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plamzi · 09-27-2010, 06:56 PM

From the viewpoint of implementing a scalable advanced quest system (which is what I'm doing atm), I see at least three separate concepts here:

1. It is easy to provide clues instead of specific instructions and let the quest doer do some thinking or trial and error or carry the letter around until he/she bumps into the right person.

2. It is somewhat more difficult to provide multiple resolutions to the same quest plot. It may seem trivial to add 2-3 potential goals instead of one on an individual basis, but if you're chaining quests, this represents a fork in the quest path, and then choices rise exponentially. All great RPG's have such quests but they require top-notch story-telling and the awareness that after putting in many hours of work, some forks in the path may never be traveled. Coding support for these "multiple choices" is somewhat difficult, but not impossible if you limit the number of forks and the number of times one quest plot can fork. That said, in my own experience as a gamer, multiple choice resolutions don't add up to a sense of freedom, even if I'm left to guess which of several people I can bring the letter to.

3. What does create a sense of freedom for me is accidents. It is incredibly difficult, in my view, to have a scalable quest engine that supports believable "detours" or "complications". What I mean by a detour is, e. g., some NPC sees you're carrying the letter and offers to trade you a pair of diamond boots for it, but only if you go and tell the boy's beloved that her lover died in such and such battle. If you forget what the battle's name was, the girl catches you in a lie and you fail the quest! Such detours are not only difficult to come up with, but to be believable they have to be more or less unique.

Now, I love #3 when I see it (rarely) in open-ended adventures and I appreciate #2 if done well. But as I'm working on my engine, I have to wonder how many players out there appreciate even #1 (simple puzzles). The sad reality is that the vast majority of people are perfectly happy with clear, simple, endlessly repetitive "quests" and that any "sense of freedom" I'd spend spend many hours coding and plotting is likely to translate into massive confusion for over 95% of my players. As I build my engine, I bookmark all "advanced" concepts, for now, maybe forever.

09-27-2010, 06:56 PM	#19
plamzi Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Home MUD: bedlam.mudportal.com:9000 Home MUD: www.mudportal.com Posts: 292	Re: Quest Design From the viewpoint of implementing a scalable advanced quest system (which is what I'm doing atm), I see at least three separate concepts here: 1. It is easy to provide clues instead of specific instructions and let the quest doer do some thinking or trial and error or carry the letter around until he/she bumps into the right person. 2. It is somewhat more difficult to provide multiple resolutions to the same quest plot. It may seem trivial to add 2-3 potential goals instead of one on an individual basis, but if you're chaining quests, this represents a fork in the quest path, and then choices rise exponentially. All great RPG's have such quests but they require top-notch story-telling and the awareness that after putting in many hours of work, some forks in the path may never be traveled. Coding support for these "multiple choices" is somewhat difficult, but not impossible if you limit the number of forks and the number of times one quest plot can fork. That said, in my own experience as a gamer, multiple choice resolutions don't add up to a sense of freedom, even if I'm left to guess which of several people I can bring the letter to. 3. What does create a sense of freedom for me is accidents. It is incredibly difficult, in my view, to have a scalable quest engine that supports believable "detours" or "complications". What I mean by a detour is, e. g., some NPC sees you're carrying the letter and offers to trade you a pair of diamond boots for it, but only if you go and tell the boy's beloved that her lover died in such and such battle. If you forget what the battle's name was, the girl catches you in a lie and you fail the quest! Such detours are not only difficult to come up with, but to be believable they have to be more or less unique. Now, I love #3 when I see it (rarely) in open-ended adventures and I appreciate #2 if done well. But as I'm working on my engine, I have to wonder how many players out there appreciate even #1 (simple puzzles). The sad reality is that the vast majority of people are perfectly happy with clear, simple, endlessly repetitive "quests" and that any "sense of freedom" I'd spend spend many hours coding and plotting is likely to translate into massive confusion for over 95% of my players. As I build my engine, I bookmark all "advanced" concepts, for now, maybe forever.