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Questing: A Boring Journey
By Cameron Sorden | September 29, 2008
During a brief, 45-minute Warhammer session this evening, I had a moment of internal debate over whether I should even keep playing. I was bored of PQ’s and the same old kill and gather quests were really bumming me out. Eventually, my game froze and I turned my computer off. Instead of rebooting like I normally would, I just walked away and decided to watch Heroes instead.
This whole exercise, combined with my complete lack of motivation to log onto WoW and level my mage, has underlined how uninspired I am by MMOG leveling/questing at the moment. Is the problem me, or is the problem the games? Can it be both? I thought that Keen had a really insightful take on this issue the other day with his musings on the journey versus the end goal. I’m kind of undecided about this. When questing as a primary means of advancment was a new, exciting thing, I really enjoyed it. However, I’m becoming increasingly annoyed with it.
Questing as a means of advancement lays down rails and puts you on a specific path. It gets me back to that old comparison I like to make about WoW and WoW-type games being like an amusement park ride. When your leveling path is planned, you’re logging in to play someone else’s adventure… and as Damion Schubert pointed out, that adventure tends to be about as exciting as popping bubble wrap. The draw of playing EverQuest for me historically was always the sense of wonder involved in wandering into new zones and killing whatever the heck I wanted to kill. Leveling was just something that happened along the way while I was busy killing stuff and exploring.
Actually, that’s not true. Leveling was always the point. But, there used to be a lot more freedom. Now, if there isn’t a quest for the area you’re in, you’re pretty much wasting your time there. This means that you don’t generally bother going somewhere unless you have a quest for it in the first place. How many zones in WoW have areas that you’ve never really bothered checking out? I’d be that there’s a lot of them. Ever been to the Northwest corner of Ashenvale? What about the Southeast area of Azshara? The Western Burning Steppes?
Putting leveling on the questing track decoupled it from exploration — they used to be much more closely linked. Exploration as its own reward frankly isn’t enough of a motivation for most players, and killing the equivalent of ten rats or gathering another 50 widgets over, and over, and over, just doesn’t do it for me anymore.
I guess what I’m trying to ask is whether we really need quests at all, or whether they just happen to be the current crutch of the MMOG industry. I’m not so sure that the questing advancement style is as necessary as modern developers seem to think it is. Might a game with modern mechanics, good graphics, and otherwise normal itemization do just fine without offering players a paint-by-numbers style path to maximum level?
There’s quite a lot to be said for “choose your own adventure.” Can you really argue that being told what to grind on while you play is much better than picking what you get to grind on?
Topics: Game Design, Massively Multiplayer |
September 30th, 2008 at 3:31 am
I’ve noticed the similar issue with my playing, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not the levelling and the questing, but having fun in the game, using it as an entertainment. This has resulted the fact that my levelling, now that I’m not forced to do it, has become something I’m generally surprised of. And I measure the accomplishments by some other measure than the EXP bar.
For example, I spent some 4-5 hours in WoW exploring an area I had neglected earlier. I gained no exp during the time, as it was a low level area. I gained, however, reputation, which is my personal aim at the moment.
Because the world is static -persistent but static- you cannot see any development in it. As the questing is generally a theme park tour across the world, it’s not actually developing the character any more than giving new abilities.
There is no real involvement in the character development and growth in the current MMO’s.
This has been discussed in several places as of late, I think. I’d rather see a MMO in which my decisions would affect the character’s advancement and possibilities rather than the railroaded guidance of set questing.
That’d be ‘choosing your own adventure’, right?
Copra
September 30th, 2008 at 5:52 am
You wont find anything AWESOME OMG new in Warhammer. If you are SICK of normal MMO’s and dont want one more go at a game, I would suggest NOT playing. I am giving WAR my last go in MMO’s. That is to say it will be my LAST “2 year” type of hard core game like WoW or Everquest 1 were.
After that, if nothing new comes out that is good, I may hang it up. But I knew what I was getting into, I have a good guild, it is easy to group, it fixes WoW PVP which was a joke, it smooths out things wrong with WoW and it provides me FUN in minutes. Plus I love Warhammer Universe more than the WoW universe. I like the little touches as I have written about on my blog as well.
YOU HAVE TO NOT BE BURNED OUT to play this game. If you are, you will NOT be happy. Just a heads up.
P.S.
Bring on a good superhero game and I am THERE.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I’m not sure where I fit into the equation, either. I definitely want questing — or more to the point, *some* type of directed content — to remain.
While yes, when you quest you’re really just running errands for an NPC, that’s how most great adventures in literature start too. How often do we read stories where someone just wakes up one morning, decides to be a Hero and goes out to save the world? Most often he’s normal (or perhaps above-average) person who is thrust into a situation not of his making and has to rise above it. But then we’re reading (or watching, if it’s a movie or television series) not only the adventure but also the internal character development as well. In games “character development” is nothing more than attribute management. “Adventuring” is nothing more than combat. I don’t remember Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf and the gang slaughtering everything that moved from the Shire to the Black Gates and laughing about ganking the goblin noobs, but that’s the extent of our adventures in MMOG — killing stuff.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:04 am
And you’re not RvRing because?
As a straight up PvE game (a la WoW), WAR simply fails. Where it shines is its RvR. Mix in some RvR and I’m sure you’ll have much more fun. It’s built into every single zone you play in (open world or insta scenario queues).
