'Pay xxx' quests - a bad idea?

[Jackluyt]

Who has seen this quest, in Halflings chapter XI?
It appears that the 'pay xxx' quests are not just Event phenomena - now they will be found in Mainline quests too!

I don't think many people are going to like this format!

1. The basic idea is a good one - something new. But the amounts asked are grotesquely over-sized!
In Halflings chapter, one is constantly under pressure to produce Seeds, which happens painfully slowly. No player is going to enjoy just throwing two or three day's production away - and getting nothing back!

2. 'Spend 20 000 Seeds' would perhaps be a more acceptable option!

3. Since the Summer Event, there is a growing sentiment that the game is becoming boring and not fun. Quite a few members of my group have stopped playing, This quest is just plain silly.

4. I understand that the design team needed to slow down the guest races, because players were rushing through a chapter in a few weeks - and then complaining that they were bored and there is nothing to do in the game.
I am reading between the lines that this quest was chosen to slow down the game?
But if that were true - surely it is possible to find a less offensive way to do that that does not force players to waste a precious game resource?​

I am a pretty frugal guy who hates waste - and I am sure there are many many other players who feel the same.
Throwing away precious materials goes against every instinct I have!
I think the designers should reconsider quests like these - they are certain to cause ill-feeling and increase player dissatisfaction...

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[DeletedUser1798]

I think it will eventually cost Elvenar a LOT of players. Everyone in our FS was struggling to get all the goods to the newer players so they could complete the quests. If they are constantly begging for goods they will not enjoy playing. I have already made the statement to the FS that I will try to find out the rewards for such long, drawn out quests and see if it's worth the massive amounts of goods that are required. I don't think the rewards justified the expenditures. To have the divine seeds quest inserted into the Halfling line is just beyond the pale. I have stopped doing any quests for the time being. I'll save that kind of nonsense for the end of the line, when I don't need seeds to progress on buildings, etc.

 

[DeletedUser1527]

I honestly don't mind paying a little of my gold, supplies, or goods. But when I say a little, I mean A LITTLE! not 20,000 of anything. I can think of it like paying a tax but bankrupting us to slow players down isn't the way to do it.

If there are players who wish to rush through the game, then they have nobody but themselves to blame if they get bored. The rest of us should not be punished because of them.

 

[Tanis-Wulf]

I agree with what's been said already. Paying divine seeds for nothing in return is horrible and whoever though these kind of quests should be part of the game needs to be replaced. You are going to lose a lot of players if these kinds of quests pop up. People are already pissed off about how little diamonds will buy since they raised the cost of everything. So I hope they will reconsider this move.

 

[DeletedUser7370]

From the numbers I have seen 40,000 mana as a return for 20,000 seeds is a waste. There is nothing wrong with the idea of the pay quests; the problem is entirely in the amounts.

I used to be very pleased with the sensible and logical mathematical progressions in this game. Evidently they fired the one lady that did that part sometime during the development of chapter 8.

 

[DeletedUser9481]

I'm fine with "pay" quests, as long as the amounts are reasonable. I even think it's a nice contrast to the "gain" quests, since there is only so much you can do to speed that up, but you can finish "pay" quests immediately if you've been saving up resources.

 

[SoggyShorts]

All around, "spend xxxxx" will always be better than "pay xxxxx".

Reward players for making progress, don't make them choose between a quest and progress.

 

[DeletedUser2824]

The amounts they ask for are definitely over the top. I think an occasional pay quest wouldn't be too bad in an event, but only if the amount was reasonable and if the reward was worth the expense. It shouldn't take several days of crippling regular day to day operation of someone's city to complete.
I don't like the idea of them cropping up in mainline quests, as those quests can already be such a hassle to keep up with as is. In the end, I agree with Soggy; spend will always be a better option than pay.

 

[DeletedUser3507]

I agree they suck tiny donuts...

 

[DeletedUser9247]

In general don't mind. The resources are there to be annihilated one way or the other. Churn out a number->diminish the number in order to advance->grind...
If the amount is reasonable- may it be. It's not inspiring or exciting but I sill prefer to pay some goods than do 2 days productions.

 

[ekarat]

I actually enjoyed the "pay XXX" quests because they were quick, particularly with goods, since there is no upper limit on how much you can store.

