The importance of being Earnest
by: Kiara
Just kidding. I'm nothing near as talented as Oscar Wilde. But, I made you look.
Besides the usual grind of killing mobs like mad to gain experience, what else is a vital source of advancement in games? Questing of course. Think of it as killing with a purpose.
The usual quests follow a few basic forms. The Fed Ex quests, and the kill x amount of y creature. Everyone has done them before. "Hey you, go fetch this thingiemabobber from Joejimbob over there in that town over yonder and bring it back!" "You! Bob. I need these whatsits to finish making my super uber somethingorother of uberness! Go kill a bunch of these critters and get me some belly slime!" Or something along those lines.
As much as we all groan and whine about it, it does break up the monotony of simple grinding. Not that grinding isn't a blast when you get into a routine with a good group of people. The main thing is to make sure the healer doesn't get bored and decide to start helping the tank pull. Not that I've ever done anything like that. Noper. Not me. Nuh uh!
Quests are a great alternative. I love questing. If they're well written they provide vital and entertaining background to the game. You learn all kinds of good stuff about the world within which you're playing. Narobi Jane's failed love life might not mean that much to you, but it fleshes out the game nonetheless. If you've got creative quest writer's you get some really great interaction with the NPCs involved in the quests.
Not only do you get a little extra immersion into your gaming world, you sometimes (if the quest writing gods are kind) get a nifty little prize to go with it. From weapons, to armour, to food, to straight up cash, the rewards for playing errand girl are always worth it. Well, almost always. There are times when you feel like you've been cheated.
Those are the times when it's nice to be able to smack around said stingy NPC. Naturally, this isn't allowed. More's the pity. But the developer's usually want to be able to keep those quest givers up and able to spread their bah humbug inducing trash. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
In all seriousness though, quests are always a major part of the game for me. I never do as many as some other folks do, but I enjoy them nonetheless. I'll read through all the dialogue for the story. What can I say? I love a good story.
Even if it's just a short, meaningless quest that tosses a few coppers or an epic quest that leads you all over the world, giving you an amazing reward at the end, quests leave you with a sense of accomplishment that grinding just can't give you. Finishing up a quest, simple or otherwise, let's you have something special. You earned something that not anyone can just run out and pick up. Yes, other people can get the reward, but they have to do just as much work as you did. It isn't like some spiffy armour drop that you can just buy off another player without having to kill for it. That alone makes it worthwhile.
Not to mention that sometimes you can get fun things to put in your house. Yes, yes you got me. That really is the only reason I do quests... Shhh. Don't tell.
