The direction of future quests

In the latest patch, several quests were introduced, but the apparent reception to them has been somewhat drab, because they've mimicked levequests in style and structure.

When people think of Final Fantasy quests, they associate it with story, cinematic presentation, and "weight" or having meaning. Other things that can help make quests stronger are introducing puzzles into the quests, or having a group split up into two teams to accomplish an objective within a certain time limit - something that makes quests engaging and unique.

I was wondering if we could have some information about whether we will be seeing story arc quests and cinematic presentation that exist both within a constructed main story, and side stories, if we will eventually see class specific stories beyond the launch quests, and what can will be done to distinguish future quests from just being glorified levequests.

Thank you :)

I haven't played since before they added those quests and if they truly are what you describe? It's still not worth booting up the game for. Quests equal story. Where on earth did they get the idea that simple kill/fetch quests with just the barest minimum of story to it would do?

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Originally Posted by JGwinters

I haven't played since before they added those quests and if they truly are what you describe? It's still not worth booting up the game for. Quests equal story. Where on earth did they get the idea that simple kill/fetch quests with just the barest minimum of story to it would do?

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I haven't played since the patch either [very little motivation], but that's what the community has described them as; essentially levequests with a bit stockier and more meaningful text [I've read they're the foundation of future quest stories, and give some background into this world that exists but has no explanation for existing], and from an NPC instead of the counter.

I personally attribute that to they're still developing the base game design of FFXIV, and they just wanted to give people something to do, but I would like some idea as to how they're going to approach future quest design once the basics are established.

These are the first starter quests and there is story, and lore in these quests and in fact they are good. I got more lore out of the game in five minutes then I did in the past five months.
While I agree that quests should tell a story, I also believe that these are just getting the ball rolling. I have done many quests in FFXI to get less information then I have already got in FFXIV. I hope square can deliver what you ask, but these are in no way levequests.

I really feel like the quests just kind of demonstrate the framework of the quest system... Like tutorial quests they are very similar, but as stated, they will be adding quests in almost every patch and they will be much more involved very soon

Until side quests give decent rewards and mobs give sp/xp, I pretty much consider them a waste of time.

Wow, I'm surprised, most of the posts in this thread are calm and rational. Much better than the fansites. Anyway I think these quests are setting the foundation of what's to come. I think the Devs want to finish the battle system first before they make any "engaging" quests.

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Originally Posted by Platinumstorm

In the latest patch, several quests were introduced, but the apparent reception to them has been somewhat drab, because they've mimicked levequests in style and structure.

When people think of Final Fantasy quests, they associate it with story, cinematic presentation, and "weight" or having meaning. Other things that can help make quests stronger are introducing puzzles into the quests, or having a group split up into two teams to accomplish an objective within a certain time limit - something that makes quests engaging and unique.

I was wondering if we could have some information about whether we will be seeing story arc quests and cinematic presentation that exist both within a constructed main story, and side stories, if we will eventually see class specific stories beyond the launch quests, and what can will be done to distinguish future quests from just being glorified levequests.

Thank you :)

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Puzzles are great idea. More interaction with NPCs can be good idea too. For example, in FFXI, you had to talk with yagudo, in a Windurst's quest.

I've done about 10 of the new quest and they're really kind of uneventful... I know it’s a lot to ask for a cutscene for every quest, but if the characters actually turned to face you and a bit of camera work would go a long way in helping with immersion. The quest just feel like more leves that you're getting from some random dude rather than the guild.

Yes, please do something about this, the quests lack character, don't make them feel like leves you seem to be missing all the notes here square D:, I have so much faith in you show us you can make this the final fantasy mmo [next gen] we have always wanted!

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Originally Posted by Sugosuke

I know it’s a lot to ask for a cutscene for every quest,

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No, it's not. That exactly what Square Enix does since the Release of the FF XI expansion "Treasures of Aht Urghan" back in 2006, and continued to do over the other expansions until today. Dozens (or perhaps even hundreds) of multi-chaptered quests, completely done with multiple cutscenes each.

