"Bob Bobarget Wants 10 Iron Bars"

http://playstarbound.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/quests.gif

The game will have repeatable (infinitely randomly generated) and non-repeatable (scripted) quests, however almost every game to date with infinite quests has made them more of a chore than fun. Please do not make this the case with Starbound. This quest "Bob Bobarget Wants 10 Iron Bars" has me worried.

I am not a creative person by any means, so here's just some examples of what i'd like to see. I'm sure the creative minds at Chucklefish can make more variety.

Examples of good random quests:
These should be what the majority of random quests are like.
- A local mob boss has been terrorizing civilians. Please dispatch of him.
- A monster has been eating civilians. Please hunt him down.
- A group of monsters has been killing caravan drivers. Please take care of them so we can get shipments.
- A group of terrorist have been destroying buildings. Please kill them.
- A large bandit group has been spotted to the west of here. Please take care of them.
- A rare ore has been spotted that is typically found under ground on this planet. If you happen to find any of it, please deliver it to me. (There would be different kinds of semi-rare quest only ore/items, and would only be used to complete quests.)
- The local (monster) have (monster part). Please find one of these and bring me one to study. These would be quest only drops, and you would never need to find more than 1 or 2 of said items. The difficult part would be finding the exact monster you need, no one wants to "collect 10 paws".
- The local bandits have stolen a powerful weapon from the armory. Please locate this weapon and return it.

Examples of acceptable random quests:
These quests are less-fun but add variety, as such they should be rarer to get than good quests. Some will argue these are boring, but they add immersion and make the world feel more alive.
- Deliver a package to planet Omicron Persei 8. These are breadcrumb quests that encourage exploration.
- Help an old lady repair her broken window/chair/door. She provides materials, all you have to do is go up to the item, click it, and quest will be completed.
- Teach the local blacksmith how to craft a copper sword. He provides materials, all you have to do is go up to the anvil, click it, and quest will be completed.
- Help a farmer plant some crops or collect his crops. He provides materials, you just have to plant them or gather his old crops.
- Help clean someone's house, simply right click on the dirty items.
- Help a local civilian paint his house blue.

Examples of bad random quests:
These quests simply should not exist.
- Give 10 Iron Bars to NPC. These are just simply annoying in every game. If you must give an NPC something, make it a quest-only item.
- Kill 10 monsters. Never give us a quest that is simply kill X amount of infinite mobs.
- Kill 5 bandits. Never give us a quest that is simply kill X amount of infinite mobs.
- Gather 20 Minerals. Never make us go gather a set number of infinite materials.

Hopefully they do not keep quests like "Give 10 Iron Bars to someone" in the game. Do you agree or disagree?

For people claiming my good quests are just the same as my bad quests:

 

Is this a suggestion? If so, I'll move it to the correct sub-forum.

My 2 cents: I really don't mind "Kill/Collect X enemies/items" but it could be done in a clever way, like you're tasked to clear out an area of enemies, hostile creatures or whatnot, that have taken over the area and forced its inhabitants to camp out in the outskirts of their former village. Once the village is cleared, the NPCs that gave you the quest will move back in. In its core, a "kill these mobs" but with a pretty paintjob.

Or be requested to help out in the mines, and return with whatever valuable ores you've gathered (only ores collected from the area near the mine will count, so there's no dumping millions of ores unto them. You get improved relations and rewards, the more ores you bring back.

More or less, still MMOish grind quests, but with a bit of purpose so you feel like you're making a difference, unlike -certain- MMOs that has you killing X amount of Goblins, only to see them all respawn once you're done, ready to be killed by the next person in line. Poor Goblins...

 

It isn't as bad as you're portraying it, in my opinion. Some people actually might like that mmo crack. But yeah, I'd prefer more interesting quests. Don't worry, the game is still in development. There's lots of changes to come, especially to the quest system, because that's still bare bones. A lot is still to be added.

 

While they aren't exactly the most creative or interesting, it does serve to promote the idea that you are playing in an actual world, you know, for people who like immersion. People need stuff. Sometimes they ask other people to get that stuff for them. As long as they aren't the majority of tasks it isn't a problem at all.

 

It's not really a suggestion, just discussion on if people like these kind of quests and want them in the game.

 

Personally, my standards for a 'good' quest aren't all that high. So long as a quest isn't out-right tedious then I'm usually fine with it. It also depends on the logic/realistic function of the quest.

For example:

Say you find a village of Glitch. Their little village looks pretty run-down, and you come across a Glitch without a home. Talking to him, he asks you if you can bring him 1000 rock blocks so he can build himself a new house.

The FUN way to handle this kind of quest (in my opinion) would be if he actually asked you to build him a house (which would have to meet certain requirements, such as a door, a chair, a table, and a window in order to be considered a 'house'). However, if something like this wasn't possible then depending on certain factors I still wouldn't mind bringing the 1000 rocks. For one thing, if he'd be asking me to bring him an item/block that is MORE than plentiful (as in I'm picking up more than I can carry without even meaning to) then it provides a much better alternative to simply throwing away unneeded blocks. Furthermore, the reason he wants the rocks (to build his home) at least follows a train of logic. It doesn't feel like an utterly pointless request.

