I wanted to say that, as a quest developer/writer for my company ( currently producing a sci-fi next gen MMO ), I completely agree.

MMO quests for the most part “suck” due to thier lack of Immersion that is more commonly found in single player or instanced gameplay.

After playing CoD4 all the way through in one setting, I realized that I wanted to bring that same adrenaline/immersive property to a massive audience as found in MMO gaming.

I hate grinding and I hate questing generally in most games because for the most part its like practicing kissing with your sister. (I have no sisters btw). For a player to say that he/she likes questing over the “preverbial grind” In todays MMOs, is kinda like saying: ” I hate Oranges, but I LOVE Citrus.” Questing is just another form of content to keep people busy in game…there are sooo many aspects to making a game, including deadlines and coding that sometimes certain areas take a “back seat”, unfotunately, content goes with them.

I have taken an oath not to water my quests down too much for quantity purposes. The rest of the engineering dpetartment have vowed to make the reward for questing and grouping much more significant than the current standard used in many MMOs today as well.

I am,however, writing some “short & sweet” quests for players who just simply want a “quick fix’ can do if they wish.

Now that the MMO has taken root and the initial luster of a “massive” 3d world to explore has worn off, developers are gonna have to step it up a few notches to ensure that the next gen MMOs arent just time sinks with eye candy.

I want players to feel like they are on an adventure, and for them to capture the plot of the storyline without forcing them to read a novel…. lol.. I am long winded so for those who DO like to read, there will be plenty of that, but for those who just click their way through the quest text will, through gameplay, become familiar with the plot whether they like it or not… as a gamer myself, I am betting that they will in fact like it though.

I continually get input/pressure from our CEO to churn out many “runner/kill” quests but I remind him that we hired me to bring the questing into the “next gen phase”. I am actually working closely with our Art Team Lead ( who also can use Zbrush and maya quite well) to conceptualize and create content soley for questing.

I am going to fight at all costs against throwing a bunch of random “BS” into the sandbox to keep folks pacified and paying subscriptions… do I want the money, of course! but I want more for people to enjoy my work, I also wish to play this game as well :).

Keep your fingers crossed for me, and I will keep you posted.

EviLBetty

No one likes ‘kill 10 rats’. Hell, why are we killing rats? Aren’t we supposed to be heros!? If your game has rats AT ALL you fail.

The trick is to either find a clever way to disguise the grind x mobs or replace it entirely. Fed ex is not the answer, I despise fed ex quests more than grinders. Who ever invents a solid replacement for grind quests wins, no doubt. Taking incremental leveling out, ie no XP, isn’t a solid answer as it has taken root and is almost expected.

Can’t wait to see what 38 delivers, after this post I have mighty high expectations.

Clear the room - place holder spawns - kill placeholder - half an hour respawn time - placeholder respawns - rinse and repeat.

I have personally spent 2 nights in the last week to try to spawn and kill the one certain named mob. Now I love my game and it has been a bunch of fun because I have had great company in game - but I am sure I am not the only player to find this mildly annoying.

Well, there’s EVE.

All game devs should print that out and stuck it next to their monitor…

Somebody please make UO 3D? Where there are no classes and no levels, just skills? And make them all powerful and balanced so there is no tank mage and fourzors hally haxxor?

That way we could quest simply for fun, which is the way it’s supposed to be.

Most quests unfortunately are just ways to package grinding and make it more palatable. So why do it? Players must grind. Why must they grind? Grinding gives XP necessary to advance their characters.

So why XP? Does it really make any kind of virtual world sense that each completely generic and fungible XP, however earned, should contribute equally to character advancement?

If I’m a stealthy pickpocketing backstabbing rogue for example, why should standing in one place for an hour and grinding rats, boars, bears or foozles using few or none of my class specific skills should earn me the right to become better at roguing?

Couple XP-based leveling with the need to spread the population on the server and you have the basis for just about every mmo out there. Time to break that mold and better gameplay will follow IMHO.