Devs - Some feedback on the new quest chain

[Lord Chaos]

So far I have gone from a bit pessimistic to quite optimistic about the new quest chain, much of it is well thought through and allows for planning and for people to take their time in doing it (and not having to rush out the day it was introduced or miss out)

Though here's some points:

1. The first quest is great, especially because your stronger characters can gather the needed parts for your weaker ones (like crafters, not fully equipped chars, other players who are newer or returning players, etc.)
2. The second part is good too because you can do the nodes at any time and aren't locked to the specific days. The bad thing about the second quest though is that some of the nodes are in a little too dangerous areas, making it extremely hard for crafters, not so well equipped or new players to do some of the nodes. (A crafter vs. several skeletal liches? uhm, lol? You're dead before you can even react)
3. No end point for the second quest announced. Now this is really bad too, we actually have no idea if the quest chain ends when the 3rd one begins or not or whether the 2nd one persists several days yet. Would really be nice to know and not have it sprung on us out of the blue one day. Not everyone can participate right at this moment, so please consider this.

This is not critique, its simply feedback. Other than this, its the best designed quest chain I've experienced in the game so far. Two thumbs up to you guys for it.

 

[Barry Gibb]

2.... The bad thing about the second quest though is that some of the nodes are in a little too dangerous areas, making it extremely hard for crafters, not so well equipped or new players to do some of the nodes. (A crafter vs. several skeletal liches? uhm, lol? You're dead before you can even react)

The bad thing you pointed out in your second point can easily be handled by applying your first points principle.

1. The first quest is great, especially because your stronger characters can gather the needed parts for your weaker ones (like crafters, not fully equipped chars, other players who are newer or returning players, etc.)

You can use you stronger, more capable characters to clean out the area's spawn prior to bringing down your weaker combatants. There were several times that I decided that the traffic in the Abyss was too dangerous and needed to be taken care of. I was not the only one doing this too.

As to your third point, I flat out disagree with it. I beleive this quest had one of the best explanations given when it started. Here is a link to the information given: http://www.uoherald.com/news/news.php?newsid=1033 They give specific dates as to when the third part starts, that the 2nd and 3rd parts can be repeated daily, and what contitutes the end of the 3rd part (the winning of the house lottery). This level of communication is a great step forward, that previous quests and events lacked. I hope they keep this up.

I am really enjoying this quest and cannot wait to see what awaits us in Part 3. I agree with your general statement at the end.

Stayin Alive,

BG

 

[Konge]

Yeah... the dates are on the actually announcement... April 12th till give away for third part...

To some being in dangerous places... well I mean it is a dungeon... Easy solutions Honor, confusion pots, invisibility, soul stones.

 

[Mark_Mythic]

Thanks, LC!

I made the choice to end Part 2 after the housing plot was found because A) you can get the prizes from part 2 in part 3 and B) It makes sense that Geoffrey/Uskadesh would stop paying people to look for the housing plot after it was found. I realize that games like WOW have gotten people into a certain perception of what a quest is, but I think UO is more about the story and unlike those other games, I'm not just creating a daily quest to let people grind xp.

The way I see live events when I'm designing is that I'm trying to create an incentive for people to show up ***at the event***. I'm trying to create an occassion. As you pointed out, I tried to take into account that people might have to do the first quest with alternate characters and that they might not be able to make it every day.

While I know that some of the spots were neigh impossible to solo with a crafter (assuming you don't have a group) it does not affect your chance to win the house if you don't do all of the spots, and it just spiced things up a bit.

I think that you will find that the rare items given in this event are good without being "required." This is also by design. They needed to be good enough to get people to show up, but not so good that it becomes a crime when they are only available for a limited time. (Wish me luck on making the right call on that one every time). To give credit where credit is due, I had the good sense to get Bruce to design those items for this event because he is much better at knowing what is useful and what is overpowered.

 

[Konge]

You guys are doing a WONDERFUL job with this quest change! Keep being innovative with these! Makes it fun to play the game! (IE the Halloween quest/Thanksgiving/ and now this).