Time for a bit of a unique idea about the NPCs and the quest system. As it is now, there are going to be lockouts on many of the quests to prevent them from being done by hundreds of folks at once. So, in effect, only one person can do a quest in, say, an hour (or even weeks). But, the people still have to ask for that quest, usually by repeating “Do you have a quest” over and over again. This is completely out of character if you ask me, as no one in their right mind runs around asking people constantly if they need help. Well, maybe Janner, but we all know he is not in his right mind.
Now, the GM event ‘system’ takes a completely different approach, and the GMs have to -ask- people to join their quest. The problem with this is that a GM actually has to be there, and guide the quest, not to mention find players who are interested, then hope they don't crash halfway through. Not fun for the GMs.
What I am suggesting is a merger of the two. As a simple example, I give you Harn and his hungry ‘quest’. Now, if I was hungry and working all day at the forge, and did not have time to find some food, I would not wait for someone to ask if I needed something. I would look at the nearest people and say, “Hey buddy, how about getting me some food, I’m half starved here. Who’s up for a sandwich run?” The first person to holler out “Hell ya, right here!” gets the quest.
This does four things. It gets rid of the ooc need to get some of the quests in the first place. It gives the NPC a breath of realism and life. It gives good reason for a quest to have a timeout. Finally, it gets rid of NPC campers (a little). Plus, it saves Devs the problem of trying to figure out all twenty questions that players may try to ask to get said quest. Ok, that is five things, and the list of benifits goes on.
All in all, time and aggravation saved on all sides.
Opinions?
