Event Quests

[Igognito]

Hi all,
maybe this exists, maybe not...

I would like to see Event Quests.
Every now and then, there can be an event. For example: Today the Orcish hordes are attacking Stormwind.
This will introduce a group of Quests to handle the event.
All adventurers are called to play that Event Quest.
Most other quests would be paused or even not be available for that 1 day and only quests related with the days Event would be available.

You can not form private parties neither Solo.
All adventurers that follow that quest at the same time margin/level range/difficulty with you automatically party for the quest.

The event quests can be a combination of existing quests + new ones. Also the will range in levels.
Also you might be forced to take these quests in a specific order.

This wont happen everyday, but every now and then...

Does something like this exist?

[PsychoBlonde]

Does something like this exist?

Not exactly as you've described, no, but there are special events like the Treasure of Crystal Cove, the Anniversary Party, the Night Revels, the Risia Ice Festival, and the Mimic Hunt where you can engage in special activities. There are also events in some wilderness explore areas where you can do little activities.

They tried doing an open party style thing with the Night Revels, but it was incredibly laggy and wound up broken, so we have a different version now.

From my understanding, most everything in the game is hand-coded on a system that is somewhat old and brittle, so events are a big challenge for the dev team and cut heavily into their work in other areas.

[Igognito]

Hmm,

let me re describe in a way that will be easier to implement.

Once every now and then (Event Day can be random or whatever)
1) Disable all (maybe all free) Quests
2) Enable a Group of Quests (Event Quests)
3) Event Quests have:
--a) A specific order you can take them
--b) You can only choose them as a Public Party
--c) You Group Dungeon Instances by level range of players and automatically increase difficulty
4) By the end of the day, you count # of success vs. # of failures
5) The world changed a tiny bit depending the success or failure. (For example a building is destroyed, or a new one appears etc...)

The above I'm describing I do not think will have any problems with lag.
In practice it doesn't change much the game as it works...

Event Quests can be a mix of existing+new quests that are available only that day! (The new quests can remain but then be paid only?)
Also to put a business model in that: +new payed only quest that has a unique reward!

I do not think it will take a lot of effort to have something like this.

Also it can start without disabling existing quests. The reason I suggest disabling them is to promote the participation of people in the event quests.
It can start by just Automatically when you logon in the event day you have a message for an urgent quest!

Cheerios

[Swimms]

Hmm,



I do not think it will take a lot of effort to have something like this.


Cheerios

I am not a programmer but I think you might be underestimating the time and effort required to implement something like this. When you compare it to the list of existing priorities and fixes matched against the available resources i'm guessing that this is would be an impossible pipe dream. I'm not suggesting your idea has no merit, just that in the game's existing state there would be no way to pull this off without completely messing up something else. It is just not worth the risk, not to mention the people you would enrage by shutting down current content (if only for the length of the event).

[PsychoBlonde]

I am not a programmer but I think you might be underestimating the time and effort required to implement something like this.

Yeah, by a factor of about a million. This is on the lines of "make DDO a completely different game".

[Dulcimerist]

Most other quests would be paused or even not be available for that 1 day and only quests related with the days Event would be available.

This would cause riots.

You can not form private parties neither Solo.
All adventurers that follow that quest at the same time margin/level range/difficulty with you automatically party for the quest.

Sounds like the old-school Mabar event raid. That was so much fun back in the day!:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Mabar_Endless_Night_Festival

I believe you'd enjoy The Night Revels, which replaced that old event. It gets run around the time of Halloween:
http://ddowiki.com/page/The_Night_Revels

Crystal Cove is lots of fun, too! They generally do that one during the summer, possibly July, and also around the time of Talk Like a Pirate Day in mid-September:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Treasure_of_Crystal_Cove

[MichaelKindrhead]

Hmm,

let me re describe in a way that will be easier to implement.

Once every now and then (Event Day can be random or whatever)
1) Disable all (maybe all free) Quests
2) Enable a Group of Quests (Event Quests)
3) Event Quests have:
--a) A specific order you can take them
--b) You can only choose them as a Public Party
--c) You Group Dungeon Instances by level range of players and automatically increase difficulty
4) By the end of the day, you count # of success vs. # of failures
5) The world changed a tiny bit depending the success or failure. (For example a building is destroyed, or a new one appears etc...)

-1, -1, -1, -1, -1... nope nope nope, just nope... forget the software side of it, just on principle alone, nope. it would anger way to many people to start by 'closing' 98% of the game for your 'events'.. and for me personally, I would not even log in on those days at all if I couldn't run whatever I wanted to.

[Igognito]

This would cause riots.



Sounds like the old-school Mabar event raid. That was so much fun back in the day!:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Mabar_Endless_Night_Festival

I believe you'd enjoy The Night Revels, which replaced that old event. It gets run around the time of Halloween:
http://ddowiki.com/page/The_Night_Revels

Crystal Cove is lots of fun, too! They generally do that one during the summer, possibly July, and also around the time of Talk Like a Pirate Day in mid-September:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Treasure_of_Crystal_Cove

Yes the events you quote could be close to the idea I have.

I see that people would not like closing the usual content, but after completing the event quest (succeed or fail) everything would be available immediately.
Think of it like Korthos. The event day starts like winter Korthos, you need to finish a quest there in order to go to summer Korthos.

Hmm I think I know how to present it:

It is a quest that your first entry is the only one that actually counts! If you succeed or fail your first entry on that quest affects the rest of the world.
Furthermore, on the event day the Quest is promoted to eligible players (levels, well the ideal is that there is a quest for all levels).

