[Formal Proposal] Quester's Ring

Bumping in just to say that questing is one of my favorite parts of this game and would love to see an incentive to do them.

Hope to see this implemented some day!

 

BUMP! I really love this idea!

 

Quests > Challenges

 

Surprised I missed this. But, this implementation is more or less what I had in mind as the counterpart to the Monster Book. Excellent forum post Skuire.

It's been awhile since this thread's conception, but, balancing and considering implications is an extreme endeavour. I've coded and balanced things myself on other games so I'm aware of how long this could take, when there's so many quests to take into consideration here, especially with a small hobbyist team that comes and goes.

I think it'll take a while, most likely after the HP Challenges, that this will actually be implemented-- just a matter of time.

If anyone's interested in what needs to be done in order to make this a reality, here's what I think needs to be done:

• ✅ Spreadsheets of monsters/bosses w/ new Monster Defense stats
• ⚠️ Economy implications of quest items (players hogging quest trade-able items for selling and therefore maps...)
  
• ⚠️ Implement new quests for every tier
• ⚠️ Decide whether completing quest lines, a number of quests, or key quests is the best choice (or a mix of two or three aforementioned)
  
• ⚠️ Check whether it's too hard or easy to rank up in quests
  
• ⚠️ Check at which point a Mapler should actually have access to these items (Level-wise? Job-wise?)
  
• ⚠️ Room for future ML-exclusive items
  
• ⚠️ Custom sprites implementation via client-side code of NPCs and Item itself
• ⚠️ Test every quest to check if the counter is broken after implementing the code
  
• ⚠️ Other aspects not mentioned...

The HP Challenges are sort of a testing ground too here, especially when you consider that has multiple quests to rank up in HP. How that's done and is received would greatly influence the implementation of this quest ring.

As-is though, the item stats are really well thought-out. They balance nicely with the tedium of quest by adding defence and speed/jump-- these are things you want while going to place to place or while hunting (for quests). Plus, the speed/jump aspects isn't too high so you could combine with the Ring of Passion (event ring; ML-exclusive) or other speed/jump improving items (shoes, for instance).

To rapidly get some holistical data on how progression/implementation would work, sending an anonymous survey to those who've completed a substantial amount of quests is also a fantastic idea as well (it seems the Alpha+Beta testing from HP Challenges have opened the staff's eyes a bit regarding this )

Although, Skuire was probably the perfect candidate writing this forum post, as they completed a substantial amount of quests and has a penchant for journaling their experience (therefore, a clearer idea of the quest ring implementation).

I'm not sure if Skuire is still around, but they definitely laid out a great blueprint foundation. Big props

 

I'm probably best to respond to this particular point. I don't think we have much to worry about map hogging or etc hogging with regards to quests. Those with money working on new characters will spend their mesos for the etc items because its faster. The x3 quest experience also works in the lowbie's progression and, depending on the player, may be seen as a cheaper route to take if they value time over mesos. Because there are so many quests, it would take a large-scale, sophisticatedly coordinated guild syndicate to dominate maps and etcs to make any serious monopolistic fantasies become a reality. Having run The Junk Yard those few years where I sold these items on a regular basis as I got my 12 characters their T10 rings, I can assure everyone that the market for half of the questing etcs already exists and if the Quest Ring becomes a reality, a market will suddenly form for about another 1/6th of the quest items needed. There will always be questing etcs that will never find a market because the quests require a kill number less than or equal to the number of etcs from those mobs - which means observant players will never buy etcs they'll end up getting as they slay the necessary mobs.

Just an aside, my personal goal of getting 12,000 quests completed is currently at 11,800ish.

There is another element to contend with. Event quests, like the Valentine's Day quests, are removed each year the event begins again. This means someone could have 1000 quests done, get the ring, and then the quest ticker goes down to 996 because they have to redo some event quests. What kind of problems might this cause?

 

Most likely, you're right, because the Monster Ring is a precedent and didn't really cause this issue to occur. What's a better indicator of map hoarding syndrome are EXP-grinding spots where Maplers tend to stay in the same map for long periods of time, especially for Leeching or popular class spots (i.e. Clerics at GS2). Though, I tried to leave these points as open-ended as possible for conversation.

Also, likely. I've also observed this pattern where monster kills are intertwined with ETC drops. While a market will develop/rapidly grow, it most likely won't be that big, thankfully.

Congrats! Nearly there

I believe some players were actually restricted to doing this year's Valentines because they've already finished last years, so it may be a non-issue. Additionally, since the Event Quests are limited, I don't think it would be that hard to implement a check to exclude those quests from being counted, or act like repeatable quests.

 

Didn't read all of this yet but event quests aren't the only way to lose quest count. Regardless this should be a non issue as you shouldn't lose the reward if it's already obtained.

 

2023! Will we see it this year?