Expansions and the Level Cap.

[Ironwood]

So either make it an individual thing or a global skip.

It's not an issue Tech Wise, was my meaning.


(Oh and No.  I haven't played GW.  Tho the GM who feeds people to dragons made me laugh.)

[Furiously]

So either make it an individual thing or a global skip.

It's not an issue Tech Wise, was my meaning.


(Oh and No.  I haven't played GW.  Tho the GM who feeds people to dragons made me laugh.)

They also made some of them mid-dungeon. And they last like 5 minutes. Not the best design decision.

[tkinnun0]

Have you played Guildwars? watching the cutscenes the first time is fine, the 2nd time is ok, the 3rd time, you think, "I' could care less if I see this again." After that, it gets a bit painful. One party member not hitting skip makes the entire party view it.

For a real tragedy, consider a scenario where the group stays and players change but none of them have seen it even once because they all think others have seen it too many times already.

So either make it an individual thing or a global skip.

It's not an issue Tech Wise, was my meaning.

Well, no, but it's a gameplay issue. If you punish groups for stopping and smelling the flowers, then they won't do it, even if some individuals in the group wanted to. The fundamental problem is having repeatable content and mixing people who have never experienced it with people who have. If the story portion of your content is not suitable for all group members then it should really be solo content, shouldn't it?

[Merusk]

You won't like hearing the NPC's speech with 4 other people waiting for it to finish, either.

The problem is other people. One solution would be to separate story advancement from group encounters, or at least minimize it. So, if your group has killed The Big Baddie, you get Proof of Accomplishment. To turn that Proof of Accomplishment into Epic Lewtz, you have to complete a series of solo quests which only advance the story. If you can do those quests at your convenience before the next week's raid then there's no external pressure to speed through them.

There's several of these in WoW already, but they could use it a lot more.  Onyxia/ Nefarian's head, Priest Epic, Hunter Epic.

Hell, even getting to the group encounters requires some participation in the 'storyline' quests previously mentioned.    Are they secondary, yes, but they're a damn sight better than most of the crappy quests you had to deal with in EQ.  Most folks do NOT enjoy playing 'hunt the quest' so WoW didn't go after the minority of you that do.  

You've all hashed-out the realities of the writing.  It's there for people to enjoy, but it's not the make-or-break for anyone IF they even read the damn things.  (And from the number of /yell "Where can I find XYZ" that happen each night. It's obvious the majority simply don't read them.)

If it were a more 'worldly' game, you'd all be here complaining there was only one or two ways of correctly completing any prose-laiden heavily-involved quest of the types you're thinking.  Without a GM walking along with you reacting to each action you do, computer quests will never get much beyond where they're at now.

[Ironwood]

Well, no, but it's a gameplay issue. If you punish groups for stopping and smelling the flowers, then they won't do it, even if some individuals in the group wanted to. The fundamental problem is having repeatable content and mixing people who have never experienced it with people who have. If the story portion of your content is not suitable for all group members then it should really be solo content, shouldn't it?

Well, yeah, but the gameplay issue once again comes down to forcing you to group with fucking retards.  If I'm in my regular group of friends, we'll watch the cutscene if someone wants to.

If I'm in a group of 40 of the scum of the fucking internet, I probably won't.

And what the hell do you mean by punish ?  The 40 seconds out their life ?  Again, you're grouping with Jerks.  And I didn't say it wasn't SUITABLE.  That's entirely the wrong word in this context.

Other people.  They fuck these games.

[Phred]

Another example from WoW is the conversation between Ragnoros and Majordomo Executus before Ragnoros goes hostile to the raid. The first time it's cool as hell but by the 10th time the whole raid is praying for a skip button like in Guild Wars.

Vael's initial speech is almost as bad.

[Venkman]

hehe agreed. That Rag/Domo speech should be triggerable based on the collective equipment of the raid. If more than 10 people have Rag drops, make skipping the speech an option. However, I appreciate the effort they made in some cases, to act-out the quest resolution, like that event near Ratchet involving the water elemental, or the Lady Prestor/Windsor event in Stormwind. These add flavor to an otherwise very straightforward game of acquisition.

If they wanted to make quest stories matter, it'd be easier for them to do it. It's just that the wimp out. It's like that newbie Night Elf quest where you accidentally help a "bad guy". There's no penalty. Of course, if they added penalty, they'd need to add truly informative details about the choices one would make.

I swear, the only decisions that really have any weight are whether to choose Gnomish or Goblin Engineering :P

[Driakos]

I swear, the only decisions that really have any weight are whether to choose Gnomish or Goblin Engineering :P

Or, do you reeeeeally want that bloodsail pirate hat?

[Typhon]

With speech I was thinking that the NPC was speak his/her/it's monologue without an artificial interruption of the action.  If you've never heard it before, (and you've played the game enough to know that a speaking NPC means I can stand still for it until he's/she's/it's done), you can wait it out.  If you have heard it before, no need to wait have at it - the speech still plays for those that haven't heard it, but the NPC joins the fray (if he/she/it is something you attack).

I also assumed that players would have something like a journal (which WoW oddly does not), which would capture what was being said so you could go over it later if necessary to figure out what to do.

But then, I assume alot.

[bhodi]

Some new information about XP was posted:

You won't find the post because it doesn't really exist.

XP Gain from level 60 going into the expansion is still something that is being adjusted. The devs are well aware of many methods and routes by which players are 'stockpiling' XP and don't want to see arbitrary bursts of experience simply because someone wanted to get to 61 first. The leveling curve is being minded carefully for the expansion and already, we've made some bug fixes to that end (players no longer gain rested XP at the level cap).

It is quite possible that some of the methods mentioned and others may be eliminated, devalued or possibly left as is. The particular decisions have not been made as of yet, but they have been discussed.

Just a bit of a heads up for folks who might be hoarding AQ turnins. We're watching. ;)

[Furiously]

There goes my plan of having 20 quests completed and just need to talk to the final dude.

[Calantus]

Another example from WoW is the conversation between Ragnoros and Majordomo Executus before Ragnoros goes hostile to the raid. The first time it's cool as hell but by the 10th time the whole raid is praying for a skip button like in Guild Wars.

Vael's initial speech is almost as bad.

I don't mind that actually, I take it as an opportunity to refill my drink without going down on the DPS meters. :P