Wondering what others opinions are on this, but does anyone else despise escort quests? Over the years this type of quest has been in nearly every RPG I have played. They are by far the worst type of quests, not only due to how trite they are, but at a core level they are very unenjoyable.
My vote would be to not include a single escort quest, as the mechanic is overused and underwhelming. This is especially true in the scenario where you are just waiting for your new temporary NPC buddy to stop walking, and for a bunch of monsters to spawn. Truly a terrible experience.
Escort quests are terrible. They are impossible to do well, apparently, as every one I have ever encountered has been garbage.
NPCs walk too slowly, get in the way, blindly path headfirst into KOS mobs. There is no way to balance them such that they aren't entirely tedious and trivial or overly complicated and highly likely to fail. It's a waste of development time if you ask me.
Percipiens said:They're kind of meh for me, as well. So, how could they be made fun and worth it? Maybe make certain ones (and enough completions of it) required to open/access new areas?
GW2 had escort quests that led to bigger events in zones and I didn't enjoy those either. I feel that if any game could have figured out a way to make an interesting escort, it'd have been that game.
As for being made 'worth it' ... I'm not sure. A great reward is the only thing that comes to mind. Crafting recipes. A spell. Oh... I've had a thought.
A truly epic escort would be worth it. A scenario where I want to learn a new Monk ability for example and I must walk with a master for 5 km while he talks. A huge seemingly boring time sink that is only done once but has good dialogue and serves the purpose of providing me with a new attack or defense.
I wouldn't be upset about it.
I would not be highly opposed to an escort quest that doesn't involve the NPC dying due to awful pathing/engagement mechanics or only being able to move slightly slower than my walk speed so I have to keep mashing the forward button erratically in order to not outpace them.
So basically I am opposed to every escort quest.
benty said:Wondering what others opinions are on this, but does anyone else despise escort quests? Over the years this type of quest has been in nearly every RPG I have played. They are by far the worst type of quests, not only due to how trite they are, but at a core level they are very unenjoyable.
My vote would be to not include a single escort quest, as the mechanic is overused and underwhelming. This is especially true in the scenario where you are just waiting for your new temporary NPC buddy to stop walking, and for a bunch of monsters to spawn. Truly a terrible experience.
I actually enjoyed them...when they actually worked..which was rare, sadly. The concept of the escort quest was interesting enough and if designed properly I would partake in them again.
they wouldn't be so bad if they walked at the same speed you did unbuffed. That way you could take run buffs off and walk with them, or run ahead a bit if needed, or run back and forth and catch up, head off at the pass, kind of thing.
Being able to tell them to stop or go helps, too.
I have never been fond of escort quests, and wouldn't really miss them if they were gone. However, I believe 2 changes could be make to greatly improve upon them (not hard given how low that bar is).
1st - They follow you: Once they tell you where they need to go they then fall in behind you, letting you *escort* them to their destination. There will need to be some limits so you don't take them all over the zone, but this way you can decide the pathing and avoind much of the stupid they tend to blindly run into.
2nd - NPC speed matches yours: Add a script so the NPC doesn't have a single default speed, but rather their speed is variable and matches the footspeed of the one whom they are following.
I would like to escort quest where the NPC ran like Bootstrutter or whatever his name was. Haha he would out run you all the time.
But really, this comes from very basic D&D quest, always bandits and highway men causing trouble. I would not mind them if they were more random, or even led to other quest sometimes. Even make the extra quest random, sometimes an uneventful boring walk, and sometimes a big experience with random encounters.
I think when we just close our minds saying I have never liked this, dont do it anymore.... leave little chance to potentially create something new and fun.
dorotea said:Also if they help out by fighting you do *not* want them breaking crowd control - a bad habit of escortees in many games.
Better yet, just don't "help" with the fight.
Hey, NPC, you can't fight them, that's why you want me protecting you in the first place. Quit trying to get yourself (and me) killed with your horrible attempt at fighting. Just avoid, evade and don't run too far away. Let me do my job and protect your dumb butt, your job is not dying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug-DZM2bhmo ;
OK guys stand infront of the link so Kils doesn't see it...
Tigersin said:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug-DZM2bhmo ;
OK guys stand infront of the link so Kils doesn't see it...
