Mists of Pandaria Beta: New icons make questing a breeze
by Anne Stickney 
Mar 30th 2012 at 1:00PM
Do you remember the times you had a quest in your log that asked you to go speak to someone in particular? Or the quests that required you to speak to or deliver something to several different people? It was almost impossible to track where those people were, since they weren't marked with a yellow exclamation point, and they didn't glitter like most quest objectives.
Well, that issue has suddenly evaporated in Mists of Pandaria with the introduction of a new quest icon. In much the same fashion as the usual exclamation points in blue and yellow (and question marks of the same color), all of those pesky people you have to talk to are now marked by a simple yellow word balloon over their head. But the improvements go further than just that -- quest targets are also marked on your minimap for you with a white word balloon icon, as well.
And if that's not enough for you, there's also a new icon for interactive objects -- a floating yellow set of gears. This seems to be for quests that involve searching for clues or items you need to examine; the gears float over the various quest objectives. Both new icons are bright and easy to see, clear indicators that whatever they're floating over is part of a quest you have in your logs.
Both of these situations are something I'd chalked up to one of those little annoyances that I rarely thought about. But now that I've seen the solution in action, it's elegantly done and makes the entire questing experience much smoother. These improvements are both small additions, but they add so much to the overall experience that you start to wonder how you lived without them. The Mists leveling experience is pleasant so far, but it's the little additions like these that make all the difference.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Well, that issue has suddenly evaporated in Mists of Pandaria with the introduction of a new quest icon. In much the same fashion as the usual exclamation points in blue and yellow (and question marks of the same color), all of those pesky people you have to talk to are now marked by a simple yellow word balloon over their head. But the improvements go further than just that -- quest targets are also marked on your minimap for you with a white word balloon icon, as well.And if that's not enough for you, there's also a new icon for interactive objects -- a floating yellow set of gears. This seems to be for quests that involve searching for clues or items you need to examine; the gears float over the various quest objectives. Both new icons are bright and easy to see, clear indicators that whatever they're floating over is part of a quest you have in your logs.
Both of these situations are something I'd chalked up to one of those little annoyances that I rarely thought about. But now that I've seen the solution in action, it's elegantly done and makes the entire questing experience much smoother. These improvements are both small additions, but they add so much to the overall experience that you start to wonder how you lived without them. The Mists leveling experience is pleasant so far, but it's the little additions like these that make all the difference.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!Filed under: Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Badmedecine Mar 30th 2012 1:03PM
I never thought of this, but this is
AW-EE-SOME
undeadgoat Mar 30th 2012 1:04PM
I predict a severe drop in Wowhead traffic . . . this sort of junk is the main reason I leave the game for information these days!
Knob Mar 30th 2012 1:04PM
Nice quality of life change I suppose. I personally didn't have any problems finding particular people or objects for quests till now, largely because I used these ocular devices that I have with me at all times.
Joe Mar 30th 2012 2:18PM
I refute your argument with two words: Mankrik's Wife
iceveiled Mar 30th 2012 1:07PM
So in the expansion following MoP, is the game going to play itself for me?
Just kidding. (sort of). This seems like a nice quality of living upgrade.
Evlyxx Mar 30th 2012 1:07PM
I'm torn between this being good and too easy
jcbuckle_hachey Mar 30th 2012 1:13PM
As somebody who has spent an hour looking for a book coloured the same as the floor one I support this change. But I know what you mean.
(cutaia) Mar 30th 2012 1:18PM
Same. It definitely seems to walk the line a little.
Either way, I hope they at least get some nicer looking icons if this makes it live. :P
VioletArrows Mar 30th 2012 1:18PM
Except delivery and middleman quests are zero skill anyway, they're just irritating time-wasters. Something I've always hated about some quest descriptions is, "SOA N'DSO is east of town, go find him." East. East tells me jack. I'll go 'east' and there's nothing. Soa is actually SSE, a gnome standing in a cornfield that has no roads leading to it. -_-
Noyou Mar 30th 2012 1:42PM
"Except delivery and middleman quests are zero skill anyway, they're just irritating time-wasters"
See, and I like most of those quests. Especially if they have a bit of meaningful lore involved. Even if they don't I don't mind the diversion. I don't mind playing delivery dude for a nice chunk of XP and maybe a few coins. It's a nice switch up from collecting bear butts and murloc parts.
roseclown Mar 30th 2012 1:43PM
This is what I was thinking. The rummaging around for stuff was part of the fun! (kinda).
