Player feedback: Please rate the last batch of quests and explain why

I'm concerned that SE isn't asking "How did we do?" enough. Yoshi-P has said that a 2nd wave of quests is on the way, but do they know how their first batch of quests did with the players?

My rating: 2/10
Reason: Simple quests. Same premise each time. Irrelevant reward. No higher context or meaning to performing any of them. A true chore to complete for completionism's sake.

To me, the last series of quests brought the game's overall rating down because they didn't actually add content. They added pseudocontent.

I wouldn't go so low as a 2/10. For me, I'd put it more at 4/10.

Each quest gives some impression of the day-to-day activities of some Eorzeans, be they in or outside a guild. Some personalities come through as does some indications of what people do to keep their society ticking.

This is, however, overshadowed by the "go here and kill eight of these" repetition. After you've done a couple of the side quests, you know what's coming with the next one and it kind of kills the suspense (unless you get the odd different quest, such as the one obtainable from inside the Conjurer's guild, which was fun for me because I found it unique).

2/10 sounds about right. Did them all and felt like i should be getting fame for them like in 11. lol "pseudocontent"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Enthy

2/10 sounds about right. Did them all and felt like i should be getting fame for them like in 11. lol "pseudocontent"

---

Omg no dont not say fame again they may decide to be evil and bring that back lol. ><

~Hides Cataplut Post~

7/10

They are a typical Side quest no worse no better then any other mmo out there. Typical go Collect X go kill Y quest.

What's wrong with fame? They don't have to make it a yag necklace grind, but it would be welcome goal-oriented activity right now.

In FF, a sidequest was an optional arc that augmented your character's development in significant ways or gave you big backstory that mattered. I'll do a Fallout quest because I feel it needs done for the world even if there's no other point. Quests don't have to be like this. I don't even know what *this* is supposed to be.

I'm not killing moles just because they annoy a NPC, so says the text. That's poor entertainment. There is no farm with moles on it. That NPC doesn't have cabbages. The moles he says are bothering him are clearly out in the middle of nowhere bothering no one. You don't find the guy later in ragged clothes asking for food and water because moles ruined his livelihood. He's still asking passers-by to kill moles in exchange for his endless supply of cowls. Tell ya what NPC, how about you start selling cowls instead of cabbage. You obviously are better at that.

The whole thing is ridiculous. Who is making these horrible standards, why are we doing this to ourselves, and why isn't anyone stepping up to the plate and making QUALITY quests any more when it is honestly not that hard?

If I were a videogame developer and entertainer, I would be ashamed that I produced such industry shovelware. Shovelware. I've been looking for something to call this kind of ridiculous product for product sake. That's what it is. The game itself isn't shovelware, but that batch of quests was definitely shovelware.

We gotta wake up here, folks. People argue well these are the basic ones. These are the easiest ones. It only gets better.

Are they? Does it? Just because they're the first quests doesn't mean they have to be horrible pieces of entertainment. Nothing, zero about making quests says that the first ones have to be as bad as those are. The dev team is not going to be beaten with a whip if they develop fun quests with meaning from the start.

I think with all the more important things that need fixed, we kindof let these quests slip by without boxing the devs' ears on them. They're shovelware, and shovelware only works as a product if the producer knows they'll never see you again and don't care.

8/10. For the first batch it was good enough. We get single quests, small quest series, quests that fight, quests that you just need to search NPC points and, in special, a quest R45 from Ul'dah that i liked alot. I don't think its that complex now that the respawn rate became slower, but when i did it was very fun...it was like an infinite army of fomors (corpses...idr the name of those undeads here), evryone like the other and you had to find mixed with them one that was equipping an staff. It was a quest even a r50 could just brute force finish...they needed to think, like pulling the dude near entrance, waiting they reset and then grabbing the correct mob.

4/10. The rewards weren't designed for people with 10 million gil and all the good stuff, they were designed for people starting the game. For that purpose, they did well enough.

But the fact is that they were too simple. The storylines and objectives could be fleshed further, even if it means less quests over-all. I don't think there is a need for so many quests if it brings the quality down. It's not like we are going to be ranking up via these quests, they are "sidequests" after all. We need only so many that we (or rather, the new people joining in) are entertained by them in between doing leves and or monster grinding. Right now they are too simple to accomplish that.

