Just remember - there are only about 300 Heart Quests in the game.

Just 300.

There are over 1,500 Dynamic Events in GW2.

There are more Points of Interest to explore than Heart Quests - almost 3 times as many.

There are more Waypoint for fast travel to unlock then there are Heart Quests.

The ratio of Heart Quests to Events is purposefully a lot higher in the early zones to help guide new players.

Proof?

The Map tells you how many of what there are in the game... (this is an old picture)

I am assuming Heart Quests will become less and less as we progress. They have already stated the Orr (the final zone in the game) is going to have zero hearts. It is just hand holding crap anyways, I will be glad when they are gone ;)

Originally posted by MattVid

I am assuming Heart Quests will become less and less as we progress. They have already stated the Orr (the final zone in the game) is going to have zero hearts. It is just hand holding crap anyways, I will be glad when they are gone ;)

They're also necessary for that very reason: Too many people were completely lost without having their hands held until they learned a new way to experience content. Hearts were added for exactly that reason, and as people learn to explore and find content they'll have less and less hearts to guide them.

I have seen heart quests mentioned many times but I guess I still don't really know the point of them, can anyone explain please?

Originally posted by Oberholzer

I have seen heart quests mentioned many times but I guess I still don't really know the point of them, can anyone explain please?

They are just as Volkon stated they are. =P

I am glad for the hearts for some, but I don't understand how thousands of people could have played Skyrim and not had them. Why when you get to GW2 do people become so lost exploring?

Originally posted by ItsGopher

Originally posted by Oberholzer

I have seen heart quests mentioned many times but I guess I still don't really know the point of them, can anyone explain please?

They are just as Volkon stated they are. =P

Whoops missed that one while I was posting, thank you.

Originally posted by ItsGopher

Originally posted by Oberholzer

I have seen heart quests mentioned many times but I guess I still don't really know the point of them, can anyone explain please?

They are just as Volkon stated they are. =P

Basically heart quests are like the quests in wow, eq2...standard quests. You know when you walk up to an NPC and they have an ! over their head. Think of heart quests like that...however where as you would generally talk to an NPS to start ! quests, yuo don't necesarrily have to do that in GW2. You can just walk in the vicinity and a heart quest will update on your screen. They also can lead to further heart quests, and Dynamic events.

Originally posted by Amjoco

I am glad for the hearts for some, but I don't understand how thousands of people could have played Skyrim and not had them. Why when you get to GW2 do people become so lost exploring?

You did have big fat arrow pointing you through the main story line always there (unless you turned it off), that's sort of comparable to the hearts.

Originally posted by Amjoco

I am glad for the hearts for some, but I don't understand how thousands of people could have played Skyrim and not had them. Why when you get to GW2 do people become so lost exploring?

WoW syndrome. People have been trained in MMOs to congregate on a hub, gather all the quests you can, finish them, go back to the hub, collect rewards, go to the next hub. Although there's overlaps in the populations, most RPG gamers (and anyone with any sandbos experience at all) know how to seek out content instead of being led to it by a ring in their nose.

I did the heart quests the first couple times I quested but they tended to be a little boring after a while so I now I just go around exploring and doing the DE's that pop up.  Sometimes I end up doing the heart quests without even realizing it anyways.  That's the way questing should be, no talking to an NPC to pick up quests and constantly checking your quest log.  The DE's are pretty easy at first but after leveling up to 18 a couple of times I found that the DE's got pretty challenging.  I tended to stay in zones that I was just barely a little low to go in (I like the challenge).   

Other than that, it is good to complete heart quests from time to time at least though.  When you complete a task for the Heart Quest NPC, he will sell items to you. You buy items with your accumulated Karma Points that you get from doing DE's and heart quests.  Every NPC has different items. 

Originally posted by Volkon

Originally posted by Amjoco

I am glad for the hearts for some, but I don't understand how thousands of people could have played Skyrim and not had them. Why when you get to GW2 do people become so lost exploring?

WoW syndrome. People have been trained in MMOs to congregate on a hub, gather all the quests you can, finish them, go back to the hub, collect rewards, go to the next hub. Although there's overlaps in the populations, most RPG gamers (and anyone with any sandbos experience at all) know how to seek out content instead of being led to it by a ring in their nose.

