Thoughts Straight From My Mind

Quests – they’re all over MMORPG’s or basically any type of game you’ll pick up. There’s so many different types of quests that it’s probably almost impossible to list all of them. Each different game has their own unique way of putting quests into the gameplay. However, everyone has a different view and expectation of quests that makes it hard to appeal a quest to everyone.

What exactly is a quest? After going to the trusty Dictionary.com, there was just two words that could describe completely a quest: a search. However, those two words are so vague that anyone can interpret it differently. A search for what, exactly? A search for items, money, treasure, maidens in distress, it could be anything. It’s the way that people see the meaning of quests that makes a quest the way it is.

So what makes a quest good and appealing? Most people would say the rewards – how much experience, what items you get, money, etc. Some would say how difficult/easy the quest is. Other people say the storyline – if it flows well, if there’s enough action, if it makes sense, etc. The remainder would say your role in the quest – what you have to do, how long it takes, how repetitive it is, etc. However, what I think is that there doesn’t have to be amazing rewards or an amazing storyline or an amazing part that you play. As long as the quest is enjoyable in some aspect, whether it be any of the three I mentioned, I believe it is a fair quest. That proves that the creators of the quest have put some thought into the quest instead of making it a pull-through-at-the-last-minute.

Runescape Quests

Throwing all hardness/easiness levels of quests aside, I’d say that Runescape quests are pretty unique compared to other games I’ve played. This isn’t just in the hardness aspect, but in the storyline and creativity aspect as well. Anubis agrees with this fact:

“I do like the storylines though. Continued quests are the most fun. No rubbish like sheep shearer please.”

Take for example one of my previously recommended MMORPG’s: Flyff. While I love the game, most of the quests are your usual kill-the-monsters-and-get-so-many-items quest, which gets boring rather quickly. They do have some storyline and chain quests, but their main source of quests are the kill-the-monsters quests. Considering Runescape’s multi-step quests like Dragon Slayer, Demon Slayer, Prince Ali Rescue, and others, Runescape’s quests are quite different from others. They don’t only have monster killing, but travelling, talking to people, etc. Runescape’s gameplay with all the different skills also plays a big role in their quests, for you can do so many things other than monster killing that it doesn’t get completely boring.

The rewards of Runescape quests aren’t that bad either (to me). Due to the number of skills in Runescape, you can get experience in so many areas. Other MMORPG’s just have one level: your combat level, and you get experience for that only from quests. Runescape however, branches out the experience into different skills. Runescape quest rewards also include passage to different areas of the map and items, which are two things that aren’t found in many other MMO quests. Some include item rewards, but very few include areas of the map. Better rewards will attract more eyes to quests, such as Ranging God:

“…I like medium quests, but I also like there to be a sweet reward. Exp, useful weapons, etc.”

Peoples’ Opinions of Runescape Quests
In Runescape, I find that (due to the Update and many different forums) many players aren’t happy with the current quests of Runescape due to the difficulty level. People complain that it’s too hard, people complain that it’s too easy, people complain that it’s too short, people complain that it should be continued, etc. I myself believe that Runescape’s quests are fine as they are, but not everyone has the same way of thinking.
Most of the older Runescape players look for a certain level of difficulty in quests, such as Kill3rz says:

“…harder. Too much low-mid-level quests.”

Ryan also agrees with this:

“I like medium quests, but challenging ones (for example Recruitment Drive).
Comparing Runescape to other MMORPG’s, I’d say that the quests are hard already, seeing as most of them aren’t just sitting around and killing the same monster over and over again. However, being a player of Runescape as well, I can see why people want harder quests when they get to higher levels. I’ve never been a member, so I thought Dragon Slayer was hard (although I’m sure there’s plenty of harder member quests). Yet with the rapid growth of people reaching levels above 90, many higher-levels want to see harder quests.

Others, such as Anubis, seem to like a variety of difficulty levels in quests, not just all hard:

“Personally, I think quests are alright as they are. Normally, if you have done all the quests, you’ve gone out of your way to do them. So I guess I’d prefer mid level-high level quests released, but with the occasional low level one from time to time. After all, we’re not all level 100+. ”

A good point of his is that not all Runescape players are high levels and not all lower levels are newbies. If Jagex is to appeal to everyone, they can’t just keep making harder quests. While I do agree with the fact that they have been coming out with many easier quests, they may have some surprises in store for higher levels. After all, you never know. I thought the handful of free-to-play quests was a good pick, for there was about an equal amount of easy, medium, and hard quests.

Some players have tired of Runescape and don’t do many quests at all, such as Kyle:

“Quest are kinda random and stupid. Only a few have good story lines.”

Ryan1 also states something similar:

“I don’t like doing quests very much. Most of them are just way too easy and the reward is never worth it. They need more hard quests!”

Some quests in Runescape are boring I’ll agree, but after comparing Runescape’s quests to other MMO’s quests, I’d say that they’re pretty creative. So some may have corny story lines, yet it’s better to at least have a story line than have none at all. However, as I mentioned before, not everyone has the same way of thinking.

Then there are those who are iffy/don’t really care, as Kelsey says:

“…I’ll only do quests for the informer and if there is a good benefit from doing them, otherwise I’m just really not that interested in them”

Everyone has different opinions on quests and different wantings/dislikes. My point in this section though is that if you compare the types of quests in Runescape to the types of quests in other MMO’s, you might just gain a new respect for the quests in Runescape no matter how stupid they may be. After all, even the quest in Runescape with the stupidest storyline can beat a quest where you have to kill 50 monsters to get 10 special items. Runescape’s quests are the type of quests that are equal in every aspect: creativity, storyline (at least they have one), rewards (some may not be that good, but they’re different from regular combat experience), and difficulty (not all are hard/easy).
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Quests are a powerful part of MMO’s that may make people either more attracted to the game or fall away from it. I’ve given up on a lot of MMO’s simply because their quests were all the same, boring type. However, in the end it’s not what I think that’s most important, it’s what you think.

—-DISCLAIMER—-
I have only played so many MMORPG’s (all of them free ones). I’m sure there’s many out there that don’t have the monster-killing type quests. That was just something I noticed through many of the free MMO’s I’ve played.