Questing is one of the concepts that’s changed dramatically from the earliest days of the MMORPG genre to now. We began with very few directed quests at all, proceeded to hub-based questing, then narrative-driven story arcs and personal instances, and then public events and open-world content again in full circle. Lots of MMOs are using a mish-mash of all of these now, which is a good thing! Variety is the spice of life, and all that.
But you probably still have a favorite, right?
I cut my teeth on open-world content and have a soft spot for camp-based grinds, but I have to admit that I get into the “zone” when there’s a solid hub with a solid batch of quests. Something about that is really satisfying to me, even more than looking at a map and trying to find the zerg or golden heart or a juicy farm spawn point that hasn’t been claimed yet. And it’s infinitely more than than roaming around trying to find a randomly spawned mini-instance or digging around on an ancient wiki trying to find the next proper quest-giving contact.
What’s your favorite way to quest in MMOs?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
