The Daily Quest: Walk the line
by Anne Stickney 
Dec 20th 2010 at 5:00PM
WoW Insider's on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.
There's a new way to quest in Cataclysm, and it's incredibly linear. In the days of vanilla, players grumpily stomped one end of Darkshore to the other and back again for the Tower of Althalaxx (which has thankfully been torched in Cata) and filled up their quest logs with quests that had them wandering zones with no idea where to go next or what the zone itself was about. But with Cataclysm, questing has been redefined in an almost streamlined fashion that players are still coming to terms with. Today we've got a few posts about the new, linear nature of questing in World of Warcraft:
- Righteous Orbs would like to know: Who's driving this story?
- The Pink Pigtail Inn thinks it all feels a little like a moving walkway.
- World of Warcraft Philosophized wonders just how linear Cataclysm really is.
Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites. Filed under: The Daily Quest
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dawts Dec 22nd 2010 12:45PM
I love the questing. It's very linear in my eyes but I like how... structured it feels
Frostitute Dec 20th 2010 6:59PM
I love the new questlines. I wouldn't even so much call them quests anymore as I would storylines. Every zone starts out with problems to set the mood and setting, and it evolves into a smooth story that tells a nice tale about the zone, the people living in it, and how it affects the world.
I've only quested in the 'line' that quests send you along as a gnome so far. But I really loved every second of it.
Wellsee Dec 20th 2010 5:20PM
It is too linear at this point. I was annoyed when I couldn't find any more quests in Hyjal, but now I get to hear my GF and guildies complaining about it all the time. As the GF says, it takes too much flexibility out of the game.
Nonette Dec 21st 2010 9:53AM
I don't understand this at all. If there wasn't the overarching storyline to work through, there wouldn't be any more quests than there are anyway. Independent quests take just as much time to develop as storyline ones, if not more. After all, at least with storyline quests the development team can be inspired by that storyline to work out what each quest will have to be about. Independent quests are going to have to have their base concepts generated independently.
Besides, how often have you deliberately done quests wildly out of an efficient order? Everybody tries to be as efficient as possible with them, especially when there isn't much of a storyline. Then it's all about burning through them as painlessly as you can to get to the actual fun.
In any case, I've always considered quests to be gameplay dressed up with story. There's plenty of random tasks you could assign to yourself that would reward you with gold, experience points and items. Why kill ten rats for some quest dialogue when you can kill a hundred because you felt like it? Because it's just slightly more interesting. Well, now they've made it way more interesting, but the cost of that is slightly less choice about the order you'll tackle quests within a zone. It's not an arbitrary cost; they're building a huge world inhabited by numerous players. They don't have the resources to let the story go multiple ways, and the commonality of the experience further mandates there be no major plot forks.
But still, you don't have to do a single storyline quest, ever, if you get sick of them. You can gain experience through dungeons, PvP, daily quests, mining, herbalism, archaeology and of course the dreaded old grind. Sure, these are all more repetitive than standard questing, but the thing that makes quests compelling is story, right? Without that story, there's really only a few quests. The kill quest, the collection quest, the crafting quest (getting so rare these days), the delivery quest and the minigame quest.
Okay, yeah, there's a bunch of different variations on the minigame quest (bombing runs, vehicles, Popcap riffs...), but most of them boil down to kill quests with funky mechanics. The problem there isn't that they're part of a linear progression, it's that they're quests at all. Freeing those funky mechanics to use as viable options for repeatable gameplay (and certainly we see that with vehicles in certain PvP scenarios) makes for a wider variety of ways to play. Taking them out of storyline flow just makes them a tiny bit more potentially accessible at the cost of giving you a compelling reason to be there in the first place, but it does nothing to change the fact that once it's done on that character, it's done for good.
