Where is the quest in Everquest?

[stormlord]

Originally Posted by zeroaster [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hey,

I've searched briefly through a few pages of posts, I haven't seen anything on this one yet - I'm sure there is already something posted - of which I would be glad to have links to those threads if anyone can offer them.

Now that we have a chance to make this experience a little more based on the server consensus than before, doesn't it seem right that quests should be worth something in EQ? I've played several different MMORPG's in the last few years and while all of them lack what EQ has, many of them had corrected an inherent problem with EQ. It's all grinding. And quests barely give any exp for completing them.

I think that it's a brialliant idea to gain 1/2 a level or even 1 -2 yellow at lvl 32(for example) from completing a quest - based on that to complete each quest there is already several hours of waiting/killing.

Keep in mind I understand that it's important to keep leveling at a relatively slower pace than is happening in the other EQ, to extend the experience and not have a bunch of lvl 50 noobs.

I feel that giving at least somewhat of an exp bonus would truly open up EQ's mythology/story and for those of us(at least myself) that already have several(dozen) high level chars accross 2-3 EQ accounts (this server and sony) - and I think it can be somewhat agreed upon that many of us would like to spend time adventuring for a reason rather than mindlessly grinding exp until I wake up with my F5 key stuck to my forehead.

I love the way everything is happening now - just an idea to make EQ a fuller experience in my opinion.

- Miguel what do you doing ah? What is this water maan?

There's a lot about 1999-02 EQ that isn't just old, it's obsolete and even mediocre. And it's not just the graphics or the sound quality. Everything from the pathing mechanics (they don't move around very well and often times what you think is a good pull ends up in disaster because it ran off in the opposite direction) to the targeting (sometimes it's quite hard to target what I want without targeting what I don't want) to the quests (i'll explain) to the UI (hey, it was pretty bad, customization was pathetic and there were many functionality issues that could not be changed even by customizing) to the stat system (yes, it was pretty bad too... i recall reading some developer talk that it was basically thrown together like a chemistry experiment) and so on and so forth. I really don't want to drag on this paragraph. I think everyone else here knows what I'm trying to say.

Now, the quests. The problems with the quest system are more fundamental than just increasing the amount of experience you get as a reward. First of all, why do I feel compelled to go to allah or to the web to find quest information? Because EQ offers up so little information and many times the information is buried in a conversation tree on an obscure non-player and other times you just have to be lucky enough to find the non-player (to talk to) or monster (to kill) in order to progress the quest. I'm not asking for hand holding, I'm just asking for a more intuitive system and something that's not so obscure that it requires me to constantly ask in /shout or /ooc or in a chat channel what I need to do next to find what I need. The conversation needs to be more interactive too (i like playing detective).

I don't really like quest journals all that much or automatic hand holding. Nor do I like automatic conversation trees. As in, you type a highlighted keyword or click on it. I prefer to talk to the non-player naturally as I form in my mind what the quest is and what the clues and keywords might be. It feels more hands on that way. I've done that in MUDs before and it's much more self-engaging. The automatic stuff tends to make quests automatic and then it all feels rushed to me because it's the completion of the quest that becomes hte goal as opposed to the detective work. Why? I think because as a user i haven't peiced together what he quest is. The hand holding does it all for me so in my mind it's a very loose unconnected set of things. It's like living life one moment to the next as opposed to thinking ahead and anticipating the challenges and participating directly.

But it's not just the automatic hand holding schemes that have ruined quests for me in other games. I've been playing DDO and it has basically an automatic system in place and while you can read things (to make it feel like it's manual) almost no one does consistently. And to be frank, it's a quest grind once you've already played through it on solo (normal difficulty) mode. I've enjoyed the quests when I solo them because i can take my time and go at my pace, but I hate being alone!! So I get into a group (this is in ddo) to not feel alone and everything is rushed like morning traffic in new york because no one wants to wait for people to get absorbed into the story and details. Rush rush. Everyone tries to keep up with the fastest members so the objectives can be completed. It's not fun that way. Honestly, people talk about how much better some quest are in other games, but often times it's as much a grind as EQ ever was. Got to be honest. At the same time, they do often give quests a much fairer chance and no one can say that's true in 1999-02 EQ.

And another thing. I tend to be 50/50 or 75/50 in favor of combat versus quests. I tried an older single player RPG named Planescape: Torment. It's supposed to be a quest-based RPG 75/25 in favor of quests (instead of combat). I have to admit that I got extremely bored playing it. Most of the content can be gotten through without ever using your weapon. Personally, I like to hack my way through a wall of mobs sometimes. And I like to write my own story, do my own things. I don't like to feel like a plot is directing me or something. I prefer to make my own plot. And in a game that's directed so heavily (such as planescape), it's more like reading a book than it's a true adventure. I'm not saying slaying thousands of monsters is a true adventure, but rather that so called quest-based RPGs too often end up being plot-driven and too linear and no fun for me.

Maybe I'm not the best person to ask about something like this since I already lean in the direction of dungeon crawls and hack/slash adventures and shoot-from-the-hip conversation (good old fashioned detective work). There're a ton of people out there that love plot-driven games and linear missions/quests and an END to the story. I'm not one of them. Does this pertain to this topic? A little bit, I think so.

So even though I'm biased in favor of deep adventure in a scary dungeon and don't like to be pulled by a quest chain, I still think I can recognize when a quest system is undernourished. And I think the one in 1999-02 is undernourished. I'm trying to be balanced. Yes, it looks very mediocre and bandaged up and obsolete.

But I think we should just leave it the way it's. Remember, this is EQ in 1999-02 and making it anything else is missing the point. If you want that, do it yourself. I think it's good for us to discuss all this and I admit I think the quest system in EQ sucks eggs, but this server is here to represent the way EQ was not the way we want it to be. History is there to read and explore and appreciate (for nostalgia), not to change it. Get it?

And.. I wanted to add this before leaving this topic for now. When I have dreams about game worlds and treasure and dungeon crawling there's one things that always is there. MYSTERY. INFINITY. INTERACTION. Those 3 words sum it up in my mind. Very generally, I need to be able to try whatever I'm thinking of. Don't give me a limited set of options. Just let me have at it. I want to try everything imaginable. I want to find trap doors, I want to find secrets, I want to go on paths others haven't, I want to see and do things I never even knew I could despite thinking I knew it all. I want a non-linear experience, bottom line. I don't want to be led by the collar by a developer. I want to cleave my own path using my own means and tools. I want UNLIMITED.