So Updating the idea:

Once every now and then (Event Day can be random or whatever)
1) Start the day by being approached by an NPC that gives you the quest and marks it as important/event quest.
2) The non re-entry runs of an event quest are counted.
3) Event Quests have:
--a) A specific order you can take them
--b) You can only choose them as a Public Party
--c) You Group Dungeon Instances by level range of players and automatically increase difficulty
4) By the end of the day, you count # of success vs. # of failures
5) The world changed a tiny bit depending the success or failure. (For example a building is destroyed, or a new one appears etc...)

The above I'm describing I do not think will have any problems with lag.
In practice it doesn't change much the game as it works... I think if not all most mechanisms are there.

Event Quests can be a mix of existing+new quests that are event quests only that day! (The new quests can remain but then be paid only?)
Also to put a business model in that: + a new payed only quest that has a unique reward!

I do not think it will take a lot of effort to have something like this.

[Annex]

I support adding more (good) events.

I heartily support improvements to existing events.

In my opinion, limited time quests make events fun and interesting.

New cosmetic and treasure items give players good reason to participate in events.

Forcing players to participate in an event or join a group is a terrible, baneful, dreadful, horrifically not good idea.

However, adding a Great Greedy Green Leprechaun to the Marketplace would be funny. He does not need to do anything. He can just stand there, like a Bob's Big Boy statue. Oh! He could be like a slot machine!

...

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Oh my goodness! What's _that_?

Vexa the Dagger: It looks like a leprechaun. A really big leprechaun.

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Whoa! Let's talk to him. *approaches the leprechaun* Hi! I'm Sophie. Who are you?

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: I am Knis Yenom Nauhcerpel, taker of coins and occasional giver of stuff in return. Would you like to pay? I mean, would you like to play?

Vexa the Dagger: You're on your own with this one. He's too big to stab in the face.

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Play? What do you mean?

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: Well, if you give me one thousand platinum coins, I will let you have the object behind curtain number three. *Knis waves at curtain number three with a theatrical flourish*

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Hmm. Well. Oh look! A Coin Lord! And behind the Coin Lord, a gigantic Woodchuck!

Coin Lord: Oh no! I thought we banished all the giant woodchucks! *turns around and looks*

Sophie the Cat Burglar: *burgles one thousand platinum pieces and hands them to Knis* Here you go! What did I win?

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: You won... 100 Strings of Prayer Beads!

Sophie the Cat Burglar: What???

Goldscuttle: Draggin it! Kobold been trying for that all day!

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Oh! Well, here you are, sweety. Have you got enough to summon your great evil deity yet?

Goldscuttle: Thank you, Sophie. No. Kobold need more Prayer Beads. Adventurers leave beads in dungeons. Too busy zerging. No bring them to Kobold anymore.

Vexa the Dagger: Why are we always helping this runt to summon an evil deity again?

Sophie the Cat Burglar: I don't know. I feel sorry for him.

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: Perhaps you will find an evil deity inside...this small box! For ten thousand platinum pieces, you could find out!

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Hmm. Oh no! A giant hairy naked mole rat!

Coin Lord: Oh no! I thought we banished all the giant hairy naked mole rats! Where is that no good banishing mage of mine? *looks around*

Sophie the Cat Burglar: *burgles ten thousand platinum pieces from the Coin Lord and hands it to Knis* Here ya go! What did I win?

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: Inside the box you find...370 Mechanical Trap Parts!

Vexa the Dagger: I should point out that your big toe is within stabbing distance.

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Oh no! We have, like, way too many of those!

New Rogue Adventurer: Oh wow! I need some of those to make Noisemakers!

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Here. Have, like, three thousand of them.

New Rogue Adventurer: Whoa boy! Now I can sneak through dungeons in under an hour! Thank you!

Willie the Warlock: Newb.

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Willie! What are you doing here?

Willie the Warlock: Rumor has it, this guy gives away +10 stat tomes. There is, like, a 0.00000000000000000000421 percent chance.

Sophie the Cat Burglar: Wow. Have you been playing his games?

Willie the Warlock: This a^$%#^$$ already took 347,000 Astral Shards from me. If I do not get a +10 tome soon, I am going to write an angry forum post about how I am going to stop paying VIP and rage quit.

Vexa the Dagger: *snorts*

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: Willie, for only 345 Astral Shards, I will let you have whatever lies behind curtain number one!

Willie the Warlock: Hey. Newb. I'll sell you this Noisemaker with a +4 Reaper bonus for 500 Astral Shards.

New Rogue Adventurer: Whoa boy! Really! You are so awesome! *hands Willie 500 Astral Shards*

Coin Lord: I will take 30% of those, thank you very much!

Willie the Warlock: A%$&$%# *hands the remaining shards to Knis*

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: You have won...this lovely Ebony Hair Dye!

Willie the Warlock: &$%^ How much for a reroll?

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: You may reroll for only 30 more Astral Shards!

Vexa the Dagger: All right, leprechaun. Who are you really working for?

Coin Lord: *looks away and starts to whistle*

Sophie the Cat Burglar: I am bored of this. Let's go find Ena and get some fruit smoothies.

Willie the Warlock: Yea. Bail like a filthy casual, as usual. You are such a... *Vexa stabs Willie in the face* YOU B&$%^!!! YOU STABBED ME AGAIN!!!

Vexa the Dagger: I have a face stabbing quota to fill. Have a nice day.

Coin Lord: You are bleeding on the freshly swept flagstones. That will be 122 Astral Shards for cleaning services.

Great Greedy Green Leprechaun: Or, you could pay 300 Astral Shards and have what lies behind curtain number two!

Willie the Warlock: I hate this event! I hate it! And it causes lag!