ARR Quest, What do you want!

Which Beta just around the corner, I was thinking just like many others that the typical quest of talk to NPC, kills mobs, go back to NPC, go to next NPC, kills mobs, return and just refresh and repeat. After a while is going to get boring, specially if that becomes the most efficient way to level. So I wanted to creat a thread to hear Ideas for side quest for the DEV team.

How to make quest more interesting!

1. Add animation of a short CG, when you encounter the race for the first time on a quest; the Mobs come at you with growls and at full speed with you taking on arms. (press ESC to bypass CG)

2. Lore lovers. Make puzzules quest according to the lore that the NPC is telling you about. ( I could be 1.0 lore related)

3. Have a comedy quest, there is a important item that you must obtain from an NPC but you must making him laugh. For that you must dance the funky chicken, or some other time of combination. After all of the killing of ladybugs and squirrels a good laugh would be refreshing.

4. Have quest for your class with FF past characters, a ghostly reflection of heros of the past that will teach you about your class and abilities. ( Kindom Hearts style, which is a SE game)

Anyone has ideas for the DEV team of quest styles they would like to see in ARR?

I prefer Quality over Quantity. If they can't put in the effort to make me care about what i'm doing then the entire quest is pointless. There's only so many times I can help Joe Schmoe gather XX items or kill XX creatures before I want to rip his heart out. One thing I was disappointed with in 1.0 was how short quests were as well. Most of them were 5-10 minutes of actual work and it was over.

They need to put in some effort to make questing up to par. I don't believe this game will make it that far if they follow that traditional quest model of effortless questing. I need to be entertained with puzzles, quality storyline, memorable characters, cut-scenes to show how awesome said characters are, challenge (I play video games to be challenged, not catered to), and memorable objectives that make the quest fun.

Not every quest has to be an "adventure" but there's a problem when 90% of your quests are mind numbing junk.

I don't mind the odd trash quests because it means I get EXP while I am running around / exploring.. Sure it might get old but I think low level quests are fine to be a bit monotonous, especially while you are still getting the hang of things. They are definitely good for a newer player. I hate bizarre / frustrating / confusing quests when I first start a game.

As levels get higher I would like to see a bit more complexity though.. Sometimes however I don't feel like the workload for the devs is worth it if the quest becomes too complex - especially if they are having to push out that "quantity" to give players enough solo EXP opportunities.

Some simple ideas for quests though would be-
- Quests based on the "transport" between cities / zones Garleans attempt to hijack the Thanalan airship/train/boat.. etc (Boat in a desert? huh?)
- Chocobo based quests such as races to a certain destination within a time limit (perhaps like a medical supply quest in Farcry 3 :D)
- Protecting a camp from invading beasts/beastmen (could turn this into a FATE event potentially).

I want to kill 100 Murlocs just to get 1 Murloc head.. I so enjoyed that quest ... *eye starts twitching*

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Millerna

I want to kill 100 Murlocs just to get 1 Murloc head.. I so enjoyed that quest ... *eye starts twitching*

---

better than have to kill a lottery spawn NM with spawn time up to 8 friggin hours

I like the dailies and monthlies that GW2 has. As your just out doing leves, gathering and crafting your building towards exp bonuses/rewards. Doesn't always have to be the same model of talk to X and kill Y

i just dont want the game turn into a quest fest. Quality over quantity!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rina_inverse

better than have to kill a lottery spawn NM with spawn time up to 8 friggin hours

---

Or the original Everquest 1 cleric epic weapon quest, part of which was to kill a dragon (for which you needed a raid of some 30-40 people) which was an open world NM on a 2 real life weeks respawn, and only dropped 1 copy of the quest item ...


How MMO's have changed ;)



(edit: I've never done the quest that way, I did the 'easy' version where you had to get 4 drops that had about a 0.5% drop rate, and hand them in to a dude to spawn the dragon. You still needed 30-40 people for it though, and a group to farm those 4 drops ;))

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Millerna

I want to kill 100 Murlocs just to get 1 Murloc head.. I so enjoyed that quest ... *eye starts twitching*

---

You may want to stop smashing their heads in to kill them.

Joking aside, I've always said that it is a practical impossibility to make a quest based MMO and have all of the quests have good quality. That isn't to say quest based MMOs aren't good, they can be, but they have to very carefully sprinkle rich, interesting quests into the more mundain ones. I would go as far as to say, front-load the game with about 1:2 interesting quests to mediocre quests, then scale back after the first 10 hours to 1:15 or so. By that time, you've got the players' attention, and you can start introducing other elements slowly to fill the gaps: like FATE and dungeons.

