How to fix the sidequests...

[deekapowski]

Alright.

Let's be honest.

There were three types of quests in ffxi:

1. The frustrating just not worth it quests. (I'm looking at you "This smooth stone is not the right weight.") If you did the quest at all it was a learning experience and you vowed to avoid it in the future.

2. The reward might be worth it quests. Usually these were the ones for gil, or for basic items. (most popular being: Tiger fangs for gil, ones that let you spam fame, and every so often there was a basic item worth the quest)

3. The reward was mandatory quests. I don't even have to give examples of these, but I will anyway: the subjob quests, advanced job quests, rse, etc. Please note that unlike the type 2 quests the type 3 quests changed the way you played the game.

Keep in mind that from ffxi to ffxiv quests are to sidequests as missions are to quests.

So here are 5 ideas to help fix the sidequests which are not very playable in their current capacity.

1. Give back the xp/sp. The xp of killing mobs while doing random quests should be at least equivalent to the xp of a mob killed while grinding. A game should never ask a player to sacrifice xp for plot. Especially when the item rewards to not equal such sacrifice, which leads to suggestion 2.

2. Upgrade the rewards. In all realism this won't happen until after the battle system and job system readjustments, but these would be suitable items that would more than make a quest worthwhile before the type 3 quests were available:

1. A one shot anima refresh item (unique)
2. A one shot repair item (unique)
3. A one shot haste item (unique)
4. Guild Marks
5. A one shot "facilities" item (unique) (would give woodyard or equiv type use)
6. An xp/sp boost item (reusable or oneshot) (unique)
7. Anything that made the PC themself more customizable (a chance to recolor an item they have)

3. The addition of a mog house type space would create the opportunity to create furniture and such which would be a fun side pursuit.

4. The fame system has been done (although it is an idea) and so has titles.

5. A completionist log. Something that said you have completed 6 out of 1800 logs. With extras for getting so far along such as Yoshi P's armor artwork, or soundtrack access. This would have people questing just for the extras.

Anyway. I believe the type three quests are coming and as long as they have a decent storyline everything will be on track. So Yoshi-P keep cracking on the battle system so we can get our awesome quests soon.

[Rau]

anima refresh would be awesome for repeatable quests.

[Meenkieblade]

Here's some of my ideas!


Quests and side quests
-Kudos for making it easy to find that NPC and area you have to go for the goal. Sure, for some it takes a bit of fun and realism out....but face it, there's a ton of sites out there that list what to do and where to go and this keeps it in-game w/o having to surf for the answers and destinations.
-COUNTERPOINT There's not enough quests to keep players happy (I know it's still kind of in a test phase). The rewards are also kind of.....too little too late. Getting a level 10 robe would have been nice a loooong time ago, not so much now. Maybe throw in bonus EXP/SP if you do the quest at a certain level range....or add the ability to restrict your level to one where the quest would be a challenge. Right now, I'm doing quests just because I can....out of boredom for an item I'll probably NPC after earning. How about adding some Key Item rewards? Like some lucky trinket that's just in your Key Item box, not taking up space, just a little boost in some small way?

[PeppinoTuna]

I love the Anima Refresh idea as a reward.

[Betelgeuzah]

1. Give back the xp/sp. The xp of killing mobs while doing random quests should be at least equivalent to the xp of a mob killed while grinding. A game should never ask a player to sacrifice xp for plot. Especially when the item rewards to not equal such sacrifice, which leads to suggestion 2.

You give absolutely no explanation for the bolded. A game can and should make it so there are multiple ways to advance your character, and side-content should be considered as such way. The item rewards do not equal the effort for the players with tens of millions of gil, which is how it should be- because the quests should help out lower rank players and those who can not get by with just money alone. You are not the target audience of these quests, and you shouldn't be. They will never get new players if they cater to your type. The reward most definitely equals the effort for those players.

The sidequests need to be made better however, even if it means they will come in smaller amounts. If the quests are of the same quality as quests found in other MMO's (that do give exp), players will make the comparison and be disappointed. Thus the quests need to be better than those found in other MMO's, and be made so that players do them because they're fun, not because CARROT. The game needs quality content, not quantity content.

[JakeRoon]

Betelgeuzah: Your point is moot.

Quests that don't give exp/sp are pointless, you can simply do Leves to get the money to buy the gear they offer AND get SP/EXP. So can new players. Yet another bad decision by SE.

[God]

Give SP/XP and quests will be fixed. As SE adds more quests they'll get better UNLESS they continue to NOT offer SP/XP.

/end thread.

[Suzaku]

There are lots of things quests could provide other than a flat XP/SP reward. Abilities, progression, useful items, fame, etc. "Fixing" quests just involves making them more varied, and having them give something useful.

SP, XP, and gil aren't the only useful things in this game, you know.

[Eruantien]

Betelgeuzah: Your point is moot.

Quests that don't give exp/sp are pointless, you can simply do Leves to get the money to buy the gear they offer AND get SP/EXP. So can new players. Yet another bad decision by SE.

Not sure how you can say quests are pointless without exp/sp, I do quests for the story generally, so the point isnt moot at all

[MANTASTIC]

Reasons to do a quest:
1) Character progression(EXP/SP etc)
2) Loot (money/gear)
3) Interesting story

The current implementation of "side quests" lacks all but one of those. While the quests and gear rewards make a bit more sense from a new players' perspective, the lack of any sort of exp means very few will find them compelling enough to do. And if you found a couple dull paragraphs of text to be an interesting story, I'm sorry, but no. Just no.

I understand the current producer is in a rush to push out content, but the reality is the people playing the game now matter far less than those who aren't. They shouldn't be pushing out this level of crap to placate the few who hang around in hopes of it getting better soon, and should instead focus on developing content that will be enjoyable for years and whatever overhauls to combat/crafting/etc they have in store.

TL,DR: Quality over quantity.