When I started playing MMORPGs, there was no such thing as a daily quest, but as theme-park MMOs developed and became the standard, and leveling times shrunk, developers needed a way to keep players playing. So the Daily Quest was born.
Here we have a system that is so boring and monotonous, I find it hard to believe that it still even exists. Basically, developers decided to create a quest system where the player would farm for some sort of token to obtain the items or rewards they were seeking.
This system, of course, adds nothing to the game itself, and just creates an atmosphere where players are logging in and repeating the same content they did the day before, just for the sake of collecting points.
I can remember the first time I ran into a daily(repeatable) quest and I just stood there wondering, “WTF is the quest marker still up? I just finished it.” Being in that mindset, I have very rarely ever repeated a daily quest in any game because I quite franking don’t want to do the same thing I just did the day before. This sometimes becomes difficult as I don’t always remember if I’ve completed the quest before or not, so sometimes I’ll just skip repeatable quests even if I didn’t do them.
SWTOR was the only game where I actually did do dailies daily, but only the space missions, because they only lasted about 5 mins and gave out huge amounts of XP. I hated doing them, but the rewards were just too great not to.
Dailies are whats wrong with today’s MMORPGs; where instead of dynamic, engaging content, developers shovel out horrifically boring quests, and tell you to repeat them every day if you want to progress. Let me also make the counter-point as to what the difference between sandbox and theme-park games is in terms of repetitive content:
With theme-parks, the dailies don’t change. You already know exactly what you need to do, how long it will take, and what the results will be. There’s really no mystery, and all you need to do is go through the motions of actually doing it.
With a sandbox, it’s not always the same, even when it is. You can decide to claim the same tower every time you log in, but who’s defending won’t always be the same, or perhaps you’ll need to defend it. Sometimes you’ll succeed, other times you won’t. Even gathering resources is not always the same. Sure the actual gathering part is, but you never know who you’ll run into and if you’ll make it back with all your loot. There’s a sense of the unknown with sandbox MMOGs where even if you think you know what will happen, you can never be entirely sure it’ll play out that way.
The same is true for games like League of Legends and any online FPS like Call of Duty. Sure the maps are the same, but the events that take place never are. It’s that human element added to daily quests that theme-park MMOGs do not have, and what makes them a terrible gaming mechanic used too readily and openly as is.
What do you guys think? Do you enjoy dailies? And if so, for the love of god, why?
MMOs are about doing something with your friends. They’re social. That’s what makes them different from regular games. Daily quests aren’t much different than playing the same nine holes of golf every weekend. Sure, it’s the same content, but it gives you an excuse to take a break from your work and responsibilities and spend some time with your friends.
Dailies are something you can do every day when you log in to spend some time with your friends. If you don’t have friends in the game, then I can see how dailies might not be as fun. But, if you don’t have friends in the game, then why would you want to play that game anyway? Go do what your friends are doing or invite them to come join you in the game. Any activity can be fun as long as you are spending time with people you enjoy.
June 18th, 2012 at 6:22 pmQuote
I’m of two minds about daily quests myself. On one hand, it’s obviously repetitive content, even when there is some randomization, but on the other, it’s also a motivation to log into the game and work towards a goal. If a game could have completely new or at least unpredictable PVE content each day I’d sign in a heartbeat, but since that’s not really feasible with the development costs it would entail, I think the daily quests are not that bad of a solution. If the alternative is content that involves opposing players, sorry but I’m out.
June 18th, 2012 at 7:11 pmQuote
If your grouping with friends, why do the same easy solo content repeatedly? I get doing raid’s where their is a certain amount of difficulty repeatedly with friends. Because there is still some amount of progression in your group’s skills. Watching and feeling myself get better makes it fun to me. But dailies, as I know of them in WoW were predictably easy (easier then normal quests even), doing them in groups would make them even worse. Maybe other games did a better job with them, though I doubt it.
Dailies are something easy to point at, but in reality that entire style and direction of design is what I hate about MMO’s right now. Sure it was novel when WoW first came out. The idea of a game full of quests was not a reality yet. But now, 14 (?) years later, its horribly boring and repetitive. The people who work on WoW now are the ‘B’ team. Anyone with any amount of creativity and the freedom to use it is working on a different, new game. And almost every other MMO strives for nothing more than being a WoW clone with one thing slightly changed.
June 18th, 2012 at 7:12 pmQuote
I like dailies for what they are: an easier way to farm gold and reputation.
Its also simply more rewarding than “farming” monsters. I like killing things in games, thats mostly why i play them so being rewarded for doing it is great.
I dont disagree with your points completely or anything tho. (Why doesnt the Enter key make separate paragraphs in these comments anymore?)
When sandbox games stop being pointless i might enjoy them. “Do what you want” doesnt amount for much when theres nothing to do.
June 18th, 2012 at 8:01 pmQuote
“Even gathering resources is not always the same, sure the actual gathering part is, but you never know who you’ll run into and if you’ll make it back with all your loot. ”
I could say the same exact thing about dailies.
June 18th, 2012 at 8:04 pmQuote
Pinnacle of lazy game design :)
June 20th, 2012 at 10:13 amQuote
This isn’t a MMO with daily quest or even quest…. It’s considered a MOBA which is like DOTA. If you guys are going to approach it like a MMO then you’re doing it wrong. It’s like coming at Call of Duty expecting it be like a racing game… This is more like a fighting game rpg type of thing where you don’t keep anything (Besides the champions you’ve purchased and the rune system, but thats something different). This game is more skill based than just grinding for hours and hours of stuff
August 10th, 2012 at 9:41 pmQuote