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World map quest markers are good news for Loremasters in Mists of Pandaria
Completionists have lots of ways to obsess with the advent of achievements, especially those who simply must complete every quest -- the fastidious Loremasters of Azeroth. The really hardcore Loremasters have used mods to help them track what quests they have or haven't completed, but now Blizzard is giving them a new leg up when questing in Pandaria. It was a little easier to keep track of your progress in Cataclysm's largely linear zones, but Pandaria's zones offer you more freedom in what you're completing and when. To that end, the world map now shows you nearby quests on the world map. It isn't zone-wide, but it does work in a fairly large radius around you, so if you're flying or riding around and check your map periodically, you can see any unclaimed and available quests. It's worth noting that Pandaria's Loremaster achievements are based on quest lines completed, not an actual number of quests, but this should definitely help you track down each story to add that tick to your achievement. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Ghostcrawler explains spec-specific quest rewards in MoP
If you've been following the Mists of Pandaria beta at all, you may have heard that questing players discovered that they were only getting one choice for quest reward items. Many recent MMOs such as SW:TOR use this model; it's generally agreed that the system of multiple possible quest rewards is yet another "bad player trap," like Ghostcrawler described lots of talents pre-Cataclysm. Players can miss out on quest rewards accidentally, and since there's no in-game way of switching your quest rewards, well, that can be a headache (especially since reports say that GMs are no longer switching quest items for you). When asked about the issue on the beta forums, Ghostcrawler offered a pretty reasoned explanation for the change. He says that most quests with green rewards will only give you one choice (that matches your current spec). However, there'll also be vendors in every zone from whom you can buy sets of gear that aren't quite up to the item level of quest rewards in that zone, so you can fill in itemization holes or help bolster an off spec a little more. Quests that offer blue rewards will usually offer rewards for any spec your class can be, giving you some flexibility when it comes to rare rewards. Also, Mists of Pandaria questing is more non-linear than Cataclysm's, so you'll be able to hit up a different zone in the event that you need gear for a specific level range. Ghostcrawler's full response (and an image of one of the vendors) is after the break.
Making the 'jump' from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2
The second Guild Wars 2 press beta weekend has come and gone, and Massively was there every step of the way. Stay tuned throughout the day today for even more guides, impressions, videos, and Q&As to get you ready for the highly anticipated sequel to Guild Wars. Guild Wars 2 is on the way (when it's ready), and classic Guild Wars players probably understand that soon they'll be competing with a younger sibling -- a smarter, more attractive one who's sure to get more of mom's attention. And while we're sure that some of the more stalwart Guild Wars 2 fans are also Guild Wars players, not all veterans of the first edition are dedicated to licking up every drop of sequel info squeezed out of blogs, conventions, and betas. Those veterans might just be wondering, what exactly can Guild Wars 2 offer them, other than Hall of Monuments tie-ins? What's changed? What's the same? What will they love, what will they hate, and what could possibly make them jump ship to the new hotness? The first and most important thing you must know is that yes, you can jump in Guild Wars 2! Seriously, though, jumping is more than just a thing you do with your spacebar when you're bored; it's a symbol of boundlessness. Guild Wars 2 itself is trying to jump a lot higher than its elder brother, and probably the essential difference between the games is that feeling that the walls have come down and gravity is letting loose. That alone should urge classic players to take a peek, but if that's not enough for you, fire up your Jeremy Soule soundtracks (yes, he's onboard for an encore!) and read on...
Mists of Pandaria: Dave "Fargo" Kosak interview
Dave "Fargo" Kosak, lead quest designer for World of Warcraft, sat down with us at the Mists of Pandaria press event for an interview. We talked about the Horde/Alliance conflict, voice acting, pop culture references, Mists' accelerated production schedule, and more. Check it out! WoW Insider: I guess I'm just gonna start off with some basic stuff. Dave Kosak: Basic stuff is good! Let's start with your overall philosophy for Mists of Pandaria. Well, we're constantly experimenting with quests, and in Cataclysm, we created some pretty linear zones, as I'm sure you might've noticed. Some really big story arcs and big finishes. Certainly like in Mount Hyjal, we phased a huge amount of the zone, which worked because it was a pretty linear zone. A couple drawbacks, though: It was a shame that on your second or third time through, you had to play it exactly the same way. You know, you kinda lose some of that open-world feeling, you lose a little bit of that exploration when it's linear like that. But we loved the storytelling, so what we wanted to do with Mists was keep that kind of storytelling but make sure that you have the opportunity to go out and explore and experience the expansion differently, so ... let's see.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Quest education
Looking around the Guild Warsy corners of the internet, I've found some confusion about quests and dynamic events. Having this handy platform to stand on, I thought I'd try to clarify things for those who aren't really sure what standard XP-gain looks like in Guild Wars 2. If this is old news to some of you, I apologize, but please remember that not everybody's been leaping on news scraps like a ravenous puppy for the last two or three years. With the pretty aggressive abandonment of traditional questing in Guild Wars 2's PvE, there seems to be some misinformation about what directed content will look like. It's relatively accurate to say that there are three main types: personal story quests, renown hearts, and dynamic events. Dungeons, another type of PvE content, are kind of a world unto themselves; they're approached by way of the personal storyline but evidently aren't actually necessary for progress along that line (in an effort to not force people to team up in an MMO unless they jolly well feel like it). They contain events but also static objectives. However, since they're cordoned off by way of instances, it seems pretty safe to leave them out of this conversation. Let's dig in, shall we?
Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida talks patch 1.21 and the future
This Friday will see the release of Final Fantasy XIV's latest and greatest patch, 1.21. It's bringing the long-awaited Job system, several updates to the game's consumable items, new quests, new options for mounts, and the usual plethora of other improvements. Fans of the game have been eagerly watching the updates, keeping an eye on what's around the bend, and getting ready to enjoy everything the new patch has to offer. But even 1.21 isn't the big end goal of the game; that's the 2.0 relaunch happening in November. We had a chance to ask a few questions of the game's producer, Naoki Yoshida, regarding both the updates coming with patch 1.21 and Final Fantasy XIV's ongoing road of improvement as version 2.0 draws nearer. So what can players look forward to when they download the patch? What's coming before the relaunch? And how fashionable will your new armor make your chocobo look?
Lineage II brings a full update of Harmony
Harmony is a good thing wherever you can find it. It's true in work, it's true in friendship, and it seems to be true in Lineage II as well. The latest patch, Harmony, will be launching on March 7th and bringing a number of improvements to the upper tiers of leveling: new quests, a new dungeon, and several updates for skills. If you're already near the top of the leveling game, the new dungeon of Kartia's Labyrinth is your primary destination, with the option to enter solo or in a party at level 85, 90, or 95. There are also a variety of new quests introduced, starting at level 76 and moving up. For lower-level characters, new Campaigns have been added; Campaigns are special zone-wide events that happen on a regular schedule and give everyone a chance at some bonus experience and Marks. New mentoring skills are also available to help low-level characters reach their full potential, the sort of thing that really inspires some harmonious behavior among players.
WildStar Wednesday examines redundancies in quest text
Can you really produce a meaningful set of quests while keeping each snippet of text down to 140 characters? The team developing WildStar certainly thinks so. In a previous installment of the regular WildStar Wednesday feature, fans were introduced to the concept, but this week's developer diary is all about explaining how you keep all of the flavor of a quest while trimming it down to the bare minimum necessary. It's not about stripping out flavor -- it's about exactly the opposite. Senior narrative designer Cory Herndon explains by example that a lot of quest text winds up repeating unnecessary facts or stating something that should be immediately clear. Herndon starts with a longer example of quest text and steadily pares it down to the most important bits of information, keeping all of the flavor while posting each bit of communication in quick and comprehensible bursts. Combined with the discussion of adding further bits of quest dialogue after important objectives are completed, the diary shows just how you can get a lot of flavor into the quests without quite as many fancy words.
Choose My Adventure: Quest rhythm
Questing is an essential part of MMOs. You can say that players should be the ones crafting stories in games, not the developers, but quests provide you with structure and guidance. Even if you can create all sorts of stories on your own, it helps to know what the world is supposed to be like and how to set your own objectives. Not to mention the fact that having some sort of pointer is massively useful when you start playing. So it makes sense to take a good look at the questing in Ryzom, even though the game definitely veers toward the "sandbox" side of the fence. Plus, questing won the poll last week, so even if I thought quests were categorical garbage, that would still be my destination. I can't run you through all of the quests that I've done in the game, but one in particular lent itself to a narrative, albeit in a somewhat disjointed form.
WildStar unveils questing with a Twitter budget
Nobody likes reading quest text. Having to sift through five paragraphs of text just to figure out what you're doing isn't anyone's idea of a good time. The latest entry in the WildStar Wednesday series of developer blogs is all about how the team has tried to do away with mind-numbing and ponderous quest text. And the narrative design team does so by paring down quest text to a quick snippet no longer than a Twitter post. While there are ways to construct smaller entries, of course, the entry discusses how the 140-character limit makes for a good building block to keep players engaged -- it's short enough that you can read it quickly but not so short that it omits important information. In addition to showing a quest get brought down to a quick bite-sized snippet, the entry also talks about keeping control in the hands of the player and letting the story unfold organically, both things that should be of interest to WildStar fans eager for more information.
