Mid-Level Quests (Potential Spoilers)

[Blackthorn51]

Currently, my PC is level 8.  I'm noticing that there are very few quests that can be done currently.  With populations numbers a bit low lately -It has been all but impossible to put together an appropriate group to hit any major dungeon that a level 8 has access too.  Most of them require a -lot- of time and a group of five or so people.

The following are some of the quests I can do at level 8:

Purple Crystal Mines - Can do with 2-3 people in about 35-40 minutes, but yeilds only Purple Crystals and a whopping 12XP.  No Pay.

Gnolls Invasion - Not an Option because of Faction setting (Watchers).  When done in the past, has offered about 100gp in pay and 150XP

Conclave Ruins - Can do with 3-5 people in about 35-40 minutes.  Yields very little loot and about 200XP.  No Pay.

Small Flayers - Can do with 3 people in about 35-40 minutes.  Yields little in terms of loot and about 60XP.  No Pay.

Tower of Mercy - Requires 3-5 people and takes an hour or more.  Decent loot and xp and a little pay.  Quest Take Limit.

Aside from these quests, only the larger quests are available, such as Morass Lizards, Orcs 1 & 2, Trolls, Desert Bandits, Coral Cove, the Withered Grove and Zaruto's Descent.

Almost none of the smaller higher level quests offer Gold Payements, or even enough supplies to recover the items used in running them.  The larger ones offer some reward but also require several hours of dedication as well as a full adventuring group which is very hard to find these days.  I love the big quests, but its very difficult finding people to do them with and sometimes one does not have the time to dedicate to hunting down a party, travelling there, running the dungeon, travelling back and splitting loot.

I request the following:

Please add a couple more quests for Characters level 7-9 that require only two or three people, offer payment and give out an adequate xp reward that do not require one dedicate an entire day to running.

This way when the server is full, we can run big quests and when the server is empty or we are short on time - We can hit the smaller ones and still hope to get -any- kind of satisfaction for the risks taken to complete.

Im thinking a couple of dungeon's similar to Purple Crystal Mines (but with more than 12 xp as reward for completion).  The mines are nice but they only yield purple crystals and often times one spends far more in resources to complete it.


Now then, I wouldn't make up a suggestion without offering remedy, so here are some quest ideas:

1:  A pack of hobgoblins has been raiding caravans near the Morass.  One of the caravans carried a specific item of precious cargo.  The quest giver hires a group to find their camp and return the stolen item.  (Bonus gold if the boxes of caravan goods are also recovered).  The den could be located in a new transition added to the area between the Springs and the Morass.

Level Requirements:  3-8
Party Size: 2-5
Take Limit: None
Restrictions: None
Monsters: Hobgoblins, Bugbear, Goblins and a Bugbear Priest at the end.

2: A group of slavers from Murdertown has been kidnapping children from local farms to sacrifice to Bane.  A local farmer followed the slavers to a nearby cave where they seem to have set up a shrine.  He is offering payment to some adventurers who are willing to either rescue the kidnapped children, or deal out justice.  As an option, there could be a time limit on the children's lives and bonus xp/gold if completed before they are sacrificed.

Level Requirements: 4-9
Party Size: 3-6
Take Limit: None
Restrictions: None
Monsters:  Baneite Slavers, Summoned Shadows and a High Priest at the end

I would happily come up with more quest ideas as well dive into the toolset to help create the areas (though the scripting I'm no good at).  Would any of the DM team or Developers be willing to work with me toward creating some new Mid Level PC quests?

[xXCrystal_Rose]

What it really comes down to is the last while people have ooc'ly been too afraid to do anything harder than the Well. I've had a lot of ooc tells saying that quests are too hard to do or don't reward enough. One time there was a mist transition to the bogs, trolls invading the farmland, then Mistlocke itself and attempting to launch a counter attack was met with ooc tells from aberdenn pc saying the quest was too hard so their character won't do it (of course the group was fully capable of stomping it into the ground easily if not for the ooc fear). It takes begging and hand holding just to convince most people to even do quests in the desert. Forget anything further than that. The ideas are cool and all but the real problem isn't much the quests. It's just that players are going through a cowardly phase and aren't doing the bigger quests which they are fearing so greatly without reason to.


It's sort of getting to the point where if you want to actually do anything you need to arrange a meeting where a bunch of people can log in at the same time to do it. You've seen how often, Blackthorn, that 0 people come to Lizardfolk or Flayer Temple sendings, but when a well quest sending shows 15 minutes later all the level 7's come on.

[putrid_plum]

There are plenty of quests and the rewards are meant to reduce ah higher levels for most to encourage other things for high end characters. There is of course the super hard quests too. Ransoms and bounties are some of the many other things that give good and xp. Also rp and plots and of course making your own events for other players to enjoy are again other examples of ways to have fun and proceed without questing.

[HalflingPower]

There are high level quests that are very rewarding.

You may be asking the wrong people to quest, especially if your talking to them out of character about it.


