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Originally Posted by Horse  Have you played Final Fantasy XI? I think they handled that portion of it as well as it can be handled. |
I did enjoy that part of FFXI, and you're right they did a good job there.
As far as quests go, I'd like to see them split into two main concepts: quests and tasks.
First, we have quests: they attempt to narrate a story. Quests should mainly focus on narrating the global and situational events that surround the player. They provide the atmosphere and setting, and provide the thread that guides us across the world. Quests create story lines out of global events and change the world as a whole, or at least change the world for the player by providing access to new areas, abilities, levels, dungeons, etc...
Then, we have tasks, which are the various assignments that are given to us by NPCs. Shit like kill 10 rabid raccoons, bring back 100 bear asses, the dreadful "quests" that get constantly mocked. For these we have the possibility of generating dynamic tasks where the focus is on the player's interactions and decisions.
There is no point in trying to inject a story line here save as a vestige from table top RPG games. Instead I'd like to see designers focus development efforts on making tasks repeatable, enjoyable and dynamic based on player input. Player-driven state machines could be used to generate quests with various phases. The objectives change based on whatever state the task is in. Additionally, tasks shouldn't be discrete and instead should allow for improvement and rewards based on personal performance.
Story has its place, but it shouldn't be shoved into every aspect of the game. Some parts just aren't worth writing a story about.
