Where Did Quest Heavy Advancement Go Wrong?
The short answer is: in more ways than I can cover in a single section or even a single article. But I am sure going to try! WoW is a common example, but the same problems crop up in other similar MMOs: Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, and others that follow the same quest obsession. I am going to start right off with the main reason quest heavy MMOs go wrong. Quest heavy advancement is actually a disincentive to grouping. Forced grouping is bad, but anti-grouping is even worse. If people would LIKE to group with people, but the game discourages it, that is an absolutely terrible condition. To whatever degree questing pretties up the grinding process to make it seem less tedium, passing the time chatting with actual people is a million times better. How does quest heavy advancement discourage grouping? Because it is virtually impossible for people to stay synced up as far as quest progress. When I play MMOs with my wife, it is hard enough for us to keep two characters in sync. I
