After watching the latest stream Joel mentioned there will be no quests in response to what I can assume was a question in chat. I think they should reconsider this, as a post launch feature of course. Several reasons;
-adds immersive content to be unlocked
-adds challenge across clans to obtain first
-gives end-game direction and option to alter their gameplay
I understand the journey steps are supposed to replace the traditional idea of quests but there are goals and rewards that can be used to give players content without giving them unbalanced tools. I dont think anyone wants a exclamation point telling them to collect X deer antlers or some lame objective but deeply rare loot and/or head trophies, defeating an outlaw or capturing him to return him for trial and other potential tasks in exchange for things like recipes or alliance or aesthetics can give a lot to explore.
I like having special thralls required to craft somethings but there should be other options that take effort. The glowing inscriptions arent exactly difficult to obtain and should add to these “quests” rather than just walking up and “learning” the recipe. Same with various npc’s offering quests to gain the trust of their tribe opening more vendors, quests and perhaps even alliance against the purge.
I hope they revisit the idea, even though there is a TON to do in this sandbox I think eventually people will want some objective to work on.
I think radiant or bounty quests that are optional would be a welcome addition to the game.
capture or kill named foes, even other players on pvp servers.
flavor quests that could be implemented without impacting the base game.
instead of doing quest id rather they offer like achievement for yourself and the guild that you are with that would be a good way to get people out there. It would make us want to try to explore a different route then what we normally would.
I personally think questing has become overrated in most games and it’s a good thing that it’s not here.
There are certain NPCs whom you talk with that leaves open opportunities to search for things and do tasks without “map markers” to hand-hold you to the destination. These are in themselves vague “quests” (if you want to call it that) which produces a certain result when it’s accomplished.
To me, that is much more rewarding than following markers to find what’s needed.
I like the way it’s set up: Players make their own quests.
Your clan warmaster can give you a “quest” to reconnoiter an enemy base. You might have a personal “quest” to seek vengeance against a foe.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind having more trade interactions with NPCs. These are simple radiant ‘quests’, such as “bring me 100 leather and I’ll pay you a silver coin”.
I dont want arrows or map icons guiding me, as much as using ingame resources and knowledge to figure out a small puzzle that I wouldnt find otherwise. The idea of quests I think they should revisit is similar to games that a npc or scripture gives the player an idea of where to go but once they find that place its on them to sort it out. They dont need to provide an icon just use geographic references or points of interest.
I enjoyed exploring just the 2 biomes and every nook and cranny inbetween but it felt like a lot of empty space to me with little incentive to find most of the areas. I dont want some fx armor and weapons with better stats but aesthetics or quality of life improvements at the least. Things that dont put me necessarily ahead of anyone but let me play the game a bit differently than others and change the plot in a way.
I dont want to find randomly placed glowing rocks that just hand the recipe over is what would bother me.