theworldofdreams.com

Just thought I'd do a poll to find out what type of quests players prefer to take part in - large or small. Here's so pros and cons of each type (if you think of any more, go ahead and post them):

Big quest pros:
- Involve a lot of players so you have a chance to get to know more people
- Tend to have some build-up (messenger arriving at the bank, towncriers spamming, etc), meaning that even if you're out in the boondocks, you'll likely hear about it and have a chance to participate
- bigger quests generally mean bigger rewards
- bigger quests are usually more important quests - often they have a plot that may impact future shard events (Think Trinsic invastion by Praetorians and the like)

Big quest cons:
- More players usually means more lag and confusion
- Sometimes hard to figure out what in the heck is going on
- They usually take longer to complete, so you kind of need to be online for a longer time to take part
- They usually take a lot longer to set up, meaning that we can't do them as often


Small quest pros:
- They're usually shorter, so players can usually participate from beginning to end (you actually know what's going on)
- They're easier for the seers to set up, so we can have them more often
- Since fewer players are needed, they can be run during off-times, not just primetime when there's lots of people logged in

Small quest cons:
- Since only a few players are needed to run them, there's rarely any advance warning. If you're not in the right place at the right time, well, too bad. You missed it.
- Can't really do major storylines that may impact the shard: We really can't have a major plotpoint happen if only 3 people know about it
- Shorter, smaller quests generally mean that there's less, if any, kewl lewt



This really isn't an official poll: Just because one option or the other comes out ahead doesn't mean we'll ONLY do that type of quest from now on. It'll be more of a matter of how much effort we should expend on each type.

I don't see a way to vote, D-man.

I prefer the smaller quests myself because they usually aren't as chaotic and unorganized as the larger, although a bigger quest is always nice once in a while.

Drocket, you need to set the permissions for the forum so users can vote in polls

Oops, should be fixed now.

with more and smaller questes, the con being less loot. I cant speak for everyone else but for me personally a small token means more to me then piles of gold.
The Bucs Den mug , small little trinket , its my most prized hosue decor.

But on the other hand....with all these new players, maybe a Newbie type quest can take place so they may make their piles of gold.

I just like more quests of any kind. No reason to hold back I hope.

BabyKinz wrote: The Bucs Den mug , small little trinket , its my most prized hosue decor.

Sebastian wrote:

BabyKinz wrote: The Bucs Den mug , small little trinket , its my most prized hosue decor.

Mine sits proudly on the fireplace mantle at the home in Serps.

Say, Sebastian, when are we going BACK to Buc's?

[/quote]Say, Sebastian, when are we going BACK to Buc's? [/quote]

Abercrombie might be making an apprearance again someday.

Good to hear, Sebastian

I have found that if the quest is super big alot of people die alot do to the confusion and differing playing styles and lag.

Idea for a newbie quest (only for super newbies in leather/studded armor and little if any magic). I think it would be a riot to have a headless invasion somewere. Led by a king headless that might be as strong as an orc warrior or lizard man. Also maybe a few headless guards that would be as strong as a regular orc or rat man. Anyhow just a thought.

100% Newbie opinion follows...read at your own risk

A headless invasion is a GREAT idea. Hordes of headless, 4-5 neophytes holding them off while the higher rank characters scout ahead in case of more serious trouble...that sounds like a good pattern for almost any quest, and, if that more serious trouble doesn't really exist, then the powerful guys get to come back and tell the neophytes what a great job they've done. I'd like that.

As a side note, it's very hard to figure out what the plot lines of the shard actually are. Is there a way (forum post, journal book somewhere in the realm, etc.) to see the major plotlines?

Dell-Leafsong wrote:As one of the most vocal super nubies these days, I thought I'd put in 2 cents too. A headless invasion is a GREAT idea. Hordes of headless, 4-5 neophytes holding them off while the higher rank characters scout ahead in case of more serious trouble...that sounds like a good pattern for almost any quest.

As a side note, it's very hard to figure out what the plot lines of the shard actually are. Any shot we might see a PLOTS and RUMORS post officially logging the major plotlines (and a few red herrings)?

I would suggest that reviewing the reports of the various quests would do that, but I also like your idea. Maybe a summary of the many villains: Gizash is this, Lord Blackthorne is that etc. Maybe like a who's who of bad guys and the quests we've been on to defeat them and their minions?

Well I realize that I am new to the shard but I was a seer on another shard for some time. I personally loved to run and play the smaller quests. The story lines often changed but I usually kept to some of the basic ideas.

#1. Uninvited Guests. (This was my favorite for guild meetings) I would wait invisible for the guild to finish their meeting, and then before everyone would disband I would summon a spawn of a certain creature type for them to vanquish. If it were a tower I would land winged creatures on the roof. This was really fun and gave the players a good rush.