If you can't find any good in questing, it may be time for you to put them away and start considering plotting and intrigue. I haven't seen the watchers or order do anything actually interesting lately but maybe I am blind.

[Paha]

It must be remembered, that not everything is about rewards of gold and similar.

You go into the darkness, deep into the caverns and into a mine full of purple crystals - you would think the purpose is to get those crystals. You do, and you achieve your goal. It is not about giving you gold. Your goal are those crystals.

Same goes for many other similar quests. Exp alone is your reward, and any possible lore/chance to get special pieces of loot/what ever else.

You also will not get massive experience rewards for every quest. They are not equal, especially for higher levels. There are risky quests that yield more for what they throw they offer you, and you also accumulate exp (even if it's low per tick ) with each stronger enemy.

We will definitely not be making every quest equal. They follow certain concepts, stories and ideas - and reward accordingly to that.

Quest suggestions are always welcome, but throw them in some appropriate threat so it's easier to take a look at. We make quests when we can, and if we can find time. They tend to be extremely time consuming and tedious to get done as one wants.

[Guttersnipe]

The way EfU is currently set up, questing alone is not the way to get supplies/gold. If you rely only on that as a means the going will be slow and difficult. However, if you rely on a variety of means you can gain both gold and supplies rather swiftly. Questing is more about the fun of it, as well as roleplay and a means to become allies with other PCs (as it should be). For this questing is very effective.
   
  The low player numbers of late is really just an occurrence over the last week, or even less. I don’t think it will last, so I wouldn’t much worry on that front.
   
  As far as a fear of doing the more difficult quests goes, I do think that in general players are a bit afraid to stick their necks out of late, with some exceptions of course. That’s a shame because the game becomes far less enjoyable as those characters then fall into an indecisive, reactive rut that can be difficult to clamber out of.
   
  EfU is most fun when you’re bold, and I don’t just mean leaping into PvP or acting suicidal. But when you take a concept and stick with it no matter the consequences instead of backing off because you’re worried that your PC may die, lose XPs, wind up low on supplies, whatever. EfU will become bland and frustrating. The goal isn’t survival, it’s fun, and if you don’t step a bit out of your comfort zone as a player you’ll never get to see the best side of EfU.

[Howlando]

Although I'm always happy to see more content added that can help entertain our players, I need to emphasize the point that (from the perspective of the DMs) we have a serious problem with supply bloat - the server being filled with characters with virtually all inventory pages absolutely packed with cure critical/cure serious/buffing potions. This is not desirable. I guess the idea is that some of the higher level quests aren't actually that challenging assuming minimal supply use, but that yes they may not be very rewarding and perhaps occasionally groups won't come away with quests with a profit.

[Letsplayforfun]

The way I see it (but that's just me, not the staff's general idea), the idea is that to get to high lvl, you need to start use loot, not earn more.

Besides, lvl8 is not mid lvl...

[EfUA_undercover]

Every single of the quests you mentioned, except for flayers 1, pays out well in 90% of the runs done I am pretty sure.

Since the beginning of EfU:A loot has constantly become more in my experience. On one hand that may just be me getting better in using the right stuff at the right time to get the most out of the things I do and on the other its definately just becoming more and more. Compared to UD times we are all equipped like gods.

I dont see why these threads need to come up every couple of weeks. If your character is lvl8 you are hardly struggling to make xp. If you are running low on supplies fine, you just need to find better buddies for your guy to be effective or find stuff that gets you supplies. Exploring is very rewarding for example and gets you out of the boring quest grind too and aside of that its something that fits a watcher very well.

[wcsherry]

Howland summarized things nicely. We are currently developing new quests, but do not wish to see the amount of potions and gold increase per PC anytime soon.

If you are interested in gainining cheaper access to potions and gear, contact PC merchants and crafters. Our dearth of PC crafters is likely a direct result of the consumable bloat Howland referenced.

[Blackthorn51]

Seems I have been misunderstood some.

1:  I'm not looking for an increase to gold / loot per se.  I am seeking new dungeons that are:

A: Designed for characters level 8+
B: -Dont- take all day to complete
C: Yeild a -bit- more than 12-50 XP for completion.
D: Can be completed in smaller groups of 2-3 people without certain death
E: Yield -some- varying loot or small portion of coin

2: I always attempt IC methods of forming groups.  Countless sendings for instance, have gone unanswered lately.  As said previously -people are too afraid to go past the mist.

3: I have plenty of IC plots in motion right now so yes there are things to do besides dungeoning.  Sometimes the pcs I need arent on, or DMs arent available.  Sometimes you just feel like killing something.  I'm just trying to see a few more options created to provide for more enjoyment in the down times as previously described.

[Paha]

Quest suggestions are more than welcome. If we have good idea, we might actually be able to put time to making them, but it's extremely time consuming to get into it, and idea and execution is a thing that usually takes more time than anything else.

[Blackthorn51]

How might one go about helping to devlope areas?  I'd happily hop on the toolset in some free time to design short quest areas.