Call me crazy, but since last week I’ve gotten back into MapleStory, Nexon’s flagship MMORPG, and to my surprise the game has improved significantly since I first played back in 2006. Even though the game now has a boat load of new areas to explore and many new classes (Cygnus Knights, Pirates and Aran) the best change in my opinion is a revamp of the game’s archaic questing system. Aside from adding many new quests to the game, Nexon decided to introduce longer ‘chain’ quests which do a remarkably good job of keeping players engaged and providing direction. Since I started playing last week I never found myself ‘grinding’ mindlessly in order to level up as I was always working on a quest or two. What’s even better is that I never felt ‘lost’ and this made the game much more fun than when I first played years ago. My point is that all MMORPGs need to have more quests as well as more ‘connected’ chain quests.
MapleStory
Most free MMORPGs these days including popular titles like Perfect World and Atlantica Online don’t have nearly as much direction as they should. From the moment I create my first character a game should tell me where to go and what to do. I shouldn’t have to leave town and start grinding away aimlessly. What a lot of games do these days including newer releases like Dragon Oath, Dungeon Fighter Online and Cloud Nine is do a great job in terms of ‘quantity’ of quests but a miserable job in ‘connecting’ these quests to one another to make it seem like things are actually connected and players aren’t just doing odd jobs, but rather embarking on some long story driven quest. One game that did this particularly well is Dungeons and Dragons Online – as for the first few hours of the game players just ‘feel’ as if they’re a part of the game world as they progress through the game’s story. Quests feel connected to each other and feel meaningful. Obviously no game has really ‘perfected’ the questing system, but it feels like some games don’t even try.
Dungeons & Dragons Online
Games like HolyBeast Online, EuDemons Online and Magic World Online are three examples (of many) that don’t even try creating engaging quests. Questing in these games just feel like just another mindless grind. Don’t get me wrong – these games aren’t terrible – they just need to A) more quests, B) chained quests and C) story driven meaningful quests. One of the easiest ways to make an MMORPG better is to improve the way quests are handled. I can’t emphasize enough how much easier it is to enjoy a game that has many long chained quests, because it keeps players focused. The thought that there’s always ’something’ to do other than grinding helps keep things fresh.
Perfect World
Another way for developers to keep things fresh is to add non ‘kill quests’ to their games. Sure, a quest that involves killing 300 cute slimes can keep players occupied, but having too many ‘go kill X amount of Y monster’ type quests can get extremely repetitive. One type of quest that I really like in MapleStory that I haven’t seen in any other game is the game’s ‘platforming quests’. In these platforming quests, players have to reach the end each map by jumping from platform to platform while avoiding lasers, enemies and all sorts of other obstacles. I mention this particular type of ‘quest’ because it’s the kind of ‘outside the box’ thinking that game developers really need to start doing, because frankly, I’m a bit tired of doing the same ‘kill 294 frogs’ and ‘go deliver this item to the guy across town’ quests in every MMORPG that I play. These types of quests are fine, but I’d love to see some more variety.
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