Breakfast Topic: What's the best quest zone in the game?
Questing is a vital part of WoW, it really is -- at least until level 15! Those who have rolled healers or tanks can pretty well abandon it from that point forward, which is a shame, really. Blizzard has created an amazing world for us in Azeroth, and yet we're not really seeing it a lot of the time. The screenshot is a fine example of this. Sure, it looks like Gilneas, but it's actually a little pocket of Blasted Lands southwest of the Dark Portal. Unfortunately, I was on my Horde warlock when I happened upon this little coastal settlement, so its inhabitants were less than friendly to me! What are your favorite zones to quest in, and what makes a great questing zone? For me, the vital components are atmosphere, looks, convenience of travel and geographical layout, and quality of quests. A zone has to look good -- my preference is for dark, mysterious zones like Duskwood -- and have a great feel to it. I think the feel is some combination of continuity in the looks and the quest content, plus a sense of what's going on in the zone, a bit of a story that I'm part of. Travel has to be convenient -- in long, thin zones, there has to be a way to get around. Obviously, this is tantamount where you can't fly! And the layout of the quests has to be convenient, too. I hate doing a whole bunch of quests in one area and then moving to another area, only to have to go back to where I started. And having to go back to the same place again and again. That's just me, though. And lastly, the fewer "bring me nine basilisk gizzard" quests, the better. I don't care if they're to make your soup or for a satanic ritual -- it's still dull! Badlands, since its Cataclysm rework, has some amazing quest lines -- it's now on the list of vital places I'll always level through -- but visually, it doesn't do it for me. My favorite? Duskwood, by a long shot! How about you?
Pathfinder Online promises to let players stumble into adventure
Pathfinder Online is still too early in the development process to do much more than talk about principles, but said principles are certainly of interest to fans. The most recent development blog about the project discusses that game's PvE arm, which is meant to be an important part of the game without being the sole driving force. Instead of the game being driven by players going, gathering quests, and then going out to kill monsters, the development team hopes to create an environment where players go out to do something and then find themselves in the midst of a quest. Four basic types of interconnection are outlined, ranging from wandering monsters to potential beasts attracted by overharvesting an area. (Cut down too much wood in an area and wood-dwelling creatures my start attacking lumberjacks... or some nasty flying monsters might decide the cleared area would make for an excellent nest.) It's certainly an interesting set of principles going into design, making the entry well worth a read for sandbox enthusiasts.
Storyboard: We are (among) the champions
The night before I started writing this column, I finally managed to clear Chapter 1 in Star Wars: The Old Republic with one of my characters. I overcame great obstacles, beat back horrible odds, and defeated a great menace to the galaxy. I was hailed as a hero by the authorities in charge, and while it had been at great cost to myself, I was now more than worthy of respect, accolades, and the gratitude of a galaxy unaware of how close it had been to almost insurmountable danger. But then I finished the quest. This problem is not unique to Star Wars: The Old Republic at all, though. By the end of my career in World of Warcraft, I had slain several unique individuals dozens of times on multiple characters, including several kills that were noted by NPCs as being once-in-a-lifetime achievements. Final Fantasy XI made me a pivotal figure in historic events that I could then jump right back into any time I had a friend doing the same quest. And let's not even get into the chronological strangeness that can erupt in Lord of the Rings Online. What's to be done when there's an ongoing story that your character is part of and not a part of?
Vindictus invites players to explore sewers and fight with monsters in newest update
Nexon Europe is pushing Vindictus forward with the game's newest update, which brings two large content improvements to the game. Players mostly interested in the PvE side of the game can start investigating Rocheste's sewers, braving dangerous beasts in the hopes of obtaining new treasures and three new armor types. Fortunately, the three characters of the game each receive a new skill to go along with all of the dangerous, hopefully making it just a little easier to tear through whatever lies beneath. If you'd rather go for the PvP route, however, the update is introducing a new combat mode known as M-Match. It's two teams of players pitted against one another, with the added twist that each side has a boss monster under its control. The first team to take out the opposing team's boss is the winner. The new arena also contains a number of chained boss fights for players to pit themselves against, either one at a time or multiple bosses in sequence, just to reward players who decide to hack their way through greater challenges. [Source: Nexon Europe press release]
BioWare's Erickson talks about creating MMO story
Story is on everyone's mind when it comes to discussing Star Wars: The Old Republic, and who better to talk to than one of the devs primarily responsible for creating it. PC Gamer does just that in a new interview with BioWare writer Daniel Erickson. The development process is quite complex, and it's also one that takes some time given the hundreds of hours of dialogue required, not to mention the interplay between quest NPCs and players. Erickson says that the world-building team uses "greybox" placeholders to connect story quests together while the technical and narrative details are ironed out, and there's a lot less room for error than there is in a typical single-player RPG. "You can teleport people around in a normal RPG, you can fake things, you can make it look like you went from one place to another because there's a secret room hidden in the wall – you can do all sorts of chicanery that, if you tried to do in an MMO somebody's gonna find that room, somebody's gonna teleport out. We have to cheat a lot less, and that takes more time," Erickson explains.
