Hi, I'm trying to find a game to play that doesn't depend on quests. I'm not necessarily looking for a sandbox; I'm not a super-hardcore gamer. I just don't like quests. I don't really care for lobby games, and I would prefer F2P. Also, something relatively modern and looks kinda nice. Any suggestions?

Originally posted by noseforauto

Hi, I'm trying to find a game to play that doesn't depend on quests. I'm not necessarily looking for a sandbox; I'm not a super-hardcore gamer. I just don't like quests. I don't really care for lobby games, and I would prefer F2P. Also, something relatively modern and looks kinda nice. Any suggestions?

Free2play games that don't rely on quaest are more often the older type so Last Chaos, Silk Road Online, Twelve Sky 2 (has 4 faction PvP), Rappelz, the problem is modern free2play games are really all going quest or event based really. OH! and GW2 is totally quest based you just don't access a quest giver, it will cure world poverty though. 

A lot of Asian free-to-play MMOs don't rely on questing.  Instead, they expect you to grind for hours and hours just to gain one level.  Some of them even include botting programs built in so you don't really play the game.  You just leave your computer on and pay real money for potions to keep the bot going.

Without questing, what is there?  I think that only leaves grinding on the same mobs until your eyes bleed to gain levels.  When questing is done well, it doesn't become tedious.  Those are the games I would prefer to play.

Note:  Dark Age of Camelot is probably the only game that made grinding a faster method of leveling than questing.  You miss a lot of good story that way, but if you've already played through it, you may not care to see it again.

Originally posted by Isometrix
Ummmm... there's this little game called Guild Wars 2 coming out next week, maybe you've heard it mentioned in a back alley somewhere. Fits your description.

but how do you define quest, in that case?

GW2 event are very similar to quest, just open group instead of closed.

same standard task is being done as well.

Originally posted by Calerxes

Originally posted by noseforauto

Hi, I'm trying to find a game to play that doesn't depend on quests. I'm not necessarily looking for a sandbox; I'm not a super-hardcore gamer. I just don't like quests. I don't really care for lobby games, and I would prefer F2P. Also, something relatively modern and looks kinda nice. Any suggestions?

 

Free2play games that don't rely on quaest are more often the older type so Last Chaos, Silk Road Online, Twelve Sky 2 (has 4 faction PvP), Rappelz, the problem is modern free2play games are really all going quest or event based really. OH! and GW2 is totally quest based you just don't access a quest giver, it will cure world poverty though. 

Haha, thanks for the list. I'll check them out.

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Originally posted by Isometrix Ummmm... there's this little game called Guild Wars 2 coming out next week, maybe you've heard it mentioned in a back alley somewhere. Fits your description.

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Gw2 seems pretty quest-based to me. Last time I checked, I'm still collecting stuff, escorting people, or killing a certain amount of respawning enemies. Honestly, it didn't really feel all that different to me. Giving trite activities more "context" doesn't really help. I'm sure I'll play it some, seeing as I already bought it, but I wasn't all that impressed.

Hey OP, can you quickly explain WHY you dislike quests? I understand that almost all MMOs use some form of  questing/missions, so I'm wondering what it is about the actual questing you dislike.

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Originally posted by Psychow Hey OP, can you quickly explain WHY you dislike quests? I understand that almost all MMOs use some form of  questing/missions, so I'm wondering what it is about the actual questing you dislike.    

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The fact that they are just boring tasks is only half of it. My main issue with them is that they are often indicative of a game's lackluster design (i.e. the game itself is so boring that they need to manufacture goals for the players). I just can't really get into an MMO that tells me what to do every step of the way. Games that have contrived, quantized objectives usually lack anything beyond them. Those kinds of games feel really restrictive, because they don't want you to do anything beyond what the game allows. There are leveled zones, overly-balanced classes/builds that all feel the same, and monsters are treated like nothing more than bland obstacles between each goal that the game sets for you. There is absolutely no sense of discovery or exploration. It's like exploring my back yard. At least with old grinders, there was a sense of wonderment; you weren't being corralled from area to area being told to perform mundane tasks. In quest-based games, I'm not really motivated to explore (by explore, I mean move to the next zone) because I already have a pretty good idea of what's there... more boring quests and tasks. Sadly, quests are just the norm now. You either have high-budget questing games, or low-budget hardcore sandbox games. There used to be more of a middle ground. It seems like all games these days are designed around a target audience, and that can be fine; it's how companies strive to make a profit. Games weren't always like that, though. Some games were just made, and the audience found them. I think someday a game is going to be made like that. It's going to take a huge risk, be vastly different, and it's not going to give a shit what Joe the Douchebag wants; it's just going to be a game that's designed around a set of ideals that have continuity. And it's going to blow the market away.

