Question What kind of quests/missions drive you batty?

[ZedClampet]

Maybe it's just my ADHD, but if someone gives me a tiresome mission, like collecting 50 rare flowers, and I bring them to him, and then he says something like, "Okay, now I need 50 clay, and we'll be ready!" I just get mad. I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE, YOU BASTID! Why didn't you tell me there was more? I could have steeled myself against the tedium! I just wandered around for an hour finding 50 rare purple flowers! What's next? Will you want me to fix sandwiches? That's it. I'm done for the day. Oh, crap! I forgot to save. Oh, well, time to uninstall....

But seriously, quests that aren't over with the initial order sometimes drive me nuts, especially if they are fetch quests. If the quest was interesting, or if I suspected there would be more, then I'm okay with them, but when it feels like they are just inventing more things to keep me busy, it bothers me. How about you? Do you have any examples of quests that you don't like?

Edit: My least favorite quests of all time were the tailing quests in Black Flag. I loved that game, but I refuse to play it again just because of those quests.

 

[Frindis]

Fetch quests in an MMO can be insanely frustrating when many people are doing the same quest and the mobs you have to kill are scarce. As if that was not frustrating enough, you'll often encounter mobs with a really long respawn timer and nothing is quite as soul-sucking than spending time waiting for a mob to respawn only to have another player take aggro while lacking the courtesy to party invite so you can also get the quest item.

 

[Zimbaly]

Stealth missions. I hate games where ya have to do it. I put down some games for years before I went back to them cause of some missions. If stealth is optional and I don't need to do it, I go guns blazing right off the start.

 

[Zloth]

Every type of quest can be fun if the developers do it right. X3:Terran Conflict had a monumental "fetch quest" where the "fetching" turned into "creating whatever was wanted yourself" which turned into "creating a whole line of production yourself." It helped that it was a quest that you could work on whenever and use automated traders to deliver the goods.

The most consistently bad for me are still the escort quests. So many things can go wrong with those quests, I don't understand why developers keep trying to do them. (They do seem to be becoming rarer.)

 

[Brian Boru]

Oh, crap! I forgot to save

Maze Quests

Far Cry 6 is pretty good about saving, you can generally quit the game and next launch it'll return you close to where you left off.

But as I discovered 2 days ago, that doesn't always apply. There's one particularly annoying quest—one of the 3 Triada Relics ones—where it's a case of lots of climbing and riding zip lines thru a cave system. Neither are a problem, except it's pot luck whether to stay on the zip line you're on, or drop off halfway onto a lower one—one ride you have to drop off twice… that took some trial and error on previous playthru.

Anyway, this time I was about ¾ thru when I made a wrong choice which dropped me back to maybe ¼ done—at which time I decided to quit for the night. Came back following day to find myself spawned on the outside, needing to start over. I don't like maze quests any time, so that one's gone on the back burner—or more likely, the never burner.

Drug runny Quests

Dunno which of the Ubi studios is on the good stuff, but they've been tasked with sticking woozy hallucinogenic segments in every FC since FC3. Collecting the mushrooms for Dr Earnhart in FC3 stands out, plus the boss fight with Vaas, while FC4 had the whole Shangri-La missions. FC5 made it a big element, with one of the 4 main antagonists Faith being the drug queen, of course complete with woozy stuff—I guess we can call it High 5. FC6 tones it back, with just the poison as a bio weapon.

Without exception, these are all "Oh geez, this crap again" segments on a playthru, typically to be postponed until sometime when I deserve punishment.

Off-Genre

Don't give me platforming or pitched battles or melee-heavy in the middle of an open world strategy and tactics and stealth game. Or to make it clearer, don't put a chess puzzle in my checkers game. Too many to list, but FC5's infamous capture sequences are an extreme example of how to really screw with your player base.

Command and Conquer series likes to throw in some highly tactical missions, going against the whole premise of the 'S' in RTS. One particular annoyance is traversing a maze of roads to grab a nuke at the enemy base, with only a small starting squad—how many times you wanna die before you memorize the one route to success?

The wonderful strategy-builder-puzzle Royal Envoy series also likes to mess with its players with a few click-fest levels or segments, which also leave a bad taste. The top score on those is unavailable to players with any kind of hand motor problem—usually not a problem in games, except to get access to Expert mode, you have to get top score on all Standard levels.

The worst sin in all these is to make them unskippable.

escort quests

Oh of course, how did I forget those abominations!

 

[Zloth]

Dunno which of the Ubi studios is on the good stuff, but they've been tasked with sticking woozy hallucinogenic segments in every FC since FC3.

Didn't FC2 have some, too? It wasn't drug-induced, though, I think it was from malaria. Or maybe it was the drug to cure the malaria?