So what I would suggest, is to flesh out the quests and make less of them over-all (per update). One well-made quest is better than five generic quests. They will add up over the months. They shouldn't be too far behind the class and main scenario quests.

3/10. I agree those rewards are lame, would be great if they reward huge amount of Animas or Crystal shards instead of items. My 2 gils.

Reward is way to small even for beginners.
Thinking about the Rank 15 Quest for a Brass Chocker, which can be bought for 2.000gil an has nearly all stat benefits even at Rank 10.

Reward should be money, exp or anima or rare items like the +1,+2,+3 ones.
Otherwise you can simply read the introduction for informations about the world.

A fun idea would be a reward, f.e. based on time to complete.
If you fail the terms you get the item we are getting now.
If you complete it you get an +1
If you do it good you get an +2
If you do it very good you get an +3.

This would also ad (finaly) a challange to the game and a certain amount of thrill, doing quests.
It would also add a bit of fame to players, because peoeple with +3 stuff would be known for mastering quests very good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ssppiikkeeyy

Omg no dont not say fame again they may decide to be evil and bring that back lol. ><

~Hides Cataplut Post~

---

lol /comfort

I would give them a 5/10. Still need to reward with a nice chunk of experience. I'm a bit more concerned about experience, then I am about gear. :P

The quest were standard as far as MMO's go, what made them annoying and monotonous was the travel time, but this could be said for the main story and class quests aswell.

It's quite irritating when 70% of the quest is running there and back.

Most other MMO's have small camps of NPC's which give out quests close to their proximity, FF14 on the other hand requires you to go all the way back to the city for quests, mission, leves, all of it, its really bothersome.

If you wana make some interesting quest why not have quest at the hamlets and their surrounding area's, at least it would make it worth while going there.

Are these really standard for the genre?
This wouldn't fly in an offline RPG as content. It certainly wouldn't fly in any other genre.
Are we really saying we have come to accept low standards in kind of side content in MMOs and something is ripe for revolutionary change?

Sounds like a job for this exact game.

Eh, I say 7/10.

Sure, all the low rank fetch quests were nothing special, and overly simple - but I doubt they are intended to keep the r50s entertained. Still, some of the dialogue was amusing at least, especially the method of bridge repair in Limsa.

I found the r30 quests to be quite fun for side quests and I'm looking forward to the r40+ ones.

What I would change: I would like it better if they had reduced the number of mobs that spawn for the fetch quests and confine them a little more. Every quest had a great deal of them scattered around - some of these get in the way of regular grinding and leves. I'd also rather see exp/sp rewarded upon completion of the quest instead of the mob's demise.

Would like to see quests given out at the hamlets and villages too.

I think the quests are fine. They are what they are. Although I dont think they are really intended for any of us who have been playing since beta. I think they would be a nice change of pace for someone new who's ranking up a job for the first time. Im betting that most of us who were ocd enough to do all the quests have at least 1 rank 50 job and breezed through everything in one or two days. These quests and the rewards definately seemed more tailored to someone new on their first playthrough to rank 50.

Poor.
What Square has done is create a overly structured system that feels stale and repetitive. The dynamic nature of the quests I enjoyed from what little I played of XI is suffocated by the standardized uninteresting tales of XIV's NPCs meager troubles with the wildlife. In XI, each quest I experienced felt carefully and lovingly made, while the Quests here feel like someone just plugged in some statistics and a quick story into their standard quest system to their as an excuse for more content. Yes It's there, but it's hardly engaging. The whole thing just feels so...bureaucratic and mundane.

Now mind you, in XI I only got to around level 20, but what I did play, I thoroughly enjoyed and I was happy to continue playing because I knew I had new places and exciting stories to look forward to. All in all I've just come to wonder why I'm even bothering to move forward. What's my goal? What do I have to look forward to and why am I wasting my time if I've already experienced the grand bulk of what this game has to offer.

I'm sorry for going on a tangent and falling out of subject, but I am just starting to get annoyed by the direction and snail pace the development is going. I want it to be good, and I believe it still can be good, but I believe Square needs to try to make the game feel more dynamic and less like completing corporate tasks. It feels less like a fantasy adventure and more like work.

