About Quest Delayers

[apellis]

Hi there.

 

This is my first post on Nexus (I spend a lot of time on Bethesda OB forum though).

 

I'm a big quest fan. Many quest mods just toss that initial message box out there with no thought as to where the player might be.

 

My Bash-able Quest Delayers mod corrects this for several mods.

And I'm always on the prowl for more.

 

Recently though, I've had second thoughts on how I designed them. A few comments here and there has made me re-think what I should do.

So, I figured I would ask the community to give me a hand by getting opinions with a poll.

 

Thanks for your input.

[ub3rman123]

My own view on it is that you should remember where you are when you install a mod. If you put in a quest mod, it'd be your own doing if you happen to be standing under Mehrunes Dagon when it shows up. And I really don't like random activators for them because then you're forced to sit around waiting for them to show up and since it's random, you'll never know exactly when. Of course, the piles of quests taht get stacked up on new games are kind of annoying..

[Shadowfen]

My own view on it is that you should remember where you are when you install a mod. If you put in a quest mod, it'd be your own doing if you happen to be standing under Mehrunes Dagon when it shows up. And I really don't like random activators for them because then you're forced to sit around waiting for them to show up and since it's random, you'll never know exactly when. Of course, the piles of quests taht get stacked up on new games are kind of annoying..

 

I hate the out-of-the-sewer quest spam - especially for quests that I don't have any reasonable hope of completing before I get some decent equipment and a few levels under my belt. They are also immersion-breaking - I mean how did I hear about the archaeology guild while standing at the mouth of a sewer? Not to mention that poor kid with the furniture catalog who was apparently waiting for me!

 

My problem with remembering where I am when I install a mod is: one, I have several characters at various stages of development and working on different quests; and second, I share the game with my roommate and her characters whereever they are. (Actually, it's her game on my server because her computer couldn't run it. I find, administer, install, and troubleshoot mods for her and get to play as well.:teehee: )

[apellis]

Starting a new game and getting a gazillion popups was my initial inspiration for these delayers.

Another part that has come into play is the initial messagebox usually says something like "I've heard a rumor..." or something similar.

Really? In the middle of nowhere? Or at the bottom of an Ayleid ruin?

 

Most of my delayers wait until the player is somewhere where there are other NPCs around. Kind of to lend credence to the "I've heard a rumor".

[Megatarius]

I think the best way to do it would be to have the player hear from an NPC. How do you find out about something in real life? From another person. Even if it's advertising, it's still obviously people telling you about it.

 

Random is bad for reasons stated already.

 

 

Honestly, the best way would be to make a new NPC, place it in the IC somewhere, (or another town), and have them give you the quest when you talk to them.

[ub3rman123]

There needs to be some medium between needing to look at a readme telling you something along the lines of "Go look for a chest in the very bottom of Crayfish Cave to start the quest' and having it tell you what to do when it starts up. Both of those are unrealistic, in my opinion.

[Ferryt]

This honestly bugs me, but not to the extent that I'd want to have to be in specific places or around specific people to get these "rumors". I think the assumption is that you knew this stuff before you got tossed into the clink, even though you seem to have amnesia (can't remember why you're in jail). They're being delayed to keep you from getting them all at once. It's still pretty annoying having to click through all of them, though. I'd just as soon have no notification at all. I can check my "quest schedule" any time I want, after all, and I'm going to do that as soon as I exit the sewer, anyway.

[Shadowfen]

Starting a new game and getting a gazillion popups was my initial inspiration for these delayers.

Another part that has come into play is the initial messagebox usually says something like "I've heard a rumor..." or something similar.

Really? In the middle of nowhere? Or at the bottom of an Ayleid ruin?

 

Most of my delayers wait until the player is somewhere where there are other NPCs around. Kind of to lend credence to the "I've heard a rumor".

 

Back before I found out how hard it was to do voice-acted dialog, I wished that I could have NPCs talking to each other and I overhear something that I could ask about that would lead to a quest - for instance I could overhear two Bravil people talking about Aleron Loche and that would lead to a New Topic that I could find out about the "Caught In The Hunt" quest (just as an example). I wouldn't hear the same thing between any two random Skingrad citizens because it is not part of their local folklore/culture/news.