"Interesting quests" don't have to be fundumentally different from mundain quests. Some of the best quests in the Final Fantasy games have been hopped up fetch quests or marks. What makes them "interesting" is that the player has to work for it. Make them have to talk to several NPCs to find out about the monster they have to kill, find out about what it is, why it's so dangerous, and why you care.

I'm reminded of the Sleepga II quest line in FFXI; it was, fundumentally, just a series of fetch quests culminating in killing one NM. But it stands out in my mind because the quests had so much character.

Just don't make me have to run all over the place. Often time 90% of the quest was just getting there. Also finding the BLM AF npc made me rage because I didn't realize I had to go down a floor via some crater 10 miles away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Millerna

Or the original Everquest 1 cleric epic weapon quest, part of which was to kill a dragon (for which you needed a raid of some 30-40 people) which was an open world NM on a 2 real life weeks respawn, and only dropped 1 copy of the quest item ...


How MMO's have changed ;)

---

You forgot that all of that can take place on a pvp server where people are griefing and training mobs left and right while trying to gank you.

Oh how easy all the kiddies have it now a days.

I like any kind of quest or side quest. I've played many Final Fantasy titles, and they all have a bunch of side quest. With that said I expect the questing in FFXIV ARR to feel like an RPG Final Fantasy title. Focusing on Lore and Exploration. edit: and I want lots of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nadrojj

Just don't make me have to run all over the place. Often time 90% of the quest was just getting there. Also finding the BLM AF npc made me rage because I didn't realize I had to go down a floor via some crater 10 miles away.

---

just go where everyone go

i agree with the statement of quality over quantity, but that is pretty impossible with the concept of quests for grinding. i think they have made the biggest mistake in the game with questing and leveling. sadly it's one of the most important things in the game for people as well. it's something many do a lot ..not everyone levels one class and stops. many quit if they have no urge to keep leveling other classes. it's about progression for me personally, when i finish one class i start on others while i gear up and do endgame with the max ones. questing for levels and solo leveling without a doubt = no thanks so sadly when game launches and i level the 2 new classes and realize i hate it, i'm gone not to far long from there. and sadly i think many will do the same. fact i know many will do the same.

but either way, something like wotg expansion would be great. every quest was tied into the main mission. they really should look back at ffxi quests and then expand on them big time and then they got some great quests. and nothing wrong with making quests really long, with lots of steps and things to do.kinda like the secret world where you complete steps of the quest and there is lots of them to get to the end of it, that would be pretty neat. trap doors and invisible walls, yes please. and lastly quests that are forced party play till at least cap raises start to happen. this game is really in for a failed surprised if they think solo everything is the way to go. end game isn't the only thing that needs parties. so lets hope i just don't know enough about the game and this stuff is in the game. cause they buried this game if not make most things with party play in mind too. and not some malarcky thought some of you guys talk about, just do it with a party for fun crap. that is like saying play with your left hand only for a challenge. eh no. or just don't use the gambits to make ff12 a good game. eh no.

as for the op's idea's, a few of them were in gw2 and i hated that game, never did any of it. so having stuff like that still won't make it great, hell even ffxi had really fun quests but no one did them cause rewards not good enough. but on those blue moon days when you didn't feel like doing anything you found yourself doing them for hours and enjoying them a lot. if you can say they are fun without a reward or reason to do them ..then it is probably on a better direction then most quests.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Meatdawg

I like the dailies and monthlies that GW2 has. As your just out doing leves, gathering and crafting your building towards exp bonuses/rewards. Doesn't always have to be the same model of talk to X and kill Y

---

I wonder if ARR will have dailies and/or factions with dailies and not just guildleves.

I like quests that reveal or lead to revealing the storyline or history of the world. So lots of these please.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Altena

As levels get higher I would like to see a bit more complexity though.. Sometimes however I don't feel like the workload for the devs is worth it if the quest becomes too complex - especially if they are having to push out that "quantity" to give players enough solo EXP opportunities.

---

I agreed, I can see having simple quest at the early levels so people learn how to use their class, kill these amount of melee mobs, next quest kill range mobs, next quest kill mage type mobs. Help the player learn how to best handle the different types of Mobs in the world, put some interesting quality quest in between. As you reach higher levels put some good quality quest with Lore and puzzles that requier the skills you learn early.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zezlar

I prefer Quality over Quantity. If they can't put in the effort to make me care about what i'm doing then the entire quest is pointless. There's only so many times I can help Joe Schmoe gather XX items or kill XX creatures before I want to rip his heart out. One thing I was disappointed with in 1.0 was how short quests were as well. Most of them were 5-10 minutes of actual work and it was over.

