Hey everyone, I have a suggestion for future additions to the game and was wondering to see if anyone else shared the sentiment or had anything to add to it.
I am having a blast playing the game and I am enjoying roaming around completing renown tasks and exploring the PvE environment. Although the quest mechanics are in my opinion not particularly ground-breaking, they are good enough for me and I am having fun.
One thing I noticed, however, is that once you’ve completed a single zone (entire map that is), for the most part, you know what to expect task-wise in the future. To fill a heart you kill baddies, collect something for the NPC’s, destroy enemy supplies/buildings, etc. The options are nice but after a while you know what you’re in for.
Every now and then you come across a “unique” Renown task which might have you jump into a golem suit, turn into a Treant, etc. and those are fun also.
As a completionist I like the way the map system is set up and how organized it is at keeping track of your progress. It works for me.
The NPC’s for the most part, in my opinion, are just not that interesting. If I feel like it, I can go and ask a few questions to get an idea what is going on in that area but for the most part I can skip it and just start killing mobs to be on my way for Renown task completing. The NPC’s have little to no personality, do not add much to the back story or lore, and are forgettable.
I understand making each NPC a unique snowflake is hard to do and don’t expect miracles. But there are a few zones I have glazed over and do not remember much of because there was nothing that exciting or memorable about the NPC’s or things to do in said zones. My highest level character is level 56 and I do not rush through zones so I know I am not speeding through and missing much when it comes to DE’s and things like that.
Today I’m questing in Blazeridge Steppes and came across a couple of Asura who are studying the harpies in the area. Upon my arrival I helped an Asura named Wark who was making a perfume to attract harpies. He ended up being kidnapped by a Veteran harpy and every time we went to rescue him, the harpy would take him and relocate. All the while Wark was full of quips and thoughts and almost all of them were hilarious.
Wark is probably one of TWO NPC’s outside the main NPC’s revolving around the personal stories that I will ever remember. I also liked the event because although it was more or less a DPS race to kill the harpy and save Wark, the relocation element of the fight made it just different enough from the other events to stand out. The other NPC would be the drunk Norn chick near the bear shrine in the Norn starting area. “You found the bear cave! Let’s celebrate with fighting!” Just because her voice is so funny (and not the same as all the rest)
In my opinion future Renown tasks should be a little bit more thought out. The NPC’s should be a bit more memorable and the events should be a little more varying and interesting. The potential is clearly there and it would be nice to see them taken advantage of. If we’re doing the same stuff at 80 as we were when we were leveling, spicing it up and going above and beyond could potentially increase replay value of certain zones.
Summary:
-I am having fun with renown tasks but I could probably be having more fun
-Tasks are of the same variety we have seen before and although not all of them should be overhauled a few hearts per zone that had you doing really epic, non-standard tasks would make zones more memorable and interesting, plus could potentially increase replay value.
-NPC’s are mostly randomly generated and it shows— they are not memorable and are boring for the most part