The Daily Grind: Does quest reward realism matter?
While playing Star Wars: The Old Republic this week, my quest partner and I ran into something odd: A group of anti-Jedi Twi'lek pilgrims handed over an elite Jedi robe to his Consular. What were these pilgrims doing with expensive gear from their enemies, and if the quest-givers had looted the garb from Jedi corpses, why would they consider such wearables worthy gifts for us? In a game as story-driven as SWTOR, you'd think the quest rewards would match the lore, right? Of course, BioWare's new epic isn't alone in these weird quirks. Think about how many fantasy games have monsters that drop abnormal numbers of body parts, or worse, money, when you know that ghost couldn't carry a sack of gold and you're pretty darn sure that bat had two eyes, not just one. But does it bother you? Are your immersions disrupted by such inanities, or do you chalk them up to game mechanics and go about your MMO business, happily accepting illogical quest rewards and looting ridiculous items (like furniture!) from any old white-con mob that wanders into your crosshairs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The story's the thing
Story is important in the superhero genre. For most people, stories are what originally makes the genre interesting over the more ubiquitous fantasy or science fiction options. And for every superheroic comic with lackluster execution you can point to, there's something else you can point to that provides some fascinating new takes on the archetypes and ideals. OK, maybe that correlation isn't quite one for one, but the point is made. Stories are a big deal, and as a result, the way story works in City of Heroes is worth examining, especially since another game has recently come out with an emphasis on storylines. So, doubly relevant. If you're only going to read the introductory blurb here, though, I can bottom-line it for you without the rest of the column -- the approach is pretty schizophrenic. The game has some moments of brilliance and some moments of idiocy, and there are also some near-choked with a general apathetic vibe. It's kind of what you'd expect from a story told by hundreds of people over seven years. The times when it's on, sadly, are somewhat scattershot, which makes it hard to say, "This is worth playing just for the story."
The Daily Grind: Do you favor random quests?
One of Star Wars Galaxies' content quirks, borrowed heavily from Anarchy Online, is the random quest. If you tire of themepark questlines, you can trek over to a mission terminal and ask it to generate a random kill-10-rats quest for you. In SWG's prime, these quests were terribly annoying; no one really wants to spend all of his time leveling up by taking missions to destroy a gubbur lair over and over and over. Thank goodness for this new era of individual, scripted quests brought on by World of Warcraft, right? Well, not necessarily. More than once, I (and some our our forum-goers) have been irked at hand-written quests in WoW-esque games. They're usually trite and transparent, and the quest-givers rarely have good reason to entrust me with their tasks. We're still getting kill-10-rats quests -- we just have to click through a bunch of lame dialogue first. What do you think? Do you prefer pre-scripted, one-off, linear quests, or do you long for the simplicity and honesty of random quest generation? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Global Chat: November 27-December 3
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! We're all about communication in this week's Global Chat, and whether that's communication to and from developers or communication with NPCs, it's important to gaming fans who love to know what's happening and why. Our readers had plenty to say on the subject last week, so follow along after the jump to see some of the best of what was said!
Turbine teases Rohan content with new LotRO screenshots
Oh Turbine, how you're teasing us with visions of Rohan, Rohirrim, and desperately suicidal cavalry charges punctuated by raucous shouts of "DEATH!" OK, now that we're all hot and bothered, let's have a look at the latest Lord of the Rings Online screenshots. The new batch coincides with the continuation of the game's epic storyline, and the shots primarily center around Theodred, prince of Rohan and son of King Theoden. If you've read Tolkien -- or seen Peter Jackson's films -- you're probably familiar with Theodred's fate and thus it might surprise you to learn that you'll be aiding him in Turbine's version of Middle-earth. It all fits, though, and you can find the prince in the game's new Dunland region, preparing his troops for battle and waiting on the timely assistance of heroes like you. [Source: Turbine press release] %Gallery-9579%