Oh of course, how did I forget those abominations!

Mental self-defense techniques.

 

[Brian Boru]

Didn't FC2 have some, too?

I don't know, in 3 attempts I never could stick it beyond a few hours. One of the big problems was indeed malaria, so might've been that or its cure.

Mental self-defense

I can't deny denial

 

[Pifanjr]

Off-Genre

Don't give me platforming or pitched battles or melee-heavy in the middle of an open world strategy and tactics and stealth game. Or to make it clearer, don't put a chess puzzle in my checkers game.

I think this covers a lot of them already. Stuff like stealth missions in non-stealth games, non-stealth in a stealth game (looking at you Deus Ex: Human Revolution bosses...), puzzles in an action game, etc.

One example that comes to mind is a racing mission early in Mercenaries 2 that I got stuck on. I just couldn't manage to complete it, so I couldn't play the game. I'm still salty about that because the game looked amazing otherwise.

I think you can expand "off-genre" to whenever a game forces you to adopt a certain play style or otherwise restricts your options. Tailing in Assassin's Creed sucks in comparison to the freedom you usually get to complete missions. Escort quests usually also restrict how you play, either forcing you to be more defensive because the NPC dies too quickly or more aggressive because the NPC keeps charging into the next group of enemies (or the enemies to the NPC).

 

[mainer]

The most consistently bad for me are still the escort quests. So many things can go wrong with those quests, I don't understand why developers keep trying to do them. (They do seem to be becoming rarer.)

Those are my least favorite quests as well, and I get twitchy when I get one, just because of bad experiences in past games. The really bad ones are when the person(s) you're escorting rushes any attackers that assault you during the escort. They have no armor, weapons, or skills (or so minor that it doesn't matter), but still rush to attack, whether it's real-time or turn-based. The player has no control over them. Why can't they just run and hide until the battle is over?

Sacred 2 had a bunch of those quests, and Wasteland 2 had at least one. The Wasteland 2 one was particularly bad, as I had to take a person through waves of robot enemies that were hard enough for my party to defeat, let alone keeping one kamikaze idiot alive.

Escort quests aren't all inherently bad, as there are a couple in Solasta Lost Valley, but those people were well equipped and I could control their actions, either getting them out of harms way, or attacking. Still, those are my least favorite kinds of quests.

 

[McStabStab]

I really dislike the missions where you get to a point where someone has to hack through a doorway, or arm the explosives, or whatever task that your character can't (or won't) do themselves, and you have to fight off waves of enemies until a timer runs out.

Nothing breaks immersion more than being keenly aware that you're just playing against a timer. Even worse, the awkward quips between you and the NPC performing the task:
"Only a little bit longer, keep holding them off!"
"You better hurry, this is starting to get a little... bit... DEADLY "

 

[Johnway]

A lot of my most hated missions or tasks are in strategy games:

1. Timed missions. When it comes to RTS games i like to take my time and a timer just makes things much much worse. No subtle strategies and i have to race to get my economy and an army ready before its too late. In most cases it might be worth attacking early or building one big force (or one with siege) and hope for the best. The best way to offset this is to give me a few advantages kinda like what starcraft 2 did. most missions were more a training for the last 2 or 3 missions when you have all the toys to play and you can hire decent units to offset the horrible timed stuff. But its not just RTS games action games, RPGs etc any with a time mechanic and you're forced to rush are horrible.

2. Stealth sections in non stealth games. Personally i have no problems with stealth, the problems begin when the game is just not equiped or made for stealth and more for action. Its made doubly worse when its easier to blaze through it as opposed to stealthing it. Extra black marks when i'm not allowed to eliminate anyone - silenced weapons or no.

3. Escort/defending defenseless NPCs or units. Bloody annoying as most have the self preservation of a bacon sandwich to a starving wolf. i Can fight the enemies but most of the enemies just focus on the NPC and know its game over for me. Bloody stupid. its made worse when the escorted person wants to fight back and participate in combat and they're rubbish at it. I remember the red solstice you were attacked from various angles, the AI would defend one section and you defended the other (as per mission OBJ) the problem is that the AI is unreliable and they fold and i get attacked from behind. yeah, thanks game. Or perhaps defending a column of tanks and suddenly theres an individual with tank destroying weapons that leads to insta mission failure. The best option is just make the NPC indestructable and/or decent so its more a team fight situation.

4. The last level of any RTS game. The odds are stacked against you massively, they continuous rush of enemies, being bombarded by super weapons and limited resources. if the roles were reversed, the i would have just rushed the enemy and just be over it.

