Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsQuests added to mob tooltips on the PTR
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 3rd 2009 at 5:00PM
The Godmother over at ALT:ernative ducked into the PTR recently, and noticed something new: Blizzard is apparently testing adding Questhelper-style notes to tooltips of the quest-related mobs you come across. This looks so familiar that I thought it was an addon, but no, apparently Blizzard really is planning to tell you when a mob you're looking at happens to be the target of a quest.It shocked me for a second -- not only is this dumbing down the questing game even further (maybe someday we will have a large red arrow pointing out a quest target from zones away), but it seems to be an awfully big break in immersion. Blizzard is basically telling you that "this is the mob you need, right here," and actually reading the quest text becomes even less necessary.
But then I realized that tooltips themselves aren't exactly paragons of game immersion -- it's already a little jump in the reality of the game to see a box with a mob's name and level whenever you mouse over it. Tooltips are already where the UI meets the road, so to speak. And as for the "dumbing down" of the game, most experienced players already had this functionality through addons like Questhelper and MonkeyQuest anyway (and if you do plan to complain that this makes things way too easy, make sure Questhelper is out of your Addon directory before you start typing). But if the tips stay in the game when the patch goes live, questing will be that much easier for people who stick to the basic UI.
Filed under: Patches, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Quests, Leveling, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Spiders Everywhere Mar 3rd 2009 8:45PM
Just wondering - does this appear only if you're on the quest, or all the time?
Cyanea Mar 3rd 2009 8:45PM
This isn't "dumbing down" the game. This is making the questing game more organized. If every quest description perfectly described exactly where the mobs you have to kill are...then fine. It's making the game too easy. But I can't COUNT the amount of times the questgiver's instructions were vague enough to have you running all over the zone looking for what you have to kill. If you want to run around aimlessly for twenty minutes trying to find the mobs you have to kill based on the NPC's vague instructions, more power to you. Turn the function off. Nobody's making you use it. Your precious epeens are safe.
Some of you argue that QuestHelper and its ilk disconnect you from the lore of the game. I could turn the argument around at you...QuestHelper and it's ilk get you into the lore FASTER because you spend less time running around aimlessly and more time reading quest text. :D
Spiders Everywhere Mar 3rd 2009 9:09PM
I've used a lot of mods, but I've never used Questhelper. It's apersonal preference - I can certainly see why someone would use it, particularly if they didn't like questing or were leveling up an alt on content they'd already done. But it does have consequences. When Wrath came out, and Questehelper wasn't available yet for the new content, it became apparent from the starting zone chat that maybe half the players there genuinely had no idea how to quest without it. I found it frankly hilarious.
Tekkub Mar 3rd 2009 9:19PM
You hit the nail on the frickin head. Real conversation in my guild a few weeks ago:
im one bubble from 80 where should i go to quest
Were you left off
lol funny
no, I'm serious, where were you questing last?
storm peaks
So go back there and finish up
ive got a bunch of quests there but theres no info in questhelper
...
ill go try icecrown
Amaxe Mar 3rd 2009 10:37PM
Since most people use the buggy QH anyway, this really doesn't bother me all that much
Calthas Mar 4th 2009 4:55AM
Anyone knows if there is an option to disable this ? The fact is that most players already ask on the public channels where this or that mob is, and most don't read the quests descriptions... those who do are still free either to disable the info (if possible) or avoid paying attention to it...
Eversor Mar 4th 2009 5:48AM
First, Questhelper does not deny you from reading the quest text. Second, the huge arrow and ant trails are not mandatory (I just have the locations marked and that is it). Third, this isn't really dumbing the game down, this just saves you an alt-tab to Wowhead or something similar to find where the hell are you supposed to go.
Also, the quest text might be very fun and thrilling the first time around, but in most cases it gets redundant doing it second, third and n-teenth time around. I know which text is interesting and deserves a re-read, and which is just "keel seex snow moose", just watered down with pretty words.
Boydboyd Mar 4th 2009 7:35AM
Gosh, I'm a day late, so I'm not sure anyone will read this, but...
Why does no one use Lightheaded?
I mean for Pete's sake, W.I.! You've got all your tooltips coming from Wowhead, it's (imo) the BEST website to use for all your in-game needs, and it's way better (imo, again) than QuestHelper.
Pair it with TomTom, and you've got the best questing tools available.
Hmm, I just thought that you all at W.I. would advertise it more. I always hear people griping about QuestHelper, and after I've turned them to Lightheaded they are ecstatic.
/rant off
FireStar Mar 4th 2009 9:10AM
I haven't seen this reported, but the LFG tool has been redesigned. There's now a window that says "these are the roles that i can perform" with checkboxes for Tank, DPS, and Healer
oldwisemonk Mar 4th 2009 1:41PM
@Kvothe
"I feel that if I can't monitor the trends and put items for good prices I don't deserve that 51s 32c."
I have a similar feeling. If I don't want to use Auctioneer, I don't deserve all the extra gold I could make. It's just a tool, like Recount. You could scroll through your combat chat and figure out your dps, but that's just silly ... right?
@Caz
"I think quest helper, or anything like it is pretty much cheating the game."
Like the the quest tracker? That's in the same realm as quest helper. Perhaps our action bars should go away and we should return to the days of MUDs when we had to type out our actions.
@Everyone else afraid of "easier" quest tracking options
Do you all have your "instant quest text" turned off? You draw your efficiency line where you want. I'll draw it where I want.
Tuhljin Mar 4th 2009 4:49PM
I think most of us that dislike Quest Helper aren't against this particular addition so long as it's toggleable, which I imagine it is.
oldwisemonk Mar 5th 2009 11:36AM
I think you are right. I'm sure I am arguing with a very isolated few.
Thomas Apr 14th 2009 1:59PM
Like someone else said, this is not a big red arrow on your map pointing to a quest mobs, this is a kill tracker.
quendo Apr 14th 2009 7:56PM
Cyanea - Thats Stranglethorn that is.
Played for 14 months and quit at STV a few years back because it got boring running up north and never finding that silly panther or raptor.
Been back since Christmas and using QH - loving it - and loving the game. Still read all the quest text, aim for achievements, explore.