Ok so I think that everyone agrees that the quest system needs some love. The quests are way to easy, in general kind of boring and all fall along the same lines. Here are some thoughts on new types of quests, ways to make them more interesting and how to fix the tech tree a bit.
New Quests:
Spawns Monster X: Hey there is now some big ass monster wandering the world that may be more powerful than you anticipated and is capable of destroying some cities, maybe yours, maybe an enemies, but he as something you need. If he runs into an enemies territory how are you going to get to him? Declare war, Diplomacy or maybe just wait for him to exit.
Cast Spell X: Hey there is something here that gives a hint as to some sort of spell that it requieres to unlock it.
Chain Quests: Especially for getting to the master quest but I will address that later. I think everyone knows how that works though.
Donations: Lord Whoever wants 30 horses to hand over his sword or something. Now if you do not have horses you need to find or trade for some, and if you do you need to save some for it.
Antiquest: Some other guy who thought he was a hero caused some monsters to get pissed and start attacking without the player starting the quest. It just says hey this is going on.
Questing for Spells/Items/Tech: I think there should be some techs and spells and items that are found only through questing in every game. They can either be specific hey this is a quest only spell or random determined at the start of a game.
Making quests better:
The big thing limiting quests right now is player movement. You don't want it to take 30 turns to complete a quest so the finish has to be near the start which prevents having to enter enemy territory or further explore the world. The other thing you may want to look at for questing is not allowing armies. What kind of hero needs an army at his back?
The Master Quest: I should not be able to research quest level 5 or whatever and then go straight to the master quest. I think the number and level of quests and locations visited should determine your quest level. That and I think it should be a quest chain that leads to the master quest.
Quest Effects: Make it so quests have an effect on the world. Maybe like a beast breaks out of a cave and reveals a crystal crag, or some mountain to appear where there was nothing before. Also have completing quests add to your prestige. People want to live where heroes are.
Fixing the Quest Tree:
Reactive items: Hey some guy wants a wand of fireballs in exchange for a map. Well I better figure out how to make one. Oh and now I can make one for my guys.
Hero Only Techs: Make the items in the questing tree only usable by heroes. Special armors, weapons and items.
No more researching the next level quests: As said before, quest level based on quests completed.
Quest to reveal the story: Make it so that some of the quests reveal parts of the history that people otherwise do not see.
Unique Quest Heroes: Make it so some quests allow you to recruit some better than average heroes.
Please Comment and add your own ideas.
Great ideas. If I think of anything to add I will, but you've about covered it!
I like the ideas you have listed but the biggest problem I have with the quests is that they are tending to become the central part of the game. They are good early on when you are waiting for your cities and armies to develop but then they just become a distraction (they are for me at least).
An analogy would be playing Monopoly where the main focus was getting the Chance cards.
If the quests can be made to support the main game then great. But if they become too important and are just essentially a lucky dip then I'd prefer them to phase out of the game as it progresses past the exploration phase.
Solid ideas there, the only thing I can add is that I would like to see the goody hut you get a quest from disappear once the quest is completed. I think it does for some but not all, not sure if it is a bug or not.
Ok, this is a nice idea on paper but in the real world people will research it a few times in single player games to see what it has to say and then just skip it from then on. There needs to be some in game advantage as well as information if you want players to research it.
All in all though some good ideas. Quests definitely need some fresh ideas and lots of polish.
I played on island game where I met no enemy during the course of the game. I completed the Master quest which was conveniently spawned on my island.
It should be coded to spawn in the most dangerous area possible in the current game. Whether that be your faction enemy's strength + number of high lvl creatures around or something similar. It was disappointing that the game didn't challenge me to get out there.
I feel that this should be similar for each of the other game winning methods. You need to acquire a resource or item to cast the spell endgame quest and need to defeat some evil creatures to gain that last ally. Make it challenging!!
Plus, is there anyway to track your quests. A logbook or something similar? If so, its hidden from me and if not. There should be.
Every 5 levels of Adventuring should allow you to take one more quest than usual.
lvl 1-4 is 5 quests
lvl 5-9 is 6 quests
lvl 10-14 is 7 quests
and et cetera
maybe this is modified by the number of adventurer heroes a sovereign has as well. At current, questing is no more fun than warfare. Its actually more tedious than just attacking someone. It should have its own element.
Track and kill this creature
Hold this location for x turns
Bring this item to this location
(Diplomacy quests may be interesting as well which could work off of your diplomacy skill tree. Thus allow two skill trees to interact. Text quests for starts. Similar to King Arthur strategy game out there right now.)
What I would add is a history page of the quests you and your heroes did. And a option to view the quests that you accepted and when they expire.
Also for some quests a expiry date.. So you get the message "Your too late !!! The darklings have killed everybody in place X .. and moved on.."
Yes, an expiry date like in H3 Quest Huts/Guards. And if the same Inn etc. has multiple quests at different times, a "start date" before which it would not show up. And perhaps even cooler, the ability to set the start or expiry date based on events that have happened in the game!
Or changing quests you are in if certain times have past or certain events have happened/actions have been taken by you or other players...
Mmm.
Best regards,Steven.
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