Side quests feedback

[Daniolaut]

... to keep this as short as possible....

There are far too many very very very bad side quests in this game.

It takes 54 of the following "side quests" to gain 1 level at level 53....

Side Quest Example:
Level 53 quest in Dravanian Forelands

Vath: "Please go get me tasty tasties, eggs from the Nanka"
Player: goes kills Nanka for eggs
Vath: "Oh thank you these are tasty tasties, nanka eggs so good"
/endquest

::Reward 28,800 experience points::
Experience points needed to get from 53-54: 1,500,000 something.

Please significantly reduce or completely abolish the amount of quests like this.

(If Square-Enix "must" implement these types of quests, have them grant double or tripe the amount of experience points and create far fewer ones.)

The best advice is to just make better quality quests as i feel quests like this are totally pointless. There are far far too many like this.

Thank you.

[Daniolaut]

Example of how above quest could be better implemented:

I believe the point of these types of quests is to explain a little bit of the lore of the area.

In the above used quest the player is learning that the Vath enjoy feasting upon eggs that are laid by the local wildlife, the Nanka.

This bit of information could easily be tied into another quest, as additional dialog. For example when snuffing out incense "traps?" laid by the Nath, that are made to repel the dragons, you could meet a friendly Vath who puts out one of traps you were set out to take care of, and you find him scarfing down some Nanka eggs. So two ridiculous quests combined into one, and you get to learn the lore without doing completely mind numbing quests. This makes for a slightly more engaging more realistic quest.

Instead of
Quest A "go stop these annoying traps while i lay here and do nothing"
and
Quest B "go get me eggs cause i'm too lazy to go get them myself"

You now have:
Quest C
(quest C now gives the experience points amount of both A and B.)



(if you want my honest opinion, even a quest like quest C is very very boring and pointless. The type of information being relayed in quests A, B and C should not be part of a source of leveling experience, but dialog added to random NPCs that the player can talk to as an option.)

[MistakeNot]

If you think the quests are pointless, then don't do them.
Just don't assume that your opinion is anything but that - an opinion. Personally I think those quests are neither pointless nor boring.

[Acidblood]

If you think the quests are pointless, then don't do them.

If only there was an option to turn off the markers for these sorts of quests...

Which is not to say all side quests are bad, as there are honestly some really good ones, but when they are drowned in a sea of pointless and annoying ! ! ! ! it helps no one... Also, I thought this is what Leve quests where invented for (i.e. quick quests with simple objectives for modest XP)?

[Daniolaut]

If you think the quests are pointless, then don't do them.
Just don't assume that your opinion is anything but that - an opinion. Personally I think those quests are neither pointless nor boring.

And that's exactly why the forums were created. They are here for players to voice their opinion to the development team. In fact opinions are exactly the root from which Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn was created.

Not all quests are boring. Because I do enjoy the story and some side quests, this is why I made this thread to state that there are far too many pointless and boring/overly simplistic ones among the better ones. Thus the player is pushed into doing all quests to complete the overall story.

[ManuelBravo]

You do realize side quest vary by area and XP amount is different right? If your taking a higher level job and doing a lower content side quest it makes sense, use it on a more close to level job to make it worth it. Also some side quest by doing them like in HW can get you 10 level cap from 50-60 as a way to guarantee one level max per expansion same with SB as long as your starting out with proper level and stick with that same job. If you mix jobs of course they seem pointless..

[MistakeNot]

Not all quests are boring. Because I do enjoy the story and some side quests, this is why I made this thread to state that there are far too many pointless and boring/overly simplistic ones among the better ones. Thus the player is pushed into doing all quests to complete the overall story.

So you enjoy some sidequests, but find others boring. Fair enough - not everything can be pleasing to everyone.
Are we (and the devs) supposed to just guess which ones you find boring and want changed? Because there is no way to tell from your posts.

[Wintersandman]

So you enjoy some sidequests, but find others boring. Fair enough - not everything can be pleasing to everyone.
Are we (and the devs) supposed to just guess which ones you find boring and want changed? Because there is no way to tell from your posts.

The side quests i feel are designed to work with the main scenario so people on their primary jobs don't have to fate grind, dungone spam, etc. to get to the next level.

[Niwashi]

So you enjoy some sidequests, but find others boring. Fair enough - not everything can be pleasing to everyone.
Are we (and the devs) supposed to just guess which ones you find boring and want changed? Because there is no way to tell from your posts.

No way to tell? It sounded pretty clear to me. (Unless I'm projecting a bit, which is possible, since I do agree with it.)

NPC: simple request with little to no background to it
<Player performs requested action>
NPC: ok, thanks. bye
<Quest's over. No follow-up>

That's a boring pattern. But if several are linked together (either in a quest with multiple objectives or a series of follow-up quests), and along the way you get to know more about the characters and/or where they live, forming a mini story expanding on the lore of the game, then you can put together something far more interesting.

The game has both types. Some of the sidequests here are fairly well done. Others are rather pointless. (And the "just don't do them if you don't like them" advice doesn't work because you won't know which is which until you do them. Plenty of the deeper, more involved sidequests start off with as simple of a request as the boring ones. But in the interesting ones, that then leads to something more.)

It's not too hard to measure and rate quests' quality in this regard: How many interwoven objectives are there? And how much do you learn about the characters and world in the process? If the answers are one simple objective, and you don't really learn anything, then that's a quest that needs to be improved on.


Now the OP actually had two, rather independent complaints. That boringly simple quest pattern was one of them. The other is about wanting more quest XP. Personally, I'm more interested in the former issue, but in a game that involves leveling many different jobs, both having more sidequests, and having them give a greater XP boost would be helpful.

[Sandpark]

So some are ok with quest if they are branching/cascading?
Mark the special quest with a chain and the typical marker signifying a quest chain.

I like the main story/job questing and dislike all sidequest in a game for the purpose of leveling.

The real fix for me is:
Road to 60 buff always on for every character after 1st max level.
Slight boost to world and fate enemies.

At least then the lull between dungeons can be filled with viable alternatives. Quest hub mmos became a thing because people didn't like grinding monsters, well now you grind quests which is more expensive to keep interesting with a shortage of writers and budget. I like to stumble onto side stories not be led by the nose.