Originally posted by noseforauto

overly-balanced classes/builds

There is no such thing.

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Originally posted by Quirhid

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Originally posted by noseforauto overly-balanced classes/builds

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There is no such thing.

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Yes, and no. There's never going to be perfect "balance" obviously, but point is that the developers strive for the perfect balance, and it makes games boring as hell. Part of the problem is that 99% of games only operate on DPS metric, meaning that everything has to be balanced in accordance with damage/rate. There needs to be more to combat. Not only would it be less need to balance the system, but it would be much easier for horizontal expansion instead of the typical exponential vertical climb.

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Originally posted by Isometrix
Ummmm... there's this little game called Guild Wars 2 coming out next week, maybe you've heard it mentioned in a back alley somewhere. Fits your description.

but how do you define quest, in that case?

GW2 event are very similar to quest, just open group instead of closed.

 

same standard task is being done as well.

this is not entirely accurate.

i suggest you check out aerowyn's videos: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/359874/Aerowyns-Video-Compilation-of-ALL-things-Guild-Wars-2.html

the differences between standard ! questing in many games and GW2s DEs can not be boiled down to "open group instead of closed."  linearity, reward, and several other elements outlined in that post i linked should explain well why maybe GW2 will be what the OP is looking for or not.  

edit: you also have to take into account how these systems interact with other major systems in the game.  its not simply a different sort of questing transplanted into a copy of WOW.

either way, watch those videos and make an informed decision.  don't bother listening to people who want to boil the whole thing down into one inaccurate overgeneralized statement.  there is enough information there for you to make an educated guess for yourself on whether you should play this game or keep looking.

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Originally posted by Ramanadjinn

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Originally posted by MMOExposed

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Originally posted by Isometrix Ummmm... there's this little game called Guild Wars 2 coming out next week, maybe you've heard it mentioned in a back alley somewhere. Fits your description.

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but how do you define quest, in that case? GW2 event are very similar to quest, just open group instead of closed.   same standard task is being done as well.

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  this is not entirely accurate. i suggest you check out aerowyn's videos: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/359874/Aerowyns-Video-Compilation-of-ALL-things-Guild-Wars-2.html the differences between standard ! questing in many games and GW2s DEs can not be boiled down to "open group instead of closed."  linearity, reward, and several other elements outlined in that post i linked should explain well why maybe GW2 will be what the OP is looking for or not.   edit: you also have to take into account how these systems interact with other major systems in the game.  its not simply a different sort of questing transplanted into a copy of WOW. either way, watch those videos and make an informed decision.  don't bother listening to people who want to boil the whole thing down into one inaccurate overgeneralized statement.  there is enough information there for you to make an educated guess for yourself on whether you should play this game or keep looking.  

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That's a lot of videos, and I've probably already seen many of them. I got caught up in the GW2 whirlwind of hype was ultimately let down. I just clung on to the big thing that was different and taking risks. Its execution didn't make it feel that much different than your standard questing affair, though. I was still just doing mundane tasks on a list. Some of the problems may have just been stuff that they might iron out, like some of the events spawning absurd amounts of enemies right next to you. I didn't get the "this world is alive" feel at all. I think players make a world feel a live, not NPCs. Although, some of the towns have a nice atmosphere that the NPCs create; but beyond that, the events don't really give me that impression. They pretty much just feel like quests, and I'm still getting corralled around to level-appropriate zones. I don't need a bunch of one-sided hype videos to make my decision. I've experienced the betas, so I have a pretty good idea of what the game has to offer. I'm sure I'll give it an other chance once the game launches, but if I find myself quitting out of boredom after an hour of play, like I was doing during the weekend betas, then maybe it's just not the game for me.

Minecraft, multiplayer survival server.

Just download a decent texture pack if your worried about graphics.

Most freedom available atm.

Its B2P with no sub unless you pirate (which I dont recommend) and then you'll be restricted to Cracked servers.

Originally posted by noseforauto

Hi, I'm trying to find a game to play that doesn't depend on quests. I'm not necessarily looking for a sandbox; I'm not a super-hardcore gamer. I just don't like quests. I don't really care for lobby games, and I would prefer F2P. Also, something relatively modern and looks kinda nice. Any suggestions?

planetside 2. :)