They need to put in some effort to make questing up to par. I don't believe this game will make it that far if they follow that traditional quest model of effortless questing. I need to be entertained with puzzles, quality storyline, memorable characters, cut-scenes to show how awesome said characters are, challenge (I play video games to be challenged, not catered to), and memorable objectives that make the quest fun.

Not every quest has to be an "adventure" but there's a problem when 90% of your quests are mind numbing junk.

---

I played WoW so I'm used to the fetch quests, but I really hope they have some purpose.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind there being HUGE quests chains (like 20 consecutive quests to form a chain, kind of like the Onyxia one from WoW) that rewards XP for every step of the way. That way it could feel like you need less "throwaway" quests and you're actually driving towards some important goal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Orophin

I played WoW so I'm used to the fetch quests, but I really hope they have some purpose.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind there being HUGE quests chains (like 20 consecutive quests to form a chain, kind of like the Onyxia one from WoW) that rewards XP for every step of the way. That way it could feel like you need less "throwaway" quests and you're actually driving towards some important goal.

---

My only issue with long chain quest leading to a common end boss is that you get a lot of people that are ready for the boss then someone hasn't completed the chain....

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that we actually do need the short and simple repeatable quests in addition to more complex quests with cutscenes/puzzles/multiple objectives. The more stuff to do the better.

I'd like to see more puzzles in quests. I loved working out where the destruction sphere needed to go in the ffX dungeons.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lady

I like quests that reveal or lead to revealing the storyline or history of the world. So lots of these please.

---

I hope most quests are made just like this. My other fave MMO is Secret World and that game's quests are really well balanced, most of them have story and cut scenes, and even the side quests without anything fancy like voice acting are still unique and interesting and tell you another little part of the story, more details of the world.

I do NOT want someone to ask me to skin silly bears because they are too inept to hunt. IF I must get 10 claws or pelts give me a viable reason and make me discover something about them silly bears, like maybe something is happening to them that ties to the main story line. Have quests have some sort of story meaning.

I have enjoyed the side quests and general questing in XIV so far as well, as long as they keep it up and have a passion for writing and not just placeholding text for XP (like WoW), I think we are in good hands.

Yeah, I hope SE makes a lot of quest that are related to events from 1.0 and explain what has happen since the battle when everyone was transported to 2.0. I do enjoy the cut scenes that the FF games had, hopefully ARR will have plenty of that with these new engine just like in the video sample of the enjoy.

I would like to see the general quests as in talk to npc than go fetch or kill something (forces you to explore) than come back to npc and turn quest in, but after you turn it in, some npc's would add a second quest a bit more complex and harder providing a cool mini story regarding that npc, and eventually the final part of the quest chain leading to an instance which would require a party to complete.

I really would like key and lock mazes where when you open one door another closes

a lot of assaults from ffxi were fun but outside of doing them one time for the completion people only repeated the best ones after that. they probably should of made those in a way where you ladder threw them no matter what so that they were all done just as much. but either way stuff like that in quests and events might be fun.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HiirNoivl

I really would like key and lock mazes where when you open one door another closes

---

http://www.highsnobiety.com/files/20...on-views-1.jpg
HYRULE STYLE!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HiirNoivl

I really would like key and lock mazes where when you open one door another closes

---

Just as long as it's not like Sky or Garlaige Citadel where you have to have two people to get around.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Orophin

Just as long as it's not like Sky or Garlaige Citadel where you have to have two people to get around.

---

That would be fine for me in instances where you need a minimum number of party members just to enter anyways. That actually seems like a good way to ramp up the difficulty in instances, by forcing the party to split up.

I would also like to see more instanced puzzles of some sort, though I'm a little doubtful of S|E's ability to deliver on that front after the puzzle minigames from FFXIII-2. That clock hand puzzle was simply mean, enough so that I decided I'd rather bash out a simple program to solve it for me rather than continue failing to figure out the solution to a 12-move clock within the time limit. I guess the important part, if there has to be a time limit, would be giving the players an abundance of time to solve the puzzle.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Orophin

Just as long as it's not like Sky or Garlaige Citadel where you have to have two people to get around.

---

Actually that sounds great!

I'd like to see a few casual, long-term quests such as the 'Clay Tablet' quest in FFXI.

Make the rewards for these kind of quests novel as well.

I'd prefer things like:

A unique piece of furniture for your house, such as a painting, mirror, or wall map.
A pass that allows you to use ferries or airships for a discount price
A bracelet that reduces all your stats by 15, but slightly reduces your detection by mobs.
A music box that plays an alternate music track while you are crafting or riding a chocobo.