Are World Quests good for the game?

[Deleted]

I like the concept, but I really can't see myself looking forward to them in about 2 weeks. They're already getting quite boring right now because there's absolutely no story progression tied to them other than the Nightfallen reputation.
With dailies you'd usually look forward to progressing the story with the faction once in a while and then just stop when you're at exalted. Here nothing changes at all from friendly to exalted, but even after that you have to keep going to get the artifact power.

[Devia]

Things are gated for a reason. I am SOOOO happy they are. A lot of us have full time jobs and other things going on in our lives but we do still want to play the game. However, if nothing was gated then people who have loads of free time would just be able to grind grind grind, making the rest of us feel like we need to keep up. I still play a lot(probably about 12-20 hours a week), but man oh man there are many people who play more than me and it'd drive me crazy if my guildies were telling me I needed to catch up.

[Armourboy]

I have never been a fan of dailies, but this system is by far the best they've come up with. Certainly I would like to get rep in other ways, but I'm not really going to complain. I don't even think about it as a Rep grind tbh, its just part of it for the time being.

As far as people missing out if they start later, so what? At some point people should be rewarded for being a regular player. This coming from someone that due to my work schedule means I won't log in some days. Its fine to have systems that allow you to catch up for not logging in every day, it's also ok to have systems where it benefits you to log in every day.

[MrLachyG]

I like them, after grinding dailies in MoP it became boring. World quests are varied, interesting and unique. Plus it gets you all over the place and interacting with people. Legion feels like a completely different game compared to WoD, where all I did was garrison and raid. Now I have an incentive to go out into the world again.

[TheRogue]

I can pick the WQs I want based on what I need. AP, OHR, Felwort. I don't have to do 25 dailies just for gold and rep. It is a flexible system and I work well within it. I usually log in, check the AP WQs, do them all. Takes barely 20 mins, unless there's a dungeon one. Check for some high ilvl relic ones. Then jump off and level my alt.

This is of course after capping mythics, they are priority.

[Doomchicken]

Still leagues better than the WoD system of afkgarrison.

[SteveRocks]

To start off with, I will say that I have always disliked Daily Quests with a passion, due to their gating nature, forcing a set pace on you, the player, rather than allowing you to play the game at your own pace, be it fast or slow.

Sounds like you are not against World Quests, but "gating," in general. Gating is a good thing. It is a healthy thing. If you hit a virtual wall in the progression of your virtual character it is an indicator that you have been playing the game too much.

That said, you mention that the current rep/WQ/gating mechanic can prevent you from keeping up with your friends if you are absent from the game for a few days. This is not true. Everyone plays at their own pace and in order for you to play at the most current content (raiding or PvP) requires fairly minimal time commitment. Your friends might have a slight head-start over you, but ultimately you will all be viable for the most current content.

Maybe instead of worrying about keeping up with the Jones', you should play the game at your own pace. You might find the game more enjoyable when it doesn't distract from your real life. Dailies will always be there for you and eventually you will reach the goal that you are shooting for-there is no reason to race there. So what if your friends finish a rep a day, or week ahead of you?

[Sansnom]

Daily quests have always sucked. Doing the same quests every week is lazy design. World quests are the same with a different wrapping.

Maybe. But what are your suggestion as an alternative that be done for the same cost?

[Deleted]

Why do people complain about grinding in an MMORPG? Honestly. Play a different game if you don't like grinding.

[Sansnom]

What do you mean? I raid in a competitive guild. People are getting mass amounts of AP because things arent limited. I only have a certain amount of time to dedicate. Many others in my guild feel the same. Blizz is promoting something that is unhealthy and unrealistic for people that have a job or goto school. There needs to be a limit to keep things in "balance".

What is a "Competitive guild"? Is that a guild in a competition with other guild or merely the members are in competition for a raid slot?

If you "choose" to be of that competitive environment, then really it is down you to remain competitive. Blizzard should not be leveling the playing fields. It is unhealthy for a person with a busy life to also be busy in their alternate life. Something has to give. That is something you have to decide.

I don't think Blizzard to balance the game so that some one who plays 4 hrs a week can equal some one who plays 40 hrs a week. Because if they do, then in theory the same "balancing" could be apply to other aspect of the game, such XP gain. Why should some gain more XP if they play more?

