Massively^™

I am almost inclined to say "none of the above". It is not so much the type of quest mechanic as how it is composed that is important, IMHO.

Too much and too similar of any type and you'll get sick and tired of it, even if you liked the first ones.

I also like quests that allow you to accomplish the task in different ways, e.g. "get the jewel from the bandit leader". It does not matter whether you only take out the leader or his whole gang, steal it from him or simply negotiate with him as long as you accomplish the task.

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I fall into the 'I like them all' category too, with with exception of:

1. Gather quests with low drop rates.

2. Underwater quests.

I dislike both.

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I'm gonna say none as well, I prefer scripted event quests, of which I could name a few that still stick in my memory 5 years after doing them.

Colain ring quest from Everquest, there are 10 different rings each ring upgrade would require the previous ring. Each was hard to get in it's own right but require allot of gather to complete the quest. Culminating in the last ring which was pretty hard to get and ended up with a giant invasion you had to fend off before you could get your ring, which required quite a sizable raid group.

Epic quests - I still remember all the steps for all 3 of my EQ characters, they were class defining items to have, wow started with this but it kinda never really realised the potential of the class-only quests.

Hunter epic bow in WoW was also one where I immensely enjoyed doing it.

Other quests like quest story chains which combines a few of the above but gives a nice reward in keeping with the whole story line, one I think everyone can remember is the Westfall Defias chain where you beat the guy at the end of the instance after a 9 quest long chain and you hand the head in to get it announced across the zone that you were a champion, nowadays it's not that unusual to hear it but when the servers were first released that was an achievement. Again the quest line of the ring of blood was very very good idea, which required a decent group ending up defeating a champion and getting your name shouted across the zone.

It seems too many games fall into the trap these days of the copied type quests listed in the original article, people need to think laterally about quest design and not just fall back to kill 10 rats type quests imo.

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I agree. There are only a few archetypal quests: kill something, get or find something (click on object, run past location or talk to NPC), rescue someone (and either drag him around or run after him screaming or run in circles begging him to move faster), etc.

It's nice if the game engine and designers can support some new gameplay and create some nonstandard quest types (be it RTS-based, control a point, fend off ambush, adventure game puzzle or whatever) but these things take time and are specific to that MMO.

Generally, a good quest to me will vary the tasks given to the player, and construct an immersive storyline that creates the illusion of doing something meaningful.

Killing 3 plague-bearers and their one captain, unpoisoning a well, picking 5 herbs, making a poultice that cures those sickened from the poisoning, bringing a message to a widow that her husband didn't make it alas, are more thematically tied together than rat infestion - kill 10 rats please. orcs at the gate - go kill 5 orcs. this merchant cheated me - go threaten him please. find my missing watch, I can't live without knowing the time, argh!

Uber cool things would be having some sort of memory marker (souvenir, deed in log book, trophy or special title) of the entire series of events, multiple solutions to the quests, nonobvious side quests that add on to the storyline to reward nook-and-cranny explorers, unique quest instances that set up a specific challenge - combat or otherwise, dialogue options, scripted events, unsoweiter.

Things I hate regarding quests: Being asked to shuttle back and forth between the NPC contact and the same area. Repetitively. Can't you just tell me to kill X foozles, Y oogles and Z widgets at the same time? Or let me pick up all three as separate quests?

Herculean quests. Kill 31 squigles? 46 whatsits! Run a marathon from Town A to Town Y, with nothing interesting along the way? *faints* At least break it up with Town A to Town B, B to C, etc.

Lottery quests. As if killing 76 boars was not enough, they have the gall to only have 13 intestines between them. And I need 20. I can't predict the end point, and am doomed to woodcutter chopping motions until the RNG smiles at me.

Your quest log is full. Honestly, what is wrong with letting me collect all the quests at one time and crank through them at my own pace, at my own choosing? I'm not stupid, I won't be intimidated by having a list of 100 goals. With a 30-40 quest limit, you're just asking me to have to remember "oh, this contact still has a quest" and run back and forth again.

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Doesn't matter what the underlying game mechanic is... What matters is if the story behind the quest -makes me want to do it- rather than just doing the quest for the reward.

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Believe it or not I like FedEx quests. Its a little silly when the source NPC and the destination NPC are in the same building, but when they span zones or continents and have multiple steps I kind of like them. =)

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