Where do I want to go with this...?
Quest design... object completion... meaningful journey...
& how a persistent world can crush that utterly.
The 4 hobbits left the shire on a journey. Once they completed that final objective, the return home wasn't a repeat of fighting the exact same mobs that respawned 3 - 5 minutes after they passed them. The story that was told at that point was about how they had been changed by their experiences, & how their world had changed as well (Scorched Shire.)
Contrast that journey & story with an in-game experience. The return journey is lackluster; It's just a repeat of previous trash fights & a bit of a time/buzz-kill.
Understandably, quest design in the past has revolved around a subscription based time-sink model where every journey has to involve trash fight time-sinks. There roll is less a story driven device, than a necessary time-sink.
I guess I hope as sub fees go the way of the dino... quest design will focus more on the substantive story elements rather than just creating an experience that lasts for a certain amount of time & includes appropriate levels of trash fights to achieve that objective. After 5 years of playing things designed as time-sinks, rather than meaningful journeys, with the meaningful wrap-up in the return... I kind of feel a bit like a drone.
So until the return trip reflects the accomplishments of completing the objective & includes plot nuances like a "Scorched Shire" it does rather feel a little lackluster.
Simply having trash mobs, for the sake of having trash mobs, doesn't add meaning. If the telling the story is enhanced by their presence, by all means add them in, but if it is just meant to stretch a 30 minute experience into 3 hours... it all gets very mind-numbing & I feel less like a participant & more like drone.
It is also why I don't have one stitch of a problem with features like a return to quest giver, or say thinning the mobs on the path to Balins camp. Until this shift happens, I am very pleased with return to quest-giver upon objective completion options & thinning of trash density in many areas. In a persistent multi-player world of respawns & limited time in which to develop meaningful new content, this is a good solution.
I do hope future design, that desires to give a player an experience that lasts beyond an hour doesn't simply add things to kill time, but rather everything that is included, unfolds & serves to tell the story. If their is a return journey, it really should reflect how the player has impacted things in the world.
A good story isn't a good story just because it lasts 3 hours long. If the storyteller, (or quest designer) manages to keep you engaged that entire 3 hours... FANTASTIC! Length for lengths sake doesn't make something epic.
Quest design... object completion... meaningful journey...
& how a persistent world can crush that utterly.
The 4 hobbits left the shire on a journey. Once they completed that final objective, the return home wasn't a repeat of fighting the exact same mobs that respawned 3 - 5 minutes after they passed them. The story that was told at that point was about how they had been changed by their experiences, & how their world had changed as well (Scorched Shire.)
Contrast that journey & story with an in-game experience. The return journey is lackluster; It's just a repeat of previous trash fights & a bit of a time/buzz-kill.
Understandably, quest design in the past has revolved around a subscription based time-sink model where every journey has to involve trash fight time-sinks. There roll is less a story driven device, than a necessary time-sink.
I guess I hope as sub fees go the way of the dino... quest design will focus more on the substantive story elements rather than just creating an experience that lasts for a certain amount of time & includes appropriate levels of trash fights to achieve that objective. After 5 years of playing things designed as time-sinks, rather than meaningful journeys, with the meaningful wrap-up in the return... I kind of feel a bit like a drone.
So until the return trip reflects the accomplishments of completing the objective & includes plot nuances like a "Scorched Shire" it does rather feel a little lackluster.
Simply having trash mobs, for the sake of having trash mobs, doesn't add meaning. If the telling the story is enhanced by their presence, by all means add them in, but if it is just meant to stretch a 30 minute experience into 3 hours... it all gets very mind-numbing & I feel less like a participant & more like drone.
It is also why I don't have one stitch of a problem with features like a return to quest giver, or say thinning the mobs on the path to Balins camp. Until this shift happens, I am very pleased with return to quest-giver upon objective completion options & thinning of trash density in many areas. In a persistent multi-player world of respawns & limited time in which to develop meaningful new content, this is a good solution.
I do hope future design, that desires to give a player an experience that lasts beyond an hour doesn't simply add things to kill time, but rather everything that is included, unfolds & serves to tell the story. If their is a return journey, it really should reflect how the player has impacted things in the world.
A good story isn't a good story just because it lasts 3 hours long. If the storyteller, (or quest designer) manages to keep you engaged that entire 3 hours... FANTASTIC! Length for lengths sake doesn't make something epic.