...Is there a way to toggle them on/off? That way only if you really need it you can flip it on and go 'Oh! There it is.'
Moeru Mar 30th 2012 1:45PM
People tend to confuse ease of use with difficulty. It's easy for a game designer to just say "it's hard because they'll have a hard time figuring out the controls" or "they'll have a hard time finding this one ring in the room", but honestly, that's just bad game design. If the objectives were in real life, then sure, hide and seek questing is a good idea. But when your interactivity with the world is limited to a mouse and keyboard, you can't force the player to make actions that challenge his familiarity with the system.
It's best to make the actual game elements more difficult, so let's say, harder packs of mobs, or specific items that need to be used at correct times, since they build on what the player can do in the world and how he interacts with it already.
I've seen a lot of games where people would say "This game is hard and a challenge" when in reality the controls are just bad and unresponsive. Making quests more accessible and easy to go through helps you focus more on your actual combat skills and class mechanics rather than spending 10 minutes hovering over the area with your mouse looking for something.
evoxpisces Mar 30th 2012 1:52PM
I think we can all establish that WoW is just going to keep getting easier and easier. But even so, difficulty does not equal fun. Easy doesn't mean bad, it just means...well, easy.
kgavrin Mar 30th 2012 2:53PM
It's a good thing, trust me. Especially when you have to talk to someone in a completely different area.
These markers have been a big help in RIFT, which has a lot of similar "Go talk to X, Y and Z" quests. It doesn't make things "easy," it just helps when you're looking all over for one particular person or object and can't find them. I've had a few situations where I ended up talking to everyone except the person I needed to.
I don't see why anyone would think it's a good thing for the game to be remarkably frustrating. That's not a matter of skill; there's no skill involved in chatting quests. I guess some people need to talk down the rest of the players and any improvement in the game to make themselves feel "elite" when they're anything but, but I'm sure the vast majority of us enjoy being able to actually complete quests rather than spend long amounts of time looking for the "right" person.
Snuzzle Mar 30th 2012 3:04PM
It's nice, but I hope there's a way to turn it off, same as wth quest sparklies. I like to play through the quests at least once without waypoints, WoWhead or hints (if I can, that is).
Imo if you need huge icons above characters' heads to show a player who to talk to, you didn't make the quest clear enough.
Wrathkind Mar 30th 2012 7:07PM
@Snuzzle re: "Imo if you need huge icons above characters' heads to show a player who to talk to, you didn't make the quest clear enough."
I agree with this. I don't understand why game NPCs go out of their way to be uselessly vague. When you give directions you should be descriptive.
"Go to Orgrimmar and speak to one of the guards. Ask where the Alchemy trainer is located. When you find the trainer, there'll be a panda snorting opium nearby. He's the one who'll sell you meth."
Elmo Mar 30th 2012 1:08PM
Aren't they moving questing in the 'a bit too easy' category?
Why even bother reading the text anymore, just go to the blue area on the map interact with the object with the cogs item and kill the mob with the red name.
after that return to the yellow question mark in a circle on the map.
Luotian Mar 30th 2012 1:25PM
Except a lot of people won't read the text. I've watched my Dad run around looking for something for over an hour before he gives up and won't play again for a week or more. If he'd read the quest it would be simple, but he never does, and he gives up in frustration before he thinks of it.
I imagine there are many people very similar.
Further, there are some quests that aren't that clear. I was leveling a small Paladin in Darkshore, and the quest told me to swim north. I swam north and north until I was way passed Darkshore, and I still couldn't find the guy.
Eternauta Mar 30th 2012 1:38PM
That's the idea.
Nobody likes reading stupid quest text (unless it's some lore heavy quest chain).
So they either do this or add full voice over to every quest in the game like in SWTOR.
If they did that, I'd actually turn on the game sound for a change..
Ronin Mar 30th 2012 1:39PM
Well, that's kind of the point, Luotian. This smacks of dumbing down the game, to cater to the players who can't be bothered to really play the game.
Now, I realize there are plenty of players who don't read quest text. That's their choice. But to design an RPG around these people has the effect of changing the game for the worse, making it even less of an RPG, for the sake of the wrong part of the playerbase.
At least, that's how I see it.