[MUD-Dev] MMO Quest: Why they're still lousy

[olag at ifi.uio.no]

Mike Rozak:

> In non-scientific surveys that I've seen on MMORPG.com (etc.),
> about 20% of the players claim they play for the quests. Only
> about 5% for the PvP. etc. One of the features that players rave
> about in WoW is all the quests; it has 700K (approx) players.

Mmm... I think it is a bit dangerous to generalize from numbers on
this.  Especially from new non-free games. New stuff is "always"
fun. Obviously many players don't know what they buy into when a
game is new. They buy a fancy box based on rumours and brand. Which
makes statements about success of different designs based on initial
sales rather difficult to follow. I don't see the clear causal
relationship. Why is FFXI doing so well, btw?

I'm not claiming that "quest" based designs are wrong, just
questioning the arguments. IMO, the best epic quests are those you
stumble over when you explore the world, and which you follow
because you are driven by curiosity. If I have to quest for a
specific item then the quest to a large extent is ruined for
me. I.e. I'll go for the tutorial right away if it makes it
easier. Gimme the numbers... Let's get this over with...

Ola.
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