The only small problem was the rewards. As for the quest themselves, they were entertaining if you actually read the text, included some good snippets of lore, and they were perfectly in line with what anyone with logic could expect from the first batch of SIDE-quests. Fastest to implement -> Fastest to release. Easy peasy.

It's laughable when I see people comparing them to FFXI, and completely forget the fact that FFXI didn't just have quests with cutscenes and all, but actually had a lot of quests exactly like those, just with text and fighting (exactly like every other MMORPG out there, mind you).
Some people simply don't know how to keep their expectations in check.

Finally, just LOL at the completely arbitrary distinction between "content" and "pseudocontent".
Sorry mate, content isn't "pseudocontent" just because you aren't interested in it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Are these really standard for the genre?

---

They are. Basically every MMORPG out there has several quests like those (and most of the times way worse writing).

Quote:

---

This wouldn't fly in an offline RPG as content. It certainly wouldn't fly in any other genre.

---

You mustn't have played many offline PRGs lately. Dragon Age 2, for instance, has *plenty* quests like those.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Abriael

It's laughable when I see people comparing them to FFXI, and completely forget the fact that FFXI didn't just have quests with cutscenes and all, but actually had a lot of quests exactly like those, just with text and fighting (exactly like every other MMORPG out there, mind you).
Some people simply don't know how to keep their expectations in check.

---

Now hold your horses. Sidequests in XI where wide and varied and required more than just running out to set point X and killing Y creatures. In one Quest you had to find certain sad during a sandstorm. In another requires you making a particularly tricky journey to a gravesite. And those are just off the top of my head. I suppose what I'm asking for is more variation in design and execution. Something to make the world seem more alive and interesting.
I can understand it takes time to get these things done. But I would rather be stuck with a few Spectacular sidequests then many mediocre ones.

Quote:

---

You mustn't have played many offline PRGs lately. Dragon Age 2, for instance, has *plenty* quests like those.

---

I would not use DA2 as an example of a great RPG. But that's just me.

I honestly hate quests without lore, even if they are side quests. Is it so hard to make a couple of quests like protect zone x, patrol zone y, help z doing @? Had lore to it, side lore that has something to do with the town you are and help you understand its context on the world you are in. Also some voice acting would be great.

overall 2/10

I would say 3/10 at best

Game needs so much more content/quests, i even miss the little quests from 11 (fame ones) hand in 3 flint stones for 200gil etc
I liked doing that more than just npc'ing the drops i didnt need. Some quests need to be repatable to, if i spend time in one area leveling/grinding nice to think some of the drops/ mob kills are going towards a quest.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gramul

Now hold your horses. Sidequests in XI where wide and varied and required more than just running out to set point X and killing Y creatures.

---

Of course there were. And they were released over several years of development. There also are *plenty* quests in FFXI exactly like the sidequests we have for now in FFXIV.
Same in basically every other MMORPG in the market.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Xatsh

7/10

They are a typical Side quest no worse no better then any other mmo out there. Typical go Collect X go kill Y quest.

---

This sums up nicely how I feel about the quests. At least, now that quest mobs award loot and XP. Previous to that I'd have to go with 5/10 I'd rate them at a "C-". Would love some "A" quests.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Abriael

Same in basically every other MMORPG in the market.

---

And I think that's my biggest problem with it and other RPGs, MMO or otherwise at the moment.

i couldnt rate it because i did one and never looked back.

Gotta say, I'm liking these new quests much more. A lot more involvement and variety.
Also like how they referenced the size change of the monsters in "The Unheard Horizon". Very clever SE. I approve.

New quest I would give a 7.5 out of 10. They are better then the first ones by a decent amount in both lore and substance wise. Still would like to see them be more involved then your typical mmo. But as they stand now they are your typical side quest with some pretty decent writing, so slightly above average I would say.

Add some instances to help with the story and get more creative with the quest objectives and I would really enjoy them. I would like to see some party based quest as well put in where you need to do things with others too.

1/10
Low reward, boring quests.
30+min running for 1 hp potion does not worth even in lv1.

Newly developed MMO why use old quest system?
Watch Guild Wars 1 or 2. This is how quests should work. There every quest has its story, give a nice reward, even title too.

5/10.

Good writing, decent amount of lore, still a lack of substance and variety. Better than the last batch. Keep improving!

