Quest Bug / General feedback

Hey there, I'm Adaon, I play as Myles Wallskipper (halfling rogue) on the server. I like what I see so far, but I have a few things to mention.

Quest bug: I found a quest giver in the Justice Inn. I took his first quest which told me to contact Garick Welter at Choban port. I found Mr. Welter and he tells me to deliver a package for him to someone named Elring Daner, who supposedly also hangs about Choban Port. I did a few rounds about the port and failed to find him, figuring it was too early in the morning. A couple in-game hours later I went back to Garick Welter because I could not find the mark. When I spoke to Welter, he asked me if I'd managed to give the package to Priurag Wale yet. I found that Odd, yet I had seen Wale by the docks so I went to see if I could turn in the item to him. Alas, when I spoke to Mr. Wale there was no option other than "end dialog". I'm also not sure that Garick even gave me anything to deliver in the first place, but it is hard to tell because my inventory is cluttered with stuff.

So that's that. Here are a few other thoughts from playing so far:

- Starting quests: I started my character and didn't have too much trouble with the Tutorial area, though that was mostly because I had help from Melinda and others. Alas, when I got into the IC world and explored the city a bit, I was at a loss. Generally I expect for there to be some basic quests to get the ball rolling on a new character, be they a classic rat-slaying quest or something more creative. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything like that. I walked to the Tivook inn to find some others to play with, but unfortunately no one knew of any adventures I could partake in. I did find someone to RP with for a bit, but once that ended I was at a loss again. From Tivook I took to the woods and began to explore,, finding nothing but deer and empty farms over the course of maybe 10 areas. Tired of wandering and finding nothing, I found a portal and made my way back to the city of Dohral, because it was the liveliest area I had been in so far. Alas, when I finally found a quest, the above happened. I think it is pretty crucial for there to be more in the way of a few linear, easy to find quests to get people started. The scripting on this server seems very strong, but without adventures how can one enjoy it?

- I understand the realism factor, and that is why it is so hard to find a merchant at night. But I feel as though at a certain point that fun gameplay should be put over realism. Nighttime lasts quite a while at 8 minutes to an hour, and wandering an empty city at night is extremely boring. I couldn't even encounter these supposed ruffians or monster summons that I have heard about. Instead I just drifted in and out of stores that are totally open but bereft of any merchants. The inns had nothing to do and thus I climbed in a few windows to find...empty houses. On an old server that I played on for quite a while, they had a script that would set up an encounter every time a rogue broke into a house, which would include random inhabitants and a few crates/chests with random loot. It was monotonous but it helped pass the time.

- In order to get players off to a positive start, there needs to be some kind of handholding involved. I was thankfully helped by some of the players online at the time, but if I had jumped into the server by my lonesome I would have been overwhelmed quickly and left out of boredom. Playing for a few hours straight and not finding more to do than kill a few rats and deer? Not very intriguing. Especially at a time when I am the only one online, which means there is no PC to PC roleplaying fun, there needs to be plenty to occupy my time or else things will get old fast.

That being said, there is a lot to like about the server and the ideas behind it. I just feel that it is lacking in the meat-and-potatoes department.

I would just like to add that today I have delved deeper and experienced some of the good content that is out there. I definitely sought it out and I was questing with others much higher level than me, and therefore was not hugely effective in combat, but I enjoyed what I did see. My point still stands that it is hard for a new player to get going on their own unless they are helped through it. But I am definitely enjoying myself.

We are still adding many features here, including more 'quests' as we go. The receiving of quests is a little different here than in most other servers. It had been my general experience that on entering a location, adventurers are seemingly swamped with offers in some systems. This seemed a little unrealistic to me - especially as strangers do not generally trust strangers with matters of great import unless under great pressure to do so. Our NPCs act this way generally, so you will have to get to know the NPCs before they will trust you with their 'dirty laundry' so to speak.

How to find quests here? Visit and re-visit your favorite shops, talk to the shopkeepers and other PCs there. As your PC gains a reputation with the locals, you will find more of them willing to entrust you with various missions they hold in secret.

Also, the local busy-bodies, er, I mean TASKMASTERS are the confidant of many local citizens, and they often trust urgent quest-needs with the TASKMASTERS who, knowing so many people, help spread the news (and grant the quest) to 'outsiders'. There are six TASKMASTERS in the city, spread around mostly at taverns, they have (each) five quests at all times (and the list regenerates too). PCs can use these to make some extra money and learn the layout of the city at the same time.

Our best 'quests' are DM Events here, but we are always adding more 'scripted' quests (yes, we agree, there is not enough, yet).

Note, ATM we are rolling-out our new merchants (the ones that let you haggle, appraise, and even shoplift) throughout the game, these NPCs too will have more quest options as well as being well-featured merchants. Additionally we are implementing new systems to reduce still further the load on the server - actions have been reducing the module size by about half a megabyte (filesize) every day or two, so, with the reduction of module size (without reducing the module features at all) we have more 'wiggle room' to add still more quests and such. So, as you see, it is an ongoing process, proceeding at best pace.

Future plans here include allowing PCs to choose membership at PC start in any of several LARGE GUILDS (NPC run) which will give avenues for still more adventure to new PCs.

Please note, there are many 'adventure finding clues' in the sign as you enter the city - recommending a number of the taverns and some other places like the MERCENARY GUILD as good places to start.

Be well. Game on.
GM_ODA

P.S. please keep the feedback coming in, we need it!

Hey, I appreciate the response. I also appreciate that this is still a beta test. I'd like to point out another bug, one I mentioned to Eriniel in-game.

I went to the Tailor in chonda port and tried to use the dummy to make some clothes. Unfortunately, none of the options I tried worked. I couldn't browse through any of the clothing components.