I do play casually, even now I have just reached 105 for my first char. There are people in my guild already for raiding. I am behind because I have not invested as much time as they have.

What you are asking is gating and redoing the progression that suits you, which is rather unfair for others.

[mireigi]

Yeah but do you remember netherwing?
If you played only on weekends you missed out on 4 days of reputatiom gated behind dailies? Same goes for ogrila skyguards etc.

Yes, I remember that time. It was horrible. Okay, maybe not horrible, since there was no actual downside to not getting exalted with those factions, outside of not getting a mount. Neither were required to enter dungeons, raids, or in general improve your character. They did add a small bonus, but nothing as substantial as getting to 8000/12000 reputation with Nightfallen in Legion, and later on 7000/21000 reputation.

Sounds like you are not against World Quests, but "gating," in general. Gating is a good thing. It is a healthy thing. If you hit a virtual wall in the progression of your virtual character it is an indicator that you have been playing the game too much.

That said, you mention that the current rep/WQ/gating mechanic can prevent you from keeping up with your friends if you are absent from the game for a few days. This is not true. Everyone plays at their own pace and in order for you to play at the most current content (raiding or PvP) requires fairly minimal time commitment. Your friends might have a slight head-start over you, but ultimately you will all be viable for the most current content.

Maybe instead of worrying about keeping up with the Jones', you should play the game at your own pace. You might find the game more enjoyable when it doesn't distract from your real life. Dailies will always be there for you and eventually you will reach the goal that you are shooting for-there is no reason to race there. So what if your friends finish a rep a day, or week ahead of you?

I have nothing against gating, as long as it is front-load gating, meaning that gating only exists for those who are ahead of the curve, to prevent them from either burning out or experiencing all the content there is so quickly that they have nothing to do for months after. Back-load gating, however, that is preventing players who are behind to catch up, by putting in more hours, is something I am not a fan of.

It ties into the artifact weapon as well. Even though Artifact Knowledge will help you, as a player, accumulate Artifact Power at a more rapid pace, with a catch-up mechanic to help you research Artifact Knowledge at a more rapid pace, you will always be behind. You might get more for doing the same quests and dungeons, but at no point will you close the gap between yourself and someone who has been playing from the start, and who continue to play.

Now don't get me wrong, I think it is completely fair that those who have put in more time and effort receive some benefits for doing so, but currently the catch-up mechanic is back-gated by the respawn timer on World and Emissary Quests, even for someone who might be weeks behind.

I suppose that what I would really have enjoyed seeing the most, was not having any Artifact Power at all, but instead one long quest chain to unlock all the traits in your artifact. Each quest could provide you with a trait to pick, just like it is now, allowing you to customize. Quests could then be released on a schedule to provide some front-gating, but once released, you could do 10 of them in rapid succession, if you were that far behind. It would make more sense story-wise as well, to do quests related to your artifact, rather than just picking up generic trinkets and baubles that have no relation lore-wise to your artifact.

I like them, after grinding dailies in MoP it became boring. World quests are varied, interesting and unique. Plus it gets you all over the place and interacting with people. Legion feels like a completely different game compared to WoD, where all I did was garrison and raid. Now I have an incentive to go out into the world again.

MoP and WoD were the worst in terms of dailies. It was repetitive, boring, and the amount of dailies required to get any rewards of note, was disgusting. The World Quests we have now are better. They just don't reward equal effort with equal benefits (few days vs many days per week for same hours).

[Thelin]

I hit my 200 quest achievement 2 days ago. I wouldn't even say I play that much I only play when I get home from work for maybe 2-3 hours a day and then perhaps 3-4 hours on sat/Sunday.

The world quests take very little time at all and with the flight path whistle it makes it very easy to get around. I don't feel burnt out and I've certainly let many of them expire. They've got long timelines and if you miss an emissary quest it stays there and you just get another one the next day. I don't see why people set these arbitrary goal posts for themselves. So what if someone has progressed more than you? Does it really bother you that much, if it does you're playing the game for the wrong reason.

[Factoral]

I think they are better than dailies by a large margin.

The missions themselves may become the same as they usually are (that is if they do not add new ones) but because their is more of them, I get a choice in which ones I do.

Rather than the, ok I now need to go do this one thing everyday where I only get money and a little reputation.

I get the, hm there are 5/6 possibilities, I like doing these 4 so I will do them, I get some money, resources, ap and maybe an item, along with reputation and I get the box at the end of the 4.

