Public Quests
I haven’t really spoken about Public Quests, mainly because they’ve been so well covered on the blogosphere that there isn’t anything I can add. Except of course my opinion, which is what blogging’s really about isn’t it? What prompted me to speak about PQ’s, apart from the need to talk about SOMETHING on this blog or else risk the loss of the influential title of “blogger”, was something I read over at Simple Complexities. Note, this is a quote of a quote, I would hate to be accused of misquoting, otherwise I’ll never be able to work my way up to getting that free lifetime subscription to Warhammer <waves his arms at Mythic and shouts “over here”>
“Public Quests are just another grind - Well, this is another way to give you a quest, but you still do the exact same thing…so, this really changes nothing of the game atmosphere or mechanics.”
Well now, they’re hardly a grind. The Unicorn Quest in Vanguard. That was a grind. Levelling in Dark Age of Camelot. That was a grind. The higher crafting levels in EQ2. They were a grind. And I wouldn’t even call it a quest per se. Anyone who reads my blog regularly; yes all you 10,000 a day <tries to get Mythic’s attention as he points to this vastly exaggerated figure> would know that I’m not a huge fan of questing in MMOs. Questing feels like a grind for me. Sure, some of them I do like, such as quests that direct you to new areas or ones that feel like a “quest”, such as the Heritage Quests in EQ2, but they also need to have phat lewt at the end of it. I don’t want to go on a great quest to find I get gear I’ve out-levelled.
And this is what I like about PQ’s. You can see the Rally Master and learn what gear you’ll get for completing the PQ for that Chapter, and determine whether it’s even worth doing. And it’s not about getting XP, but rather about getting Influence. I’ve gotten some uber gear through these PQ’s. On the downside it can be hard to find enough people to complete some of these PQ’s, and if you’re guildless or the type of player that likes to solo then it can be a grind. You can still get Influence by killing the trash mobs in the PQ area, you just won’t get a chance at loot for finishing the PQ. Which is another good thing about PQ’s. Each time you finish it you have the chance of winning some good lewt, depending on how much you contributed plus some strange formula of die rolls that nuclear physicists developed for this purpose.
Public Quests are just another thing you can do in WAR, or you can choose not to and just go RvR, or quest, or do scenarios, or craft, or discover tome unlocks ………..
« Disciple of Khaine levels 5 – 15
Comments
Comment from JoBildo
Time: October 2, 2008, 11:10 am
Re: The Guild or Not Issue - It’s true. If you aim to play WAR solo from 1-40, you’ll get bored and wonder what all the fuss is about. But if you have a guild (and they’re not hard to find), and actively participate in grouping, then chances are you’ll be hard-pressed to dislike your time in the game.
So while it’s easy to play WAR solo, I’d also gladly agree that it’s less fun than when you hit up quests, PQs, scenarios, dungeons, or RvR with friends/guildies.
Thankfully, going it alone is not forced. It may be, much like WoW is today, further down the line when early tier populations are less than crowded, but right now? Nothing beats being part of this surge. The leveling pace is slow enough for your average Joe, that most players are still in Tier 2 (levels 11-21) and luckily that’s where I’m at.
The real test of patience will be inevitably when I want to work on an alt whether or not I find the lower tiers too empty.
Comment from Kyrana
Time: October 2, 2008, 12:47 pm
I love the PQ’s. I love being able to jump in with a group of strangers and accomplish something, even if it is just “kill 10 of these and this boss.” I almost always get an invite into a group when I’m doing these if I”m not grouped, because the mechanics reward you for being grouped and so it encourages people to be generous with the invites. I can do them more than once and still not get bored. Now, mind you, I don’t want to repeat them 10 times each, but the loot at the end makes doing them several times worthwhile, and the pace of the quest is fast enough to keep me interested.
We have started doing the PQ’s as a guild one night a week, and people seem to really like it. To have 10-12 people formed up in a warband just rocketing through these is a lot of fun. And the open group system allows those who are going it alone to join up with groups already in progress without having to beg for an invitation. A win-win in my opinion.
So, yeah….I like PQ’s. *grin*
BTW–when Cal was waving his arms and shouting “over here” at Mythic, I had this vision of him dressed as C3P0 trying to flag down a sandcrawler. Yeah, I’m a geek. *sighs* Not sure if that disturbs me more, or the idea of Cal in a C3PO suit. *shifty eyes*
Comment from 
caliga
Time: October 2, 2008, 3:51 pm
I would have to agree entirely that solo, WAR is a different game entirely. Yes you do the same things, but it definitely lacks the fun factor that doing it in a group gives you.
Comment from Openedge1
Time: October 2, 2008, 10:07 am
I do not think it is the fact of it being a grind so much as you still do the same thing in a PQ that you would do in a standard WoW quest.
Collect this
Kill 10 of this
Get this Boss
So, it really does end up being another form of grind, just maybe masked in the ultra goodness of the grouping mechanics of WAR (as I have read, solo the game, and be prepared for ultimate boredom, and as you said..solo = grind).
I am thinking that if you do not have a guild (and a ton of sites are saying the same thing..i.e: Tobolds, etc.) then the game is NOT as fun…
Seems the issues right now are gold spam and the “Instant Win” mechanic just found last night by Destruction on one server…
I am worried that all servers will be controlled by specific guilds, and any regular players may not enjoy the ride as much.
Ahh well…nothing like the “Launch” blues.