Writing 4/10 there are no characters to get attached to everything feels disconnected from the gameplay

Music 0/10 as there are no cutscenes there isn't any event related music either and that makes all of the stories lack emotions where as XI quests were full of them

Cutscenes 0/10 not much to write about here

Gameplay 4/10 No variety and no freedom on how to complete these tasks. Would it be too much to ask a player find a location based on the NPCs description alone or ask the player to deliver a crafted item and let them find out themselves how to craft it or buy it? None of these appear in the game and all the fights are so laughably easy that I don't really know who they were created for. Surely most players bought the game last year and are by now at least r30. Maybe these quests are just made for the future players of XIV...

Presentation 3/10 The leve-screen in every NPC quest makes listening to the NPC completely worthless. It doesn't really matter what score I give to writing as the system makes reading it absolutely redundant. How about colored highlighted text for the key terms and items like in every FF title and take away these stupid leve screens completely. All the leves feel the same and it's not the purpose of quests to be an exact copy of that system. Really SE.

Overall 3/10 At least they're better than the first batch but there's a long way to go because the general attitude in quest design seems to favor very lazy design choices.

Well, for 1.17 quests i'd give a 9/10. They were very few quests, but i liked the spawn mechanics used on them to trigger the monster groups. Its indeed a good alternative for instanced areas.

It could be 10/10, but the lack of real company content left e a bit frustrated with the quests, so i'm taking one point for this.

They were okay, but it's mostly lore. The next batch of quests should be stuff involved in Companies. Hopefully lots of new game features.

New quests are much better, liked the storyline in the first company quests, I feel what SE should be doing with these quests are making them chain together, which no doubt the company quests will do.

If you feel as if you have an actual continuing objective you are more like to try and complete it to see what happens next.

Side-quests should be just as involving as the main story quests although without the cutscenes etc. (I say that based on the fact that developers don't have the time)

7/10 on the latest quests.

I've done the Ul'dah batch and loved them (heading to Limsa now). You get the feeling something is happening. I especially liked the one you get from the Milvaneth Sacrarium. Our Hatching-tide quests are also somewhat foreboding.

9/10 for me. Reason for not 10 - I want this type of stuff to continue and not stop.

Personally, I'd put it around 8/10. Sure, they were pretty much your typical sidequests, but I enjoyed the lore within them. They did a good job giving off the impression that the Garlean menace is just about to lower the boom.

The last quests as in the ones that give you a pretty good picture of the Garlean Empire and "something might happen"? I loved the first 4 I've done to be honest with you, I give them a 8/10...they're exactly what they should be. Some I dislike obviously but in every game I've played I've never enjoyed every single quest, have you? I loved, for instance, "Winds of Change" quest in Limsa Lominsa - it was a little different than the other ones and gave you this image of the Garlean Empire and their ongoings (don't wanna spoil it for anyone so I wont say more).

Here's how I see it - its obvious side quests aren't a top priority for SE right now, they're probably pooling majority resources into Companies and Dungeons and Battle System revamp so what they're probably doing in the mean time is releasing quests they can get out the game quickly while they work on other, more comprehensive quests that are probably a lot more unique. Either way, these are your typical MMO quests, but just out of curiosity what were you expecting that these upset you?

They also seem to be building up to something, so that when major changes to happen, we don't go "gosh where did that come from?"

Give something that is worth are time to do these run arounds. The rewards are lame, i would prefer XP and SP to the items you get.

I like the rewards. Quests shouldn't be only about rewards. The info these quests gave to us are the real reward of them...its like FFXI's serpent generals quests...the info (and the cutscenes...but these ones hhere had no CS at all...) is what makes them worth doing ^^

The 2nd batch of quests seem similar to the first, but it looks like they kick off an optional or required story line, which is promising. An improvement to 6/10 for me. I'd still like to see more involved alternate arcs with useful rewards at the end of the chains. An overarching fame system with endgame fame content at the end would also be promising. I don't want to see fame grinding on yag necklaces again, but a system based on how many quests you've done for a city would be nice. Then, say at the highest level of fame you can participate in your standard fare of endgame repeatable quests with some gimmick point system where you can purchase neat items with or something. Teleport wands. Gob bags. SP rings. JSE accessories, what have you.