Even if you feel like there is no variety, the rewards for doing them are a lot better than what the old dailies used to give.

[Deleted]

To start off with, I will say that I have always disliked Daily Quests with a passion, due to their gating nature, forcing a set pace on you, the player, rather than allowing you to play the game at your own pace, be it fast or slow.

That being said, I do them anway, because there is no other choice, if I want to stay on top of the game.

In Legion, I am currently at iLvl 843, Revered with Nightfallen, Highmountain, and Stormheim, and have the 20th trait unlocked in my artifact. In other words, I've been busy.

On to the matter at hand, however...

World Quests seem to have replaced Daily Quests, and, even though they are more varied and refresh more frequently, they will impose the same limitations and drawbacks.

In earlier expansions, Daily Quests have been used primarily as a guaranteed means towards farming reputation with one or more factions. This hasn't changed in Legion with World Quests.

What makes World Quests different from Daily Quests, however, is that, in addition to providing reputation, they are also your primary source for artifact power, and crafting recipes and materials. Only the Daily Heroic Dungeon rewards more artifact power than the World Quests, and even then, most of the World Quests often provide more for less time spent.

So what does that mean for the game?
Well, to start off with, it means that if you miss a few days of doing World Quests, for whatever reason, you are not only missing out on reputation, but now also artifact power, and crafting recipes, with the latter being purely luck based when and if it will show up again, or randomly drop from monsters.

While there is a catch-up mechanic for the artifact power, there is currently none for reputation. And even the artifact power catch-up mechanic is only a band-aid. No matter how fast you can research the artifact knowledge due to catch-up mechanics, you will always be behind.

Thus content is suddenly gated behind your ability to do World Quests each and every day. Content is further gated if you were late to join the Legion expansion. While you struggle to catch up to your friends and guild mates, they will continue to improve as well, either keeping the gap between you and them, or even expanding it.


So how could it be improved?
Certainly not by removing World Quests. They are fun to do, and provide decent variety and rewards.

What then? For starters, allowing for the good old grind of Vanilla and, to some extent, TBC, thus removing the gating barrier of waiting for World Quests to respawn. With that barrier gone, no longer will the player who plays 1-2 hours per day, every day, be better off than someone who plays 7 - 14 hours only on the weekends.

Take a moment to think that over. Why should there be a difference in achievable goals and rewards between two players who spend an equal amount of time, but at different times and segments?

For those who need or want to see the comparison, consider that:
2 hours each day = 7 Emissary Quests (1 per day), ~80 World Quests (~11 per day)
7 hours only two days = 3 Emissary Quests (1 per day, plus 2 saved*), ~60 World Quests (~30 per day**)

*: Emissary Quests stay in the queue for 3 days, then gets pushed out as new ones become available.
**: Most World Quests stay on the map for about a day, allowing for some overlap when new ones refresh.

I ask: Is it fair that, despite devoting the same amount of time, two players receive different rewards, purely because of how that time is split during the week?


While I do think that World Quests are a nice addition to the game, I do not believe that they are good in the sense that they restrict the player from playing the game at their own pace, be it fast or slow, and it prevents late-to-the-party players from catching up despite having more time on their hands to play than others who are already a month or more into the game.

What do the rest of you think?
Do you enjoy the World Quests?
Do you want something more? Something else?

The only things I hate about world quests are that some of them are just the same quests we already did while leveling up, they are just a repeat of them, and that some of the older daily quests in like MoP had an overarching story, for example the Krasarang dailies were the best example of that, and that is missing with world quests. They can definitely improve on them, but the basic system is great.

[shonist]

Yes, I remember that time. It was horrible. Okay, maybe not horrible, since there was no actual downside to not getting exalted with those factions, outside of not getting a mount. Neither were required to enter dungeons, raids, or in general improve your character. They did add a small bonus, but nothing as substantial as getting to 8000/12000 reputation with Nightfallen in Legion, and later on 7000/21000 reputation.


I have nothing against gating, as long as it is front-load gating, meaning that gating only exists for those who are ahead of the curve, to prevent them from either burning out or experiencing all the content there is so quickly that they have nothing to do for months after. Back-load gating, however, that is preventing players who are behind to catch up, by putting in more hours, is something I am not a fan of.