Ya, I have even played some f2p games that actually move you to the quest location automatically! hehe 

Anyway, ty for the heart info BS. It's good to open the knowledge to othes!

Lets not forget that they also added a bunch of jumping puzzles to the map exploration.

Originally posted by Kuraphimaru

Lets not forget that they also added a bunch of jumping puzzles to the map exploration.

The Vistas are a nice touch - a way to introduce players to the concept of jumping puzzles.

There are SO many more that are not tied to a Vista though.

---

Originally posted by Volkon
They're also necessary for that very reason: Too many people were completely lost without having their hands held until they learned a new way to experience content. Hearts were added for exactly that reason, and as people learn to explore and find content they'll have less and less hearts to guide them.

---

I gave up and started doing the Hearts. Most of the way through the second Heart(the god awful one that turns into a wolf) I encountered my first Sylvari DE.

I spent most of BWE3 in the Sylvari starting zone and only saw like 7 DEs and each one no more than 3 times.

If thats the "new way to experience content" then the old way is just fine.

Originally posted by Xiaoki

I spent most of BWE3 in the Sylvari starting zone and only saw like 7 DEs and each one no more than 3 times.

If thats the "new way to experience content" then the old way is just fine.

Highlighted the key point for you.

For better or for worse, the starter zones have a lot of Heart quests and not as many DE's.

By level 14-15 the ratio improves greatly.

I.... I actually really LIKE the heart quests.  At least, the non-combat parts of them.  I can kill monsters ANYWHERE.  I get a certain secretive glee out of feeding cows and bunnies and baby kittens.  I got REALLY excited when it had me answering basic math problems and solving riddles!

....

... the only part I don't understand is that the heart quest fairly clearly explains that's simply an option.  With only a couple EXTREMELY rare exceptions (I think 3 hearts out of 9 zones), you can simply kill things instead.  You don't HAVE to answer riddles, or pick up eggs.  You can kill things.

Often, just by doing a dynamic event you can finish a heart, and it's basically an orgy of killing and destruction.

I'm just happy whenever I can take a break and do me some Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon type stuff. :T

Originally posted by Meowhead

I.... I actually really LIKE the heart quests.  At least, the non-combat parts of them.  I can kill monsters ANYWHERE.  I get a certain secretive glee out of feeding cows and bunnies and baby kittens.  I got REALLY excited when it had me answering basic math problems and solving riddles!

....

... the only part I don't understand is that the heart quest fairly clearly explains that's simply an option.  With only a couple EXTREMELY rare exceptions (I think 3 hearts out of 9 zones), you can simply kill things instead.  You don't HAVE to answer riddles, or pick up eggs.  You can kill things.

Often, just by doing a dynamic event you can finish a heart, and it's basically an orgy of killing and destruction.

I'm just happy whenever I can take a break and do me some Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon type stuff. :T

I know right?

Every MMO has mass slaughter of creatures, monsters, and characters.

I like running around watering plants and feeding cows and stuff.

Make the world feel more real - like my character is more of a person than a mindless killing machine.

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by Xiaoki

I spent most of BWE3 in the Sylvari starting zone and only saw like 7 DEs and each one no more than 3 times.

If thats the "new way to experience content" then the old way is just fine.

Highlighted the key point for you.

For better or for worse, the starter zones have a lot of Heart quests and not as many DE's.

By level 14-15 the ratio improves greatly.

 

I disagree.

The first heart quest I did was the same one this poster mentions- the "turn into a wolf" one. 

I ran into 3 DEs on the way to it. Mind you, I meandered like a mofo. I was like "'Ooh, lemme go get that PoI, it's just over that ridge", "Hey, is that a vista? lemme see what the deal with those is." "Wow there's a lot of people over there. Lemme see what's going on."

The game almost rewards you for being ADDHD. If you make a beeline from heart to heart, you miss a LOT.

Heart quests are just a tutorial/introduction to dynamic events. They were added to the game for people who didn't know what to do, for people who got stuck in the old ways of questing. Heart quests are not the main part of the questing system, dynamic events are.