Alpha Video 4- Quests and Battle

[Wolfie]

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/To..._Not_to_Bee%3F

Here is an perfect example of a cryptic FFXI quest. The quest giver gives you no info at all because he can't talk. The game says something like . . . . . when you talk to him. Now unless you looked at the wiki you have to wonder aimlessly around town to figure out which npcs you need to talk to. Eventually find out you need to trade the guy 5 honey which drop from bees outside of town, which you probably wouldn't know if just starting the game. Then its up to you that you can't trade him all 5 honey at once but 1 at a time.

Stuff like this is archaic and won't fly in today's MMOs.

The funny part is that this quest is literally "get X of item Y and turn them in at the NPC."

[Firon]

The funny part is that this quest is literally "get X of item Y and turn them in at the NPC."

Na bro its different cause XI did it.

[Wolfie]

Na bro its different cause XI did it.

Just so I can really drive my point home about the hilarious/horrendous double standard, let me bring up the Star Onion Brigade quests which people loved.

1st quest: Bring Rarab Tail, dropped by Bumblebee, to NPC.
2nd quest: Bring 4 Wild Onion, dropped by Goblins, to NPC.
3rd quest: Bring 4 Saruta Cotton, harvested or dropped, to NPC.
*4th quest: Go to an area, get cutscene, come talk to NPC.
5th quest: Bring 1 Star Spinel, dropped by Sabotenders, to NPC.
6th quest: Bring Joker Card, from chest spawn, to NPC.
7th quest: Bring Shoalweed, dropped by Recluse Spider, to NPC.

Out of 7 quests, only one could be considered non-standard and formulaic, and that's arguable too.

[indira]

This progression you talk about I call a different kind of game. It seems like we'll have the quest-hub idea of accepting a dozen meaningless quests, going to an area, killing things / picking up items. Rinse and repeat to level up. When you have quest-hubs generally they're all the same quest with different mobs to kill and different things to pick up. I mean, if you guys hated FFXI so much I'm curious why you expected FFXIV to change into this..

I played WoW and it feels more like an arcade or something than an RPG. If you were to read any of those quests you'd bore yourself to death because it's all the same thing and nothing different ever happens. I personally liked FFXI. Forgive me for expecting another Final Fantasy. Not that I want to bring up wiki's again, but the general feel of FFXI quests was far more interesting than the quest hub idea. I'm sure other parts of the game will hold my interest but I'll miss having that feeling of actually being in a society and not just having a sandbox of helpless NPC's that need you to go fetch and kill over and over until you're 50.

Point is if the quests are like that, no one will want to read any of them including me, because they're all the same thing. I'm not abandoning ship I'm just wondering how people feel like this is evolution in an MMO.

FFXI was all grind, but it was fun back in the old days before they screwed the game up with TP burning & blm burns, now i see its 30-99 leach partys in abyessa (however you spell it). they threw you in the game and you just killed things with people while using .
modern games do it in a different way you grab a quest finsh it then look for more in the same place till your lead in another zone. they added a wall of text for you to read but i dont read it and i know im not the only one since people hit cap way before me. SWTOR changed the wall of text to voice acting i still skipped it, just for the same old kill this many mobs quest and being a stale wow clone its already doomed in less then a year.

fields of valor and things like it from FFXI hands down is the ultimate kill quest its simple, get page kill whatever is asking you to kill then get a XP chunk right after you meet your goal while grinding. then repeat without having to leave your camp you can even buy buffs with the "currency" it gives you.

[Wolfie]

This progression you talk about I call a different kind of game. It seems like we'll have the quest-hub idea of accepting a dozen meaningless quests, going to an area, killing things / picking up items. Rinse and repeat to level up. When you have quest-hubs generally they're all the same quest with different mobs to kill and different things to pick up.

You think FFXI's quests were radically different? Every quest boils down to kill X/get Y item/talk to Z person. Once you get your formula down, you build your story around it, and how good that story is dependent on how good your writers are, not the fundamentals of your quest system. The difference between WOW-style questing and FFXI-style questing is pacing and accessibility. FFXI quests few and far between, and take a long time to finish because of low drop rates or spawn rates, or because of pre-quest requirements that also take a lot of grinding. WOW quests are typically shorter and only have level requirements, but are made to combine into quest chains.

And don't think I can't tell the difference between the "Quest Helper is for dumb people, take it out!" argument, and the "I want meaningful quests!" argument. Not sure if you can though.

I mean, if you guys hated FFXI so much I'm curious why you expected FFXIV to change into this..

Yoshi-P literally said that FFXIV:ARR is going to be modeled after WOW and other successful, modern western MMOs. I'm not sure why you expect it to change into FFXI.

[Firon]

I bet the same idiots who complains about quest leveling loves to play borderlands and other things of the same nature.

[IloveYouPumpkin]

Well you just lost a bet then. >__>

Anyways enjoy your quest hub. (you won't)

[IloveYouPumpkin]

Zumi c'mon. I'm not saying I want that kind of thing to come back. I'm just saying the way it was structured made you actually care about whats going on instead of rolling through quest hubs. Did you play FFXI? That kind of thing wasn't as prevalent as some people are trying to make it out to be.

[Zumi]

Zumi c'mon. I'm not saying I want that kind of thing to come back. I'm just saying the way it was structured made you actually care about whats going on instead of rolling through quest hubs. Did you play FFXI? That kind of thing wasn't as prevalent as some people are trying to make it out to be.

Yes I did, I did almost every single quest in the game as one of the goals I had in that game. Went through wiki to clear most of them. They were pretty bad got to admit.

Link to my character
http://fanzone.playonline.com/lscom/...QEGTY3eU2M0-3D

[Alkimi]

I don't think people want one extreme or the other, but bear in mind these are really low level ones so it's nice for newcomers that they start out simple. There's nothing really wrong with a bit of hand-holding when you first start the game, it's preferable to XI's extreme opposite of 'Here's 200 gil to get you started, now gowai and be an adventurer'.

I'm sure storyline/class/job and higher level quests will have a bit more meat to them.