It ties into the artifact weapon as well. Even though Artifact Knowledge will help you, as a player, accumulate Artifact Power at a more rapid pace, with a catch-up mechanic to help you research Artifact Knowledge at a more rapid pace, you will always be behind. You might get more for doing the same quests and dungeons, but at no point will you close the gap between yourself and someone who has been playing from the start, and who continue to play.

Now don't get me wrong, I think it is completely fair that those who have put in more time and effort receive some benefits for doing so, but currently the catch-up mechanic is back-gated by the respawn timer on World and Emissary Quests, even for someone who might be weeks behind.

I suppose that what I would really have enjoyed seeing the most, was not having any Artifact Power at all, but instead one long quest chain to unlock all the traits in your artifact. Each quest could provide you with a trait to pick, just like it is now, allowing you to customize. Quests could then be released on a schedule to provide some front-gating, but once released, you could do 10 of them in rapid succession, if you were that far behind. It would make more sense story-wise as well, to do quests related to your artifact, rather than just picking up generic trinkets and baubles that have no relation lore-wise to your artifact.


MoP and WoD were the worst in terms of dailies. It was repetitive, boring, and the amount of dailies required to get any rewards of note, was disgusting. The World Quests we have now are better. They just don't reward equal effort with equal benefits (few days vs many days per week for same hours).

aw man, i can reroll a class today and i will be fine. chill out with that catch up thing. its not like a 30% more dps or hps if you have some more traits.

[mireigi]

Why do people complain about grinding in an MMORPG? Honestly. Play a different game if you don't like grinding.

It's not the grinding that I don't like. It's that the rewards for doing 20 hours of grinding are different depending on how you distribute those 20 hours throughout the week.

World Quests by themselves are fine, but Emissary Quests only being available for 3 days before disappearing is not fine. If you only play two days a week, you could get extremely unlucky* and never see a Nightfallen Emissary Quest or even Kirin Tor Emissary Quest. Good luck getting Nightfallen reputation to 8000/12000 without that boost of 750 - 1500 reputation every now and then.

*: There is currently 6 factions, plus Kirin Tor, and all of them provide Emissary Quests. That makes for, on average, one Emissary Quest per faction per week. If the rotation is such that Nightfallen and Kirin Tor are on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, then someone who plays only Saturday and Sunday, will never get those two factions as Emisarry Quests.

[ItachiZaku]

they're just a different type of daily quest system. personally i find them to be better than dailies, but thats just me.

I agree, they seem less burdensome. The only issue I think are those really out of the way WQs, but with the magic whistle, that makes the travel much less of an issue.

[shonist]

Things are gated for a reason. I am SOOOO happy they are. A lot of us have full time jobs and other things going on in our lives but we do still want to play the game. However, if nothing was gated then people who have loads of free time would just be able to grind grind grind, making the rest of us feel like we need to keep up. I still play a lot(probably about 12-20 hours a week), but man oh man there are many people who play more than me and it'd drive me crazy if my guildies were telling me I needed to catch up.

last week a guildy tells me that he dont have really much to do now. told him to /played and results that he played 11-12hs average per day...

lol, im at work 9hs a day and 1 more traveling to home and etc. and much more things too. thanks god time gating exist lol.

[Socialhealer]

game isnt for you OP cya.

[Thelin]

It's not the grinding that I don't like. It's that the rewards for doing 20 hours of grinding are different depending on how you distribute those 20 hours throughout the week.

World Quests by themselves are fine, but Emissary Quests only being available for 3 days before disappearing is not fine. If you only play two days a week, you could get extremely unlucky* and never see a Nightfallen Emissary Quest or even Kirin Tor Emissary Quest. Good luck getting Nightfallen reputation to 8000/12000 without that boost of 750 - 1500 reputation every now and then.

*: There is currently 6 factions, plus Kirin Tor, and all of them provide Emissary Quests. That makes for, on average, one Emissary Quest per faction per week. If the rotation is such that Nightfallen and Kirin Tor are on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, then someone who plays only Saturday and Sunday, will never get those two factions as Emisarry Quests.

I find it very hard to believe someone doesn't have at the bare minimum at least 15-20 minutes to log in and do 4 quests. I work probably 50+ hours a week as a systems engineer and still find time to play when I get home while having a family and all the chores that come with owning a house.

the struggle is real i guess?