Quests are a oneshot thing (not counting daily/repeatable quests of course, which are really a different thing that uses much the same interface as quests). They're completely binary. Either you've done a quest or you haven't. Every other type of gameplay in WoW has much less story (even archaeology and even dungeons, really), but those things aren't binary. You get to repeat them as many times as you wish because they have less story fixing them in place. Quests are the continuing saga of your character doing great deeds to help people. Every other character can do those deeds too, but it feels real just a little bit because it only happens to each character just the once. Raids and dungeons are a collection of action set-pieces that happen over and over again. Sure, they can be impressive, but there's no illusion for even a moment that this group you're in there with is the one that really, truly puts an end to all these bosses.
Basically, quests are what they are, and if you get sick of them, there's plenty of other options, most of the time including doing another zone's quests entirely. If you come back later, they'll still be waiting for you. If you level past them and don't feel like doing them anyway, there's always the next zone.
cyanea85 Dec 20th 2010 5:21PM
Truth be told, I really don't understand the hate for the linear-ness of the quest lines. I've felt more involved in the stories than I ever have ever before. I feel like I'm accomplishing something epic in every zone (Deepholme comes to mind specifically, how all three of the major quest chains converge onto a single point: restoring the world pillar) as opposed to before when I was just grinding out X number of mostly unrelated quests before I move to the next one, etc.
I think it makes for better storytelling and more epic awesomeness (Harrison Jones in Uldum, for example).
cyanea85 Dec 20th 2010 5:23PM
That being said...I do think some of the plotlines are unfinished/rushed with a plothole or two. For example, why is the Alliance helping the Horde retake Freewind Post in Thousand Needles (as epic as the chain is)?
Corath Dec 20th 2010 5:22PM
I'm torn about the new questing. I really enjoyed the old way of Outland and Northrend where you could get 10+ quests at once, and basically go up one level in one swipe of the land. With the new way and the included phasing, it's almost too much - I like seeing the fruits of my labour, but it would be nice to help out others as well who are at a different part.
That being said, I've posted my review of Deepholm on my blog: http://corath.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/deepholm-roundup/
Enjoy!
Iirdan Dec 20th 2010 5:53PM
Because you're mine.
Bodewell Dec 20th 2010 6:11PM
I like the moving sidewalk analogy. Sure, I used Questhelper religiously for the past 4 years...but as an aid...I could still do it "my" way...and frequently did. Having a virtual world where you could go and do what you wanted IS the appeal with WoW for the vast majority of people playing and this new way of questing with phasing is not that at all.
Tirrimas Dec 20th 2010 6:26PM
I was SO HAPPY when I saw that damned tower on FIRE. My Tauren Druid was exploring and looking for the guy who sells Mr. Withers, and stumbled across that. My baby Nelf hunter spent so much time hating that entire zone and that tower in particular...
Waxahachie Dec 21st 2010 8:19AM
To approach the situation from the other side, I used to hate questing. In Vanilla and Burning Crusade and in Wrath I pretty much quested only to level and once I was done leveling, I never touched another quest. I haaaaaaaaaated questing.
Whatever they've done, I have really enjoyed the heck out of questing my way from 80 to 85. I've felt involved in the stories, part of the zone, part of the overall world and really just loved the whole experience. I'm Level 85, and I'm STILL questing. For the first time ever, I've finished an entire zone and really enjoyed the process of it.
It may be linear, but I don't see the value of a whole bunch of quests randomly spread out all over the place that nobody is going to do. The way they have tied quests together in a cohesive zone by zone and faction linked theme is unprecedented in my opinion compared to what they've done before.
Darren Dec 20th 2010 6:39PM
The linearish storyline feels more like a traditional RPG when questing. We're actually following a story instead of following instruction from an arbitrary collection of questgivers at any given time.