Now, if the same NPC were asking for 1000 rocks for no reason at all then that would be a different matter. Worse yet is if an NPC asks for a ridiculous amount of a much rarer item - like 1000 silver ore, for example.

In short, for me it depends on how the quests are handled that determines how 'fun' they are - and not all quests NEED to be fun. If the same NPC was simply offering a trade quest where if I gave him 1000 rocks he'd give me 100 pixels then it would still work as a quest and the same logic would apply. Stones would be plentiful and he would be providing a reward while freeing up your bag space.

Also: if I had to guess, most of those quest titles in the screenshot seem to be parody names. So they may have been poking fun at such quests.

 

They should be in the game, but maybe not occur as often. If theres not grindy quests, they awesome quests would get old.

 

There are pros and cons to a respawn system in games. I lean towards preferring respawns mainly because of what I call Elder Scrolls syndrome. That is where you kill someone off you didn't intend to or you obliterate an entire town and regret it later.

 

I find the bad ones okay in moderation, especially towards the beginning when it is more of a challenge. But whenever they are the only kind you ever get they are just tedious. It also helps if their is logically some reason to do that like and maybe even a way to see you did do something. Basically I don't think the bads should not exist they should just be used more appropriately. Basically i think the gather/kill X quest can be used and not be just horrible but should never be the meat of the game. Also unless there is a massize onslaught event or a huge depost of materials they should likely not be "I need 1000 steel" Unless... maybe you are helping an Apex doctor construct a large healing laser or something to explain the sheer amount and that would offer a good feeling and maybe a good bonus when completed.

Also if multiple quest in a line, might be interesting to see a "bad" quest become a more epic sidequest are something rather than just a here is some pixels or here is a Katana reward one. Just my opinion of course, recently played a game that did bad quest a few times but managed to stay enjoyable enough through them to not feel like a tedious grind like in most MMOs with that kind of questing.

 

I don't see the difference between
"Stranger, help us! Mutant rats have been attacking our village! You must save us from our demise!"
and
"Kill 6 rats."
It all comes down to killing rats. Having some sort of story in the quest explanation doesn't really make it a 'good' quest.

 

One gives a reason for doing it and might make some people forget it is a grind quest.

The other just states exactly what they want you to do.

 

Sounds like you're blowing this way out of proportion based on a set of sample quests (that are likely just placeholders/examples). Not only that but you're getting worried about quest variety because of ONE quest entry out of the ten listed there.
But anyway I think quests like these are fine when they're intermingled with plenty of other kinds of quests. These kinds of quests can in fact be done in interesting, humorous, or fun ways just like any other quest can be. Other than that, as it has already been alluded to, quests like these also serve to prevent players from simply stockpiling everything should they already have the required items that are asked for. Not to mention "get # of x" quests are honestly not that different from some of the listed example quests that you deem acceptable. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that

Are worse quests simply because you're not actually doing anything. Where is the enjoyment in doing menial tasks for NPCs involving objects that are RIGHT there and only involve clicking once? Are these quests just there to give players rewards that are essentially handouts for no effort? That is extremely dull.

It's all about immersion, which should be important in any RPG. Quests should be providing the player with details and information based on the setting, situation, story, or other things of that nature. They shouldn't just be a laundry list of basic objectives.

 

I agree that bad quests would kill the fun in Starbound. Tiy and co. have to use some creativity to come up with interesting quests that allude to a deep plot and not just a set task that doesn't take any brains to do and will leave you feeling like a tool. I hope that the devs remember that this is a sci-fi game and construct quests based around science fiction and don't copy The Elder Scrolls. Quests that require imagination and creativity are the best IMHO.

 

I like a mix of creative and more simple quests.

 

There might come a point where you have strip mined a planet or two for resources and end up with a surplus of basic supplies and quests like these, while unimaginative and mundane, will most likely give more value to those supplies than just outright selling the excess, or crafting items that are minimally more valuable than the materials alone. Sure it may be the menial game world equivalent of loaning a tool to your neighbor, but it still adds an option to the game. An option that would bother me more if it were removed due to split in public opinions.

Making a hyperbole out of a limited selection of examples in a mockup selection screen is a tad bit silly.

 

I like those dull quests.

 

I am pretty sure that was just an example parodying the cliche quests and we'll have some mroe exciting ones. I mean, just look at them quests suggestions section!

 

A lot of the problem with Elder Scrolls is that it's still exposing the same problem as respawns: that is that the world doesn't change. For the most part if you kill a whole town, no one moves in after them. No looters come by to steal stuff. There are no consequences (other than lack of NPCs) for your actions. It's a hollow permanency that's actually worse than respawns as nothing ever changes.

 

Me too, it's kind of relaxing and gives you something to do while waiting.

 

Especially if you have some tea or coffee and itunes open or a new podcast that you can just sit and relax and enjoy.