Public Quests: Hey, Where is Everybody?

[Brokain]

For almost a year before Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning launched, there was a lot of talk about an innovative new type of quest being introduced in the game called the Public Quest. A quest that allowed anyone off the street to participate and gain rewards regardless of whether you participated from the beginning or came in at the end, it was one of WAR's biggest selling points. Two months after launch though, many Public Quests are ghost towns, with only a few people farming the first stage for influence. We take a look at some of the causes and some of the cures in Public Quests: Hey, Where Is Everybody?

[Savanja]

It's not bad luck that you never get PQ loot silly. It's called KARMA and it is cosmic payback for being a cheater shiny slut!

HA I say..HA!!

[Vulturion]

I don't think there is terribly much complexity to the unpopularity of PQs :

> They require progressively more appropriate-level players to complete, to a degree that population density cannot support ( which will become even more pronounced as new areas are added to the game ).

> Consequently most PQs are conquered by lone players / small groups of higher level.

> Due to poor itemization and the absence of any visually distinctive loot, higher level players have no reason to replay PQs once they have filled their bars and earned the Tome unlocks.

So there's only a small window when PQs offer meaningful rewards - at which point a sufficiently sized party would be very hard to contrive - and after that closes, PQs are only appealing to completists as Tome fodder.

I would say that introducing prizes desirable for any rank of character ( e.g. Trophies ) is a possible solution... but really ; what fun is there to be had in facing a PQ where a R40 stomps all the hard foes for you ?

There's just far too much sub-R40 content for the population to support, beyond rare flare-ups like product launches & Heavy Metal - hopefully Mythic will focus on R40 PQs with desirable loot in future, or some kind of Scenarioesque instanced PQ system that can be participation controlled and pull players together from across all pairings.