The goal of XIV must be that it's superior to XI in every aspect. If the Square Enix management thinks otherwise and is not willing to invest the required resources in this product, they should think about modernising XI and dumping XIV instead.

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Originally Posted by SolArisa

No, it's not. That exactly what Square Enix does since the Release of the FF XI expansion "Treasures of Aht Urghan" back in 2006, and continued to do over the other expansions until today. Dozens (or perhaps even hundreds) of multi-chaptered quests, completely done with multiple cutscenes each.

The goal of XIV must be that it's superior to XI in every aspect. If the Square Enix management thinks otherwise and is not willing to invest the required resources in this product, they should think about modernising XI and dumping XIV instead.

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Hmm, so you think quests that took about a month to develop should be on par to an expansion that took a year or two to make? Real logical there. Now SE should have had these awesome CS quests(they have a couple for the class quests) during release but they didn't, so we have to wait until they're done revamping the battle system before we see any ToAU quests.

Actually, not all the vanilla FFXI quests were text only. I wouldn't expect flashy cutscenes for all the quests, but I wouldn't mind better presentation: most of the quests have the NPCs dump all the lore information at the end, not exactly subtle...

I am thinking that they should add some sidequests to the deserted outposts and towns, like the Bazaars. It would be interesting to see those places get more of a purpose (although it's quite obvious that's SE's intention in time). And I'd love to visit other points of civilization than the city states and camps. Sidequests might just be the thing for that!

My biggest concern is the unusual lack of creativity from Square-Enix. Nearly all the quests ask you to "Slay 8 mobs and return", which I don't understand. Not even the number of enemies you are requested to defeat is changed. Would it really be too difficult to alter quests so they're somewhat different from each other?

I don't like being critical of Square-Enix, because they are my favorite company but these horribly developed quests are quite dissapointing and I KNOW they can do better than this.

They are ok starter quests but yeah it would be good to have some different types of quests , getting rewards from quests so far seems good.
Maybe they could add a quest to tell us the history of eorzea and start using quests to build up lore of the world , they dont all need have cs and be like in game missions, but using some well written stuff and varity could make good quests

SE must add quests to obtain Chocobos, Airship, and special things like that. These quests must be long and dificult, in my opinion.

I agree that quests to gain access to chocobos and airships should be large and challenging - the trial must suit the reward and vice versa. However, I don't mind waiting for it. Some things are better saved for later. We do know it's coming. But when it does enter the playfield, I hope SE will integrate it in a fancy manner, like you say by using quests. I'd imagine a large scale quest with a nice cutscene or two, before letting you in on the ride.

Hey guys. The thing is these are not like FFXI Quests, but they're Side-quests. FFXI had some of those. So I think we'll be seeing Quests - with cutscenes and everything we're used to :)
Anyway, I'm really enjoying these side-quests. Especially for the Lore.

I'm somewhat torn. On the one hand, the sidequests are giving a lot more story and background which is excellent. Heck, I'd do them just for that. On the other hand, they are pretty much just glorified kill quests with crappy rewards. I can't imagine that they'll stay this dry--if FFXI can have lots of cinematic sidequests, and lots of variety in those sidequests, I can't think of a reason XIV won't eventually as well.

I think the key thing to remember is that Yoshi-P and company are pretty much rebuilding a lot of this game from the ground up, which takes time.

Also, Lalafell chucking is now official canon, which makes me incredibly happy.

I think it's a safe assumption that just one update 4 weeks after the previous one that Square aren't going to add 5000 quests and 5000 DIFFERENT styles of quest..

It's gonna take time and I think it's definitely a step in the right direction.. I think the future of the side quest system is very bright indeed, the only way is up and Eorzea is still TINY with TONNES of space to populate and explore and add content to once the fundamentals are under control.

Not to mention the fact that the quests add a little bit of depth and background to the world itself which I welcome with UTMOST interest, I LOVE hearing more about the Lore of Hydaelyn because dare I say, there isn't that much of it.

