Discussion: What Is A Good Quest?

cook assistant duh

 

Same. I’ve only done ??? once cuz I hate content that I can’t solo

 

I would like to note that ??? is a quest only because of the reward (and maybe stage) system. It is not meant to be one.


In my opinion, good quests are the ones that either explore the lore, teach players new mechanics or require at least 2 braincells.
This excludes:
grind quests (the Ultimate Weapon (even though the quest is funny for me), Green Skinned Trouble, The Olmic Rune)
fetch quests (ToL, previous Tower of Amnesia, Master Piece (even though I like it), Recipe for Disaster (but at least we got choices and getting the items isn't really bad)
"just kill it and return" quests (Clearing the Camps and other orc quests)
and other.

I would like to see more multiplayer (2-4 players) lore-based and choice quests.
The choices should be set up so the player doesn't just do it for the reward, but it has some real meaning (good exaple could be Sylvia but with heavily reduced appearances (4 MAX))

 

I remeber talking about it with you. (the swordsman Zara, right?) O hope I will read it one day :)

As long as the appearance doesn't feel forced it is great. And Zara looked quite good.

 

Good luck haha.

 

memory paranoia is overrated

 

The (Tutorial) first quest that you ever start in game, if that quest wasn't there then I probably would left wynncraft on my first day, that quest made me actually wanting to play wynncraft

 

only because its too short

I mean, its great material for copypastas and mr. Caritat killing his wife cutscene is just so good

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ToL is good quest
Im not joking

Beyond the grave is overrated lore mess

 

A good quest, to me, satisfies most of these conditions:
1: Is significant to the lore of Wynn, e.g. Fate of the Fallen
2: Isn't filled with meaningless and boring sections. Corrupted Betrayal is an example that avoids being full of meaningless stuff.
3: Has a constantly evolving plot, e.g. WynnExcavation Sites C and D
4: Is glitch-free
5: Has well-balanced puzzles that aren't piss easy and aren't insanely difficult, e.g. idfk
6: Makes you feel like your choices and actions matter, e.g. An Iron Heart II
7: Isn't hella unrealistic within the world in Wynn and doesn't stray too far from the general game or themes within the game in a bad or noncreative way. Enter the Dojo is an example of how not to do this imo
8: Has a good starting point and is based around an interesting story/idea, e.g. One Thousand Metres Under
9: Has good combat (if necessary), e.g. a Hunter's Calling
10: Has interesting characters, e.g. Maxie from The Envoy quests
11: Has a strong centre in its story or theme that doesn't feel disconnected from itself or shift too much. D&D is an example of a failure in this aspect.
12: Builds on something previously known (if it is a questline), e.g. Reincarnation
13: Is unpredictable (helps keep one engaged) but within reason, e.g. Aldorei's Secret II
14: Contains more than shown by default and has some little secrets and small details to help you stay interested and add more depth, e.g. Misadventure on the Sea
15: Unique content that isn't found in many other places, e.g. ???
16: Has a strong sense of adventure, e.g. One Thousand Metres Under or Fantastic Voyage

I am not saying all of the quests above are good quests, but I am just praising aspects of them.

I am not a big believer that the quality of a quest is influenced by its reward, unless they seemingly fit with the theme(s) of the quest. For example, the rewards from Flight in Distress make sense based on the content of the quest, and logically follow from completing the quest, whereas the eventual reward of 7le from The Ultimate Weapon doesn't make much sense, although receiving the weapon makes sense.

 

Relative to other quests, no. Relative to stories as a whole, yes. Besides having a pointless joke of a boss at the end, the main problem with it is that nothing is really explained or expanded upon outside of it. I remember Grian did a walkthrough of the quest on his YouTube channel explaining how the quest was just one piece of the puzzle. We never got the rest of that puzzle, so now we’re just stuck with a single piece and there’s no real payoff for the quest.

 

Mhm, I agree with all of these things, though not with all of your examples. I didn't find Maxie very interesting.

 

For me, a good quest should involve multiple of the following criteria, along with an example or two of each:

• Tells a good, impactful story. [An Iron Heart, Wynnexcavation]
• Adds onto the lore of the region or province. [A Journey Beyond + Further, One Thousand Meters Under]
• Explores a deep theme or meaning. [Point of No Return]
• Has a (somewhat) good reason to divert from expectations or be sillier than normal. [Shattered Minds. drugs can do that to you.]
• Is very engaging to play through, even through multiple classes/playthroughs [Order of the Grook, Misadventure on the Seas]
• Has strong combat [Qira Hive bosses, Reincarnation]
• Good puzzles which are not too frustrating [Some segments of Order of the Grook]
• Beckons back to sections and/or previous experiences in a player's playthrough [Recipe for Disaster, A Hunter's Calling]
• Has a good reward/s without detracting from the actual quest [Reincarnation, Qira Hive]

Likewise, there are many signs of a Bad or Pointless Quest, typically involving some of the following:

• Seriously drifts from the theme of a particular region for no reason [Eye of the Storm]
• Lacks any good reason to go wildly off the rails [Cowfusion]
• It has no particular reason to exist outside of being an obstruction [A Marauder's Dues]
• Largely consists of fetching items to make a MacGuffin [Various]
• Forces you to keep a quest item after said quest is finished, even if you'll never use it again [Various, especially Quest Helmets]
• Has a disappointing conclusion [D&D IV, The Realm of Light]
• Is a quest you only want to replay for the reward, rather than the quest itself [Ultimate Weapon, D&D IV, ???]
• Is incredibly frustrating to do, or even impossible without the help of others [???, The very end of Bob's Lost Soul]
• Has segments rife with glitches or issues. [A Canary Calls with its Minecart puzzle, The Wybel class of Order of the Grook (if on later versions of MC)]
• Is forgettable or skippable without always realizing [Many early quests can fall into this pitfall due to levels going by fast at such an early point, as well as some jungle quests]

There is probably more signs for a good or bad quest than i've listed, but these are what come to mind for me. It's usually easier to tell what makes a bad quest over what makes a good one. Quests can also easily be good AND bad due to the nature of them. ??? gives incredible rewards but is such a pain to even attempt that I've only bothered to start and finish it on my Assassin.

 

Does it though? I actually thought Eye of the Storm had a potentially really interesting premise about despair that tied in well with the region, but was executed very poorly.

 

For me, there are four things a good quest needs:

1) Good Scenario
2) Good Dialogue
3) Good Execution
4) Good Rewards

In my opinion, any quest with all 4 is a wonderful quest. A quest with 3 is still a good quest. A quest with 2 is a meh to bad quest. And a quest with 1 or none of those things is an awful quest that deserves a remake.

As @Druser said above, Eye of the Storm has a good scenario, but poor execution. Or we can take, say, Fate of the Fallen. It has a fantastic scenario, solid dialogue, amazing execution, and has good rewards. That makes it a fantastic quest. Of course, there are some things that a quest might specialise in (combat, lore, etc.), but as long as the quest has at least 3 of the above things, I'm absolutely fine with it.

 

It does have an interesting premise on despair, but thematically it has no mention of the decay.
Do you hear any mentions of hellhounds, blood spheres or full-blown blatant cults anywhere outside of this one quest? I don't see it myself.
It may be dark, but that only matches the tone of the region. In terms of an actual theme, for me it strays away from the theming of the dark forest as a whole, switching from the decay to summoning a supposedly god-like demon from another world which said-demon had made into their play-thing.

 

Yeah, that's the execution part that it does terribly.

 

the best quests show your impact on the world, or the best quest shows your impact on the world, a hunters calling