- Status Unconfirmed
- Percent Complete
- Task Type Feature Request
- Category Setting → Quests
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Assigned To
Venalan - Operating System
- Severity Medium
- Priority
- Reported Version 0.6.1
- Due in Version Undecided
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Due Date
Undecided
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Votes
2
- Glorrandir (27.10.2014)
- Joshua (26.10.2014)
- Private
FS#6668 - Quest completion warnings. (And safer quests.)
Sometimes when talking to an NPC during a quest, it’s not obvious that saying something will end it early. For example, in the Dizzy Bevon quest, telling Charisa that you can’t get into the Winch abruptly ends it. Meaning you will never see the rest of that quest, even if you get Winch access. I thought that she would wait instead, which would be more fair to players. Apparently this game wasn’t as forgiving as I imagined. Failing quests is especially annoying when it involves typed answers too, where a typo or not being specific enough will cost you the quest. (Even if you knew the right answer.)
First of all, I feel there shouldn’t be an option to finish a quest early unless you fail, the options being either you complete it fully or save it for later. This would be much more player-friendly. I didn’t even fail the quest, I just couldn’t get into the Winch. I feel like I was punished for being honest, and possibly have missed out on some reputation forever.
Who in the right mind would back out of a quest after accepting it, anyway? I doubt anyone does it intentionally. These sorts of choices should be greatly reduced. It only makes sense during evil quests where you might feel bad about what you’re doing. If someone is feeling lazy or is busy, then they can complete the quest later, like in any other game. If these dialog options are going to remain in the game, then it may be better if they had a warning such as (ENDS QUEST), while the true ending of the quest could say (COMPLETES QUEST). This would help players avoid making infuriating mistakes like mine.
Secondly, sometimes it is too easy to fail a quest when typed answers are involved. In the Stolen Dagger (sp?) quest from Ojaveda where you have to tell Enach what it looked like, if you say “diamond”, or “diamonds”, instead of “diamonds and opals”, you will get the uneventful ending. This is made even more ridiculous because the answer is in your quest log, so it shouldn’t be possible to get it incorrect anyway. But you only get one chance. Basically, I feel quests that rely on typed text should be more forgiving, because sometimes it’s not about whether you’re right or wrong. Rather, it may depend on how many variations of the correct answer there are, so a lot of the time it isn’t the player’s fault. Sure, maybe “diamond” isn’t that specific, but it definitely narrows it down. If I say diamond, Enack should say something like “Anything else?”.
While I wouldn't agree with blatant "COMPLETES QUEST / ENDS QUEST" indicators, there may certainly be room for individual quest improvements in the cases you've mentioned. Perhaps Dizzy Bevon shouldn't be available to anyone lacking winch access, or saying No would have Charisa suggest how to get access, or closes the quest in such a way that it remains available for the player.
As for "typed answer" steps, generally quests are quite forgiving, and will let you keep trying indefinitely until you get it right (riddle quests come to mind), so perhaps you've identified an outlier case that just needs fixed.
Edit…looking at the bug tracker today, in the last few weeks there are well over a dozen quest fixes applied. Venalan's continued work in this area, along with others, makes it rather evident that quest improvements are an ongoing effort that is getting abundant attention.