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Quite related to the cataclysm subject, 15 Minutes of Wow has a couple recent posts. One is a pretty comprehensive faction reputation guide for cata. Which ones have daily quests? Which don't? What's the epic loot? It's all here:
http://15minutesofwow.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/cataclysm-faction-reputation-guide/
Also a little feedback on the feel of paladins in cataclysm, aimed mostly at retribution:
http://15minutesofwow.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/daily-thoughts-the-cataclysm-paladin/
Metalupis Dec 20th 2010 6:41PM
I like the new questing system/feel. As has been mentionee it allows for the telling of much broader stories that unfold as you go through a zone. Part of the problem may be that people are to used to just grabbing all the quests, completing them and moving on without paying attention to exactly why they are doing them, if you stop to read the quest texts and watch the mini cinematics you get a much fuller experience imo
Blayze Dec 20th 2010 6:45PM
As an old-school Loremaster, I love the revamped questing. No longer do we have to go to the arse-end of the world just to get a few extra quests from hidden NPCs who don't offer them until you select a dialogue option.
Dvorkin Dec 20th 2010 7:42PM
As an old-school Loremaster myself, I hate the revamped questing. Even when I guided through it for the first time with my main, I still find it way less interesting then exploring the story by myself and in my own order. When doing it second / third etc time on my alts (and I do have a lot of alts), it becomes boring quickly.
Well, there are other things to do in the game besides questing... I guess :(
rkaliski Dec 20th 2010 8:49PM
The old quest system simply felt like a time sink. The alternative I suppose was to log in and see that your toon had gone from 81 to 82 while you were asleep. So many fedex quests. It got slightly better in BC and much better in Wraith, but the big problem was the lack of phasing.
Questing was like bowling. No matter how perfect a frame you rolled, you look up and the pins are right there like you never did a thing. "Come Hero, stand by my side and defend the only way the undead can get into Stormwind! Without your help the city will fall and our cause lost! You are our only hope." So, after 15 minutes of furious fighting with the NPC the piles of bodies are up to your waist but you are victorious. As you gather your hard earned loot you see that Nelf talking to the NPC and hear "Come hero, stand by my side...etc etc etc." Phasing presents us with an illusion that we really did something epic and world changing.
Let's also be honest, the people who like the old system are those who want to level up an alt fast. I got my warrior to level 60 in Vanilla without any sort of online guides, add on programs or books. The only clues that were available came from general chat.
Tidelord Dec 22nd 2010 6:36PM
I really, -really- don't get the hate for linear questing. Just like I didn't get the hate at the lack of customization in talent trees.
I guess people really did like the "search all over fscking BFE for one quest for a smidgen of EXP" method.
Rob Dec 20th 2010 7:12PM
The not traveling all over is great, but linear, ever really well done linear, just gets boring. My attention span isn't all that high in games, i can do an hour or two. But a whole freaking zone of 150 quests (essentially any cata zone)...thats just insane. What if one quest is broken? Forget questing in groups, unless you are religious about starting and stopping as a group. Its cool but i like the old way of grab 10 quests and do a sweep around the zone and done.
Dortamur Dec 20th 2010 9:53PM
I really like the way the quest-lines flow, but one of the problems I do have is the levelling experience is optimised so much for solo gameplay. Now more than ever, it seems easy to solo, and if you group with a buddy or two, then things die way too quickly. I've had groups where the poor skinner's DPS is 0, because things are dying faster than they can skin! Got a buddy who's a healer? Well, they won't have much to do, since most of the mobs seem to hit like giant pansys!
I miss the group quests, and elites, too. Sure, it was a pain some time to find a group for the tougher encounters, but 2-3 person group quests could be done with a buddy, and soloed when they're green by many classes (and yellow by a few classes ^_^).
So - 1-85 is a giant solo-fest, with a side of dungeons (which I've missed a few because I've solo-levelled too far to access via the dungeon finder), and then end-game is group-only stuff?
Don't get me wrong - I love both sides, and the revamped zones are fantastic, but it seems like the experience has been pushed to the extremes of Solo and Group play...
denis_krah Dec 21st 2010 5:03AM
Thanks to phasing and the linear quest WoW is now a very lonely game.