General Discussion

How do you feel about MMOs with more open-ended character progression (think Asheron's Call, EVE, SWG) versus MMOs based on a quest system (think WoW, AO, CoH) for character progression? What are the pros and cons of each? For example, on one hand a quest system gives direction and keeps things moving forward, but the progression is almost linear.  Games without a quest system give more freedom but might be too open-ended or may become repetitive over time.  Please feel free to give me some input on your opinions of each and which you prefer.  Thanks for your time and consideration!

I really prefer a mixture of the two, I find linear quest based MMOs to have very little replay value but I dislike having no direction at all.  I'd like bits of various MMOs thrown together I'd say.

The problem I have currently is the sheer number of quests thrust upon you, pages upon pages of mindless meaningless quests. I'd like the ability to explore dungeons UO style, the accept meaningless missions SWG terminal style and to have a few long, well written, involving quests like some of the EQ2 were.  I want it all in other words and I'm probably not alone in this.

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Originally posted by Maxl
MMOs with more open-ended character progression (think Asheron's Call, EVE, SWG)

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Originally posted by Maxl
MMOs based on a quest system (think WoW, AO, CoH) for character progression

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A HYBRID is what is needed.  A huge open 'sandbox' style world that has PLENTY of random quests, all of which have a REAL story behind them and make actual realistic sense.  Also, many exploration/stumble upon quests.  BUT they should not be forced upon the player, so a player could just play in the world as they wish.

Personally, I would do away completely with 'EXPERIENCE' and instead have a different kind of progression system which rewards players for things they do, rather than grinding kind of stuff.  Overall a more 'realistic' world.

I don't care if a MMORPG has quests and missions.  But the level and loot grind is boring as hell in any game.

So honestly an open-ended game with missions/quests without the level/loot grind would be the best.  I'm just sick of grinding

I've yet to play a "quest system" where you couldn't still go out and grind mobs if/when you wanted to, so I fail to see how quests in any way, shape or form detract from "freedom".

Sorry, I'm not getting the whole "linear" argument here. I think you're confusing quests with classes or something. 

Oh and btw, I don't know about Asheron's Call, but both EVE and SWG (pre-CU SWG even) have/had "quests" (they just called them "missions").

Originally posted by hanshotfirst

I've yet to play a "quest system" where you couldn't still go out and grind mobs if/when you wanted to, so I fail to see how quests in any way, shape or form detract from "freedom".

Sorry, I'm not getting the whole "linear" argument here. I think you're confusing quests with classes or something. 

Play AOC, then you will have.

(Not to level, but to get out of the starter island)

I think MMORPGs need to go the route of single player open ended RPGs. Single Player open ended RPGs have a main objective or problem that you need to solve to beat the game. How you get there is up to you.

In MMORPGs, there needs to be one quest that lasts the entire length of the leveling up process; a goal or a purpose if you will. For example, a good purpose is to free your country from the oppression of a particular dictator and his lackies. You start off in a small town of your choosing and you are currently a weak in experienced adventurer. This dictator's goons has permeated every bit of the land and it is your goal to overthrow this government. You are too weak to take him out, so you start with his weakest goons and free your particular town. This goes on from one area to the next with plenty of twists and turns to make it interesting. You also have the ability to explore the world and defeat natural predators and lesser threats than the regime itself.

So in essense, you can do whatever you want along the way, but you and other players have a common goal...to overthrow a particular regime, dynasty or whatever. You can take care of a lot of things solo, but you will need to group to complete other objectives, such as sieging and taking over a city. You should be able to take on any NPC person 1v1, including the dictator himself if you have the experience, but rarely does his goons travel alone and it is unrealistic to be able to defeat too many goons at once. We aren't super heroes after all.

Character customization and progression needs to have depth. You should be able to weild any weapon with the appropriate training, cast any spell, and wear any armor. Every skill, spell, weapon, and armor should have pros and cons to using them to give the game balance.

I prefer sandboxy type games, without much overarching direction and plenty of randomness. However, I do know what it feels like to have no direction at all. I think that RvR might fix that problem if incorporated correctly. "Hey, we're being attacked!" or "I'd like to do a mission that will cripple the enemy." In my mind, that gives you a goal to reach, help your Team/Realm/Faction win vs another, but if it was optional, it wouldn't intrude too much into general gameplay.

That's just what I think...

To me being forced to do 1000 quests is grinding. Id almost rather go find a nice spot and just kill things.

Half  the quests I see are nothing more than time sinks.

• "Take this letter to John in the next town"
• "okay thanks for the letter, hmm I see the problem. Okay bring the letter back to Tom"
• "hmm okay John says we need boar hides to create the proper item to solve this issue, go kill 20 boars"
• "okay thanks for doing that. Now take the boar hides back to John"
• "wow you did it, thanks ! Now return to Tom for your reward"
• "here's your reward, you might want to go chat with Sam now. He has some problems with wolves"
• "So Tom sent you eh, well I need to....

Give me a break already !

One thing I loved about Star Wars Galaxies before all the changes was the few quests around were hidden. The story arc they added each month at launch wasnt available unless you went looking for it (and looted the discs)

There were those Singing Mountain Clan sisters hidden in that cave way up north on Dathomir. You wouldnt find them unless you went exploring. No other quest giver was going to have some silly delivery quest that led you to them. You found them on your own.

Oh and how about those idiot-proof icons above NPC's heads now ! Look at me, I have a symbol above my head so come chat with me. Does anyone remember when MMO's didnt do that, and you actually had to find the NPC's that had quests ?

Doesnt anyone explore any