 

[DeletedUser3468]

I can only speak from the perspective of these quests in special events. Any quest that requires goods and coins being tossed into a virtual black hole is a bad idea. It's not that difficult for me to do during a special event in my larger cities where I have a large surplus of goods, but during the herds event, they nearly wiped me out in my 2 smaller cities. I hate waste and to me, these quests force lower level players to waste days of work for virtually no return. Once I reach the level where these quests start showing up in the main quest lines, I can almost guarantee they will sit undone until I have such an excess amount of whatever they require that it becomes no big deal... which will probably be about the time I finish that chapter!

 

[SoggyShorts]

I actually enjoyed the "pay XXX" quests because they were quick, particularly with goods, since there is no upper limit on how much you can store.

For later chapter players they weren't too bad(except the last 3 in herds). It's the newer players that haven't had 3-8 chapters of surplus goods piling up who really felt the pinch.
With all of my cities now in chapter 9+ it's been a long time since I had to wait on productions of normal goods to unlock a tech or negotiate a province/upgrade a building--but I still remember that from early chapters.
Imagine if the quest asked for settlement goods like copper or ambrosia, that's what the pay quests were like for smaller cities. @inno don't even think about it!

 

[DeletedUser1016]

Imagine if the quest asked for settlement goods like copper or ambrosia, that's what the pay quests were like for smaller cities. @inno don't even think about it!

EXCELLENT analogy "SoggyShorts", that is exactly how it would feel. I hope InnoGames considers all these comments and re-balances these event quest! I like the event, it's sad to see so many folks start to really "hate" them.

 

[DeletedUser3507]

In Beta I refused the event just due to that Having to pay your tier 1 boost at 15.5k goods forget that on a chapter 6 city.

 

[The Unbeliever]

For later chapter players they weren't too bad(except the last 3 in herds). It's the newer players that haven't had 3-8 chapters of surplus goods piling up who really felt the pinch.
With all of my cities now in chapter 9+ it's been a long time since I had to wait on productions of normal goods to unlock a tech or negotiate a province/upgrade a building--but I still remember that from early chapters.
Imagine if the quest asked for settlement goods like copper or ambrosia, that's what the pay quests were like for smaller cities. @inno don't even think about it!

Dammit Soggy! Why did you even suggest that - don't give them such evil ideas?!

I personally HATE these trollish "pay xxx" quests. As said by many others, make it "spend xxx" or "trade xxx". That at least allows players to keep progressing instead of forcing ALL city activity to grind to a complete & utter standstill, because an event with typically rubbish rewards just sucked 90%+ of your goods/supplies into a pointless fun-sucking abyss.

 

[DeletedUser3507]

For my chapter 11 city it's no big deal. Since I am approaching 2 m goods in all 3 tiers, but my beta city in mid chapter 6 it would about wipe tier 1 out, can't afford that...

 

[DeletedUser7370]

I really don't see why so many people have a big problem with the pay quests. Think about it; many players cater encounters in the tournament every week, and routinely negotiate encounters in provinces. That is paying massive amounts of precious goods for what, a few KP and relics? Okay, maybe you get some game progress if you do it in provinces, but the tournaments all you get are KP, relics, runes, and if your entire FS works hard maybe a blueprint which is only useful to player with some pay buildings. So would everyone be fine with these pay quests if they tacked on rewards of 1 KP, 1 random relic, and +10 ranking points, basically the same as a province encounter, and reduced the cost to something like double a province encounter? Or would everyone still be saying they are throwing goods down a pit?

 

[SoggyShorts]

. So would everyone be fine with these pay quests if they tacked on rewards of 1 KP

Clearing an encounter costs me under 2K tier 3. The last 3 quests in herds cost 234,000 tier 3.
So yeah if those 3 quests had given me 100 KP,100 relics, 10 runes and an expansion I would have gladly done them.
200 beets? Which is 25 KP or 5 runes or 12 relics or a mediocre building? Not so much.

Granted the quests aren't as bad this event, but for a few 3 minute timers?

 

[DeletedUser7370]

Clearing an encounter costs me under 2K tier 3. The last 3 quests in herds cost 234,000 tier 3.
So yeah if those 3 quests had given me 100 KP,100 relics, 10 runes and an expansion I would have gladly done them.
200 beets? Which is 25 KP or 5 runes or 12 relics or a mediocre building? Not so much.

Granted the quests aren't as bad this event, but for a few 3 minute timers?

Maybe read the entire sentence with a little emphasis added...

So would everyone be fine with these pay quests if they tacked on rewards of 1 KP, 1 random relic, and +10 ranking points, basically the same as a province encounter, and reduced the cost to something like double a province encounter?