I hope there are many side quests. Most requiring thought and maybe a little math or something from time to time. I think they usually should be more than a kill X many of this and that quest. The more involved quests should give out meaningful rewards and exp.
One quest that was awesome was the "999 year old port" quest in EQ2 , a fine example of a good quest line. was about level 18 ish I think.
I know the official quest definition (Kilsin posted it twice) but my opinion is that anything NOT directly related to your EPIC quest is a side quest to me. I like the way EQ1 handle it. Quests were rare and very rewarding. I enjoyed stumbling across a quest. It was a rare and exciting moment. If you heard about a quest (jboots, ring, etc) you went out of your way to try to find it. The only exception to this is game introduction/ tutorial. If you can combine Age of Conan's introduction to EQ1 that would be a happy place for me quest-wise. I also want balance: if there are a few item rewards (clickies are amazing) then don't forget about having a couple neat tradeskill and lore quests. Bottom line, I prefer sitting back with my group/guildmates killing stuff for experience -- NOT questing.
Side quests are a must have in my opinion. I do not think VR has any intention of doing this, but do not overload the users with an over-abundance of side quests, because the sheer volume dilutes the enjoyment of the quests over-all.
I look forward to the perception system allowing characters to pick up on side quests as we encounter different areas during exploration. There is such a good opportunity to inject lore and immersive content into side quests! I enjoy side-quests that are meaningful in building the world around you (or atleast its believability) and that task you with some sort of task that makes sense in context. I truly look forward to the npc conversation direction we will encounter in the side quests with the possibility of affecting the outcome of the quest line story or faction/loot gained.
I think VR understands the important tie between side quests and world building and I look forward to experiencing it for the first time!
Personally I think side quests are key to immersion and repeatability of game play. I especially enjoy quests that delve into the lore of a particular area or enhance the player's knowledge of a type of mob. Side quests allow for different emotional draws; they can be humorous, dark, or change your reputation with a faction. The fact that they are optional helps players maintain that sense of sandbox freedom. I can get distracted for hours following a line of quests that do nothing more than help some little old lady find her missing cat as long as it is engaging and well written. Also, randomly encountering a quest that I haven't done before quickly gets me re-invested in the game if I am playing an alt.
I think the perception mechanic will greatly enhance questing, but even more so in terms of side quests assuming that perception notifications are individual and not group oriented then it will encourage more communication and discussion in players. For example:
If my group is heading toward an objective and along the way the crusader hears a faint cry for help from somewhere off the path, he would need to commmunicate with the group, did you hear that? Maybe other group members perceptions were triggered , perhaps not. Does the crusader convince the party to detour and seek out the source of the call? Maybe that particular side quest has a timer, once the perception is triggered if the player doesn't respond in time the event becomes locked, the victim succumbs to the attackers.
In a similar fashion if the group were traveling near a quarry and the perception triggered for everyone that the ground begins to shake. The cleric asks did you feel that? As everyone acknowledges the notification it becomes obvious that investigating the quarry might be a good idea.
Looted items could also trigger side quests, as you search the kobold's belongings you find a rune covered stone. The stone feels unusually cold and heavy in your hands perhaps someone could tell you more about its origin. The perception system allows players to share information or not. The player may keep the rune to himself to explore the quest later on his own or he might mention it to the group to see if other kobolds carry the same type of stone.
I love side-quests. Let's say you pick up a side-quest to kill bears off in some woodland area. Now while the quest might pay you a little for the bear fur etc., I find these small side-quests the perfect opportunity to find something bigger. Say while killing the bears and on this quest they get a 75% chance to find an item that starts another quest. Now THIS quest might not be a simple little side-quest. It might be the start of something big...
Yes, meaningful quests are awesome. Velius from EQ1 had my favorite quests and I spent days and weeks working on them (not all at once, just here and there). They were like mini-epics to me. My favorites were the "Eyepatch of Plunder" and the "Eighth Ring". Jboots was another classic.
These quests were hard, and were not meant to get you a few levels as you slaughtered bunnies. Had to have crafting, camp many rare spawns, have a good group for certain events or even raids.
If the side quests you mean are small quests that give a small amount of coin, xp or faction; then yes, more the merrier.
I always enjoyed side quests that introduced crafting. Instead of just going to a trainer, picking up a profession and then grinding to max level, I enjoyed the immersion of being sent to do certain tasks or find certain things to advance or learn a tradeskill or professsion, rather than it be just given to you. It also helped alleviate the repetition of just grinding to advance in those levels.
Big fan.
The "give a tooth to me and get exp" I did not really like and did few- the repetativeness - even though the exp was good- took away from the game. I could not understand those that would only get belts or tooths ad nauseum until full when there were other places ot explore at the appropriate age. I was not in a rush.
But the ones that told little stories or had a dramatic element (necessarily, contrived) I enjoyed and put my whole heart into. Son missing? oh!. Spurned boyfirend/girlfriend, oH!. Wretch, shunned by society- boo-hoo-hoo!. Beg charity for the temple/convert the fisherman- OH!
Nephretiti said:I love side-quests. Let's say you pick up a side-quest to kill bears off in some woodland area. Now while the quest might pay you a little for the bear fur etc., I find these small side-quests the perfect opportunity to find something bigger. Say while killing the bears and on this quest they get a 75% chance to find an item that starts another quest. Now THIS quest might not be a simple little side-quest. It might be the start of something big...
Wonder how many of those would be "shareable". ? I know there were a lot of quest that you could find from mob drops that you couldn't share, which meant that your friend had to go out there and kill those mobs for hours to get that same drop to be able to join you. :( Some bosses would do the same.