Yes Tigersin! Love some Epic NPC Man. If anyone here hasn't seen these yet, do yourself a favor and look it up.
EDIT: Adding info
That clip brings up another fix needed. Besides making the NPC's walk speed = PC walk speed. NPC needs ablility to clitch/phase through object to maintain proper follow distance from escorting PC.
benty said:Wondering what others opinions are on this, but does anyone else despise escort quests? Over the years this type of quest has been in nearly every RPG I have played. They are by far the worst type of quests, not only due to how trite they are, but at a core level they are very unenjoyable.
My vote would be to not include a single escort quest, as the mechanic is overused and underwhelming. This is especially true in the scenario where you are just waiting for your new temporary NPC buddy to stop walking, and for a bunch of monsters to spawn. Truly a terrible experience.
The only way that I would consider an escort quest and by my description I don't know if this would be one would be if for example there was a hidden dungeon that had some great loot for people between level 15-30 or whatever but the only way to access this dungeon, you'd have to find an NPC that would be willing to guide you on a complicated route where you have to avoid aggro through a dangerous zone (Valley of Giants or something terrifying that had mobs 45+) Only once you've reached the end, he unveils a secret entrance that you'll have access to once the quest is completed so you'll have both access and an understanding of the route to get there safely. You could possibly build faction around this NPC or something, requiring a certain level of favor before for he will trigger the quest, but that would be the only type of "escort" quest I would consider.
I made a post over in the "In One Word - Questing"
Baldur said:6. Finally, the dreaded escort quest. Depending on NPC design and zone design these can feel tolerable, or "Please. God. Kill. Me. NOW!" Classic WoW had Two of these things in Tanaris which I vividly remember and not for good reasons. One of which involved escorting a robot chicken from one end of the zone to the other and the other involved escorting a turtle from one end of the zone to the other. I hated both, but the turtle was the worst because if you didn't stay on top of him he would reset back to his starting location. Then you toss in the fact that Tanaris was a PvP zone and these two quests became that much more of a pain to complete.
I have experienced a number of escort quests over the years in various games. There are 3 escort events that I vividly remember because they were all a massive pain. The two that I mentioned above were the worst Quests that I remember and they were both back in WoW's classic days. The third came in Legion when they went one step further and implemented the Mage Tower Challenge for healers. This was the worst thing I have ever experienced, and while it was more of a challenge than a quest it fits under the escort line of thinking. Any healer deciding to try their luck with this line was placed with 3 NPCs (A tank, rogue, and mage), and these 3 NPCs were basically made out of paper, didn't have the coding to manage interrupts or CC, and should one of them fall the challenge was over. The healer in this event was basically in charge of managing heals (again these NPCs were paper), kiting mobs, and working in interrupts as well as DPSing not that there was much downtime to do this.
I could go on about the Mage Tower because I thoroughly hated it, its concept, and its overall implementation. But back to escort quests and events.
As I said under the other topic these can feel tolerable, or "Please. God. Kill. Me. NOW!" I don't think I have ever experienced an escort quest in any game that I would consider fun and engaging. They were either "O.K that's done", or "Please, just let this end".
When you start talking about the NPCs themselves in terms of their walk speed, breaking CC, aggroing mobs that aren't even near them, and the constant annoying reminders to slow down or "Help I'm under attack" these things themselves add more of an annoyance factor. I think that players are well more than aware of where that NPC is, and what is attacking that NPC.
I think that it might be cool to see an escort like event pop up. In this event, an NPC is attacked and ambushed by a group of mobs and players can stumble upon this event. The player(s) would then have to clear the mobs that attacking this NPC, and these mobs could come in waves. However, after the player is done defending this NPC the NPC will continue on their way alone without requiring the player to stay by their side. This event could mimic an escort like feel, without actually including any of the frustrations that come with these quests.
this is how i feel about escort quests
and i'm indifferent about kill quests.
oh and i would still have escort quests. a good mix is nice. makes you appreciate the other types a bit more. besides some ppl like escort quests.
Whether the NPC follows or leads, the problem is that the NPC AI is what will make escort quests challenging or frustrating.
IF- VR can pull off a smart, enjoyable, escort quest, nice. Otherwise, please don’t even go there.
