests. Perhaps quest items could be used for this to allow for it and for them to have X time to have all the quest items. The instance setup could even be used for something besides just an instance. That would be good since the instance it not used for anything but fighting. Why should group quests be restricted to fighters?

 

Regardless of whether the quest is for new players or old, I'd like to see some brainstorming here suggesting ways in which a quest can be done which has variations from the normal/standard "collect/kill" format.

 

• Add factions: by slaying enemies of group X and/or doing quests for them, one becomes more favorable and less favorable to those enemies. At different levels of favor, different quests open up. Groups can be rooted in alliances (Whitestone for example), races, deities or all of the former.
  
• Rare quest mobs, spawned by lesser forms, which then drop an item needed for a quest: f.e. killing a goblin can with low chance spawn Bob the Goblin Warlord. He drops "head of bob", which is used in "Unravel the Goblin Conspiracy" quest.
  
• Access quests: talk to npc, choose the right answers from several given, bring several items/proof of kills, get a key to enter an instanced (group) map, survive and get flagged for a reward type map. This system can be used as a pyramid leading to a "promised land".
  

 

Within the existing game mechanics, I don't think there's much you can do that is dynamic and suitable for long term.

I think I saw factions in another game before. It might be a nice addition to the game. So would faction based conditions on quests. It is a very flexible way of setting things up.

[Pyewacket]

Ok from the posts I have read so far, the following suggestions can be gathered then:

 

Ranging as a condition for setting a quest flag to off/on

Group quests (either instance or quest item related) whereby multiple players are required to progress the quest storyline (could be guild or none-guild related)

Quest items themselves as true/false values to continue a quest

Faction implementation (either for quest spawning or progression/completion)

Level dependant rewards (skill based or OA)

Edit: Forgot this one:

An OR gate for two or more quest progression paths (complete quest X means you cant complete quest Y)

 

Forgive me if I have only put these ones together and not the "outcome" suggestions but its these ones that are needed by a potential Quest Programmer to review, whereas the other stuff would fall into the category of storyline development and quest "writing" (free/cheap looms etc for instance).

 

Any more?

Edited April 9, 2009 by Pyewacket

[WolfWitch]

While I really admire the creative thinking of some in this thread, I would like to point out that there is not really much point designing new quests untill the ones that are already written, and aprooved, have been programmed into game. The programmers are working really hard adding new items/skills and engines for us, they will get to the quests when they have time I am sure

[Ermabwed]

An OR gate for two or more quest progression paths (complete quest X means you cant complete quest Y)

The suggestion was for an XOR gate actually

[ladrilho]

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but I was searching for quest related threads in programming forum and I haven't found yet many threads related to needed programming in quests.

If someone could point me in the right direction would be great, thank you.

[Pyewacket]

I believe that most of the info regarding quest suggestions are in the suggesitons section. the lack of info regarding programming quests is probably due to the fact that until recently we have not had a "quest coder/programmer" and had to rely on whenever radu could fit them into his usual schedule.

 

So am guessing you probably wont find much in there, if anything, but that SHOULD hopefully be changing in the near future. In fact you are probably reading the only thread that has quest and programming together as Search Hits.

[RallosZek]

Is there a list of features that is needed for those already written quests? Maybe some of the programmers replying in this thread can do the higher level work?

[LeoI]

id like to see more quests in game but none like what are in game at the moment, because to be honest, they are just god awful, boring and no fun at all to do. In my opinion they arent even proper quests, all you do is give npc's items in exchange for something else. Sorry if i offend whoever wrote them but they sort of seem like a 10 year old wrote them.

A lot of the stories for the god quests are top notch and i actually like reading them but its what comes next thats so bad. "Go get me so many steal shields for whatever reason" would be grand if it was just for 1 or 2 levels but you need something different.

 

There needs to be more of an adventurous side to them to make them enjoyable such as (and im just using a basic example) having to kill the dragon to rescue the princess, or "the ghost of lord vermor is back from the dead and haunting vermor castle. Quick! go exercise him or something along those lines". I know it sounds cheesy off the top of my head but it would make them so much more enjoyable than going off and trying to find 5 steel shields to give to an NPC.

 

sry for my rant, thought it was going to be shorter in my head

[gilhad123]

id like to see more quests in game but none like what are in game at the moment, because to be honest, they are just god awful, boring and no fun at all to do. In my opinion they arent even proper quests, all you do is give npc's items in exchange for something else. Sorry if i offend whoever wrote them but they sort of seem like a 10 year old wrote them.

A lot of the stories for the god quests are top notch and i actually like reading them but its what comes next thats so bad. "Go get me so many steal shields for whatever reason" would be grand if it was just for 1 or 2 levels but you need something different.

 

There needs to be more of an adventurous side to them to make them enjoyable such as (and im just using a basic example) having to kill the dragon to rescue the princess, or "the ghost of lord vermor is back from the dead and haunting vermor castle. Quick! go exercise him or something along those lines". I know it sounds cheesy off the top of my head but it would make them so much more enjoyable than going off and trying to find 5 steel shields to give to an NPC.

 

sry for my rant, thought it was going to be shorter in my head

something like this?

http://www.thenoobcomic.com/index.php?pos=19

http://www.thenoobcomic.com/index.php?pos=20

go and kill this or that and restore the peace?

I would like more quest like was the Wine Quest or so ... helping people, serching for clues and walking maps

[Pyewacket]

Sadly quests are very restricted in MMO's as I have previously mentioned in this thread. Only so many variations on game mechanices can be used as gimmicks before they start to look "samey".

 

Personally, I'd love to see a quest spark off an auto invasion, or perhaps teleport the player to a solo instance, but again, we will have to see what the quest programmer can do with the tools given. The storyline side and what the quests are meant to acheive already has a backlog of work for the future.

 

Just keep your eyes peeled for when it happens.