5. Super grindy mission requirements. kill X number of enemies. Admittedly this can be just something that you have in the background and by the time you've done everything else, you can mop up the last few. of course, this is made more annoying if :

A: the number to kill is absolutely huge and massive amounts of grinding is still required.

B: The target aren't numerous or super rare. So its luck as well as grindy and thats just a piss take. Alternatively...

c: ... there are specific targets BUT the game doesn't tell you where they are. So its a hunt /tracking process. More time wasting. if the game just shows you where they were in the map i can just roll up my sleeves and do it. its the same with unlockables, if you told me where they were, i would be more inclined to do it. Don't and you can just sod off.

6. On rail shooters. You can't dodge, the enemy can easily land hits and its spray and pray in the hopes you don't explode or die. its not a game of skill, its about luck. Stuff like COD where it doesn't take many bullets to kill you and the enemy re numerous and accurate just make them a pain. Rather then a power fantasy, its just a horrible arcade game. One to delay and annoy.

7. Super duper boss fights. Not going to lie, in RPGs like Baldurs game/ icewind dale where i'm expected to fight the final boss or (gasp) dragons my heart just sinks. Those games its a dice roll and luck based as opposed a game of personal skill. that said bosses that have one shot kills, are massive bullet sponges and/or unclear idea as to how to defeat the boss just makes me groan.

8. Cryptic mission objectives. Time to consult a walkthrough to figure out what we need to do.



There are probably more, but those are the immediate ones.

 

[Brian Boru]

awkward quips between you and the NPC

Devs must've all gone to the same quip school, it's inevitable there'll be a…
"Any time now, Brian!"
growled at some stage.

 

[Zloth]

Escort quests aren't all inherently bad, as there are a couple in Solasta Lost Valley, but those people were well equipped and I could control their actions, either getting them out of harms way, or attacking.

I call those "guest" missions - I like those! It lets me see how other types of characters play. As long as they don't go running off with my stuff when they leave.

 

[Colif]

Escort/defending defenseless NPCs or units. Bloody annoying as most have the self preservation of a bacon sandwich to a starving wolf.

Sacred 2 escort quests were worse, the people you were escorting would attack anything along the path and 99% of the time they were unarmed. So easy to fail those quests and game had a few of them (were over 600 quests in game) I would clear the path before taking quests.

Other category - Quests that fail if you do another one before it, or out of order. This is another gripe from Sacred 2. It is bad if you don't know it will fail and only learn proper order out of many play throughs.

Collect quests where you need to kill 500 wolves to get 10 drops... thats what I remember of wow 10 years ago.

 

[Slasken]

Stealth missions. I hate games where ya have to do it. I put down some games for years before I went back to them cause of some missions. If stealth is optional and I don't need to do it, I go guns blazing right off the start.

I used to do that, until Dishonored. Well, until I had played through Dishonored. If you went Mr. Slaughter through that game, it became dark and depressing later on. If you went all stealth, it became lighter.

Dishonored did that thing right.

 

[Zimbaly]

I used to do that, until Dishonored. Well, until I had played through Dishonored. If you went Mr. Slaughter through that game, it became dark and depressing later on. If you went all stealth, it became lighter.

Dishonored did that thing right.

Guess how my game went.....

 

[AshishK]

Maybe it's just my ADHD, but if someone gives me a tiresome mission, like collecting 50 rare flowers, and I bring them to him, and then he says something like, "Okay, now I need 50 clay, and we'll be ready!" I just get mad. I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE, YOU BASTID! Why didn't you tell me there was more? I could have steeled myself against the tedium! I just wandered around for an hour finding 50 rare purple flowers! What's next? Will you want me to fix sandwiches? That's it. I'm done for the day. Oh, crap! I forgot to save. Oh, well, time to uninstall....

But seriously, quests that aren't over with the initial order sometimes drive me nuts, especially if they are fetch quests. If the quest was interesting, or if I suspected there would be more, then I'm okay with them, but when it feels like they are just inventing more things to keep me busy, it bothers me. How about you? Do you have any examples of quests that you don't like?

Edit: My least favorite quests of all time were the tailing quests in Black Flag. I loved that game, but I refuse to play it again just because of those quests.

Here, I can provide some examples of quests or missions that are commonly criticized by players:

1. Fetch quests: These are quests where the player is simply asked to retrieve an item or multiple items for a non-playable character (NPC) without any substantial story or gameplay element.
2. Escort quests: These are quests where the player must guide and protect a vulnerable NPC as they travel from one location to another, often resulting in frustrating failures due to the NPC's behavior or vulnerability to enemy attacks.
3. Time-based quests: These are quests where the player is given a limited amount of time to complete an objective, which can create a sense of urgency and pressure that some players find stressful or frustrating.
4. Stealth missions: These are missions where the player is required to navigate through an area undetected, and can be frustrating if the stealth mechanics are poorly implemented or if the player is forced to restart from the beginning if they are detected.
5. Escorting slow-moving vehicles: These are missions where the player must drive or escort a slow-moving vehicle to a destination, which can be tedious and time-consuming.

