Do you read quest text or just click accept?

Gravarg

I was just curious, because it seems like I'm the only one that will sit there and read/listen quests anymore.  I noticed people running upto a questgiver, then a second later running off...I don't know if they just picked it up or if they completed it, but either way they had no time to actually read/listen to what the npc had to say.  So here's a poll:  Do you read the text or just click accept?

Loktofeit

It all depends on the first 30-60 minutes of quests. If they seems to have some relevance to my character or have some impact on gameplay then I do. If they don't then I never read them again.

I read almost every PotBS quest I did. Read most of the Fallen Earth quests. I read the TERA quest text but that's because all the references were entertaining. Most MMOs, though, it ends up quickly being of no interest to me.

 

Pouf

I rarely read text in wow, but sadly they are often amazing. I do often watch all the "events" that happens tho, like  when character moves around and search for thing I will read what he says and all for fun. Like most of the "hunting quests" in wow

 

I also watched all video in SWTOR for a while till I got bored of it because all my friends were 50 and I was 30ish

 

Apart from that, never happened

Eir_S

GW2 spoiled me in this regard, ie: I don't have to read quest text or someone's idea of entertaining writing, I just get context sensitive messages about what's going on in the corner and do what it says to do.  Having said that, I still don't read the "thank you" notes the NPCs send either... but yeah, I cycle through every other MMO now.  Not many of them are even worth reading.  SWTOR was the worst offender, you could spend far too long listening to this great voice acting only to find out that you had to touch 10 glowing boxes to save the world.  What a bunch of wasted talent.

SpottyGekko

I usually read every single word and watch the full cutscene (if there is one). But that is because I never play games that I'm not REALLY into.

 

The first exception to that rule has been Neverwinter, where I skip 90% of the quest dialogue. I'm not really sure WHY I'm playing NWO, other than it's a gap-filler and it's F2P and it's brand new and I was a bit bored... 

maplestone

In most games, there are only two buttons: accept (continue playing) and decline (stop playing).  So if I'm there to play a game, why would I read something that might make me want to press the decline button? (others may play differently, but no paladin of mine would ever accept 5 gold to torture a helpless prisoner, even if the fate of the world hung in the balance)

Axehilt

I occasionally read quest text, but if a game isn't making a visible effort to have the story play out in the game world, then it's selling the medium short.

When you have this incredible 3D interactive animated canvas for showing things to the player, and then your primary form of storytelling are flat 2D text blocks, you've done something wrong.  Used sparingly, text snippets can be amazing -- like if you've spent most of the game in the game world but stumble upon a character's diary which you can pick up and read and gain some surprising insight into the story at hand.  But as the primary form of storytelling, wall-of-text quest text is just bad.

AreWeLive

 

 If it is my first time through the game most times i will,

If the story sucks i will just click accept.

If I do not need to read the quest to know where i am going then i do not read it.

If after i accept a quest and it marks where i need to go on the map, i just accept.

 

 If there is a cut seen i will watch it 99% of the time the first time threw a game, if i am with other's i will skip it and watch it next time i am there on an alt.

 

 So the above is how i mostly go, sometimes in a different order but most times the order laid out is standard for me.

 

asmkm22

I try and read or listen, at least the first time through something.  I play RPG's for the story and immersion.  Having said that, some games just have really bad writing and/or voice overs.  GW2 is an example of a game that I stopped bothering with the cutscenes once I realized how crappy they were.  I was better off just killing stuff and making up the story in my head.

rockin_ufo

Totally depends on the game and how to quest text is distributed to me. If it's a wall of text: Skipped. If it's an actual conversation with an NPC choosing options then I read the whole thing.

koboldfodder

Everquest is/was the only MMO where I read all the quests.  The reason was simple.  You HAD to read the quests.  There was no quest journal, there was no quest map, there was no quest update thingy, there was no mouse-over that said "collect this from this" there was no quest helper and there was nothing to indicate whether or not a dropped item was a quest or for which one.