#2. Clue Quest (My favorite Newbie Quest) I would start off masked as a random character and invite a few newbies to a tavern to hear out my story. Once I got a few interested players I would start the quest by telling the story and offering a clue to the first location. I would scatter 3 clues in 3 different towns each clue led to the next and each location was a little more difficult to find. The final clue led to a chest that would have an item based on the quest. For example: once I did a quest for the Golden Fleece, obviously in the chest that's what they found. This was great for all players because it involved intellectual challenges rather than the common skill challenge. It was obviously good for the newbie because it did not matter that he was low in skills.

#3. The infamous rescue quest. Basically send out a group to rescue me from a band of creatures. I usually tried to give more of a riddle to my location so that it would take some time for them to find me. Once I was rescued, I obviously rewarded the rescuers.

#4. Scavenger Hunt. This was always a nice option for a longer quest. Scatter a set number of items in random locations in various towns. The items spawned so that multiple players could each complete the quest and I would occasionally move the spawns so that players would not be tipping each other off. I would then provide them with the list of items they needed to find. Once a player found the complete set they would receive a reward.

I liked this quest because with a little programming it had the potential to be an ongoing event. In the sense that if an NPC could be set to offer the list to the players and perhaps give the reward if they return all the items to him. (Since my programming skills were limited I was never sure if this was possible or not)


#5. Uber Creature. I used this style for the more advanced players. If I found that a group of players were online and perhaps dungeon crawling together I would create a creature with crazy stats that they would need to hunt down and kill. I would tell them the exact location which was often on a lower dungeon level.

#6. Invasion. This is a common theme on many shards, and I am sure probably used on WOD from time to time. If there are a few players in town, send a few creatures to invade the town. Simple but effective. What can I say, the classics never die.

I would occasionally throw in a few other quest styles but these were my favorites because they were usually quick and easy to setup and for the most part did not require over 10 players.


[Gladiator Olympics]

Now one of my more involved quests was a gladiator event. With sphere I was good at building (just not scripting hehe) Therefore I built a large arena. I had one of the scripter's help me a bit and I will explain how shortly.

So since this was more involved I obviously had it scheduled and players had to signup to play. There were various events that took place throughout the day, each one kept to the same theme. The main events were as follows.

#1. Melee Man vs. Man
#2. Archery Man vs. Man
#3. Magery Man vs. Man
#4. Team vs. Team (included 1 player from each of the 3 styles)
#5. Man vs. Creature
#6. Team vs. Creature
#7. Team vs. GM Team (only for the winner of Category #4)

Now my goal was to provide at least one event that everyone would be interested in participating in whether they preferred PvP or PvM. In addition each event had a double elimination.

Now here is where the scripter came in. The actually arena was closed off so players could only enter by stepping on a pad. When they hit the pad they would be teleported into the ring, however before they could get in they would have to choose either archery, swords, mace, fencing, magery, or pass-through.

What would happen is when they were teleported into the ring they would receive items based on they style they picked and these were the only items they were allowed to bring into the ring. So basically if it were an archery competition each combatant had the same gear when they dueled, that way no one had an unfair advantage. When a player was teleported out of the arena (by stepping on a stone) all the gear we gave them was removed. Another nice feature that the scripter added was that your fame and karma was restored when you left the arena. This enabled players that did not usually like to play PvP a chance to try it out with no risk.

Now the pass-through option was for the players that were in the man vs. creature events. They were the only ones allowed to use their own gear because I felt that it would not provide any unfair advantage.

Now for the players that were either not in a particular event or perhaps did not want to fight at all, they were able to sit in the stands and watch the event. I actually had another GM play the role of Bookie which took bets on each event. There was a maximum bet allowed, and no player was allowed to bet on an event in which they were participating. This was obviously to prevent players from trying to cheat to win lost of money. Every gambler was given 2:1 odds regardless of whom or what they bet on. Therefore if you bet 1000 gold and won we gave you 2000 gold.

Finally a few players signed up to be vendors for the event, and would walk the stands selling food and drink; they kept all the profit from their sales and turned out to do pretty well.

Anyhow this became a very popular event, and we usually got a very good turnout. I kept the arena assembled so that we could offer the event every month or so. I built the arena on top of one of the mountain ranges so that we had an interesting backdrop (also kind of gave a Mount Olympus feel)

Well I realize that this is one of my first posts so I really must apologize from the length. In the future you will find that I tend to be rather long winded, as all my friends can attest to. So in closing I hope this helps the staff in some way and if you even need any clarification on one of the aforementioned quests or perhaps a few storyline examples that I used feel free to ICQ, PM or Email me.

Thank You and I hope I didn't put too many of you to sleep,

Greywolfe

the last time someone showed that much interest in the game they ended up hosting the shard...be careful my friend lol