Question on Quests;

[Otfan125]

Was not thinking about posting this and making my own mind about it, but I figure that a general discussion on the topic may be helpful for some who are trying to develop an open server...

Most quests that I see on some OTs are very simple in most cases... For example, and I'm exaggerating, some quests are simply "Hi, quest, yes" and then the quest is to go to some place and kill a boss and return to the NPC and say "hi, reward" (no bye cause players are rude)...

This does not seem, at least to me, fun at all ! But, do players really care about having a well thought quest, with dialogue with interesting things you can say back to the npc, which can end up in different quest tasks and/or conversation? I'm picturing quests like the ones you see in Oblivion, Runescape, Skyrim, Tibia-RL...
Maybe some appreciate the creativity behind coming up with a good short story, drama, tragedy, comedy, etc... but I fear that some players just want the reward at the end and will get upset that they have to READ the conversation with the NPC to get the quest done...

now that I think about it, some quests in rl-tibia are pretty lame as well, "Hi, quest, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, You're quest log as been updated" (no bye cause players are rude).

 

[Astir Lotus]

A well tought out quest is ofcourse much more fun than a.
Hi, get me 5 berries by killing those things over there.

But you can not have 1 or even 10 quests like this. And at the same time have quests that are just fetching items because lols.
Personally I don't like when quests are very alike others.
But in order to keep players interested in these quests by reading dialouge, it actually must have any meaning behind it, otherwise you could just paste lorem ipsum.

For quests to be interesting, you need an interesting server. Like, you could have some old ass ruins in the middle of a forest. And alot of npcs will respond when you are asking about it, but just a very few might give you small quests for it. Maybe even building up to bigger quests.
And you could also use your questlog as a form of journal. The npc might say
NPC : "There are stories about a ruins somewhere east of New Yolk. Alot of people don't belive in it and just say that the stories are just fairy tales.... But I believe there might be something, or. I want to."
The player asks for a story "Stories".
NPC : "Mhmm, yes. The stories say there used to be rituals going on long ago,. Druid summonings, gatherings... " more of story that might reveal secrets.
The players questlog is updated with some descripton with the like of
"Npc told me about some story to the east of New Yolk, deep inside a forest. Druid summonings and stuff".

I have seen servers that just do quest chests. Long ass monster quests. hi quest yes. Most servers are basically a do this and get loot! Is it worth it? only if you are between level x - y, and vocation z.

For rewards to be rewarding they can't really be to get a sword that is really powerful for 5 levels, and then you can go get another one. You could give something like a blessing that will increase base damage against monsters or something. Make it worth going on a level 60 quest, as a level 90.
Party quests.

Rich story, interesting cities, a map to explore. Dangers to find, loot, simple help me quests. Advances help me quests that turns into killing a big ass boss at the end. Quests giving you spells or blessings instead of wands.

But in the end, if the server gets big enough. A wiki will appear and tell you everything. So it will become hi, quest, yes ,yes, story, yes, yes.
But there is always players that enjoy story and exploring. But it have to be worth doing it. Sometimes it's just worth doing it once. Others, you do it on every character.

TLR
For quests to be interesting, add lore behind it. Add lore behind the map, think about stuff. Don't make every answer to an npc be yes.
I guess that sums it up.

 

[Yamaken]

I think a mix of easy lame chest quests + quests that only relies on talking with npcs and questlog + hard to figure out quests is nice. They can all have a lore which is fits their depth.

 

[Night Wolf]

I highly recommend you this channel if you want to do the best game you could:
(Check the series of this one)

 

[Otfan125]

I highly recommend you this channel if you want to do the best game you could:

Watching now, thanks! I had to check if I had 2x play speed lol

 

[Night Wolf]

I've made an edit for you to check the whole series of quest design, and also the one about skinner box

 

[Kuzyn]

To make dialogues with NPCs and quests more interesting you can do it by expanding dialogue system:


About quests in general, it depends on the players. Some people just want to grind and fight pvp/pve, others dont need to rush everything and want to "feel" and enjoy the world. On our server we're trying to make different quests but it doesnt work everytime, sometimes people get lost in a mystery or get frustrated because of some conditions set to quest.
You can mix many elements or just pick one of them: talks with different npcs, fedex quest (bring me x, deliver to y), boss, team boss, boss with complicated mechanic (different ways to kill it, phases that changes behaviour), summoning something, hidden rope hole, puzzles with tips in environment or in a book, lanterns/levers/other machines, sneaking, tricky dialogues with multiple choices which may result with different ending depending on specific choice or accumulated points, usage of some tools (pick crowbar/hammer/saw and do x/y), escort of ceature/npc etc., force players to do something on specific time of a game.

 

[Nemphis]

Dont stick with 1 type of quest, do different ones.

• random chests
• deliver z to y
• kill 20 trolls(not more, rl tibia with their 2500 kills is crazy and stupid or 6666 Demons(I mean cmon, wtf))
• loot x amount of y creature product
• pick flowers
• find ores
• puzzle quests
• exploration quests
• secret rope/pick spots
• craft x item
• protect area for x minutes
• fetch status reports from npcs
• story quests

rewards could be

• Gold
• skills
• bunch of exp so its worth the time
• weapons/armors
• useful gadgets
• spells
• equipment(light shovel, pick, backpacks)
• reputation(if you use a system like this)
• Training weapons
• Furniture
• Outfits and addons
• mounts
• access to boat
• price discounts from npcs
• access to more quests
• temporary buffs that lasts x hours(could be damage increase by y% or until death)
• custom currencies that a player can recieve and then use in a special shop on w/e he wants.
• upgrade item/enchant item

Have fun with your quests