Large Improvement to Quest Content and Reworks to Existing Quests to Better Introduce Side Content

Suggestions
Large Improvement to Quest Content and Reworks to Existing Quests to Better Introduce Side Content
effort 5.0 2 quality 5.0 2 reasonability 5.0 2
1

The Problem:

Side activities are objectively better than literally any quest in the entire game.
In spite of this, quests are a limited resource, side activities are not.
New players expect quests to be worthwhile and ignore the side content.
This makes their gameplay experience far worse.

There are quite simply not enough quests to fully level a character, and I think this is a good thing.
However, the way it is executed is not.

Not only should quests, in their nature of being a limited resource, be more rewarding, but they should also properly introduce side activities, so players aren’t lost running in circles not knowing what to do for an unreasonable amount of time.

The Solution:

Part 1: Rewards

Right now, quests give a set amount of XP on completion. This is a problem, as literally every side activity gives you a % of your current max xp on completion.
Quests should scale the same way, guaranteeing to give you a level or more on completion.

Part 2: Quest Content

Quests need to properly introduce players to side activities and emphasize their usefulness with appropriately high rewards.
No, teaching players how to do treasure charts with quests that have instructions that are barely vaguely similar to how actual charts look during a section of the story where you cannot interact with charts is not going to help them figure out how to do charts.

I’ve suggested something similar before, but extend the Enizor questline and replace all its current objectives to properly teach players enchanting (with a marking scroll), charting (with a random actual chart on a nearby island to frostmill), basic potion brewing (making water breathing potions), and diving (the big underwater space in the frostmill caves).

Have Enizor explain in depth the benefits to doing these things.
It is important that all of this is tied to Enizor specifically because he’s the only character that fits all the criteria:
1: Side character that the main story forces you to interact with.
2: Should know and understand all of these things.
3: Appears extremely early in the story.
4: Is part of a sidequest that any player should realistically want to complete.

Before you leave frostmill, that quest that would normally pop up if you don’t have a sailboat should additionally give you some basic ship parts to go faster and introduce ship customization.
I am saying this mostly because I just progressed a new file and the sailboat/caravel are nothing short of suffering.

In short: Better tutorial.

7 Likes
2

I find it insane that you get introduced to buying ships and making potions and then making jewels, in that order, and no other side features beyond that during the main story. Nothing. And even then, its a quick “hey fuck around with this rq” rather than an actual tutorial, so a player kinda just smacks shit against the table until something works and moves on, forgetting about it shortly after.

I think broadly introducing these features in the midst of the story is ideal, kinda like how the Yakuza series does it where its just a quick lil aside that happens here and there.

3

my only question is what happens when you die with the quest’s chart
but uh yeah i voted of course

4

The quest directs you back to enizor and he gives you a new random chart.

When you do have the quest chart, the quest has no marker, you are to do this 100% on your own.
(note that enizor should 100% give you a marking enchantment scroll before doing this because charting without a marking scroll is misery and this also teaches players how to enchant)

3 Likes
5

15 stars easily, tutorials should aim to teach players everything they need and this would introduce them to fundamental aspects of the game while also not overwhelming them.

6

They’ve literally already solved this issue with Haddock’s Quest Chart. Just make another one of those except it’s a common this time

7

What happens if you die with Haddock’s chart actually?
I never died with it, I just went and did it lol.

8

Quests have their own levels, and doing a quest that is well below your own level is generally expected to be trivialized thanks to all the stuff you get later.
If quests scaled, then you’d be able to get the full XP rewards from Edward Kenton’s quest by using an ensnaring bronze rod with luminous lure.

Literally it kinda does. Unless you mean it not making it clear enough that “Midway east southeast” is halfway from the center to the edge of the island between east and southeast

Enizor teaches enchanting by being an enchanter that you can buy enchants from, even after joining your crew. If you mean specifically enchantment scrolls, the game teaches you about them by their item description. Plus quests exist that reward enchantment scrolls as early as Cirrus Island.
Like I said, other quests already teach charting, and frankly charts aren’t hard to follow in the first place.
The game FORCES you to learn brewing, again as early as Cirrus Island.
What do you learn about diving from exploring Frostmill’s butthole that you can’t learn by going down into a diving spot and looking around?

I don’t think we should be insulting everyone’s intelligence by acting like they can’t figure out basic things just to avoid being labelled a wiki game for not giving four tutorials on every single optional feature.

1 Like
9

I’m going to be real with you and tell you straight that getting +1 level from a common treasure chart or carrying an imbued gunpowder barrel is going to be infinitely easier than jumping ice miners.

If anything, the ice miners are just going to be a nuisance while I get gunpowder barrels (which each individually grant more XP than every frostmill quest combined, by the way).

It does not. Not even a little bit.

Are you telling me you use enchanter shops… even during early game???
Literally the most useless shop NPC ever, I’d rather save money to get a brig.

You don’t learn brewing, you throw a catalyst and a reagent in the cauldron at random and are taught nothing about how to get the effects that you actually want.

Toss a preset diving spot there, like any other with maybe some fancy details, have Enizor tell you to go there to get a thing.
He tells you how to brew a couple water breathing potions so you don’t die, you go down, get the thing.
When you go back up he thanks you and explains what diving spots are and how to spot them naturally.

10

the difference is that these quests are location-specific, also reward island exploration, and are expected to be done at a certain level. gunpowder and charts are meant to be a timeless thing that you can do at any level and have it be the same difficulty.
And no, ice smugglers are not gonna be equally easy between levels 30 and 150.

1 Like
11

If you die or are ever under any threat doing ice smugglers or any basic bandit quest pre-nimbus, I feel genuine pity for you.

12

it’ll at least take longer though.

13

The difficulty is still 0.

14

you’re getting side-tracked.

15

I am saying that the gunpowder barrels that spawn in the same area are individually worth more XP than the entire frostmill story section.

16

well then maybe a gunpowder nerf would be good.

17

Yes lets nerf the intended leveling methods because they’re better at leveling you than the quests instead of letting the quests be a quick burst of XP that’s actually valuable to you in the short term between doing side activites.
Incredible solution.

18

Found like 3 arcane barrels today before the patch (1 frostmil, 1 palo town, 1 goso jungle)

was level 27 and was doing the 2 quarter master quests at the same time + forstmill and palo chart + Frostmill delivery quest and now i’m like level 52 or smth close (arcane barrels gave me like 4-5 levels each, also found multiple imbued barrels, abt 2 levels each)

I have yet to go to the step stones cause of the quests & the arcane barrels telling me to go sell those first

19

This is the magic of actually knowing the game mechanics.
This is surprising to you because the game never gives a proper tutorial on any of this lol.

20

whenever i go back on that file i’ll prob round up any of the barrels on frostmill and head to palo town before going to the stepstones
(if i find a single arcane barrel at palo town i’ll abandon my plans and go sell that for bigger boost cause of all the levels it gives me)