1. #1

    Fungal feeding is the best and worst quest in the game

    You know fungal feeding is that quest during the Icecrown event where you have to kill ghouls and abominations near the mushrooms, which will give the mushroom stacks, and then when you kill the mushroom, you get as many quest items from the mushroom as it had stacks.

    Now my initial reaction to that was "that's one of the best quests they have ever done" because it is so different from any other quest in the game. I don't think there is any like that. It's a nice change from the typical kill and fetch quests.

    Of course that was quickly followed by "holy shit, players are too stupid to do this". Since many of them don't seem to know how to do the quest, it often ends with you trying to kill a mob near the mushroom, and them killing the mushroom before it has any stacks, so you get no quests items. Neither you, nor the guy that ruined it for you.

    Now that's a bit inconvenient and requires you to approach the quest a bit differently, like go around collecting mushroom from the ground and keeping an eye out for mushrooms that have stacks on them.

    But I'd still maintain that it's one of the best quests in the game. And I'd even say that it's not the player's fault this quest can be a pain in the ass. Because while players probably approach this quest in a wrong way, because they haven't even read the quest text, I'm not gonna pin it on them.

    See, Blizzard has cultivated this sort of playerbase. When they integrated quest helper addons into the game in Wrath, they basically told people that they didn't have to read quest text anymore. You'll be able to see on the map where you have to go.

    So when a player in 2020 picks up a quest that says "collect 20 mushrooms" and the area is marked on the map, of course he just flies there, looks out for mushrooms and then kills them in the hope of looting his quest items. He might even figure "well this one didn't drop any, but the other one dropped 2, so I guess it's not a 100% drop chance". Why would this player even consider that there is a twist to the quest and that he has to read the quest text in order to understand how the quest actually works?

    Players have been trained for over a decade to not approach the game like that. What Blizzard now has to do is to not view this as a failed experiment and realize that they need to train the players anew, so they know what to expect when faced with quests like these and how to handle them. It can be a long process, but that's the way it has to be. You can't undo the conditioning of over a decade overnight. So quests should have more gimmicks like these and slowly replace the typical fetch and kill quests.

  2. #2
    I enjoyed it. And there are Honorable Mention lootable mushrooms around when the mechanics are too hard.

  3. #3
    See here is the thing, there's a twofold approach one can adopt.

    One, the WoW way. Trackers are meant to be added to the quest text. So better emphasis on what you should do in a quest but still have the player read what he's supposed to do.

    Two, the GW2 approach. Quests are somehow tracked, but the entirety of what needs to be done is highlighted around the area the quest takes place in. Although GW2's questing is a different beast altogether.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrod View Post
    Not gonna lie, I've done that quest a few times and had no idea how it worked. Questing is irrelevant and has been for a long time.

    And by the way, the quest text is very rarely more helpful than the objective description, and often when I'm not sure what to do, doesn't clear up my confusion. So my approach is mostly:

    1. Randomly try to complete the quest.
    2. If that doesn't work, read comments on wowhead.

    I basically never, ever read the quest text.
    That's exactly what I mean.

    It's not your fault, because Blizzard has designed the game for this sort of playstyle.

    They've designed the quests to be simple enough for anyone to see at a glance what needs to be done, so why would anyone now check the quest text?

    The only reason I did is because I've always read every quest at least once to see if there's anything interesting in there.

  5. #5
    I actually enjoy the mechanics of the quest, and yes, I got it from reading the quest text.

    The problem is other players being as they are.

  6. #6
    Immortal Nnyco's Avatar
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    Horrible quest if your spec has passive aoe.
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    Crabs have been removed from the game... because if I see another one I’m just going to totally lose it. *sobbing* I’m sorry, I just can’t right now... I just... OK just give me a minute, I’ll be OK..

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Queen of Hamsters View Post
    I actually enjoy the mechanics of the quest, and yes, I got it from reading the quest text.

    The problem is other players being as they are.
    But the reason players are like that is because 99.99% of the game does not require you to put any thought into completing a quest.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by det View Post
    ...and here I thought the Tortollian WQs were so bad.

