Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - Success of Imping Quests into a Hack-n-Slash ?

Molly · 01-28-2005, 04:07 AM

I don't believe in forcing players to do things, it detracts from the fun. There should always be a free choice about what to do in a Mud.

That said, implementing a lot of quests is a superb way to keep the players' interest up. Our mud started out as pure hack'n'slash, but is now full of Quests and puzzles, and even the more hardcore killers end up questing, because that is the way to get all the most desireable stuff in the mud.

It IS a lot of work, and there are no shortcuts.

A good Quest needs to be well thought out, well designed, and above all balanced, to fit the hardness of the zone and the reward you get from it. It should also be reasonably 'cheat-proof' (perhaps the hardest part of the design). Another thing you need to decide is whether the Quest should be repeatable or on-time only. Quite often you need special code support for it, although most Quests are run by scripts (mob-progs). Quests should also be IC with the general theme of the mud and the theme of the specific zone they are in. They should have a meaning, or they just look stupid. Apart from that they can range between simple fetch-and-carry missions and complex 10-step quests to 'save the world'.

In our Mud the Builders make the quests, so they are all integrated with the zones. To make the players aware of them, we often announce a new big quest on th boards. We also have about 100 Questcards, where you get small hints about available Quests. And perhaps the most important of all; we have a Quest Academy on top of our Mud School, where new players are taught the noble art of questing. Among other things that they learn there is that it often gives you more benefits to speak to the mobs than to slaughter them.

01-28-2005, 04:07 AM	#3
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	I don't believe in forcing players to do things, it detracts from the fun. There should always be a free choice about what to do in a Mud. That said, implementing a lot of quests is a superb way to keep the players' interest up. Our mud started out as pure hack'n'slash, but is now full of Quests and puzzles, and even the more hardcore killers end up questing, because that is the way to get all the most desireable stuff in the mud. It IS a lot of work, and there are no shortcuts. A good Quest needs to be well thought out, well designed, and above all balanced, to fit the hardness of the zone and the reward you get from it. It should also be reasonably 'cheat-proof' (perhaps the hardest part of the design). Another thing you need to decide is whether the Quest should be repeatable or on-time only. Quite often you need special code support for it, although most Quests are run by scripts (mob-progs). Quests should also be IC with the general theme of the mud and the theme of the specific zone they are in. They should have a meaning, or they just look stupid. Apart from that they can range between simple fetch-and-carry missions and complex 10-step quests to 'save the world'. In our Mud the Builders make the quests, so they are all integrated with the zones. To make the players aware of them, we often announce a new big quest on th boards. We also have about 100 Questcards, where you get small hints about available Quests. And perhaps the most important of all; we have a Quest Academy on top of our Mud School, where new players are taught the noble art of questing. Among other things that they learn there is that it often gives you more benefits to speak to the mobs than to slaughter them.