I mentioned recently in another thread that I liked the notion of using noticeboards like Ted has in KotB for Hommlet and Nulb in ToEE. This idea was seconded by wizgeorge. The idea would be to simply collect all the quests that are available in these towns at the outset and list them on said noticeboards, which would probably be located in the center of town in Hommlet outside the WW and in the circular boardwalk thing in Nulb. Players could go there, click the board, and see lists for the quests in dialogue form, such as 'The church serving woman is looking for flower, go see her in the basement of the Church of St. Cuthbert if interested.' Hopefully this would streamline the initial gathering of quests and make it so that you didn't have to go searching for them with no good reason. Hopefully this in turn would improve the RP aspects of the game to some degree. Most likely none of the quests would be affected in any way by this (e.g. they wouldn't be listed as accepted or even mentioned until you actually went to see the NPC in question), other than to be removed from the list if you accepted the quests after going after them the normal way. Please vote as to whether or not you think this would be a good idea. It probably wouldn't be difficult to implement, so it could likely be released in the non-beta if we want (unless I'm somehow wrong).
Re: Noticebaords in Hommlet and Nulb I don't think it's a good idea... Yes, the fed-ex quests may be tedious but we shouldn't dumb it down to a point where you can already see which quests need to be done, etc. :/ It would make sense if someone was looking for hire, like let's say, someone who wants to buy animal pelts (not implemented in ToEE yet)... or Bernie and Rufus who want to hire someone to help at the tower (note, not help them to uncover the spy!!). I would find it absurd for the serving woman to put up a sign on the noticeboard about her needing some flour... she and Calmert are busy enough already, that's why she asks the player to go fetch it. BTW I chose the wrong answer... Can you change it to the 3rd option? Thanks. Oh, and there's a spelling mistake in the topic. NoticebAOrds.
Fixed. Yeah, fair point. But is there any better way to avoid having to intrude upon her in the church basement to find out about it? Maybe StormKnightforger's idea of having a 'central dispensor of information' in town would work.
Actually, I see no point of adding this kind of information. Let the player explore (even if it's the 363 and a half time for him/her). Unless someone hands out the info as gossip... and... there's already a few persons who spread gossip.
A general notice board could be a very good thing, if the notices were worded properly, as Maggit suggested. If the notice boards could be coupled witha general info giver in the WW, that would just enhance the RP experience. The notice boards could be limited to some of the general Fed Ex quests and can even include "personal ads" for the Herdsman, Meleny and Fruella's fathers , etc. General help wanted notices would be fine without giving too much away or being too hand-holding in their application.
I'm not in favour of this idea either - if I remember rightly, it came from someone saying, "I've got no reason to go down in the basement and talk to the serving woman". Thats the whole point of playing an RPG, to look around and see what is hidden in the corners. If you see some stairs, you go down them. :shrug: That being said, if people want this, so be it. A small advantage of KotB being late is I have finally got the 'hand' working when you hover over the noticeboard there (and all the books etc) so if people do want this, it can be done all the better. I'll do Sitra's signpost too when I get a chance.
I'm in favor of it, mainly for new quests that logically can't be added on to existing quests. Sometimes modding an existing quest does not work out well. The first thing that could be put on there could be sort of a local news announcement that alludes to a few existing quests and a few wise-ass inside jokes. Since, thanks to a nearby necromancer, there's no cemetary in Homlett. (Yes, I know it's a sentence fragment.)
I don't think it's a good idea, either. When I think about it, it feels like an intrusion. I really don't know how to explain what I mean (very tired)...but it's like something from outside the game is being put into the game, rather than the game unfolding.
Hi My problem with the noticeboard concept is that most of the quests are discovered through dialogue that would not be posted on a noticeboard. For example do you honestly think that Rikk would post "Local carpenter needs help in converting to Old Faith so his brother can marry Filiken's daughter" on a noticeboard for all his neighbors (say nothing of Terjon and Calmert) too see ? Even in KoTB not all the quests are listed on the noticeboard. Realistically, the only Hommlet quests that would get posted would be, "Clear the Moathouse", "Orc Season", "Woodcutter's Problem", and possibly "Terjon Searches for a St. Cuthbert Artifact". In Nulb the only quests I would expect to find on the noticeboard would be "Grud's Fish Story" and "Eye of the Tiger". Also keep in mind that some of the Hommlet quests don't show up until you have at least started a previous quest. For example I don't think it is possible to get the "Terjon wants more followers" quest until you talk to him about "The Carpenter's Dilemma". In my opinion the quests are what they are, and there isn't any realistic way to make them anything else. I would prefer to have a signpost in Hommlet with "directions" to the Church, the Tower, The Trading Post, The Druid, and the Jeweler. The Royal Canadian
I like the way theWitcher game does the noticeboard where the quests are extra and outside regular game dialogue. I also like the "trophy monster" idea. The giant's head would work good for that type of scenario. A nice GP reward or special favor, or maybe a ring of protection. Something along those lines. A notice board is basically a good idea and wouldn't hurt the game in any way.
Okay, I'm convinced: it's not such a good idea. (Thanks anyway, wizG. ) The poll will remain up for a month, but as of right now I have no plans to pursue this.
Here's an idea. Make some NPCs in the tavern drop hints at the quests with the criminally underused Gather Information skill. It fits, the links to the quest become town gossip, and everything's all right. An example would be that you use Gather Information and overhear from a patron that Black Jay's sheep are dying or that the miller's son is lovesick. It doesn't start the quest, just drops a hint, just like what Gather Information is supposed to do.