    You really needed to write this essay on a quest where all is required of you to re-read the quest text after you don't seem to get results on your first couple of kills?

    But yeah...got it...bad Blizzard for turning you into a sheep. Hopefully you can switch your brain on when you go about your daily life after logging off ^^
    I don't know what you mean. I read the quest and I got it immediately. The problem is other people coming in and killing my mushrooms as I am trying to kill mobs near it.

    And the reason they are doing it is because Blizzard has dumbed down the process of questing over the years.

    It seems like you didn't even read my post.

    My point is Blizzard has cultivated this sort of playerbase for over a decade, so it's not the players' fault they are acting like this.

    You are doing nothing to argue against what I am saying, you're just insulting me for no reason.
    Last edited by bronjamin; 2020-11-21 at 06:49 PM.

  8. #8
    So, its blizz fault that stupid players dont read quest text, am i right?
    /sarcasm
    Just read what npc tells you and you are golden. If you cant even understand what they want from you, well - you must start thinking and not just be stupid.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by bronjamin View Post
    But the reason players are like that is because 99.99% of the game does not require you to put any thought into completing a quest.

    .
    Nah, not really.

    Players shape this game. Player behaviour, player engagement. There's nothing dumber about questing now than it was/is in Classic. Some people always read the quest text and were able to deduce what to do from that. Others, didn't.

    The "dumbed down"-buzzphrase died a long time ago. The game was never for rocket scientists.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by det View Post
    I re-read my post...cannot for the life of me find the part where I "insulted" you.

    [/B]
    Amen.

    And you insulted him because you disagreed with him through actual arguments to combat his ill-informed use of a buzzphrase, naturally. How very mean-spirited of you.

  10. #10
    Legendary! Lord Pebbleton's Avatar
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    I saw guys killing 5-6 mushrooms with 0 stacks before flying off in frustration. Of course, those were mushrooms I was working on.

    I got suspicious after my very first (botched) mushroom kill and re-read the quest objective to figure out what was the deal. I am an average guy, I often skip over any quest details, and it took me 3 minutes to realize what was going on. People taking 5,6 or more shrooms before giving up boggles my mind. Not the most facepalm-worthy thing I have ever seen in-game, but it's up there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dancaris View Post
    So, its blizz fault that stupid players dont read quest text, am i right?
    /sarcasm
    Just read what npc tells you and you are golden. If you cant even understand what they want from you, well - you must start thinking and not just be stupid.
    My main gripe is that those players seem to tunnel vision the mushroom even when they know it isn't working. Better yet, they see all these people around that gather ghouls around mushrooms, so what do they do? They zip past the mobs and nuke the shrooms! At that point it's not even carelessness or not paying attention. It's just being a pain for everyone else involved.

  11. #11
    I have an off-topic question, but it's because I'm new. Why there is so much banned people in here?

  12. #12
    Banned docterfreeze's Avatar
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    great for trolling. i kill other people's mushrooms while they're trying to kill an elite.

  13. #13
    This daily perfectly showcased the amount of people that just rush to marked areas without reading the damn quest...

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Pontifice View Post
    I have an off-topic question, but it's because I'm new. Why there is so much banned people in here?
    Mods that lack humour and partisan bias.

  14. #14
    I enjoyed that I read the quest and immediately understood the trick.

    I did not enjoy that other players got to run in and fuck me over even though I was doing it correctly.

  15. #15
    Merely a Setback Adam Jensen's Avatar
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    It's a fun and engaging quest on the rare chance I'm alone.

    It's a fucking stupid jackass quest whenever anyone else is there (which is 90% of the time.) I'll be there with 3-4 ghouls or an elite trying to kill them and some jackass comes up and kills the mushroom. Like come on.
    Putin khuliyo

  16. #16
    I read the quest, but until about the last two days of the event those mushrooms were hardly ever up since people would just zerg everything down. I initially thought the quest was referring to the background mushrooms where the lootable ones spawn but realized killing stuff close to those didn't change anything.

  17. #17
    No other quest like it? Every expansion has had some version of "kill mobs by this thing to collect their stuff."
    I'm a thread killer.

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