If RvR isn’t your thing, I suggest finding a new game because this isn’t the one for you…
September 30th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Yeah, I don’t much care for the PvP that I’ve jumped into. I mean, it’s definitely better than WoW. But it’s still not that great. Maybe I need to give it some more time and really make an effort to enjoy the PvP instead of trying to level via the quests so much.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I’m guessing you also belong to a guild (CoW)? PuG RvR can be pretty fun, but it can also be pretty frustrating. My suggestion is that you join your guildmates in (semi-)organized guild groups if you want to have the best possible experience.
I will agree that the PvE of WAR, while maybe taking some minor steps forward, is mostly just more of the same. If you just did 1-70 in WoW through straight PvE, you probably going to find the 1-40 (PvE-only) grind in WAR to be very boring and grindy.
Public quests are nice, but they become a nasty grind once to do too many of them in a row. The same goes for dungeons. The rank 15-22 Sacellum Dungeon in the Inevitable City was terrible, and even though Mount Gunbad is supposed to be a lot cooler, I just can’t see it surpassing the quality of any of WoW’s bigger dungeons if that’s your thing.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:37 am
The only reason I can even see to do PQ’s is to max out the influence, get the gear, and move on. Once the influence is 100% there’s really no reason to stick around. In Tier 1 at least, it only takes maybe two plays to get it done?
And yeah, the PvE is very uninspired. Without a group, it’s downright boring and I’m having a very difficult time staying logged into the game without a group. RvR? I’d love to, but there’s no one around when I play the most. I can’t PQ without a P to Q with. Scenarios never pop.
Yeah, I’m bored out of my skull…
September 30th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
The guild thing rings true. My only suggestion would be to tap the players in the guild ON the forums, make it known you need groups at that time, that is why we have those boards and communicate issues.
Once you roll into a night or day of keep taking and open objective taking, you wont forget it it is a blast.
Unless Xen of Onslaught shows up and PWNS everyone. Damn those bastards!
September 30th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more Cameron. I was speaking to a friend this morning on the phone asking what made todays MMO, the Next Gen MMO’s and during the discussion he said what he missed most about EQ was the freedom. Today’s games are more restraining or confining. Leading the player around, showing them where to poop or in this case quest.
WAR does this better than most, but it still leads people from zone to zone through questing. I mean, can’t people just take the copter to the Elf zone from the Empire zone without having to be prompted by a quest or a blood stain marker on the map?
The PvP and RvR make it a bit better because it successfully breaks up the questing, so its not just grinding for mobs and quest items.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:13 am
The real question for the next gen MMO designers would be: how could it be possible to create a game in which the main emphasis would be in character development and action tied up with thick lore and stories?
Like I stated in my first or second post, make me a game in which my decisions as a player sculpt the way my character will ‘grow up’, even if it makes the character extremely evil, lunatic or dead. Make me a Call of Cthulhu MMO in which my character can grow to what direction ever and still feel like a developing ‘person’.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I got MMO burn out two months ago and shut WoW off — I finished the WAR closed beta. Al questing seems like now is a job. I’m wating for SC 2 and Diablo 3 — I need an MMO break.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:25 am
I agree with you Cameron. I too find that when I am unexpecitedly booted from Warhammer I often simply don’t bother to log back in.
I wonder why an MMORPG can’t simply use what motivates us in real life to motivate playing? I would invest quite a bit of time in a game to own property, have nicer customizable clothing, gain significant craft skills, etc. How about, as in real life, we define ourself by our interests or jobs? How about having a Writer class, or an Engineer class, a Cooking class, a Tailor class. Crafting ingredients and recipes could drop from mobs and we would gain experience at the same time. The desire to progress and excel at our professions would drive our leveling. The more you play, the more successful you become at your skill, the more money you make enabling you to purchase items from the other classes and own property etc.. Sounds great too me.
Warhammer’s Tome of Knowledge sounded like PVE heaven but it’s turned out to be more bothersome than engaging. Gosh all of those pointless tome unlocks popping up every 5 minutes are actually getting annoying. Sad. I love the idea but their implementation is a bit off the mark.
Warhammer is just not grabbing me. Same old same old with even less character growth potential than wow. Sigh.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Cameron, I was going to comment here, but I got selfish and put it up over on my blog. The gist of it will be that, of course, you’re right. We’ve traded one set of problems for another. Is there a middle road? Or a third road, potentially?
October 7th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Back in August I posted an extensive examination of the unintended consequences of quest driven MMOs. We’ve been having a good debate about the issue on my site.
http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/?p=358
It’s interesting to see the mainstream MMO blogosphere is finally starting to catch on and ask those very same questions.
In the end we made a horrible bargain as we traded our freedom for the security of quests and NPCs with nice little exclamation marks over their heads.
Frankly, Id be very surprised if the WoW MMO archetype will survive the next 3 years if they continue with this highly scripted “on rails” type of experience. I suspect players are getting rather tired of this highly restrictive format and will be seeking more open-ended virtual worlds.
October 8th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Very interesting point. The difficult part for a developer is try to find a middle ground between what could be new and fun and what people are used to or are expecting from an MMO. There will be a kind of evolution, that’s for sure, but it will probably happen slowly. Unless some really interesting groundbreaking ideas come into the picture.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
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October 12th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
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