WildStar Wednesday examines redundancies in quest text

@(Unverified) So really, you're statement should read "I haven't read anything"

@Daemodand The story comes with events you witness in game and NPC chatter, all mixed together to create a more immersive expereince than having someone slip you a note to read.

People seem to forget why we even have quests in MMOS.

The idea of the "quest" is an ancient concept, at the center of mythology.
When a hero went to obtain the golden fleece, there was more to it than "go get me this so you can level up".

Quests are an excuse to make us feel like we are on a deed, which is what a hero does in an adventure.

Why does this have to rely on being given a note to read?
I don't mind quest text, but there are better ways to bring the experience to life.

@Deliverator Yeah, the combat would have to be really exciting and fun just by itself to justify having no real story.

Or is this a game targeted to little kids, like FreeRealms is?

@Deliverator

agreed, there making the grind even more grindy. Story elements reward players and make them over look repeative grind elements. This is why people flocked to SWTOR, and people are geeked about GW2. This game will be died before launch, people will hate beta, given the description.

@Deliverator

*sigh* They're telling the story with myriad other methods at their disposal. They're just keeping the quest acceptance text to a minimum.

*headdesk* Why do people keep jumping to conclusions and not bother to do the tiniest bit of research to allay their fears?

@JuliusSeizure
*sigh* some might consider asking questions as doing research. I have no fears about this game, just pointing out the pig behind the lipstick. Redundant quest text wasn't an issue until their PR dept came up with it - it's not exactly innovative to shorten quest text, nor does it save resources, download time or anything else. It mean... same price, now with less reading. Maybe next they'll eliminate every control from these games and you'll be able to move and play just be drooling.

@JuliusSeizure Perhaps if they advertised these dynamic, innovative storytelling mechanics they plan to have instead of just bragging how they're cutting all NPC text to Twitter-length people would understand better what they're trying to do.

@JuliusSeizure

I did do research, the description describes the boring guildleve system FFxiv has. Just because you don't like the response, tossing insults out, doesn't make you right either. If you remove the story elements, the game enviroment the player is put into, becomes pointless and repeative.

@Deliverator
Story writing is an art. To put "tweetquest" into perspective, imagine reading "Dr Zhivago" after being set upon by "tweetquest" devs.

It's funny they mention cutting out the "fancy words" because these are fancy words for what basically amounts to the blatent dumbing down of MMOs

@Deliverator

Asking questions is all well and good, but at least read the linked post first.

@(Unverified)

It's a development diary talking about a very specific aspect of how they're developing the game, not a press release. And they do mention it anyway, as well as going into more detail in part one (this is part two). Did you just skim over this article and assume they simply said 'quest text should be really short, make an article announcing that for us' to Massively?

@JuliusSeizure

I read the article. It's an entire page about not being redundant. It starts with the buzzword that's getting them press - "tweetquest" and ends by saying trust the player, but don't trust the player. Don't bother with exposition, because they ain't readers anyways.
Hell, you and I specifically can't comment on an MMO in 1000 words or less half the time - how are they going to flesh out an MMO in 140 character scraps?

@(Unverified)

You're not making any sense, as usual. It saddens me to see Vivi being used as an avatar for such a consistently irrational hater.

Also, I didn't make any insults until the above paragraph, though I'd maintain it's a balanced and objective observation that happens to be uncomplimentary. Otherwise, all I've done is express exasperation about things people have actually done. I didn't say anything about the quality of character of anyone. Except you, just now.

But anyway, it's not like Levequests because they're using other methods to tell story while the missions are in progress. Levequests are just Kill Ten Rats with a smidgen of a lore excuse why you're being told to do it up front.

@Deliverator

A game is not a novel. All a novel has to use is prose text delivered in blocks. They can do profound things with that, but in a game all it does is interrupt the flow. Even if well-written, it's still requires too much of a change of mindset for the audience to get involved enough in the text to experience any moments of equivalent profundity. Carbine are relying more on videogame-appropriate techniques that better go with the flow of gameplay. Story-writing is an art, and a good artist uses techniques that suit the medium.

@Deliverator

There's a whole bunch of stuff in the middle, you know. ;)

Okay, you hate buzzwords. Whatever. I'm neutral to them. They can be good tools for expressing concepts in short, but it's always best to look past them and see what else is being said. In this case, what's being said is the actual definition of the buzzword, so it's definitely worth paying attention.

As for the ending, that boils down to 'Trust all your players to enjoy some story, don't trust them all to have patience for your story when it keeps them from playing.' Got that down to 129 characters. :)

@JuliusSeizure

By your logic, a game developer should just make a "I win button" that just gives them instant loot, and skips all the fighting. Story elements give a gaming world structure and meaning. It defines the type of game that your playing; a RPG is different then Frogger for what reason?

@JuliusSeizure
:) lol.
Points taken - I'll keep an open mind about it. Maybe they can hit a happy medium between "kill 10 rat there" and SWTOR's cut-scene like technique using in-world animation and voice.

@Deliverator
*just by using in-world...

@(Unverified)

That's not even close to what I'm saying. Here, I'll say it as plainly as possible:

STORY IS IMPORTANT. DELIVERING STORY IN A WAY THAT SUITS THE MEDIUM IS BETTER THAN JUST SHOVING IT IN THE EASIEST WAY POSSIBLE. THIS IS CARBINE'S STATED INTENT.

Would you fill a TV show with a screen full of text every five minutes to fill in the gaps of the story? Would you write a song where it stops halfway through and the drummer starts to talk about the techniques he's using for a solid minute before it starts right back into the chorus? Would you write a novel where a few key chapters are audio-only on a CD and you have to switch between the book and audio to follow the story?

I wouldn't be surprised if these things have been done, just like there's quest text in MMOs. That doesn't make them good in any way.