Of course, not all players have the same preferences or dislikes when it comes to quests and missions, and what drives one person batty may be enjoyable for another.

 

[neogunhero]

Typically fetch quests are the worst for me. Especially if it’s as simple as “go here, grab this specific thing then come back so we can progress the story” just aggravates me sometimes.

Also, the kinds of quests that are just huge collecta-thons where the intention is to complete it over the course of the whole game or even after you beat the main story. I usually never do them, however I did a lot of them in RDR2 since there were a couple and they actually made them interesting. I did use a guide for most but it was worth it for the story payoff which I didn’t spoil for myself.

However, the kind that makes me the most angry is missions that completely take you out of the game to tell you a ton of the plot. Games where you are forced to speak to someone for a very long time, or “flashback” sequences that aren’t even fun to play. I’ll refer to RDR2 because it does storytelling so masterfully, you learn the most about the characters and their stories while playing the actual game. Although sometimes you’re just riding a horse next to someone while they speak to you, at least you’re doing SOMETHING and not just standing there bored to death. HL2 does this great too, while someone is speaking about something you don’t care about or have heard a million times over, you can run around the room and threw things at people. The smallest amount of player freedom while the game is drilling exposition into your brain really helps make it a lot more tolerable.

 

[Pifanjr]

The smallest amount of player freedom while the game is drilling exposition into your brain really helps make it a lot more tolerable.

I disagree. I'd much rather get a proper cutscene with my exposition than try to pay attention to controlling my character and listening to the exposition at the same time.

 

[neogunhero]

I disagree. I'd much rather get a proper cutscene with my exposition than try to pay attention to controlling my character and listening to the exposition at the same time.

You’re right, I suppose it’s different for different kinds of games. In games where I’m very invested in the story, I want to be able to pay attention. RDR2 has a good mix of great choreographed cutscenes and moments where the story is being given to you but you have player freedom. Games like Assassins Creed where you are forced to watch boring cutscenes or have to slowly follow someone while they tell you their backstory attempts to give you a mix of both but aren’t executed well enough. Now in a game like Hellblade, I’d much rather sit and pay attention to what’s going on than be given freedom to move around and distract myself.

My main point is playing a game that is fun to play but has a story I’m not interested in. In that case I’d much rather distract myself with something than be forced to pay attention to the story.

 

[ZedClampet]

I disagree. I'd much rather get a proper cutscene with my exposition than try to pay attention to controlling my character and listening to the exposition at the same time.

There is this shooter. I can't remember the name. It was kind of a niche thing. Anyway, I start the game, and I'm supposed to go talk to the people on the bridge of my ship. I get there and start the conversation and realize that I still have control of my character while everyone is talking. They were talking a lot, and I was walking around the room. And then suddenly I was going down some stairs. And then I was exploring the whole ship. It occurred to me that I was missing vital information, but the draw to walk off and wander around was irresistible. I was kind of silently laughing at myself as I did it. I came back later and everyone was gone, and I had to look up my quest journal to figure out what I was supposed to do.

 

[Zloth]

I disagree. I'd much rather get a proper cutscene with my exposition than try to pay attention to controlling my character and listening to the exposition at the same time.

Especially good if it telegraphs what's going to happen ahead of time. Hit pause, make popcorn... I've seen plenty that were huge. Those dumps near the end of Death Stranding are long enough to eat dinner.

 

[Brian Boru]

dumps near the end of Death Stranding are long enough to eat dinner

Ah, just like the start of MGS5, huh? I wonder is there any common element between those 2 games

Checks, not on any wishlist ✔

 

[McStabStab]

Ah, just like the start of MGS5, huh? I wonder is there any common element between those 2 games

Checks, not on any wishlist ✔

I won’t stand for kojima slander!

 

[Zloth]

Ah, just like the start of MGS5, huh? I wonder is there any common element between those 2 games

No, not even. MGS5P has you bedridden for a bit, but somebody tries to kill you, you pick a face and then don't get it, you crawl around quite a bit... Now, later on in the game you get plopped into a jeep and Skullface lectures you for 9 minutes straight, that's a little more like it.

Death Stranding's is more like... half an hour? Only more interesting with far cooler visuals and better music. Oh, and you get little breaks where you run along the beach for a bit. It's still a LOT to take in and very much a lecture for most of the dump.

I won’t stand for kojima slander!

Well... none of us are, unless somebody has one of those stand/sit desks.