/svidya/ - Strict /v/

I think fetch quests are something we just can't avoid. There are methods that devs can use to minimize it, like picking up quests in the field rather than in a town, but it's still there. Since you're talking about Xenoblade, the reason I never felt extremely annoyed or bored with their quests, even if a majority were pretty shitty and just (go kill X monsters and bring me their tails), there was generally some character and story that was told with each individual quest, outside of the generic quests like Unique Mosnter Hunt 1, 2, 3, Item Collection 1, 2, 3, and so forth.

The quests made it feel like you were doing something, even if you knew you were just running from point A to B and wasting your time. They gave you the feeling that you were making an impact on the game's world and it's characters. So really I think it boils down to good writing.

>>1427
The bulk of the sidequests in Xenoblade are something of an issue of being rather boring fetch/kill quests, but thankfully they can (and should) be done sparingly since you can easily out level the enemies and remove the challenge the game can have.

On the other hand, I do have to give Xenoblade credit in that with most quests you can turn them in while still in the field, removing some of the tedium that MMO-esque quests can have (though with fast travel it's not as big an issue as other games might have).

There are some sidequests in the game though that do build upon the history, the plot, and the people, and those were the ones I really appreciated. Did you do the pocketwatch sidequest for one of the women at Colony 9, for instance?

As far as how to make fetch quests enjoyable, I'd say either have a nice subplot/people/world building element to them as the big reward beyond exp, money, or equipment, and try not to force the player to go heavily out of their way just to get the items needed (IE: don't simply give the item a shitty drop rate from monsters or nodes simply to pad the time for it out, or force the player through a bunch of encounters simply to get the enemy the drops the item or needs to be killed to show up), but still encourage exploration as well (I think the landmark warp system and hidden areas in Xenoblade really helped with that). A good quest log is also quite useful, especially one with a marker for ones that will eventually be timed out the way Xenoblade does it.

I do hope that with XCX, they have the exp granted by sidequests be optional (maybe turned on or off in the options menu), so you can do them without fear of removing the challenge the game has by outleveling the content.

>>1485
Good post, and I agree with all your points.

I would only add that for the 6th point, it could be a consequence as well. Feeling like you're doing something is good, but it's also important to reminded that you did something.

This goes for a lot of quests in general obviously. For fetch quests it may be a bit harder but certainly not impossible. Maybe killing 50 of enemy X makes X extinct or fearful or vengeful? Or as you say, a reward that goes beyond gold/exp.

>>1427
Oh boy that pic is a blast from the past.

>>2954
I was thinking of writing out more examples in my post but you covered the ones I thought of and then some.

>Monster hive is cleared, and a boss version of that boss comes out of hiding or begins wandering the overworld
This would be rad. I'm imagining an angry alpha male or matriarch. You'd have to go on another adventure to track it down, or maybe you travel the map it's HUNTING YOU.

>>3057
I meant to write
>Monster hive is cleared, and a boss version of that monster comes out of hiding or begins wandering the overworld
The idea of having it hunt you, or making it another quest to hunt it is a good one.

Lots of things could be done to liven up open world RPG settings, kinda makes me wonder why they aren't used more often.

>>2954
If I was designing an open world game, I'd throw in tons of stuff like this (events triggered by past player actions), but try to keep the fact that systems like this even exist as hidden to the player as possible. Surprise mechanics always make me rock hard and show that the devs went above and beyond in crafting their game.
For example, it would be awesome to be attacked by a young man when randomly wandering and find out that he was the son of some cultist who lived in a cave you cleared out in a sidequest who has sworn revenge.
Or I would have the local merchant mention that, because you cleared a hive of killer wasps in a quest totally unrelated to him, he can now safely retrieve and sell you honey. Or exotic supplies now being sold because trade routes opened up because you killed bandits, the kraken, scared off a thieves guilde, etc. Or more food being on offer and crops and farm houses visible in a field you cleared of monsters.

>>4984
Exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Wish there was an open world game chock full of this shit. I can only hope that I have the resources to make one like it one day.

Fetch quests are a lot better when you can collect a bunch at once, do them while you're doing an interesting quest, and then drop them off when you return to town. Basically not treating them as serious things you should focus your attention on.

Morrowind got tiresome because you often had one fetch quest to one area from one town, so you'd make a special trip for not much. Xenoblade showered you with them, though there was usually at least one interesting one in a set.

I quite liked Chop Shop in Saints Row. The first was bare bones, you had a list, if you found a car on it and remembered to check, you drove it back to drop off, and that was it. In 2 they added a few things, like a pop-up if the car was on a list, some cars generate heat automatically, and cars clearing heat when you handed them in to make them mini-missions, which I didn't like. Third was horrid, they told you where to go, slapped a quest marker on the car, then told you where to drop it off, which was horrid. So not over-egging them and letting the systems for combat and travel provide the fun. I enjoyed Sleeping Dogs' fetch quests even though they were pretty much like Third's, though it did have action hijack(leap from one car to another and drive off) and the reward was based on how little damage you did on the way back to the drop off, which kept things interesting on the way to hand it in.

>>8027
That Saint's Row example is a pretty good example of how too much handholding and too much direction given can ruin a fetch quest and turn it from alright to outright tedious.

How about a related question - which is worse, having your hand held or having no idea where to go or what to do in a game?

The obvious answer is the hints given in the game should be optional, but still I'm a bit curious as to which would be considered the worse sin.

>>8969
Hand holding. Not knowing what do in a game is only a problem once, whereas hand holding is a problem every time you encounter it that you don't need it.