Puzzles and mini games would be very nice indeed, something similar to the U'ldah rank 30 storyline quest, I did like that little mini game.

I think that quests are the most important thigs in an MMORPG. SE should really consider the making of some simple quests. It really doesn't matter how long and complicated they are, what players really want is to have a storyline the they can advance in. I miss the nice and simple stories from the game, for instance, when the ugly and evil boss kidnaps the queen so I have to search for clues and then go to a dungeon or some really scary place to fight a boss or something. Well, doing this in a party would make it even more fun.
I didn't do so much sidequests, but they are quite the same as the guildleves. I also like cutscenes a lot, because it is a lot of fun to realize how to advance in the quest from a conversation.

Yes.... we all seem very passionate about the quests and i think we all want the quests to be epic and immersive
With that being said, we can agree that the first quests were not as much.

BUT

If that is just SE laying the ground work and structure for the quest system then I can ride with it.

If new quests (and lots of them) come almost every update
If the quest NPC's aren't just in cities anymore and they expand out to the hamlets and such
If the quests deviate from the standard "Kill X number of this MOB" and feature more intricate details, more difficulty, more travel, with well thought out plots that delve into the underbelly of Eorzea
If the rewards reflect the difficulty of the quests
If the quests unlock more quests in a chain that ends in some grand task needed to be completed

If we can accept that this was just the frame work and all these things are coming... would we be satisfied with the quest system?

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Originally Posted by Sonic_the_Hedgehog

Wow, I'm surprised, most of the posts in this thread are calm and rational. Much better than the fansites. Anyway I think these quests are setting the foundation of what's to come. I think the Devs want to finish the battle system first before they make any "engaging" quests.

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I've been somewhat pleased with the turnout for the most part myself whenever I am able to get on. ^^

I have faith that as they develop more quests they will be deeper. Maybe they started working on quests that are more involving in lore and/or content but waiting to release them since they will take a bit more time? I would be pleased to know if they have done it this way or not.

I actually expect either the next update or one of the April updates to drop a pretty massive sidequest network on our heads. Yoshi-P has followed through so far since he's been in charge, and if he's as focused on adding solid sidequest content as he appears to be I don't think we have a lot to worry about.

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Originally Posted by Rydin

If we can accept that this was just the frame work and all these things are coming... would we be satisfied with the quest system?

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Definitely. Although, the rewards should be more attractive than they are now. But yes, the system itself is excellent.

I agree this would have been the way to win me over but instead the quests they gave us give me nothing to look forward to and now I can honestly say that to me there is 0% interesting playable content in the game at this point.

Even the missions have been a far cry from XI missions and are mostly just run from point A to B and talk to people.

There is NOTHING to do.

I don't care what the quests are called, even the most simple quests in XI have a better presentation via cutscenes and music and the dialogue is written with some thought and it's actually useful to read.

In XIV you can just skip the entire dialogue because all you really NEED is the flashing arrows and map markers.
So much for any immersion.

I'd like to hope better quests are coming but the map system and the quality of these seriously don't give me any realistic expectations that they will come, ever.

SE is going to have to either rework completely or change the pace of the quests and main storyline. Here's why:

-Rank 50 is our Cap (A lot of players believe 99 will be the max)
-There are only a few quests/main story points
-The few story points leading up to 50 leave us at a unfair cliffhanger and fail to give a concise direction as to WHERE the games main direction is heading.

I could (and have) go on hours about why SE needs to rework the storyline and quest pace. However, I do not like my posts to be negative so I will say for now that SE has it's work cut out for them.

I BELIEVE YOSHI-P CAN DO IT! We will make it :D

One day people will look back at FFXIV's launch and think: "wow... I will never be able to believe that was how FFXIV was at launch... completely alien to how it is now..."

FFXIV has ALOT of potential. So let's stay positive and spread positive and constructive problem solving :D