The RP?????

[Karyuu]

Coneitic: You seem to miss the connection between quests and roleplay, and this is a very big problem. I'm hoping someone else can come in now and explain just how much they are related and how many benefits you as a roleplayer can get from doing NPC quests - not item/PP benefits, either. I've spent a little too much time in this thread as is, so perhaps people like Waylander and Draklar can do a better job now.

[eldoth_terevan]

I read the story of the settings by interacting with the NPCs. The quests dialogs with the NPCs have an awful lot of material about the world, relationships between the various characters, hints about areas and concepts within the game that are not yet included, et cetera. However under-developed the quest system might be at this time, I have often found it enjoyable to simply glean what I could about the settings from speaking with the various NPCs. I'll shut up now...

[bilbous]

One important distinction between what C is saying and what K is saying is that character role play can be overheard by bystanders and an impression can be made first hand but the npc quests must be done personally to get an feel for them. This is because, in the past, at least, NPC quest chat has been private and could not be overheard. Now you can get your information about the quests second-hand from someone who has done them but that is not quite the same.

[Under the moon]

You can get information from the NPCs through quests and questions. That, you can use to add to your understanding of the world and culture of PS, and therefore enhance your roleplaying. However, it is difficult to impossible to use the quests directly in RPs with other players. The ones I have seen have followed a single player game style quest too much to be used with other players who have done the same quest. You also can not talk about them with players who have not done the quest, as you would be giving away the story that the quest unfolds.

I am sure Draklar and Waylander will agree that you can not use a quest in open RP where all players finish with the same 'rare' item, or help someone get that one last thing they needed.

I do have hopes that the quests can be rewritten to work as both a quest, and something you can act on with other people. Then I can do them.

I am sure the Settings folks are working on it, though. All I can say is wait.

[ShadowKat]

Well I've just read through all 9 pages of this.  At different points I'd think something that I'd want to post as a comment, and then alternately decide to just walk away from the thread.  Turns out I couldn't just walk away.

Con ... I have a couple questions for you, because frankly the opinion I have gleaned from reading your posts may or may not be correct.  So I'm curious ...  (and yes, I'm going to make a list because I despise monster run-on paragraphs; it makes a bit mental) :p

1) Have you ever done any coding or programming?

2) Have you ever done any computer generated graphics work?

3) Have you ever played the traditional table top RPG?

Before I go any further with my thought process, I'd like to know.

[Jeraphon]

I am sure Draklar and Waylander will agree that you can not use a quest in open RP where all players finish with the same 'rare' item, or help someone get that one last thing they needed.

I do concede that a lot of quests are single-player oriented and can't exactly be discussed in RPs because each player will manage to "accomplish something big." For us to make it that they can all be discussed would make most quests trivial matters or things like "oh well that's not it, thanks anyway" - not exactly satisfying.

However, I do think quests say a lot about the character and personality of each NPC. Without naming names I can say that sometimes doing a quest can reveal that an NPC has a hidden dark (or light?) side, has a secret, is a little deeper than you think, is in fact quite eccentric, or something else. It is in these respects that they can be used for RP purposes without revealing the exact nature of "what I did for them."

But thanks for getting some clearer explanations out there (karyyu, eldoth, bilbous, and yes you too utm)

Unlikely: rewriting quests to facilitate talking about them in RP situations.
Likelier: making future quests friendlier from an RP perspective.

[Under the moon]

I disagree that quests that can be RPed beween players after the fact (or during) would have to be over trivial matters, unwinnable situations, and can, in fact, accomplish something big. It is just a bit trickier to write them. Though, the quest system is still too basic to create a truly great stand alone quest that can be used, or even begs to be used in player to player RP.

[ShadowKat]

hrm ... I guess Con isn't coming back to this thread after all.  Although I am still very curious to find out the answers to my questions.


IMHO you can't really have one without the other.  Quests and RP go hand in hand.  Sure, in an on-line format you get more quest based players and less RP.  It's the nature of the beast.  Even still ... they do go hand-in-hand.

[Maju]

IMHO you can't really have one without the other.  Quests and RP go hand in hand.  Sure, in an on-line format you get more quest based players and less RP.  It's the nature of the beast.  Even still ... they do go hand-in-hand.

This could be (at least partly) solved by group quests. Instead of players questing always alone, maybe some quests could be done by groups of players, sharing the rewards in the end. This would favor both the general socialization dynamics and the RP dynamics in relation to quests.

And it's totally in line with medieval fantasy literature...

[Coneitic]

ya works out well... wow does that. infact thats the whole point of wow.