 

You had to read what the NPCs were saying, and in some cases you had to [type stuff that was in boxes] and in a lot of cases you had to figure it out all for yourself.

 

The quests spanned all zones, did not matter what level (hello burning rapier I am looking at you) or what faction.  The Soulfire quest started off at level 5 or so and went to level 50.  That was one of the great hallmark Quests EQ had, and they had many.

 

Eventually there were web sites that detailed the quests, and in most cases these web sites are still going strong.  There was a sense of community about that game because it required it.

 

The game is not really like that anymore.  Now there is a quest journal and update status, so old EQ is long since dead.

 

The only other exception was the Epic quest line in LOTRO, which was hundreds of quests long and was level 1-85 and is still growing.  You wanted to READ that one because it was well written (for the most part).  The newer Epic quests are poorly done, they probably got rid of the older developmental team and it really shows with poorly written everything.

 

Other that those two games, there has never been any real need to read anything in any MMO (oops, TSW investigations I forgot).  It's all easy mode.  We have been trained for years that if you see a NPC with a ! over his head, he will likely have some trivial fetch task for you that takes place about 200 meters from where he is standing.

 

That is one of the main reasons this genre of games has hit rock bottom.

KenFisher

Click accept.  I have little to no interest in developer provided storyline explaining why I have to run around doing menial tasks.

k11keeper

It depends on the game really and if it's a game where I just click through because it's a bunch of mindless fetch quests over and over then I probably won't be playing the game long anyway.

defector1968

i hit accept in all MMOs i played

only the SWTOR maked me to watch them, were awesome

Tjed

I voted yes because I do read or listen probably %90 of the time.  If I have done the quest before and I'm on an alt, I skip it.  If it's clearly just a kill a certain number of mobs and I can clearly see that coming, I might skim through the reason why and skip it if it's not that well written.   I do a lot of writing for a living and so I do feel a little guilty not paying attention to the work that has been put in.  I'm also a sucker for a good story, so it doesn't take much to get my interest piqued. 

Tjed

Originally posted by koboldfodder

 

You had to read what the NPCs were saying, and in some cases you had to [type stuff that was in boxes] and in a lot of cases you had to figure it out all for yourself.

 

/say what stuff that was in boxes?

 

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.

Sovrath

I usually listen, read all quest dialogue or text.

The only time I wouldn't is if I'm on a third run through and I "know it".

Additionally, I never followed any of the quest text in Tera (only game where I didn't). It just wasn't that interesting or engaging.

Arglebargle

I read/listen to all quest info until the game gives me reason not to.

Zeymere

click... used to read waaaay back when but now, sigh i don't. 

Everything I need to know is usually available after I click so I don't waste time reading text walls.

Drakynn

I either skim through or head straight to the summary looking for relevant  information.This is because most of the time the quest text is generically written and more poorly constructed than your average MMORPG.com forum post hehe.

When I first started playing MMORPGs I used to read everything but that was long ago.

Digirono

It depends on the game, or rather...the type of game. Asian ones I generally don't read through and just click accept, most games I do read through though.

droopy

I speed read most of it, i like to accept and move on, part why i disliked SWTOR, the main quest story i followed though.

AeonZen

Originally posted by asmkm22

GW2 is an example of a game that I stopped bothering with the cutscenes once I realized how crappy they were.  I was better off just killing stuff and making up the story in my head.

Hehe.   Awesome +1

 

In SWTOR and GW2 I'd watch the cut scenes 90% of the time.  In WoW and Tera I'd just pick up the quests without reading.  In retrospect SWTOR does have a pretty decent story.  Awwe, I miss Star Wars. 

huskie77

I don't even read threads. I just click reply.

 

 

 

PieRad

Hmm, should be a "sometimes" option in there...

 

 

Lithuanian

Mostly clicking "accept". There are some situations when reading is reccomended though.